Why We Need International Women's Day

March 7, 2026

March 8th is International Women's Day (IWD)

It's something that we bang on about every single year. We always make a big fuss because we are an all-female team, surrounded by female-founders who are total girl- bossing their way through life and creating the most awesome products.

Usually we focus on the more positive side of things, taking the opportunity to celebrate the sisterhood and shout about brilliant women. We sometimes share pretty free downloadable prints with empowering messages, we always share our favourite woman-owned small businesses, and we have been known to send out limited edition greetings cards to our favourite female founders. You can read about our favourite female-run businesses of 2026 here.

Now, that's all fine and dandy, but there is a more serious and very important point to IWD. It has felt a bit like the elephant in the room the last few years, so I wanted to share why IWD means so much to us.

Every time I share about International Women's Day, I am guaranteed to receive at least 3 messages from disgruntled men who want to know when they get a special day. I have always laughed it off in the past, stating that International Men's Day is 19th November (which it is, BTW, and it is all about awareness of issues that men face - we'll talk more about this in November, but today is all about the girlies).

There's always a bit of a gritted-teeth whilst putting on a polite smile vibe when I type those replies, wishing I had the guts to explain exactly why IWD is necessary. Perhaps it's because I'm in my 40s now and have finally reached peak "I don't care if what I say makes you uncomfortable" age, but I'm bored of being a demure, quiet, compliant, gracious girly while the statistics continue to show a blatant inequality between genders.

I feel like 2026 is the year I step more into my power and start telling it as it is.

And I find it heart-breaking that there even needs to be an IWD.

It is NOT OK that, in 2026:

There is a gender pay gap of 12.8%.
37% of working women are in part-time roles, compared to 14% of men.
Women with learning disabilities have a life expectancy 23 years shorter than the general population.
Women in the UK spend significantly more time on domestic and care work, with studies showing an average of 12 hours weekly compared to 7 hours for men.
Just 20% of businesses are female-led.
UNESCO estimates that approximately 129 million girls are out of school worldwide.
Only 3 in 10 managerial positions globally are held by women
As of early 2025, women held top executive leadership positions in roughly 25-29 countries, representing less than 10% of global heads of state/government
At current rates, gender equality in top government positions will not be reached for another 130 years.

It's Not All Bad News...

The gender pension gap in the EU has narrowed by 8 percentage points since 2015.
Globally, more girls are completing school than ever before.
In the five years leading up to 2025, nearly 100 legal reforms were passed to break down discrimination against women
The 2026–2030 Gender Equality Strategy aims to further strengthen data on violence against women and address gender gaps in the green and digital transitions.

This is exactly why we need an International Women's Day, and why we will keep banging this drum. You can find out more about International Women's Day here.