02/06/2026
Nobody talks about the hidden cost of looking for work.
Not the emotional cost.
Not the financial one.
Women in our 2025 Unemployment Index told us they were cutting back on food, going without heating, and taking on debt just to keep applying for jobs. Travel to interviews. Childcare. Broadband for online assessments. Hours of unpaid work for presentations and tasks that lead nowhere.
This is the hidden tax of unemployment. And it falls hardest on the women who can least afford it.
63% of women told us the job search process left them less confident than when they started.
The system isn’t just failing women economically. It’s eroding confidence, one unanswered application at a time.
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