#PressforProgress? Commit every single day, not just today!

We are letting women down, we are letting everyone down, including ourselves. The World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, tells us it will be another 217 years to close the gender gap. We can’t let that be true, we need new ways to think, behave and act and we need it now and every single day.

Every time we walk past a situation or hear a comment that we know is not right (and don’t pretend like you haven’t done it, at work, at home, at that BBQ, we all have! Ok, well maybe not you then), we need to speak. It’s exhausting right, you can’t spend your whole life holding onto the rage of putting up with ridiculous commentary, or maybe you just don’t see it and are still in the state of blissful oblivion.

I have so many beautiful nieces, they are funny, smart and fierce girls, but I can’t help the feeling that I have let them down. We should be so much further progressed by 2018 and in a few years they will be out in the ‘real world’, but we are moving at a snails pace, or going backwards.

How can we live in a world that isn’t outraged by women in their mid 50s being the fastest growing demographic of homelessness?

Outrage should swiftly lead to action, but it’s not, or are we not outraged, are we happy with the status quo? Women who were wives, who are mothers and have worked, but are now sentenced to a life where surviving financially is an ongoing struggle. These are women who have contributed to Australia, through their paid work, raising children, volunteering and looking after our homes. Who are one relationship breakdown, redundancy or illness away from losing the very roof over their head. Rent on a single pension, leaves you in a dire financial position and things that we take for granted, our cars, internet, telephones and food become discretionary items.

How do we call it universal super and yet it is designed for a time that is not the reality of life today, we know most women end up with dramatically less super than men and we also know women live longer?

Women are more likely to have career breaks and this can have a devastating impact on super, combined with the gender pay gap and your man really is your financial plan. We also know that on average women live longer than men. So we have significantly less super that has to last a longer time? Really, how does that work?

Melbourne’s Grattan Institute has estimated that if women in Australia had the same participation as women in Canada our GDP would be about $25 billion higher by 2022, so why do have such unaffordable childcare?

Women being able to return to work is fantastic for our economy, in fact it is a game changer and it would dramatically improve women’s current and future earning capacity? That’s not to say childcare is the only issue (clearly it’s not), but having good quality, affordable childcare would go a long way to getting women back to work.

How is it that the price of motherhood is so high, why can’t we make work, work?

We need flexible work places, not just for women who are Mothers, for everyone. The world has changed, we need workplaces designed for flexible work hours, not one that is reliant on one member of the household taking on the lions share of unpaid (and seemingly undervalued) work. Careers are no longer about having one job for life, portfolio careers are more common. We no longer wish to live for work, waking up one day and asking what it was all for. We all need flexible work, not just mothers (and fathers), everyone.

How is it that the disparity in unpaid work within the household still so high?

Women still do significantly more unpaid domestic work and child care, whether they are employed or not. This work is unseen and undervalued. Very few of us would have made it through our childhood without our Mothers and just like our children take for granted that we will always be there, our societal norms are still based on this fact. Women are still judged on the state of the household and their role as a Mother, much more often that men are judged on their role as a parent (most times if they do anything it’s applauded). It’s time to stop judging, start supporting and step up.

How is it that in 2018, a man is still our financial plan and yet most women do not realise until their ability to recover financially is limited?

We do not talk about money, it is still one of those taboo subjects and yet the Life You Choose survey shows that at best 42% of women are treading water financially and only 47% are on track for retirement. Check out our survey here and see where you are at. It is time to take control of your financial destiny, now!

How are we not investing in financial literacy, for everyone, but especially for those most at risk, women?

We need to talk about the devastating statistics for work, life and money for women. The average age for women when they divorce is 42.9 years, with almost 50% of divorces involving children, if we have been out of the work force or even working part-time, our ability to financially recover is so incredibly difficult. There have been a number of high profile examples of women, who gave up their career to support their husbands, only to be then pushed to the side in their later years. Even if your relationship is rock solid, women live longer and by old age only 17% of us are still married. Don’t leave it too late to take control of your financial destiny.

Life You Choose has a series of free Financial Movement events, to educate women on the realities of life, work and money and how they can take control of their financial independence, BUT this is not enough! We need strong and affirmative action from ourselves, society, business and government and we need more of it NOW!

#PressforProgress what are you really doing?