BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

3 Simple Insights Melinda Gates Shared At The Moment Of Lift Book Talk In London

Following
This article is more than 4 years old.

Photo by Author

Studies continue to show that when you lift a woman up, she has the power to change entire communities around her.

From the International Monetary Fund, through to the United Nations and the World Bank, research shows that greater gender equality brings greater economic growth—in developing and developed nations.

The topic is close to the heart of Melinda Gates’ whose book tour talk in London, July 17, sold out within 48 hours.

Her first book, The Moment of Lift, released April 23, shares lessons and stories she’s learnt from the people she’s met during her work and travels, presenting the issues that most need attention and showing “how empowering women changes the world.”

After touring the U.S., starting in New York City, April 24, with an event hosted by Brene Brown, and being interviewed by the likes of David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey, it’s clear people want to hear what she has to say.

Giving women a full voice empowers everybody

At Gates’ London talk, she said the chapter that has resonated most at all her events is the one on unpaid work.

UN Women, the United Nations’ entity dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment, suggests unpaid work – from cooking to cleaning and childcare–is essential for households and economies to run yet it is not being valued.

The Office for National Statistics in the U.K. estimated the value of this unpaid work to be close to £19,000 per person in 2016 (approximately $23,500). Gates said daily in the U.K., women work 100 minutes of unpaid labor more than men, and in the U.S. it’s 90 minutes. On average, over a lifetime, that’s about seven years more unpaid work than men.

Gates’ said it’s important to start shifting the dynamic at home first because that then extends to the wider community: “When a woman has her full voice and decision-making authority, she empowers everybody around her.” And, as she shares in the book, “for women who spend all their hours doing unpaid work, the chores of the day kill the dreams of a lifetime.”

One study by PricewaterhouseCoopers for OECD nations showed that improving female participation in work alone could boost OECD GDP by approximately £4.8 trillion ($6 trillion).

Role modeling what you expect for others

Gates shared part of the reason for writing this book was because she felt there’s a need for more women role models. Suggesting for other women to be “lifted,” they need to see more examples of what is possible.

While many of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s projects focus on global development issues, Gates’ also said there are many changes that can happen at a local level. From shifting how you approach things in your own home, recognizing the work at home as actual work, and asking for what you need, you’re able to role model what is expected for others.

She shared a story of being clear with her own family about not always being the one remaining in the kitchen after dinner to clean up. A simple, yet relatable, example of how automatic some of these patterns of behavior are. The more examples there are of women being more valued, at home and at the workplace, the easier it is for others to make the changes too.

Small changes make all the difference

Whilst The Moment of Lift covers core topics that have been central to the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundations work for over two decades—from empowering mothers, to family planning, girls in school, child marriage, women in the workplace—Gates closed her London talk by saying that the primary message she wants everyone to take home is that one person can make a difference in someone else’s life. Saying that small behavior changes really can make an impact globally.

Photo by Author

Whether that comes from supporting a program that reaches women in low-income countries, or it’s calling out someone’s behavior in the workplace, every one of these moments lifts other women up.

Check out my website