Study Highlights 10 Percent Earnings Decline in Women Four Years After Menopause Diagnosis
Women experience a significant fall in earnings in the years following a menopause diagnosis, with more women stopping work and others working fewer hours, according to a new UCL study published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Economists at UCL, University of Bergen, Stanford University and University of Delaware calculated that women experience a 4.3% reduction in their earnings, on average, in the four years following a menopause diagnosis, with losses deepening to 10% by the fourth year.
This 10% reduction in earnings is approximately half of the estimated 23% loss of earnings experienced by new mothers, also known as the ‘child penalty’.
The main sample looked at women born between 1961-1968 who had a menopause-related diagnosis between the ages of 45-55.
The fall in earnings experienced by women during menopause was primarily driven by a decrease in the likelihood of working and a reduction in contracted hours worked, the researchers found.
In the four years following a menopause diagnosis, the likelihood of claiming Disability Insurance benefits increases by 4.8%, suggesting that menopause symptoms significantly impact women’s work patterns, the team said.
The researchers are calling for better information about the menopause to be available and for women going through the menopause to have better access to menopause-related care.
“Our findings suggest that better information and improved access to menopause-related care are crucial to eliminating the menopause penalty and ensuring that workplaces can better support women during this transition.”, the researchers said.
The study found some workplaces to be more ‘menopause friendly’ than others, with women employed in smaller and private sector firms facing a greater drop in earnings than those with larger and public-sector employers.
Ref: Conti, G et al. (2025). The menopause "penalty". 25/10. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/menopause-penalty-0 (accessed: 22 March 2025)
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