By WCorp Editorial Team

#EquityAtWork | #DomesticLoad | #LeadershipStartsAtHome

The Unpaid Economy Undermining Your Paid One

Across industries, companies are asking: Why aren’t more women moving into leadership roles? Why the sudden mid-career drop-off?

Here’s one overlooked reason: women are running two economies, one paid, one unpaid - and the latter is getting zero support.

According to Carers UK, women make up approximately 59% of the UK’s 5.8 million unpaid carers. Around 1.7 million of these provide 50 or more hours of care weekly: a care load that interferes directly with career bandwidth and performance. (Carers UK)

The Cost of the Care Load

When women are working double shifts (one at work, one at home) they face higher burnout, slower career progression, and reduced leadership mobility.

And companies feel it:

• Higher attrition
• Less representation in senior roles
• Stalled innovation due to lack of leadership diversity

Meanwhile, the silent assumption that women can “figure it out” is pushing some of the best talent out of your pipeline.

The ROI of Recognising the Domestic Load

Companies that acknowledge and mitigate care-related pressures retain and elevate more women. This isn't about perks; it's about enabling performance.

What progressive employers are doing:

• Caregiver-support stipends and elder care benefits (e.g., subsidies, flexible leaves)
• Flexible, output-driven work models, not time-at-desk expectations
• Gender-balanced promotion tracking, focusing on merit over availability
• Care-informed leadership development: programs tailored for women with caregiving duties
• Certification of equity standards to hold leadership accountable

When women aren’t forced to choose between home and career, they choose to stay - and lead.

Leadership Means Designing for Reality

The idea of the “ideal worker” - always available, never distracted - isn’t just outdated; it’s harmful. It’s built around a model that assumes someone else (often a woman) is handling the home front.

If you want more women at the top, the system has to reflect the real lives of the talent you’re trying to retain.

Lead the Shift

You don’t solve a domestic labour imbalance with a fruit basket on Mother’s Day.

You solve it by designing workplaces that respect reality and reward results, not mere presence.

WCorp is helping companies close the gap between ambition and action.

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