More women are leaving their jobs as a result of menopause, according to a new survey.
The Menodoctor Menopause Clinic's Dr Linda Dear, who carried out the survey, told Breakfast this morning that 84% of the more than 4000 Kiwi respondents said their menopause symptoms impact their work.
It also found that 14% of participants felt well supported at work, one in six said they thought about quitting and 12% did quit.
Dr Linda Dear says a lot of women are struggling but don't feel comfortable talking about it. (Source: Breakfast)
Dear said the main symptoms reported were fatigue, anxiety, and brain fog.
"Because the symptoms are so broad and varied for perimenopause and menopause, they can impact women when they're at their jobs, because it does affect our brains as well as our bodies," she said.
She said there's also a lot of secrecy and shame associated with menopause, with only 15% of women saying they admitted their symptoms were from menopause.
"Women would rather say they're ill than they're struggling with menopause, so we just need to get it out of the sort of secret box that it's in."
Also speaking to Breakfast this morning, Brynlea Hunter-Morpeth from AIA Insurance said her workplace has implemented a menopause toolkit for staff.
"We have 61% women and 51% of those are over 40, so this is certainly something that impacts our people," she said.
She said the company held focus groups and found that stigma and the lack of awareness was what people found most problematic.
"The symptoms of menopause are many and varied, and they affect us all in very different ways so it's really shining a light on the fact that it's going to look different for everyone, and making that conversation less awkward or comfortable."
She said she wants women in her company to be able to talk to their leaders about the impact menopause is having on them, and collaboratively come up with solutions to ease the pressure.
"That might be [Employee Assistance Programmes], counselling, flexible work, understanding that you've had a night of hot flashes, and you're going to need a little bit of time in the morning just to recode."
Economic impact of menopause
Menopause also has a significant impact on the economy, with billions of dollars related to loss of productivity as a result.
According to Bloomberg in Australia alone, it's thought $17 billion is lost in earnings in superannuation.
No figures are available in New Zealand yet but Dear says the New Zealand Institute of Economics are "looking into it".
"By the end of the year, we should have some data to say, how is this affecting the economy because it is costing us money.
"And you know, actually businesses with more female bosses make more money."
Dear says it's "good for business" to be "good for women".
She is also encouraging men to talk about menopause as well.
SHARE ME