What is Emotional Tax?

What Is Emotional Tax and How Does It Affect Women’s Careers?

According to Catalyst, emotional tax refers to the burden on employees from marginalised racial, ethnic, and gender groups who feel the need to stay on guard against potential biases. 

The Extent of Emotional Tax: 

• As of 2022, 61% of employees from marginalised racial and ethnic groups have reported being on guard to bias within their work teams. This is an average derived from the UK, the US, Australia, Brazil, and Canada. 

• LGBTQ+ employees are highly on guard with 74% of them report being on guard. Emotional tax is particularly high (85%) among trans and non-binary employees. 

• Similar rates among women (56%) and men (54%) from marginalised groups. 

Benefits of Mitigating Emotional Tax: 

• Increased Retention: Without emotional tax, employees from minority backgrounds are three times more likely to intend to stay with their organisation.  

• Higher engagement: By being less preoccupied with guarding against potential biases, they are three times more likely to feel engaged in their work. Therefore, increasing productivity and investment into the company’s success. 

• Improved Team Cohesion: A safer environment enables employees to connect more with their colleagues, particularly over shared tasks and goals. Through the mutual support and teamwork, team cohesion is improved three times over.  

• Enhanced Problem-Solving Capabilities: As team members feel safer to share ideas and address issues more openly, the team can tackle difficult tasks from multiple perspectives and reach well-rounded solutions together. It is reported that team problem-solving tripled in its effectiveness in such environments. 

• Greater Inclusion: Employees from marginalised groups are four times more likely to feel valued, trusted, and psychologically safe at work if they were less on guard. 

Factors that Mitigate Emotional Tax: 

• Psychological Safety: Team climates that foster psychological safety reduce the need for employees to be on guard. 

• Team Racial and Ethnic Diversity: Greater diversity on teams lowers emotional tax by promoting inclusion. 

Related Concepts

Second Generation Bias  

Sticky Floor 

Related Reading

Reading ‘Women’s Progression in the Workplace’ will help to develop understanding around the career barriers women face, as well as ‘When Women Lead, Firms Win’.

Related Resources

ECC’s explainer on ‘Why there are so few women in leadership roles’ expands on the barriers facing women in progressing in their careers.

Click here to learn more about Women’s Development Programmes: 6 Lessons from Designing Women’s Development Programmes

Click here to learn more about Inclusive Leadership: Intro to Developing Inclusive Leaders