The hidden economic costs of menopause

MIDDLE-AGED women now represent a record share of the global workforce, owing to gains in female labour-force participation and demographic shifts.

Moreover, many will have already absorbed or moved past the “child penalty”, the well-documented career disruption and loss of earnings caused by the transition into motherhood.

There is a big, unaddressed problem, though. Far from levelling out, the playing field remains tilted. As women reach middle age, they face yet another biological hurdle: menopause.