Rest is a radical act. When you consider that this year’s International Women’s Day 2021 also marks the return of schools to full capacity across England, it's a particularly poignant moment. It is one being recognised by the women on this year’s Creative Equal’s CreativeComeback course, supported by Diageo. The team immediately realised that March 8th, 2021 will leave many working mothers across the industry equal parts exhausted and exhilarated.

Therefore at 11am today Creative Equals and the CreativeComeback returners are asking the industry to #TakeAPause and consider the long-term impact of the pandemic on gender equality in their businesses and their gender pay gap. To support the campaign Creative Equals and the CreativeComeback team are asking supporters to put a dedicated Out of the (home) Office for International Women’s Day, to switch your email auto-response on. The email, which takes inspiration from the Women’s Equality Party’s successful out of office campaign, highlights the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus crisis on women.

The team are calling on the industry to support the Out of Office message and share on social what you are doing to reclaim your time, while reflecting on those with their career ‘on pause’ using the hashtag #TakeAPause. You can find the full email at the end of this article.

Collaboration for change

The campaign is in collaboration with other women’s groups, including Bloom, DAWN and Digital Leading Ladies, who are asking individuals and organisations across the industry to #TakeAPause to stop the industry from sleepwalking into the biggest threat to gender equality in our generation. 

Research by UN Women shows that, since the outbreak of the coronavirus, women in the UK are doing on average 30 hours of childcare a week, compared with 24 hours by men, a figure lower than the 26 hours women were doing pre-pandemic. While research from McKinsey and LeanIn.org reveals that a quarter of working women are currently considering scaling back their career ambitions or leaving the workforce entirely. Behind these data points are human stories too, of women who have been pushed to their absolute breaking point, who feel they have failed or that they are not enough.

Women at breaking point

Women’s mental health is suffering. As reported by non-profit international aid organisation CARE, 27% of women had reported increases in challenges in relation to mental illness. This compared to 10% of men. The report identified that due to the fact that unpaid labour in the home had increased exponentially in many cases this had led to stress, worries about food, work and health care.

As reported in The Guardian, a survey of nearly 20,000 mothers and pregnant women carried out by Pregnant Then Screwed found that 15% of them had been made redundant, or expected to be. “This is a generational rollback,” says Founder Jolie Brearley. “15% of mothers leaving the workforce is enormous. It took us 20 years to increase maternal employment by just 9%.”

“Working mothers have also had an extra emotional burden to keep their children’s morale up. Many young teens have fallen prey to their own mental health disorders during lockdown, including OCD and eating disorders. Looking after their mental health as well as our own and our family’s has been exhausting,” explains Brearley.

Julieta Molina, a Senior Art Director and Branding and Conceptual Designer, was full of energy and ready to take on the world, having finished the CreativeComeback programme in 2020. Then the pandemic hit. “I tried to keep freelance work going but it proved quite difficult and stressful, even having very understanding clients, along with entertaining my two-year-old.” From attempting to conduct Zoom calls with a two-year-old using her as a human climbing frame, to carrying the domestic burden at home, like many women in the pandemic she has faced ever-decreasing corners of her life in which she can work and be creative.

“Come 11pm, I would still be working. It’s been tough. I feel I haven’t been able to concentrate on advancing my career,” she adds. This is why she believes the campaign is so important: “We want to highlight the heavy weight women have been carrying on their shoulders and encourage you to #TakeAPause to see how we can readdress gender equality.”

Building back better  

The team behind the campaign hope that #TakeAPause creates space for a real consideration of how the industry can stem the tide of inequality. Many women across the industry have reached breaking point and the message to them is a simple, yet radical one: take a break. We know you are tired; we see you; we want to make this industry more supportive of you.

Yes, COVID-19 has been insanely tough on everyone, but recently, with 71% of furlough requests on the grounds of childcare refused by employers, mothers have been forced into an impossible situation of working and parenting. Given trends we have observed over the past few months, in a gender-regressive scenario in which no action is taken to counter these effects, it is estimated that global GDP growth could be $1 trillion lower in 2030 than it would be if women’s unemployment simply tracked that of men in each sector. It’s a state of play which makes taking action vital.

“We’re calling on all business leaders to #TakeAPause and consider how they will reset for equality. We’re asking all businesses to sign up to WACL’s #FlexibleFirst policy,’ explains Katya Crichton, Freelance Senior Art Director.

As the creative courage of the CreativeComeback crew underlines, the industry must take action to better support women in the workplace, or risk losing out on an entire generation of talent. Lizi Hamer, Creative Director, Octagon, explains: “It was great to work with the women who made this campaign. Seeing their passion for equality was contagiously inspiring.”

Ironically, the creative idea for this campaign was conceived by a group of women on the Creative Equals Returners Course whose own journeys back to work have been, would you believe it, forced to #TakeAPause. Here are their stories:

Kathrin Reid, Senior Conceptual Designer

“I often felt that my life had been forcibly put on hold”

Last March, I was on the verge of restarting my career. But then came the double whammy of the new jobs disappearing and suddenly having to branch out into home-schooling my children as well as taking on the majority of the day-to-day chores at home. I often felt that my, and other women's lives, had been forcibly put-on hold. And that is where the idea for the campaign grew from.  

Susie Gilmour, Writer

“It’s impossible to do your job”

As a writer, I was used to what I now realise is a luxury: time. Working on this campaign during the lockdown has shown me first-hand how virtually impossible it is to do your job when your ‘job’ is also teacher, cook, cleaner, dog walker, hairdresser, at the same time. All the time. So, it seemed about right that we all #TakeAPause.

Mind you, if I hear another suggestion of what you might like to do during the pandemic, 'now that you’ve got more time’, I think I might just throw in the towel, the dirty damp one that’s been lying on the floor since last Tuesday.

Martha Monk, Conceptual Creative

“I love my kids but take me away from them”

Behind a pair of big glasses, hides a woman who acts like she is 19, obsessed with colours, pretends to be Jamie Oliver occasionally on a Friday, can work with music and loud background noise, not a good teacher but a great entertainer, rated five stars by her family.

Serena Gossain, Senior Art Director

“The pressure and mental load on women has been intense”

Last year’s CreativeComeback event was such an incredible experience. It was like a hard reboot for me to work again more on creative projects. The pressure and mental load on women and especially mums has always been intense long before COVID. This past year highlighted again how much inequality there is. Agencies should recognise what we can bring and offer to the table in terms of sharing experiences that are relevant to their client consumer bases.