The cost of being a woman and being employed

You know that feeling when you go to an ATM to withdraw money and it says it will charge you? That disbelief. It’s almost insulting. ‘Hang on a minute, you want to charge me to give me my money?! My hard earned money that I slaved over? I don’t think so’.

Well, this is how I feel about going to work, or more precisely the cost of going to work.

That’s right, I have to spend money to get to work to earn money.

Here is the breakdown:

1. Commuting — £148 per month in train and bus passes (this doesn’t include the occasional Uber I need to grab when a train gets cancelled and I need to make it to the office in time for a meeting). More than that though, it takes me around 2 hours to get to work and another 2 to get back making my commute infinitely expensive in terms of time of my life wasted.
2. Food — £5 daily for lunch and coffee (sometimes I bring lunch in but other times I end up drinking more coffee so let’s say it’s £5 a day on average). £5 x 20 = £100
3. Grooming and upkeep — I always imagine people who work from the comfort of their own home to just drag themselves to the kitchen table still in their pyjamas and just crack on. I know that’s what I’d do. Unlike them however, I can’t turn up for work in my onesie. I have to make an effort to look like I’ve made an effort. Blame it on corporate culture, the patriarchy or my own expectation of what I should look like when going to work, but it all adds up to a grand total of about £80. I work in a somewhat formally-dressed office which means I have to stay on top of things like nails, eyebrows, womstache (that upper lip peach fuzz that keeps coming back no matter how much I wax it), hair colour etc. Throw in the mix buying a new skirt or a new pair of shoes every now and then because god forbid I show up in the same outfit one too many times.

This adds up to £328 per month for me to turn up to work looking somewhat decent. And I am one of the lucky ones! I know people who have to pay double what I pay to get to work alone. I don’t have to pay for childcare which as far as I am aware is ridiculously expensive, so yeah, I do count my blessings.

Nevertheless, am I the only one who finds it ridiculous that I have to pay in the hundreds to afford the luxury to go to work?

Don’t get me wrong. I know I am incredibly lucky to be in the position that I am in. I am lucky to be employed and to do a job that I enjoy. I just didn’t realise it costs me quite that much to be employed.