Majority believe menopausal women face discrimination

Nearly seven out of 10 people in the UK believe that women face workplace discrimination during the menopause, according to the latest data.
A poll of 2,000 people by hormone-testing specialist Forth found that just 13.8% of people think women never face menopause discrimination in the workplace, compared with 69% who believe they do. 

Breaking down the findings by gender, 74% of women and 64% of men said “yes” – but 17.7% of men think women never experience discrimination. Those aged 16 to 24 are most likely to believe women face menopause discrimination, with nearly 50% in this age group agreeing.

Menopause in the workplace, a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, found that 67% of working women between the ages of 40 and 60 with experience of menopausal symptoms said their symptoms had had a mostly negative impact on them at work. A study by the Fawcett Society, Menopause and the workplace, showed that one in 10 women had left a job because of such symptoms.

According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Menopause in the workplace: Guidance for employers, menopause symptoms could be considered a disability if they have a long-term and substantial impact on a woman’s ability to perform normal day-to-day activities.