It’s rare to see conversations around mental health that look specifically at women's experiences. But perhaps it’s time we need to start talking about it.

Women live in a world built for men, that’s not a secret. But new data from the 2026 HILDA survey paints a sharp picture of the impact of that inequality and the physical and mental health disparities between men and women.

According to Melbourne University’s HILDA study, which tracks Australian demographic data across 2023 and 2024, self-reported mental health has deteriorated substantially across the board since the early 2010s. But the decline is concentrated among younger Australians and is “more pronounced for females than males”.

Is it any wonder when you look at the rest of the data?

Women are more educated than men. In every age group below 65, women have a higher university attainment than men. As an example, 57 per cent of women aged between 35 and 44 held a bachelor’s degree or higher, a 15 percentage point gap between their men counterparts. For women aged between 18 and 24, 56.5 per cent are over-educated for their current role and 36.6 per cent are over-skilled. They are also 4.4 per cent more likely than their male counterparts to be overeducated for the job they’re currently doing.

But despite more education and a greater likelihood of being over-skilled, the gender pay gap when looking at hourly wages is still 10.2 per cent.

Domestic labour inequality has not evened out despite women being more educated than men, and increases in rates of workforce participation and rates of out-earning their partners.

The share of opposite-sex couples in which the woman was the primary earner rose from 17 per cent to 19 per cent over the examined period. But despite this, women still reported being responsible for more housework than men. 87.3 per cent of single parents with children under 18 were women (single parents being defined as the primary carer). The mother’s share of domestic care was 94.0 per cent when the youngest child was aged 0–3.

Women’s financial wellbeing is in decline, and while men also experienced a decline, it was more pronounced for women. Women’s average score declined by 1.6 points. Over that period, 24.1 per cent of women experienced a decline of more than ten points and were 3.3 percentage points more likely than men to experience a drop of more than ten points.

Women are also in poorer physical health compared with 20 years ago, and it declined more for females than males among people aged between 15 and 54. Among females aged 25–34, the average general health score fell from 74 in 2001 to 67 in 2024.

The report found that self-reported general health declined for everyone aged 15–54, but more so for women than men. For example, the average general health score for women aged 25–34 fell from 74 to 67 out of 100, it dropped to 69 for men.

Our online lives also show a greater risk for women. 35 per cent of females scored at or above the report’s at-risk threshold for social media, versus 25 per cent of males. 1.8 per cent of all women reported experiencing sexual harassment online, versus 0.4 per cent of all men. 4.6 per cent of females reported having their online accounts stolen or fake accounts created in their name versus 4.0 per cent of males.

Couple these stats with factors like Australia’s men's violence epidemic which has claimed the lives of 52 women just this year and a culture of misogyny that has seen attitudes towards women become increasingly hostile (particularly among young men), is it any wonder that so many women report psychological distress?

The prevalence of psychological distress rose from approximately 12 per cent to 17 per cent among women between 2007 and 2023, compared with 11 per cent to 13 per cent among men. The situation is even more pronounced for younger women. Nearly half of women aged 15 to 24 were in psychological distress in 2023, up from 25 per cent in 2007. For women 15-24, their average mental health score went from 72 in 2011 to just 63 in 2024, falling 9 points. Men's dropped too, but it was less pronounced, falling 6 points, from 74 to 68.

The data undeniably paints a picture of systemic inequality at every level. While it is confronting, it is perhaps also affirming for those living in the patriarchy and under a culture of misogyny to see their lived reality laid out before them in the data. Perhaps it's time we started talking about women's mental health, and took some active steps to fix it.