The cost-of-living crisis emerges as yet another pressing challenge disproportionately affecting women. Like the pandemic, it serves to amplify the entrenched structural disparities experienced by women, rendering them vulnerable to its impacts. This jeopardises progress in advancing economic and social equality for women and sending it into reverse. For International Women’s Day 2024, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Young Academy of Scotland brings a panel of experts from academia and practice to dissect this challenging topic. They will explore the historical context of systematic inequalities that persist today and some solutions required to address the imbalance, from workplaces to the law.