Pay Up

The Future of Women and Work (and Why It's Different Than You Think)

By: Reshma Saujani

Narrated by: Reshma Saujani

Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

The founder of Girls Who Code and bestselling author of Brave, Not Perfect confronts the “big lie” of corporate feminism and presents a bold plan to address the burnout and inequity harming America’s working women today.

We told women that to break glass ceilings and succeed in their careers, all they needed to do is dream big, raise their hands, and lean in. But data tells a different story. Historic numbers of women left their jobs in 2021, resulting in their lowest workforce participation since 1988. Women’s unemployment rose to nearly fifteen percent, and globally women lost over $800 billion in wages. Fifty-one percent of women say that their mental health has declined, while anxiety and depression rates have skyrocketed.

In this urgent and rousing call to arms, Reshma Saujani dismantles the myth of “having it all” and lifts the burden we place on individual women to be primary caregivers, and to work around a system built for and by men. The time has come, she argues, for innovative corporate leadership, government intervention, and sweeping culture shift; it’s time to Pay Up.

Through powerful data and personal narrative, Saujani shows that the cost of inaction—for families, for our nation’s economy, and for women themselves—is too great to ignore. She lays out four key steps for creating lasting change: empower working women, educate corporate leaders, revise our narratives about what it means to be successful, and advocate for policy reform.

Both a direct call to action for business leaders and a pragmatic set of tools for women themselves, Pay Up offers a bold vision for change as America defines the future of work.

©2022 Reshma Saujani. All rights reserved. (P)2022 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

You can’t unread this

This book reminds me of the matrix. If you want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes read this book, but be prepared to face the cold hard truth of striving to achieve your career goals and balance your family. I’m a full time single mom working in tech. I cried through so much of this book. It hits hard. Reshma doesn’t sugar coat anything, but makes an attempt to wrap the message in optimism and positivity.

BEST BOOK E.V.E.R!

Finally someone has seen me! Thank you for writing this book! I have shared this book with not only the men in my life but also my employer. I am in!

Should be required reading

Personally, the validation I felt reading this book was like I was in church. Using data and personal examples from around the world, she points out the individual, societal, and business impact of the inequity working mothers face. Whether you are male or female, or ever plan to have children, this book shows how recreating the working world to support working moms benefits every person, business and society.

Statistics that promote thought

I found this book to be very thought provoking, and alleviated that the author quoted statistics to make her points. We need to do more for working moms.

Run don’t walk

Incredible content. This is a flashlight on my own experience of burnout through COVID and articulated it in a way I never would have arrived at alone. To characterize the experience of working moms, non working moms, women who work who won’t have kids and prior generations of women in work’s experience is a heavy lift and also enabled me to have an open conversation with my mom and sisters about their experiences in a new way. I also hate texted my boyfriend (who I love) I’m refusing to do unpaid housework and want a written chores contract by Sunday so, yah… read the fackhing book! 10/10

I wish I would have had this book long ago

I’m 68. If only I would have grasped this years ago. I recommended it to my daughter. Everyone, men and women, need to read this book.

It definitely turns you on to get something done

It is an amazing, activating read. The only chapter that left me wanting more was the one that talks about to sleep. There is a still a lot to say and research around the sleep deprived mothers. However the rest IS AMAZING!! The read let you take action from wherever standpoint your are.

Required Reading

I recommend this book for anyone who cares about the future of humanity. Reshma Saujani lays out a compelling argument for change. I had to slow the speed down to .9 so I wouldn’t miss a word. This book is long overdue. I wish that I read it 20 years ago.

Revolutionary for Women

This book was so so validating of women’s experiences and have such a great in depth look at the need for change in our society not only for our mental health but also to build our economy. Highly recommend this read to anyone and everyone regardless of whether you are a parent or not.

I feel validated

After my first was born I thought I was losing my mind or overly demanding on the cooking/cleaning/childcare/full time other job then I realized this was a dirty secret no one really talks about. Kudos to all the moms out there. Thank you so much for writing this. I really felt like you were shadowing me.

Information is super helpful and eye opening. Great book!