Women participating in a new survey said they are concerned their age — and the symptoms of menopause — will negatively affect their jobs.
In a survey of 2,000 working Americans, baby boomer women, those born between 1946 and 1964, expressed the greatest concern about ageism in the workplace. Forty-three percent of this age group, in fact, expressed concern.
The survey was commissioned by feminine care brand Intimina and was conducted online by Talker Research between Aug. 1 and 7.
The women in the current study expressed concerns related to how aging might affect their jobs due to physical mobility and health (42%), the amount of work they can take on (37%) and how going through a major health change, such as menopause, would affect their jobs (23%). At least 500 of the respondents were menopausal women.
Women are less comfortable than men in discussing issues such as their health in the workplace, (62% versus 53%), according to the study. Gen X women, born between 1965 and 1980 (49%), and millennials, born between 1981 and 1996 (48%), are more likely than boomer women to discuss health in the workplace, the data show.
Fifty-one percent of the female respondents said they believe that their workplaces would be supportive if they were experiencing symptoms of menopause that affected their ability to work at times (51%), although baby boomers felt the least confident (41%) about that.
“But maybe support is closer than they think: 71% would offer extra support to a coworker who was experiencing menopause,” according to the research.
