Working Woman
Workplaces are designed to be spaces of productivity and growth, but do they come with different costs for different people?
Work isn’t just about what you earn, it’s also about what you spend. From personal upkeep to workplace expectations, employees navigate different costs, both financial and social.
This report explores how factors like appearance expectations, menstruation, and workplace experiences intersect with gender and financial impact.
The Big Numbers
Here are the numbers broken down in this report to prepare you.
55% Men
45% Women
N200,000
Period Tax
The Cost of Menstruating at Work
Though the Finance Bill signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2020 exempted sanitary pads from Value Added Tax (VAT), it has hardly affected the product’s prices, increasing from an average of N450 in 2021 to N1,500 in 202.
~Premium Times Nigeria.
Workplaces often provide essentials like tea, coffee, and office supplies, but menstrual care remains less commonly addressed.
For employees who menstruate, managing period-related costs and symptoms can impact their work experience.
52%
reported missing work or an important engagement due to period-related symptoms.
80%
stated that their workplace does not provide any form of menstrual health support, such as access to sanitary products or menstrual leave policies.
While some organisations have introduced measures to support employees, challenges such as access to hygiene products, discomfort discussing menstrual health, and workplace stigma persist.
63%
expressed hesitancy in requesting time off for period-related illnesses
Beauty Tax
The Cost of Looking “Work-Ready”
Employees across genders feel pressure to maintain a certain appearance for professionalism, despite no strict workplace grooming standards.
Common Beauty Denominator between Genders
Hair, Skincare & Clothes
Median Cost of Beauty Maintenance
#20,000
The responses also show that women have much more to maintain in terms of beauty. On average, we saw four maintenance activities among them. Men on the other hand have an average of two maintenance activities.
Common Beauty Maintenance for Women
Hair, Skincare, Clothes & Nails
Common Beauty Maintenance for Men
Hair & Skincare
Bias Tax
The Cost of Navigating Workplace Sexism
Beyond salaries and promotions, certain workplace dynamics influence career progression, daily interactions, and overall job satisfaction.
Our survey explored these aspects, including tasks often referred to as “office housework” and experiences related to workplace harassment.
Office housework refers to all the small, often unnoticed tasks that keep a workplace running smoothly but don’t necessarily lead to career growth.
68%
of female participants reported being assigned or expected to take on office administrative tasks outside their job role, compared to 49% of male participants.
65%
of women claimed they have had to consciously alter their appearance at work to avoid unwanted attention or harassment at work while, 49% of male counterparts have had to do the same.
Although 70% of male participants say they feel comfortable reporting harassment or discrimination in the workplace,
55% of women also feel comfortable reporting harassment
26% of women feel a level of comfort but heavily fear consequences.
Accelerating Action: What Comes Next
Awareness without action changes nothing. While many organisations champion workplace equity on paper, the reality remains that outdated norms, unspoken biases, and policy gaps continue to hold women back, often in ways that don’t make it to performance reviews or leadership discussions.
If companies are serious about progress, it’s time to move beyond performative efforts and take tangible steps that drive real change:
Dismantle the “Professionalism” Tax: If an employee’s competence is judged by their work, not their wardrobe, then companies must ensure grooming expectations are fair, reasonable, and not disproportionately burdensome.
Normalise Menstrual Health Support: Periods aren’t a personal inconvenience; they’re a biological reality. Workplaces that fail to acknowledge this, whether through flexible policies, menstrual leave, or even basic sanitary product availability, are choosing to ignore a fundamental aspect of employee well-being. It’s not a favour; it’s a necessity.
End the Era of Unpaid Office Labour: If it’s important enough to be done, it’s important enough to be fairly assigned. Women are disproportionately expected to handle these duties, subtly steering them away from leadership opportunities. Organisations must actively dismantle these invisible barriers by ensuring task allocation is based on role, not gender.
Fix Reporting, Not Just Policies: Having a harassment or discrimination policy is the bare minimum. The real question is: do women trust it enough to use it? If women fear retaliation or dismissal, the policy isn’t working. Companies must create a culture where reporting is met with action, not silence or career consequences.
The reality is that equity in the workplace doesn’t just happen because a company wants it to, it happens when organisations are willing to confront the uncomfortable truths that keep women at a disadvantage. To truly accelerate action, workplaces must move from acknowledgment to accountability.