With help from Leah Clark Hi Rulers! Happy Pride Month. I have some news for you all: I’ll be taking over as your full-time Women Rule host. Excited to be popping up in your inboxes every week! Tell me what you want to see more of in this newsletter or how you’d like to see it change: sgardner@politico.com or @sophie_gardnerJ. Let's get to it! A U.K. movement to address menopause in the workplace is starting to spark in the U.S. But even proponents of the movement say that there’s a risk: increased focus on menopause’s effects could be used as just another reason not to hire women. In late April, the Mayo Clinic released a study showing that an estimated $1.8 billion is lost in work time per year as a result of perimenopause and menopause-related symptoms ($26.6 billion annually when adding medical expenses.) Afterwards, U.S. media coverage of the issue ramped up — as did calls for employers to do a better job of supporting their workers going through the transition. And the study comes amid the backdrop of a movement to destigmatize menopause: celebrities are speaking out about their experiences and companies offering menopause-related products are on the rise (there was even a Super Bowl ad intended to raise awareness about vasomotor symptoms — better known as the dreaded “hot flashes.”) As the American labor force ages, more working women find themselves tasked with balancing their careers and their symptoms, which, depending on the woman, can range from mild to debilitating. But experts say addressing that in the workplace needs to be done right to avoid unintended consequences, like the possibility of increased ageism and sexism. Karen Walker-Bone is a professor at Monash University in Australia who has studied this stage in a woman’s life. But she’s worried about giving employers another reason to set men and women apart – especially when it comes to older women. “I think menopause could be a real bone of contention in the workplace. I do think a lot of women would feel very uncomfortable talking about it,” Walker-Bone told Women Rule. “And I think it could become a reason not to employ older women — in the same way that I saw it very early on when maternity rights came in.” That sentiment was echoed by Stephanie Faubion, the medical director for the North American Menopause Society and director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Women's Health. “Menopause comes at a certain time in a woman's life where ageism is also a concern. So, there may be some women that don't want to identify as being menopausal because it associates them with a certain age,” Faubion told Women Rule. “There's some fear among women that this will lead to more discrimination in the workplace and maybe women not getting the job or not getting the promotion, etc. So I think we need to be very cautious about that.” Menopause generally occurs between ages 45 to 55, which also happens to be when many women are at the peak of their careers. The shift is also often accompanied by hot flashes, difficulty sleeping, brain fog (ie., forgetfulness or trouble focusing) and urinary issues. Both Faubion and Walker-Bone have conducted research highlighting just how real the challenges that come with menopause are. Faubion found that 13 percent of the women surveyed experienced an adverse work outcome related to menopause symptoms, and around 11 percent reported missing days of work because of their symptoms. And Walker-Bone’s study found that around one-third of women reported moderate/severe difficulties coping at work. But activists are faced with a challenge: drawing attention towards the commonality and potential severity of menopausal symptoms without painting older women as less capable than their male counterparts. “We just need to use tools and techniques to make sure that we continue to be at the top of our game,” said Jaqueline Oliveira-Cella, a global thought leader and advisor in health and employee benefit solutions who co-authored a LinkedIn article on the subject. As a result, some experts would opt for an option which doesn’t require women to identify themselves as menopausal, as a leave of absence might, but instead would recommend an education campaign for the whole workplace. Deborah Garlick, founder of a woman-focused website called Henpicked, has started a program in the U.K. where companies can become certified as “menopause friendly.” There’s no specific boxes to tick, Garlick told Women Rule, and certification looks different for every company. But solutions can be anything from company-wide seminars and surveys to making sure that employees have uniform options made from breathable materials. Garlick believes that education is the solution to employer’s anxieties around hiring older women: “When we started out in 2016, we did have a couple of employers ask whether hiring women of menopause age was a good idea,” she told Women Rule. “As more U.S. businesses become menopause friendly and acceptance at work and in society grows, this anticipation fear among employers will ease. Higher awareness in the U.K. has resulted in wider acceptance and it’s now very rare that an employer voices this concern.” Some experts, though, are still not so sure. “I think we should be very careful about rushing around, making a big deal, making us different from men all over again,” Walker-Bone said.
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