Cherie Blair: The world is still adjusting to women in the workplace - Women's Agenda

Cherie Blair: The world is still adjusting to women in the workplace

When she became Britain’s first lady, many assumed that Cherie Blair would quit her job to take a backseat to her husband’s career, appearing in a supportive role as “Tony Blair’s wife” .

Instead, she continued to work as a barrister, founding Matrix Chambers law firm and raising four children while her husband ran the country.

And six years after her husband left office, Cherie Blair thinks society is still adapting to the idea of the growing presence of women in the workplace.

Speaking to CNBC Meets, Blair told presenter Tania Bryer that she believes the evolving participation and ranking of women in the workplace is something that many are still learning to navigate.

“The idea that women are really equal to men and are therefore entitled to have opinions and express them is still sometimes something that the world needs help in adjusting to,” she said

“There are still structures in society, whether it’s in relation to companies and the work-life balance, or politics and whether women are really playing their full role, that we’re still adjusting to.”

She said she made the decision to continue working after her husband won his first election in 1997, despite it being an untraditional position for Britain’s first lady, because she never felt it was necessary to sacrifice her own career for her husband.

“My children were a bit older and I was able to spend more time developing my career”, she explained.

“Why would I give that up just because my husband’s job had changed? It took a bit of time to try and work out how to develop that.”

And Blair, who founded The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women to further advance global rights and opportunities for women, thinks there is a desperate need to alter traditional views to continue getting more women into powerful positions in the workplace.

“I’m determined before I die that the 21st century is going to be the century when all women have that opportunity and not just the fortunate few. So not just women in our country but women in every country” she said. 

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