Gender equity and mental health

Socioeconomic inequality is not the only inequality faced by our population. The society we live in is also steeped in gender inequity by which opportunities, experiences and outcomes systematically differ between men and women.

Power still disproportionately sits with men and we must acknowledge a long history in which women’s concerns have not been treated as seriously as those of men. Societal inequity leads to clear inequalities in the determinants, experiences and outcomes of mental health and mental wellbeing for women and girls. This societal inequity also harms boys and men, particularly with regard to masculinities which encourage risk-taking behaviour and prioritise stoicism and self-reliance at the expense of health- and help- seeking behaviours [14]. The most severe consequence of this is the much higher suicide rate in men compared with women (though the attempted suicide rate is higher for women) [15]. However, we must recognise that in most circumstances, gender inequity leads to disadvantage for women and girls.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated a number of gender inequalities in society including in childcare responsibilities, part-time / insecure / low-paid work, and paid and unpaid care roles. During lockdowns, families with two opposite-gendered parents saw mothers more likely to leave paid work than fathers; mothers with a greater reduction in their paid working hours; and those mothers still working were more likely to have to do so at the same time as providing childcare [16]. Women have been more likely to be on furlough during the pandemic than men and more likely to face redundancy [17]. Additionally, girls have been more likely to contribute to household chores than boys during lockdowns, leaving less time for study and education [18]. As a result, women are more than twice as likely as men to report that their mental health has worsened since the start of the pandemic and that they struggle to cope with social isolation [19].

This mental health impact has been particularly pronounced for those women who have experienced domestic abuse, the impacts of which have been exacerbated by the pandemic and lockdowns [20]. Pre-existing gender inequities prior to the pandemic mean that most gender-based violence, including domestic abuse and rape, is overwhelmingly experienced by women and perpetrated by men. Gender inequities do not begin in adulthood, with the mental wellbeing of girls declining much steeper than that of boys as discussed in the school age section below [5]. Early evidence suggests that women are more likely to experience long-term impacts of COVID infection (“long-COVID”), and so it is likely that new mental health impacts of the pandemic are likely to disproportionately affect women in the long-term.