Putting your life on (meno)pause

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2024 on Saturday 19 October at Church House, Westminster.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

Menopause is the permanent cessation of periods and the ability to bear children. In the UK today, there are around 13million women who are peri- or post-menopausal – about a third of the female population. According to recent research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 67 per cent of working women state that menopausal symptoms have had a ‘mostly negative’ effect on their ability to carry out their job, including hot flushes, mood swings and heart palpitations to brain fog and an inability to sleep.

In response, some argue that workplaces should change to accommodate menopausal women. In 2022, the Women and Equalities Committee issued a report recommending that the menopause becomes ‘a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010’. In February, the Labour Party promised to make large firms implement and publish menopause action plans. Measures could include uniform alterations, temperature-controlled areas in the office and even paid time off. A recent report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) even suggested that the menopause could be regarded as a disability, leaving employers open to legal action and having to pay damages to women negatively affected at work.

Formerly something of a taboo, campaigners, such as TV presenter Davina McCall, have called for open discussions about the problems women face during the menopause. But the changes being proposed in the workplace remain contentious. Some critics argue a change in legislation could lead to employers being reluctant to hire or promote women. Some also argue that these measures could actually perpetuate the stigma around menopause by framing it as a condition that incapacitates women – a regressive step in the hard-fought for battle for women to be treated as equal to men in the workplace.

Is the menopause a debilitating condition that workplaces should recognise? Or is it simply a natural process that many of us have to endure, unpleasant though it may be? Could menopausal leave simply open the door to male menopausal leave, a position already being advocated by some local councils in the UK? Until recently, some healthcare professionals have been reluctant to put women on HRT, but many women now swear by it as a life-changing solution. Are we in danger of rehabilitating the old-fashioned notion that women are mentally and physically inferior to men? Or should modern workplaces fit the needs of their staff?

SPEAKERS
Ann Furedi
author, The Moral Case for Abortion; former chief executive, BPAS

Victoria Smith
feminist writer; author, Hags: The demonization of middle-aged women

CHAIR
Dr Mo Lovatt
national coordinator, Debating Matters; programme coordinator, Academy of Ideas