The remains of the taboo: experiences, attitudes, and knowledge about menopause in the workplace

Abstract

Objectives: This study explored experiences of, attitudes to, and knowledge about menopause in the workplace among participants from the UK to assess the extent to which menopause remains a taboo in this context.

Method: An online survey was distributed via Trades Union Congress, UK networks and social media, and was completed by 5399 respondents. Questions explored three key issues relating to menopause at work: respondents’ own experiences of menopause transition; disclosure at work; and availability of information on menopause at work.

Result: The largest group (43.4%) of respondents were perimenopausal and 16.8% were postmenopausal; 12.3% indicated that they might be experiencing menopause but were not sure. Only 45.8% had disclosed their menopause status at work. Fewer than 20% were provided with information about menopause in their workplace but the majority would like such information to be available.

Conclusion: The survey findings suggest some progress has been made to raise awareness about menopause in the workplace but that substantial work remains to be done to ensure women transitioning through menopause are supported.

摘要

目的：本研究探讨了英国参与者在工作场所中关于绝经的经历, 态度和认知, 以评估在这种情形下绝经仍然是禁忌的程度。方法：通过工会大会, 英国网络和社交媒体发布了一项在线调查, 并由5399名受访者完成。调查探讨了与工作中绝经有关的三个关键问题：受访者自己的绝经过渡经验；工作中的表露；和工作中有关绝经信息的可获得性。结果：处于围绝经期者占绝大部分（43.4％）, 绝经后者占16.8％。12.3％的人表示他们可能正处于绝经过程, 但不确定。只有45.8％的人表露了他们的绝经状态。仅有不到20％的人获得其工作场所提供的有关绝经的信息, 但大多数人希望获得这种信息。结论：调查结果表明, 在提高工作场所有关绝经认知方面已经取得了一些进展, 但为确保支持女性度过绝经过渡期仍有大量工作要做。

Keywords:

• Attitudes
• disclosure
• experience
• information
• menopause
• taboo
• workplace

Potential conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Source of funding

This work was supported by Economic and Social Research Council.