Our lives have changed dramatically. But has the way we work kept up?
Much of how we work today took shape in a very different world.
The eight-hour workday: In 1866, American workers called for shorter hours in an economy shaped by agriculture and expanding industry.
The 40-hour workweek: In 1940, the 40-hour week became an established benchmark in American working life, reinforced by federal labor law.
And look at what American family life was like then…and what it is now
THEN · 1940
Nearly 70%
of American families had a husband in the labor force and a wife outside it.
NOW · 2025
Nearly 70%
of married-couple families with children under 18 had both parents employed.
Think about how much has changed.
Women have reshaped the workforce. Technology has transformed what we do and where we can do it. Families are fitting paid work around caregiving and the other demands of life outside the workplace.
We’ve changed how we work, where we work, and who’s doing the work. Yet many of the structures and expectations we work within go back generations.
So how well do the systems shaping work reflect the lives we lead today?
Meet The Other Ledger
The Other Ledger explores the relationship between women, work, and the systems shaping our working lives.
We measure a lot when it comes to work.
Productivity. Performance. Engagement. Retention. Revenue.
But the numbers don’t always tell the whole story.
We’re here to explore what’s on the other side of the ledger.
We’re starting with research and conversations about women’s experiences of work. We want to understand what those experiences have in common and where they call familiar assumptions into question.
We also want to do something with what we learn.
Our ambition is to turn that understanding into ideas and practical solutions that make work fit better with the lives we lead.
Our First Investigation The Exit Interviews
Women are leaving corporate careers, and not always by choice. What happens next?
What made them leave? What did they gain, lose, or discover along the way?
The Exit Interviews explores the personal, professional, and financial realities of women who have left corporate employment, and what their experiences might teach us about the future of work.
The Woman Behind The Other Ledger
After years of climbing the corporate ladder, I reached a point where my career looked successful on paper but no longer reflected the life I wanted to live.
Walking away was one thing. Figuring out what came next was another.
I started The Other Ledger because I couldn’t shake one question: Why are so many talented, ambitious women struggling to find their place in a world of work that hasn’t kept up with their lives?
Jesse Tervooren, Founder
Research note: The 1940 and 2025 family statistics describe different populations and employment measures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics analysis of the 1940 census uses all 32.2 million U.S. families as its denominator. The 2025 figure covers married-couple families with children under 18. The 2025 figure is 66.3%, rounded here to nearly 70%. The 1940 milestone refers to the federal overtime threshold for covered workers.