Menopause in the workplace: why is it still a taboo subject?

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the British Water Women on Water event at Manchester City Football Club and listened to a keynote held by Arianna Walker speak around the staggering statistics from her own research around menopause.

October is Menopause Awareness Month, and Menopause Awareness Day falls on Friday 18th October this year.

Education is key, so I want to share some of the data and insights shared by Arianna during the session in the hope that this might help you too.

Menopause affects all women at some point in their life, and according to research of those experiencing the menopause :

• 25% experience debilitating symptoms
• 77% experience one symptom that they find very difficult to cope with
• 84% have trouble sleeping
• 69% suffer from anxiety and depression caused by the menopause
• 41% have experienced menopause being treated as a joke in the workplace.

As an inevitable part of life for many, and with over 30million affected by the menopause, 1million women have been found to have left their jobs due to symptoms.

I personally find the statistics appalling; and that there are such high volumes of women leaving their careers due to something that is completely out of their control.

The standout comment that resonated for me during the session is that "This is an everybody issue". Whether it's a colleague, spouse, partner, sister, mother, aunt or friend, we will all experience someone in our lives that goes through the menopause.

So what can we do to support ourselves and those around us going through this?

• Educate yourself: on the signs, symptoms to enable understanding and empathy. Knowledge is power.
• Make tangible adjustments: invest in policies in the workplace to support those going through this stage in life, which affects so many. Allow for those in this period to make the necessary changes to their environment that will support their symptoms such as: fatigue, brain fog, hot flushes and emotional dysregulation.
• Organisational Culture Shift: change the narrative across your organisation to enable those changes to happen. Break the taboo, keep the education happening and make the adjustments - but the culture within the workplace needs to be right in order to fully recognise and support those that require it at that point.

Towards the end of the session during the Q&A, Hayley Monks MCICM (Grad) shared a book recommendation for 'The Female Brain' by Louann Brizendine, MD and shared a piece of food for thought. Our generations are experiencing the menopause with very little learned experience from the generations of our families before us. Less than 100 years ago, the average life expectancy of women was historically much younger, just 47 years of age. So we only have around 100 years of experience and understanding when it comes to menopause. In Hayley's words, we need to remember to 'Be kind to ourselves as we are treading new paths'.