It’s Time to Address How Health Issues Impact Women at Work

One aspect of women’s lives we don't talk about enough is how health issues impact them at work.

Women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health than men do, and that gap is concentrated in midlife, during their prime working years. At the same time that women are striving to provide for themselves and their families and advance in their careers, many are also quietly managing conditions that may ultimately lead them to reduce their hours, turn down opportunities, or even leave the workforce altogether.

Even though we don’t always see the daily toll these health battles are taking on the women around us, we feel the ripple effects across our families, our communities, and our economy. What’s long been treated as a personal struggle is, in reality, a structural one.

So what would it take to close the health gap and better support women in reaching their full potential at work and beyond?

In this conversation, Melinda French Gates sits down with Regina Dugan, the founder & CEO of Wellcome Leap, and Jessi Hempel, senior editor at large at LinkedIn, to tackle that question. They dig into the data, tell some of the stories behind the statistics, and offer ideas about a path to a healthier, better future for everyone.