Why is a King worth more than a Queen?

If 2018 Was the Year of the Woman, Where Are We Now in 2025?

Why is a King worth more than a Queen?

Updated in June 2025

From gender pay gaps and post-COVID setbacks to unchecked violence and £1,500-a-month childcare, here’s why the so-called’ Year of the Woman’ never really arrived—and what we still need to fight for in 2025.

In 2018, I wrote one of my first articles on gender inequality. It called out the pay gap, the pink pill problem, and the smug little tagline we all got fed that year: “It’s the year of the woman!”

Fast forward to 2025. Seven years, two kids, a crumbling childcare system, a recession, and a rights rollback later, and here I am, asking the same question I did back then—but louder:

If this is progress, why does it still feel like we’re living in a low-budget prequel to The Handmaid’s Tale—but with better coffee and worse childcare?

Equal Pay? Still a PR Strategy, Not a Promise.

Let’s revisit The Crown scandal from 2018—Claire Foy played the actual Queen and still earned less than her on-screen husband. Why? Apparently, Matt Smith had a “stronger CV.” Right.

Back then, Mark Wahlberg was the highest-paid actor at $68 million. Emma Stone, top of the women’s list, made just $26 million. That’s not a gap—it’s a canyon.

Here’s what’s changed since then: not much.

• In the UK, the gender pay gap actually widened in 2023, hitting 14.3% for full-time workers (ONS 2023).
• Women are five times more likely than men to work part-time (Fawcett Society).
• The “motherhood penalty” can cost women up to £70,000 in lost lifetime earnings (Institute for Fiscal Studies).

COVID: A Convenient Distraction from Progress

In 2020, the UK government quietly suspended mandatory gender pay gap reporting (UK Gov Equality Office). Thousands of companies stopped publishing the numbers. No penalties, no questions asked. And when reporting resumed, many returned half-hearted, with furlough data missing and explanations full of fluff.

Meanwhile:

• Women bore 60% or more of unpaid childcare during lockdowns (ONS, 2020).
• Female-dominated industries were hit hardest—retail, hospitality, and early education.
• Domestic violence surged. Calls to helplines spiked by 65% (Refuge), while access to refuge spaces decreased.

We were told to be “resilient.” But resilience is just another way of saying: keep going with the foot still on your neck.

The Violence That Keeps Women Quiet

• In the UK, 1 woman is killed by a man every three days (Femicide Census).
• More than 2 million women experience domestic abuse annually (ONS 2023).
• 97% of young women say they’ve experienced sexual harassment (UN Women UK).
• The conviction rate for rape in England and Wales is under 2% (CPS).

Violence is not a glitch. It’s the glue. It keeps women too busy, too frightened, too cautious to fight. It is the infrastructure of inequality.

Gender Pay Gap Reports: All Optics, No Outcomes

Since 2017, companies have been required to report on their gender pay gaps. But in 2025? There are still no penalties for failing to address them. Many reports are hidden deep on corporate sites, padded with buzzwords and minimal action plans (Fawcett Society).

It’s optics, not obligation.

Can’t Afford to Work, Can’t Afford Not To

Childcare in the UK remains among the most expensive in the world, costing up to 66% of the average second salary (OECD).

• 1 in 4 UK mums delay returning to work due to costs (Pregnant Then Screwed).
• Flexibility is often perceived as a sign of “lack of ambition” by many employers.
• The childcare sector itself is underfunded, short-staffed, and undervalued.

We’re told to lean in—but there’s no one catching us when we fall.

Women’s Health: The System Still Doesn’t See Us

• Only 2.1% of global healthcare R&D is focused on female-specific conditions (BMJ).
• It takes an average of 8 years to diagnose endometriosis (Endometriosis UK).
• NHS waiting lists for women’s health clinics now exceed 12 months.
• AI diagnostics are less accurate for women due to biased data training (The Lancet).

We’re not being dramatic. We’re being dismissed.

So… Why Is a King Still Worth More Than a Queen?

Whether it’s money, health, safety, or autonomy—we’re still being told to wait our turn.

The “Year of the Woman” was nothing more than a caption campaign. The policies didn’t follow. The structures didn’t change. The data didn’t lie.

Meanwhile, we’ve been busy moving mountains—with toddlers on our hips and trauma in our inboxes.

The Bottom Line? Act, Don’t Applaud

Don’t tell us it’s the year of the woman. Show us.

• Equal pay, with teeth.
• Childcare that doesn’t cost a mortgage.
• Real support for reproductive and mental health.
• Safety that doesn’t rely on what we wear or where we walk.

“If 2018 was the year of the woman—lucky us. It only took 2,018 years, and we’re still waiting on hold.”

Want change?

📌 Ask your workplace for their pay gap data.

📌 Support women-led orgs like @PregnantThenScrewed and @FawcettSociety.

📌 Stop applauding awareness and start demanding action.

About the Author

Abbie Coleman is the founder of MMB Magazine and Ey-Up Duck, platforms amplifying the voices of working mums across the UK. She writes on gender equity, family policy, and the real-life chaos of motherhood and modern work attempts against one opponent!”

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