the times | Monday December 6 2021 V2 21
News
Almost one million women have
retired early because of the menopause
putting the country at risk of a pensions
crisis, a government adviser has
warned.
Andy Briggs, the government’s busi-
ness champion for older workers, said
that well-paid women who could con-
tribute most to workplace pensions
were leaving full-time employment in
droves because of the impact of the
menopause on their health and well-
being. “Nearly four million women in
the UK are aged between 45 and 55 and
are in employment. And women aged
over the age of 50 are the fastest-grow-
ing segment of the workforce,” Briggs
told The Mail on Sunday.
“Yet one in five women end up leav-
ing the workplace as a result of some of
the symptoms of menopause.” He
Digging deep At the RSPB Arne nature reserve in Dorset, volunteers uproot pines
each year to clear overgrown heathland — and take their pick of Christmas trees
Menopause forces one million women to retire early
added: “To leave the workplace in your
50s, when we know that you’re far less
likely than someone younger to return
to work, has a huge impact on your
retirement income.
“Six out of ten women tell us that the
menopause has a significant impact on
them from a work perspective and yet
it’s just never talked about.”
Figures revealed last month that the
number of people over the age of 50 in
employment had increased by almost a
quarter of a million compared to a year
ago but that the number of women in
work was still consistently behind men
for every year after 50.
Briggs, who runs Phoenix, the biggest
recruitment company in Britain, co-
chairs the 50Plus Choices Employer
Taskforce. The group has called for
more clinical support for women with
menopausal symptoms, changes to sick
leave policies to take into account thedisruption of menopause and a govern-
ment-backed drive to promote conver-
sations about menopause in the work-
place. It also recommends the appoint-
ment of a “menopause ambassador” to
promote the economic contribution
made by women and the missed pro-
ductivity for employers and tax rev-
enue for the government.
Briggs said: “There is a very clear
business case for supporting women to
feel that they are valued in the work-
place for longer and in ensuring that
they can adapt how they work as they
get older. Dropping out of the work-
place early, due to factors such as the
menopause or caring responsibilities,can have a significant impact on
women’s financial futures.”
For decades women going through
menopause were forced to do so in
silence but the tide seems to be turning.
The Countess of Wessex is one of a
growing number of high-profile figures
to break the taboo of menopause by
speaking publicly. She recently high-
lighted the effect the menopause can
have on women’s careers.
“Women having to leave the work-
place because of the menopause is
tragic,” she said. “We are fabulous in our
forties and we are even more fabulous in
our fifties, sixties and seventies and we
need to celebrate that and keep oppor-tunities going for women. Together, we
can support the thousands of women
out there who form the backbone of our
workforce. We cannot let anyone leave
the workplace, feeling that they have
got to slope off into the shadows. We
have to be able to change that.”
Companies have been urged to
update their policies to avoid litigation
because employment tribunals citing
menopause have jumped in the past
few years.
Figures from HM Courts and Tri-
bunals Service showed that menopause
was cited in ten cases in the first six
months of this year, compared with five
cases in the last nine months of 2018.Katie Gibbons
There has been little change in the gen-
der pay gap in the past 25 years when
improved education for women is
taken into account, a report has found.
The study by the Institute for Fiscal
Studies said that the average woman in
the UK earned 40 per cent less than her
male colleagues in 2019. It said that this
was because women were 9.5 per cent
more likely to not be in paid work at all,
worked eight hours a week fewer than
men and earned 19 per cent less per
hour on average.
The average is an improvement on a
pay gap of 53 per cent in the 1990s but
the IFS said that this was because more
Neil Johnston
RICHARD CREASE/BNPSGender pay gap sees little
improvement in 25 years
women had higher education qualific-
ations. Women were now more likely
than men to be graduates.
The IFS Deaton Review of Inequal-
ities, funded by the Nuffield Founda-
tion, said that the hourly pay gap was
now largest for those with degrees or
A-level-equivalent qualifications. This
was because the minimum wage had
helped low-paid women.
Additionally, gender gaps in employ-
ment and hours increased substantially
immediately after parenthood.
The report’s authors said that more
progress was possible with policies to
change established norms and that
interventions, such as more free child-
care, would pay for themselves.