Menopause
Menopause at work: Women face challenges but receive minimal support, study reveals
Women cited working during menopause to be challenging reporting both physical and emotional symptoms
Women in the workforce face ‘significant’ challenges due to menopause, but receive minimal support from employers, according to a new survey from Carrot Fertility.
Carrot, a US fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits provider, commissioned the survey ahead of Menopause Awareness Month to understand the effects of menopause on careers, identify the support available and bring more awareness to menopause.
An estimated one billion women worldwide will have experienced menopause by 2025, with millions more going through perimenopause.
Of the 1,000 people experiencing perimenopause or menopause across the US who were surveyed, the vast majority of respondents (79 per cent) describe working during menopause as challenging, more than other common life stages, including starting a new job (75 per cent describe as challenging), starting a family (70 per cent), or getting a promotion (62 per cent).
When asked what age decade is the most challenging for being in the workplace, respondents ranked their 50s as number one, well ahead of second-ranked 20s, according to the study.
Most women reported the need to take time off or faced other serious challenges in the workplace during menopause and perimenopause.
More than half of women (54 per cent) have encountered at least one menopause-driven work challenge, including loss of work time and job security concerns.
Among the nearly 40 per cent of respondents who took time off due to perimenopause or menopause symptoms, 71 per cent lost more than 40 hours of work time, and 30 per cent reported losing more than a month of work time altogether.
Of those who took time off, 59 per cent felt they needed to conceal the reason for the time away.
Other workplace challenges tied to menopause reported by respondents include perceived losses to credibility in the workplace, worries over job loss due to menopause stigma, and lost work friendships.
“We’ve made tremendous progress around the ability to understand and address the fertility challenges impacting younger individuals in their work life, but we are woefully behind when it comes to supporting employees with their fertility healthcare needs as they age,” said Tammy Sun, founder and CEO, Carrot Fertility.
“The findings of this report spotlight the real challenges menopausal women in the workplace struggle with, including lost productivity and concerns over job security. The survey also validates the need for employers and business leaders to provide age-inclusive fertility benefits for employees.”
Most women surveyed were unfamiliar with workplace menopause benefits but highly supportive of the concept, with 82 per cent of respondents see such benefits as valuable.
When asked what type of menopause benefits they deem valuable, a large majority of respondents cited fundamental benefits, such as medical care and support, counselling and therapy, and support groups, as well as other offerings like menopause mentoring and office menopause rooms to manage their symptoms.
While there is high support for employer-provided menopause benefits from people experiencing menopause and perimenopause, such offerings are rare and typically limited to flexible scheduling.
Only eight per cent say their employer has offered significant support for menopause, compared to 59 per cent who report no support at all. Among the 21 per cent whose employers have offered significant or minor support, flexible scheduling is the most common.
The survey showed if employers opted to offer menopause benefits, they would gain significant advantages, including employee retention.
Other advantages for employers who offer benefits are increased job satisfaction and productivity. Among the respondents, 92 per cent have at least one reason for believing menopause benefits should be provided by employers, such as employee retention and workplace fairness.
Few respondents feel prepared for menopause, with 65 per cent describe their experience as difficult and only eight per cent report feeling very prepared and informed for the overall experience of menopause.
Despite the lack of preparedness, women shared that they’ve experienced both physical and emotional symptoms during menopause, including hot flashes, fatigue, night sweats and weight gain.
Mood changes and anxiety were the most commonly reported emotional and mental health symptoms.
The findings of Carrot’s survey highlight the perception that discussing menopause at work is taboo, and the significant impact menopause has on respondents’ personal and professional relationships.
The majority of people surveyed shared that they feel uncomfortable discussing menopause at work, having to seek support from other sources instead.
“The dramatic hormonal changes stemming from menopause can result in symptoms that negatively impact people physically, mentally, and emotionally, in both their personal and professional lives, as confirmed by this survey,” said Dr Asima Ahmad, MD, MPH, co-founder and chief medical officer at Carrot Fertility.
“What’s also crystal clear from this survey is the diversity of support and benefits women in the workplace deem critical to their productivity, ranging from medical care to counselling and emotional support groups. We hope employers are taking note.”
Carrot aims to help employers and health plans provide equal access to fertility care regardless of age, race, income, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or location.
Earlier this year, the company developed a new line of clinically-validated, age-inclusive fertility benefits for employees going through every stage of menopause and low testosterone.
Customers have now the option to add support for menopause and low testosterone as part of their fertility benefits package, having access to providers through a specialised network, clinically supervised education and intimate group support.
Women with primary infertility may face a higher risk of early menopause and reach it about a year earlier, a study suggests.
The findings suggest women with primary infertility may be more likely to enter menopause before the age of 45.
The increased risk appeared most notable among women with unexplained infertility or a history of endometriosis.
Dr Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society, said: “This study shows that women with primary infertility, specifically those with unexplained infertility or a history of endometriosis, were at risk for early menopause.
“Given that early menopause is linked to adverse long-term health consequences, these women may benefit from counselling that they are at risk of early menopause.
“This will allow them to monitor for early menopause and to seek treatment with hormone therapy, if indicated.”
Early menopause is usually defined as menopause before age 45, while premature menopause is menopause before age 40.
Women who experience menopause earlier may face symptoms for longer and have a higher risk of long-term health problems.
These can include cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and neurocognitive disorders. Osteoporosis weakens bones, while neurocognitive disorders affect memory, thinking or brain function.
The study, highlighted by The Menopause Society, involved nearly 700 people, roughly half of whom had been diagnosed with primary infertility.
It found that women with a history of primary infertility underwent natural menopause about one year earlier than those without such a history.
Researchers found no association between infertility and premature menopause.
Infertility affects around one in six people globally and can have consequences beyond family planning.
Previous research has linked infertility with higher rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease, although causes vary and may involve genetic, hormonal, in-utero or lifestyle factors.
In-utero factors are influences that occur while a baby is developing in the womb.
Earlier studies looking at links between infertility and early or premature menopause have produced mixed results, with some not accounting for different types of infertility.
The new study suggested that women with unexplained infertility or a history of endometriosis may have an increased risk of early menopause.
Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows elsewhere in the body. It can cause pain, heavy periods and fertility problems.
Known risk factors for early or premature menopause include tobacco use, low body mass index, not having given birth and starting periods at a younger age.
Women who have had more childbirths and those with a history of oral contraceptive use have previously been linked to later menopause.
The researchers said women with primary infertility may benefit from additional counselling because of the systemic and long-term health effects of early menopause.
They also said women should be encouraged to seek evaluation and treatment if they experience a new loss of menstrual cycles.
Smartwatch data may help track menopause sleep changes after researchers analysed more than 94,000 nights of Apple Watch sleep records.
The study analysed more than 94,000 nights of sleep data from 338 participants in the Apple Women’s Health Study.
It found that many participants spent more time awake during the night in the 12 months before and after their final logged menstrual period.
For the past several years, Apple has used the Apple Watch to support large-scale health studies through the Apple Research app.
These include the Apple Women’s Health Study, the Apple Heart and Movement Study, and the Apple Hearing Study, which launched in 2019 with research partners including Harvard, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the American Heart Association and the University of Michigan.
In February 2025, Apple said those studies had grown to more than 350,000 participants across the US.
Recently, researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health published results on how sleep patterns change during perimenopause.
The study looked at wake after sleep onset, or WASO, which measures how much time a person spends awake after first falling asleep.
In the 18 months leading up to menopause, 60 per cent of women with sleep tracking data showed increased WASO compared with the previous six months.
The average increase was 7 per cent.
Researchers also found that, in the 12 months before and after the last logged menstrual period, participants spent about 0.8 per cent more of their sleep time awake after menopause than before.
However, the findings varied widely between participants.
Some women had much larger increases in time awake after menopause, while others had no meaningful sleep change at all.
The researchers said this reflects the fact that each person experiences perimenopause and menopause differently.
Participants who tracked sleep also logged menopause symptoms.
Hot flushes were reported by 82.3 per cent of participants, irritability by 68.1 per cent, mental exhaustion by 65.7 per cent and sexual symptoms by 65.6 per cent.
Among participants with more severe menopause symptoms, the symptoms most closely linked with worse sleep were bladder symptoms, joint symptoms, heart discomfort and depressive symptoms.
The researchers also shared recommendations that may help women sleep better during perimenopause.
These include maintaining a cool sleeping environment, keeping a consistent sleep schedule, getting regular movement, avoiding common bladder irritants and limiting fluids in the hours before bedtime, and prioritising relaxation or mindfulness techniques as part of a bedtime routine.
Women are still being failed by menopause care despite a surge in online advice, with experts saying symptoms are too often minimised or dismissed.
The researchers exposed a gap between the surge of menopause information available online and the quality of medical care women receive.
A team of anthropologists and psychologists explored the physical and emotional toll of menopause, including its impact on work and personal lives, through interviews with 60 women aged 45 to 61 between March and June 2021.
The findings were published in a new book, We Need to Talk About Menopause.
The interviews showed how women continue to “needlessly suffer” as they sort through misinformation from influencers, celebrities and so-called experts.
The authors said: “You would think in an age where humans are developing commercial space flight, self-driving cars, and AI personal assistants who can project movies onto the palm of your hand, we would understand more about menopause, something a little over half of the population is guaranteed to experience in their lives.”
The interviews revealed wide variation in women’s experiences of doctors.
Some felt they could have an open dialogue, while others said they were “shut down”, including being told they were too young for menopause.
One woman said she bled heavily for a year before she was taken seriously.
The authors said menopause is still poorly understood, with disagreement over whether it should be seen as a medical condition or a natural part of ageing.
There are more than 100 recognised symptoms, although some women experience none.
Among those interviewed, 78 per cent reported weight gain and redistribution, particularly around the belly area, which was resistant to diet and exercise.
Fifty-eight per cent experienced mood disturbances including anxiety, depression, irritability and unprecedented levels of rage.
Many women said they were blindsided by symptoms they had never known existed.
One participant said she only realised rage was a menopause symptom after seeing it mentioned in a television commercial.
Women also described severe memory problems and brain fog that colleagues mistook for incompetence, leading successful professionals to question their abilities at the peak of their careers.
Brain fog can include problems with concentration, memory and clear thinking.
According to Statistics Canada, 70 per cent of women turn to the internet as their primary source of menopause information.
The authors said this information vacuum has spawned a £14.7bn global “meno-tech” industry, with influencers, celebrities and telehealth companies offering products ranging from £98 creams to unnecessary blood tests.
They said: “The growth of interest in menopause has also been accompanied by a wave of unsubstantiated information.
“Many websites market expensive creams, supplements, and weight-loss schemes that promise to keep women youthful and attractive, with little evidence to support their claims.
“Reliable, accessible information about menopause and perimenopause is still lacking. Despite increased attention to the importance of physician training and the search for menopause specialists, the medical profession as a whole continues to provide limited support in this area.”
The authors also highlighted the effect of menopause in the workplace.
The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee has warned that Britain is “haemorrhaging talent” because of menopause, with 14 million workdays lost each year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Despite this, studies have shown 80 per cent of UK employers have yet to implement proper support measures for menopausal women.
Some women said simple workplace adjustments made a significant difference.
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