Menopause in the Workplace - UK Government Review
- Kathleen
- Mar 23
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 25
I've spent some time this morning reading the government's Menopause in the Workplace Literature Review. As expected there was no reference to menopausal voice change due to the vanishingly small number of papers that focus on this, few of which focus on the employment experience of professional voice users or menopausal workers in general. There were however a few things worth noting that caught my eye in the review:
- The estimated annual cost of menopause-related issues to the economy is approximately £1.5 billion due to unemployment and a further £191 million due to absenteeism.
- There are an estimated 60,000 women in the UK not in employment due to (peri)menopause.
- The use of behavioural change strategies and peer support to manage (peri)menopausal symptoms at work improved physical symptoms but negatively impacted work performance when used to manage psychological symptoms. We perhaps need to address physical and psychological symptoms separately if offering workplace guidance and support.
- A study of training for managers on engaging with menopausal employees resulted in 90% of participants reporting improvements in their knowledge and confidence in talking about menopause with staff, but no change in their behaviour was actually found following the training. This suggests that we need to do more in workplaces than just run workshops and training sessions, we need a way of improving and tracking employee experiences to ensure we're producing meaningful change.
- Most research in this area focuses on identifying the troubling issues experienced in the workplace and less on identifying strategies to enable flourishing. Although this is to be expected at this stage as menopause begins to move from being a taboo issue to one which is more openly discussed and managed, it's now time to begin focusing on evidence-based ways of supporting menopausal workers.
One of the biggest take away points for me as a menopausal voice coach were that vocal change is still not well understood or appreciated in menopausal research, and this means that professional voice users (teachers, public speakers, performers) are going through this change at work without the understanding or support that could mean the difference between staying in employment or leaving the workplace.
I also noted that psychological aspects of menopause were less well supported by employers and it’s widely appreciated that mental health can be difficult to maintain during menopause. We already know that group singing is proven to seriously improve mental health and wellbeing, and also that regular voice use is good for supporting vocal health for professional voice users. I’m therefore proposing that Singing Through Menopause groups could be introduced just as workplace choirs have been in organisations up and down the country. They’re a low-cost, enticing offer for employees with huge potential benefits and perhaps cost savings in employee retention.
If you agree and you’d like to discuss this further, do GET IN TOUCH!
