This Independent Life: why the fight for women’s independence is far from over

When I tell people I’m building a business to help women achieve personal independence, I sometimes get some strange and confused looks. In 2022, surely a lack women’s rights and basic education are no longer a thing, right? Wrong.

I can’t blame people when they question this. If you’ve never experienced issues with your health or trying to get people to believe and understand you, I can see why you wouldn’t think there was a problem with the healthcare system. If you’re one of the rare few who knew what they wanted to do as their job from a young age, it must be odd to have people questioning, stressing and changing their careers multiple times. If you were lucky to grow up with a lot of money, to have those around you tell you about the importance of understanding money and how to manage and invest it, it has to be hard to relate to those who one day woke up and realised they didn’t even know what an ISA was.

Whilst researching for a sexism workshop I was creating for a client, I came across some shocking statistics. In 2021, the UK ranked 23rd on the global gender gap index, a ranking that benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education, and health-based criteria, placing it behind other European countries such as France, Germany, and Ireland. Also in the UK, 1 in 5 adults claim that sexism is still a problem in their current or previous workplace, and at least 35% of employees have faced some form of sexism in the last two years. This is just a fraction of the problem, and whilst it speaks to the careers component, from experience it undoubtedly plays a huge part on health and financial struggles. To me, this reinforces how careers, health and finances are all interconnected, and how each area plays its part in achieving independence.

Without knowledge and understanding to counteract these challenges, women will continue to struggle. Women need to know that it’s OK to not have all the answers, and that they are not alone in their journey. Knowledge is power, and I want to help all women unlock, embrace and use their power to live the life they want on their terms.