A new report shows the stark differences in women's and men's approaches to work/life balance and to household finances, while the cost of living is still the most dominant issue in people's minds.
But PTSB's Reflecting Ireland quarterly report also notes a sense of stabilisation in economic sentiment compared to previous quarters, with 43% of people expecting the economy will get worse over the next 12 months - down from 48% last summer.
33% also said the economy will get better, up from 29% last summer.
Meanwhile, 46% of people said they feel worse off than a year ago but this marks a drop from the 54% who said this in October. 28% of people expect to be better off in a year’s time, up from 23% who said this in October.
Today's survey show that while both women and men struggle with work-life balance, women struggle more. Women also find it more difficult to take time off work for family reasons and fear the impact if they do, it reveals.
Meanwhile 45% of women feel their career would suffer if they take their statutory entitlement to parental leave but only 33% of men feel this.
The PTSB survey also shows that 67% of women believe they have to work harder than men to gain the same level of success in their career, with 41% of men also agreeing.
Interestingly, it reveals that both men and women who have a female direct boss are significantly more likely to recommend their workplace to women - 52% of people who have a female boss will recommend their workplace to women versus 26% of those who do not.
But 26% of people have never had a direct female boss at any stage in their careers.
The research also surveyed attitudes towards financial planning and revealed some differences between the approaches taken by women and men.
These include the fact that women tend to have far lower levels of confidence in their financial decision-making ability than men, with only 39% of women saying they feel confident about making investment decisions compared to 2% of men.
PTSB also asid that men are twice as likely as women to have financial investments (33% of men versus 15% of women), while 48% of men have a clear long-term financial plan compared to 35% of women.
But 70% of women say they take the lead on grocery shopping and 59% on day-to-day financial decisions, compared to 39% and 46% of men, respectively.
In contrast, men are more likely than women to take the lead on utilities, home or car insurance, loans, and investments, the lender added.
The bank's research of consumer behaviour and attitudes also revealed a sharp fall-off in the proportion of women who participate in team sports from their mid-20s. This fall-off worsens further in their 30s and 40s, it noted.
Leontia Fannin, Head of Corporate Affairs at PTSB, said the new research shows the extent to which both women and men continue to feel pressures in combining their work and home lives, as well as the difference in their respective experiences.
"Survey respondents indicate that career progression, work/life balance and feeling comfortable in exercising the right to take parental leave remain significant issues and these will need to be managed actively but sensitively by employers," she said.
"Our research also highlights a significant divergence between men and women in their approach to finances and this raises interesting challenges for providers of financial services," she added.
She said it was encouraging to see evidence of stabilisation in consumer sentiment towards the economy after such a challenging period, but added that it is clear that cost of living pressures continue to loom large and this is likely to remain the case for some time.
