If you could save the economy £20.2bn — would you do it?
51% of the British — and 56.3% of the American– workforce is women; and almost all of these employees will be in at least one of their menstrual, gestational or menopausal cycles throughout the entirety of their careers.
A survey of over 35,000 women showed that the average woman will lose 23.2 days of productivity to symptoms associated with menstruation (Schoep et al., 2019), the average woman experiencing menopausal symptoms will lose around 60% more work productivity compared with women who don’t have these symptoms, and 11% of women leaving work for maternity leave will be dismissed or made compulsorily redundant, where others in their workplace will not; or treated so poorly they feel they had to leave their job. 20% of mothers will experience other financial loss including failing to gain a promotion, salary reduction, a lower pay rise or bonus, not receiving non-salary benefits and/or demotion (Equality and Human Rights Commission, report 105).
This is to say that not only is women’s labour the backbone of our economy; but our economy is failing women at every stage of their natural health cycles, and now we know that this costs us at least £20.2bn yearly in the UK — a number that will continue to increase. Improving support for women in the workplace, therefore, is not only economically rational, benefitting societal quality of life and equality, but also necessary if one wants to acquire female talent, keep women employees throughout their lives, and build a more sustainable economy.
NHS Scotland is the first in the UK to build on the Women’s Health Strategy and release the first Interim National Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy, focused on educating and equipping managers with tools to enable the best performance of their employees, while empowering employees to speak up about their challenges. And, while incredibly forward-looking, this policy makes a lot of sense for Scotland, where 77% of the employed population is female. While, as mentioned above, these changes and adaptations of the workplace may seem negligible when women form just over 50% of the working population, this proportion is set to rise globally, and Scotland sets the tone for changes that must be made if one wishes to have a functioning economy moving forward.
There are significant changes that society must undergo before women (and AFAB individuals) feel that work is a safe space for them to excel professionally, while stayingtrue to who they are and what matters to them. Some broader trends that we expect to bring about this change is women managing their symptoms better using cycle-syncing for example. Then there is the promise of neurotechnology and other non-invasive, data-driven and evidence based treatments. But like all institutional changes, these efforts need to be supported by companies, governments, and medicine at large if they are to truly benefit and touch the lives of women who need it most.
Most importantly, even small changes can make a huge difference in women being heard, and feeling that their workplaces are designed with them in mind. Examples of adjustments put forth in this interim policy are: • access to food and drink • access to washroom facilities • flexible breaks, working hours and working location • access to period products • access to their own pain medication, and somewhere suitable to store • availability of fans • access to an open window • better ventilation • lightweight alternatives or additional uniforms may be available with approval from your manager.
None of this should be considered luxury for a woman working in the 21st century.
