In our most recent survey done in partnership with YouGov, we found that just 54% of women rate their wellbeing as "good," compared to 63% of men, indicating a notable disparity. But why are women still losing in the workplace? We hosted a conversation with some lovely, leading women to dive into the topic, and unveil the data we collected in YuLife's first-ever 2025 Wellbeing Trends Report. You'll learn:Women’s health trends and priorities for employees How to build a future-proof workplace that prioritises women’s healthIndustry expert opinions on how to implement women’s health strategies4 ways to better support women’s wellbeing at work in 2025.In our most recent survey done in partnership with YouGov, we discovered a huge wellbeing gap in the workplace—with just 54% of women rate their wellbeing at work as “good”, compared with 65% of men. But the numbers don’t stop there. There are many needs and interests on the benefits and workplace culture front that women are looking for, but can’t seem to find. As a result, 2 in 10 women reported they will likely leave their jobs this year, and 4 in 10 women want paid wellness days from their employers.Workplaces are still falling short of supporting women’s wellbeing in the workplace compared with men’s experiences. So what’s this solution?We brought together some leading voices in the space for an engaging discussion about how workplaces can start to prioritise and support women better in the workplace—no matter the industry. We spoke with former medical doctor and Founder & CEO of Bloomful, Dr. Dupe Burgess, Head of People Clothing and Home, Marks & Spencers, Hayley Standen, and Founder of The HR Big Meet, Emma Djemil. From this conversation, we rounded up the top 4 things you can implement today to help support women’s wellbeing in the workplace. 1. Flexible working shouldn’t be a perk.Flexible working has become a valued benefit by many candidates when searching for new jobs. But in reality, for women to truly have an equitable wellbeing experience in the workplace, flexibility should already be a given. Especially when women are naturally “taking the brunt of the caregiving,” expressed Dr. Dupe. “It literally requires flexible working in order for women to do their work. And so I find it kind of crazy that we’re still in a world where flexible working is a concession or an ‘added extra’. “We need to shift completely into flexible working being an integral part — a culturally-designed part — of everyday working life in all workplaces as an option. Because we will never achieve equity if we’re treating it as a ‘nice to have’ rather than a ‘have to have’.” In order to build equity, women need to have the option of flexible work — even if it’s simply allowing the fact that their bodies work on hormonal cycles of 28 days, compared to men’s which are 24 hours. Hayley also chimed in on the discussion of flexible workplace cultures and organiations that truly embody work-life balance for their employees. “Where I’ve seen work-life balance work brilliantly is, in very big organisations with like 300,000 people is where the senior leadership teams have asked for a workshop on resilience,” she says. “What’s then organically come out of that, is where leadership teams have then been very open about some of the struggles and strains that they’ve got and juggling life. We all have it. Regardless of your gender or set-up. Whether you’re a parent, or whether you are a caregiver where you have dependents or pets, you know there is a lot of strain. And that then really changed the culture significantly.” Because no matter who you are or your life situation, there are always struggles. The more open and accommodating you are about this unknown is where your employees—and especially your female employees—can truly thrive. 2. Build internal support networksWe all need the support of a community—even if it’s simply to validate our feelings. Especially with women often having to juggle many facets of life, especially if kids are involved, it truly does take a village. “Something that orgnisations can do is create communities where women can come together and talk about their experiences,” Emma points out. “I know through my own experience of now being a member of several communities and creating one of my own, when you start talking about the challenges you are having and being really honest about them, people go ‘yeah…I’m really struggling with that too.’ And you almost don’t need to internalise that it’s something wrong with you because you’re not managing to spin all the plates.” This could be as simple as having a group chat in the company Slack channel for women to connect on common experiences and challenges. While it’s vital for workplaces to support women in this way, build safe spaces to talk and allow for flexibility to support women who are in challenging positions, at the same time, it’s vital for women to feel like they have the space and positive relationships with those around them to simply ask for help. “I think also on a personal level, we have a responsibility to use our support network,” notes Hayley. “Whether that’s your partner, your parents or friends and family. I think we still take on a lot and feel we need to do all those things on our own. I couldn’t do what I do without my husband, point blank. But there have been periods of my life where I’m still trying to organise ‘World Book Day’ I’m still trying to book all the clubs, I’m still doing the school lunches—and it was quite hard for me to sort of say to him ‘actually, I need you to pick up ordering the school meals. Just take that off my agenda’. It was quite a hard conversation to have, I’m not sure why. But he’s embraced it.”We can’t do it alone, and we have to learn how to speak up and ask for help because if we don’t—we become our own biggest blocker. 3. Prioritise mental health in the workplaceIn recent years, mental health has taken a front seat in organisation’s list of priorities for attraction, retention and overall business success. And it’s even more vital to focus on when building an equitable and diverse workforce. “Mental health is an interesting one because it really does permeate so many different elements of a woman’s wellbeing experience,” explains Dr. Dupe. “If you look at actual women’s health conditions, or conditions that affect women only, most of those conditions, have mental health as a very close association. For example, chronic pelvic pain due to endometriosis is very much associated with depression. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, which 20% of us are walking around with whether we know it or not, one of the symptoms is low mood. Perimenopause and menopause—we know that obviously hormone fluctuations, women often feel anxious or depressed.”Even the simple daily juggle of life, motherhood or returning to work from maternity leave—even if you have none of the above conditions—it still puts women at massive risk for mental and emotional strain. “I think it’s very important to understand that if we are to change the culture around mental health, we need to move from sort of tick box exercises to really understanding how to implement strategies that work for women.” 4. Redefine metrics of successAnd last but not least, a key element to prioritising women in the workplace and building equity is redefining the metrics we use to measure success. Everybody is at different stages with different life circumstances and taking those into account is vital when acknowledging success. Not everyone can show face at meetings—especially women who are juggling motherhood. Maybe they can only call in to listen because they’re feeding their kids or grabbing them from school. Maybe they have a few extra hours blocked off in the afternoon or can’t be in-office everyday for necessary appointments if they’re pregnant or managing complex issues like PCOS or Menopause. What’s important is that equitable performance metrics are being used on each individual, taking into account their unique needs. “How we define success within organisations really helps with that work-life balance too, because being present doesn’t mean necessarily that you’re being successful,” Emma explains. “And that tends to be how we evaluate: if I can see someone that must mean that they’re doing a really good job. I think if we as organisations can shift our mindset to actually: you don’t need to be here all the time. I work really well at night— I’m self-employed by choice because I wanted to leave the workplace to be able to have my family—but within organisations, you’re stifled to being able to do things like that. So the more we can shift our perspectives on: what does success look like? How can we help people manage their work whilst also managing the fact that they’re people outside of work too, would be a positive step.” Especially with women being more prone to caregiving roles, having performance-based metrics that rely on visibility is, as Dr. Dupe pointed out, biased against women’s real experience in work and life. These are only a few examples of things you can begin to prioritise to bring women’s health and wellbeing to the forefront of your decision-making for workplace strategies in 2025. But it’s also vital to know what they’re thinking today. And in our research, we found that the top 3 reasons women say they will leave their workplace in 2025 is because of poor pay, toxic workpace culture and poor workplace balance. As we continue into this year and beyond, it’s vital to address the wellbeing gap women experience, and truly understand what they need in the workplace. As a place to start, we found that the top 3 wellbeing goals women listed out for 2025 were physical health, financial wellness, and mental health.If you can work these key elements into your workplace strategy this year, you’ll be taking vital steps to build a more diverse, equitable and powerful workforce.About YuLifeYuLife is working to reimagine the insurance industry by protecting lives, rewarding living and inspiring life. We’re on a mission to transform traditional insurance into a life-enhancing experience each employee will value and use daily. How does it work?Our award-winning app uses behavioural science and game mechanics to reward your people for living well while offering protection in case of crisis. And with our top-rated employee assistance programme, your team gets access to mental, financial and social support, virtual GPs, nutritionists, life coaches and more to help them live their best lives.Because we believe that your employees should benefit from their insurance from day one — and that wellbeing should be accessible every day, for everyone.Request a demo for your team today.