Levels of stress, anxiety, worry, sadness and anger among women worldwide are at a 10-year high, according to a new report.
In one of the largest studies on women’s well-being, analytics firm Gallup and medical tech company Hologic, Inc. teamed up to survey over 66,000 women in 122 countries around the world.
Study authors found 43% of respondents said they experienced worry in 2021, 41% reported feeling stress, 32% reported feeling sadness, and 26% reported feeling anger.
Compared to 2020, worry, stress and anger among women rose by 3%, while sadness rose by 6%, which are all record highs since the Gallup World Poll began tracking emotional health a decade ago.
“The lack of progress and, in some cases, backward momentum justify an even louder wake-up call for world leaders to do more for women, whose well-being underpins the health of families, communities, societies and economies,” said Hologic president and CEO Steve MacMillan.
Study authors also found the gender gap in emotional health between men and women had widened within the past year, as 39% of men report feeling worry, 39% stress, 26% sadness, and 21% anger.
Mental health experts say the report shows how women have disproportionately shouldered the emotional burden of the pandemic as many families faced job insecurity, unstable housing, and interruptions to medical and childcare services.
“A lot of that has to do with traditional roles in terms of caregiving and responsibility for making sure that children…
