Worryingly, the issues deepen across intersectional lines. Two-thirds of women of colour feel their ethnicity means they face unique challenges or barriers in achieving work-life balance. And more than half of queer women (ie more than heterosexual women) say that a lack of work-life balance has negatively affected their personal relationships.

Two-fifths of women of colour (41%) don’t feel their work allows for a healthy integration of personal and professional life, compared to a third (31%) of white women. A lack of control makes things worse; over half of women of colour said there was a lack of representation or inclusion in decision-making processes.

What could help? A common recommendation from the women surveyed was offering mentorships, coaching or sponsorship programmes specifically for women of colour. Beyond this, it’s very often a cultural change that’s needed: workplaces need to create safe spaces for women to speak up when their workload is becoming too much, and provide systems to prevent overwhelm and burnout. Awareness of how other factors can worsen work/life balance issues is vital, too.

Most women feel overwhelmed by their workload, and it’s damaging our mental health