Attitudes to menopause might be changing, but is it enough for women in work?

For too long, too many women have had to leave jobs they love because of a natural stage of life.

The UK economy needs skilled, experienced workers, and we cannot afford to lose a generation of women often at the peak of their professional lives because their workplace is not equipped to support them through the menopause.

Two thirds of working women aged 40 to 60 with experience of symptoms of the menopause say it has impacted them negatively at work.

One in ten working women say they left their job entirely because of their symptoms.

Behind each of these statistics are women who have sat in meetings feeling unable to contribute, who have called in sick rather than trying to explain what is happening to their body, or who have quietly handed in their notice when they could have been taking on a promotion.

Women are not leaving careers they worked hard to build because they want to or because they have run out of ambition. It’s because most workplaces simply are not equipped to support them, women don’t know what support they are entitled which leaves them no choice.

This is not just a women’s issue; it is an economic issue. The cost to the UK economy related to menopause is estimated at £1.7 billion every single year. That is the price we pay in sick days, lost productivity, and talented women leaving work entirely. It is an extraordinary and entirely unnecessary waste, and it is a problem that businesses have the power to address.

The conversation around menopause has changed enormously in recent years, and I am proud to have played a part in that.

In April last year, I launched the Menopause Advisory Group to bring together expert voices from a range of sectors to help businesses understand what good support actually looks like and how to put it into practice.

We’re ending the taboo and progress is being made. But we must go further, so no woman is forced to walk out of the job they love and the careers they have spent decades building.

That is why, from this Spring, employers with over 250 members of staff will be asked to introduce Equality Action Plans setting out the steps they are taking to improve menopause support for their workers.

From next year, these action plans will become compulsory, to drive forward change and ensure women across the country are supported. And the renewed Women’s Health Strategy will drive further change and create a system that listens to women, and tackles health inequalities which hold us back.

Employers now need to move beyond acknowledgement and make real, practical changes — whether that is flexible working, access to occupational health support, or simply creating a culture where women feel able to speak to their managers openly without embarrassment or fear.

Women who are going through a natural stage of their life are not a problem to be managed. They are an asset this country cannot afford to lose. It is time we started acting like it.