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Become an Employer of Choice: Prioritizing Women’s Health in Global Benefits Design

Women make up a large part of our workforce and are lagging behind in some health outcomes. To address this equity issue, employers should address the variety of wellness needs of women through various programs and benefits.

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December 07, 2022

Prioritizing Women’s Health in Global Benefits Design
Women make up a large part of our workforce and are lagging behind in some health outcomes. To address this equity issue, employers should address the variety of wellness needs of women through various programs and benefits.
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A lack of women’s health equity is a lack of equity. Around the world, everyone deserves a fair and just opportunity to achieve, attain and realize their highest quality of health and well-being. To achieve this, employers should develop and maintain comprehensive global benefit designs and inclusive workplace cultures that address the variety of wellness needs of women.

With unique health risks and life experiences, women’s diverse needs should be holistically considered to fully unlock your workplace’s potential. These demands are inclusive of but broader than maternal and reproductive care, and include recognition of work/life demands, mental well-being and preventive health.

With impending and cyclical economic uncertainty, it is important for employers to establish a judicious benefits structure to reinforce diversity and inclusion, address global consistency and shine a light on an employers’ commitment to equity as well as continue to evaluate their program engagement and efficiency. Even though 50% of the world’s population is women, accounting for 80% of consumer health care purchasing decisions, women’s health has traditionally been considered a “niche” market. Yet, one’s gender significantly influences disease prevention, screening capabilities, diagnosis, and treatment. For example, general health conditions impact women differently (i.e., with cardiovascular disease women experience a greater delay in emergency response times and diagnosis compared to men) and disproportionately (i.e., autoimmune disease, migraines and osteoporosis are more prevalent among women compared to men). 1,2,3,4

This guide discusses the contributing factors to women’s health disparities and gives employer recommendations on how to strengthen their overall value proposition. This can be accomplished by unlocking opportunities for women to reach their greatest potential through strengthening preventive health, attention to mental health, work/life and family balance, maternal care and reproductive care.

Key Global Trends in Health Outcomes for Women

The Hologic Global Women’s Health Index shows that most countries where overall health outcomes received the highest scores across health areas like preventive care and emotional health were in high-income countries such as Germany and Switzerland, with the highest being in Taiwan. It was notable that countries and territories that spent more per capita on health care earned higher scores for better health care outcomes for women (except for the United States).

Health outcomes were the lowest in low-income countries, with the poorest outcomes being in Afghanistan. Countries with the lowest health scores were categorized as sharing a “weak or destabilized infrastructure for health care.” Poor or superior health outcomes for women is closely associated with the economy and the health system structure of a particular country.5


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Resource icon_right_chevron_dark Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) icon_right_chevron_dark Health Equity icon_right_chevron_dark Plan Design & Administration icon_right_chevron_dark
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