It was a pleasure to volunteer for Bristol Women’s Voice’s 2026 International Women’s Day event held on 7 March at City Hall. It was wonderful to see a mix of people, young and old, all keen to learn, observe and participate. At times, International Women’s Day can feel a little symbolic, so it was refreshing to attend an in-person event celebrating the contributions of Bristolian women, from the food stalls to the workshops and the panel sessions. I graduated in 2025, and I have missed getting myself involved in community and social impact work and the sense of fulfillment it brings. 

As a former student of philosophy, politics, and economics, I was doubly excited to be allocated to manage the ‘Inclusive growth: building economies that work for women’ panel talk. The panel comprised an engaging balance of perspectives from academia, finance and government: Dr Ruth Badru (an associate professor in Economics at the University of Bristol), Samah Krichah (head of Training and Learning at The Women’s Budget Group), Kathryn Delve (Business Development Manager at Westcountry Savings and Loans), Councillor Heather Mack (Green Party politician and Deputy Leader of Bristol City Council) and Helen Godwin (Mayor of the West of England). 

The talk was chaired by Sue Cohen (co-chair of the Economy Task Group at West of England Women’s Commission). Her opening statement invited the audience to question how economic growth, a priority often unquestionably heralded by every government and society, will benefit women, particularly the most marginalised. She highlighted that the sectors expected to see the most investment and thus growth in the coming years are characteristically “male”: construction and the trades, tech, engineering, advanced manufacturing and defence are all mentioned as part of the eight target industries in the UK government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, which will see £20.4 billion invested in 2025/26 and then a further £22.6 billion in 2029/30. 

It is pretty concerning that the ‘everyday economy’ of health, education, retail, and care has been neglected by this strategy. These sectors are vital not only for the functioning of society but for their flexibility and favourability for women, especially those balancing caring commitments. Samah Krichah emphasised how women perform 60% more unpaid care than men; Dr Badru also reflected on how women generally participate in less ‘productive labour’ than men. Productive labour, in the economic sense, refers to work that is paid and produces tangible goods or services. The care work that women are engaged in at home, of children and the elderly, is not traditionally included under the umbrella of productive labour. According to Dr Badru, this means that we typically lose around £100 billion due to the barriers that women face in participating in the traditional paid workforce. 

This is hardly breaking news. Culturally, in the UK and many other countries, it has been normalised for women to take on an invisible care burden that is not economically recognised or rewarded. For centuries, women have had to adapt their lives and needs around the labour market rather than the other way around. One audience member alluded to this, stating that the competitive and cutthroat nature of a majority of corporate work feels discordant with the skills that women tend to bring, such as empathy and cooperation. She highlighted how instead of adapting the structure of these organisations to suit women (and many men who may possess these archetypal feminine traits), we have pointed to women’s lack thereof and asked them to mould themselves to fit these environments. 

The talk also highlighted another crucial barrier for women benefitting from economic growth, which was information asymmetry when it comes to women’s financial literacy. Dr Badru provided an anecdote from one of her first-year economics lectures, where she would ask the lecture hall to raise their hand if they invested in the stock market. She said that most of the time, the majority of male students would raise their hands but normally only one female student would raise theirs. 

As a young woman who started investing in the stock market last year, I have also found that navigating this field can feel a little boring and isolating as a lot of financial education and media is targeted towards a male demographic — though this is changing, with the rise of podcasts such as Sim Kaur’s ‘Friends That Invest’. Men are largely socialised to build up their status and wealth and are generally less risk-averse than women, so it is unsurprising that most of this media is targeted at men. If I am being completely honest, had I not studied economics or been around men who were interested in investing and urged me to do it myself, I also don’t know if I would care to learn about compound interest or diversifying my stock portfolio. 

On this barrier, it was insightful to hear Kathryn Delve discuss the work that Westcountry Savings and Loans do to protect women, whether those with less financial literacy, low credit scores or in low-paid, vulnerable work. They are a grassroots, ethical credit union; she reported that 70% of their borrowers are women, many of whom are low-income and between the ages of 30 and 45. The union ensures that borrowers are able to afford the money they are borrowing and encourages women to save, preventing them from turning to predatory loan sharks and high-interest payments. 

The talk ultimately returned to Helen Godwin’s point that economic growth can feel intangible if it is not being used to improve the lives of all. Councillor Heather Mack echoed this, humorously stating that she considers herself ‘growth agnostic’ and that the creator of GDP as a measure famously remarked that it cannot be used to infer the welfare of a nation. She argued that we instead need to focus more on the inclusivity and locality of economies; in other words, making the economy work for and benefit all groups, regardless of social grouping or geography. 

Both politicians on the panel reinforced the importance of free and universal childcare as being indispensable to help women who want to engage in the workforce. Godwin mentioned the advantage that the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) has as being the only combined authority allowed to invest directly into childcare, placing the body in a position of great power. Councillor Mack added that the regeneration project ongoing in Bristol’s Temple Quarter, as well as devolution initiatives in the wider South West, are key opportunities for more equitable economic growth. 

I believe it is also very important that this issue isn’t framed as a ‘women versus men’ problem; the panel reflected on how currently in the UK only 1% of men decide to opt for shared parental leave. This is an arrangement where parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay to care for their child. The fact that so small a proportion of men decide to take up this arrangement makes me wonder if there is an opposing invisible burden that men face to value paid work above everything else, demonstrating that this is an issue that affects men too. 

Listening to the panel and the audience discussion made me realise that this was the first time I’d actually seen and experienced women in a room together speaking about this issue in real time and how it has affected them on an individual level. You can read and watch about social and economic problems that people face, but it is a lot more stark to make eye contact with people and hear out their personal train of thought and the frustration in their voice. It has prompted me to be a part of more of these conversations going forward and encourage others to do the same.