The menopause penalty and its impact on women’s lives

For decades, scholars have analyzed the “motherhood penalty,” highlighting the career and economic challenges women face during their childbearing years. But what happens at the other end of the reproductive spectrum—during menopause? At a recent Clayman Institute Faculty Research Fellows talk, Petra Persson, assistant professor of economics at Stanford University, explored the largely unexamined economic realities of this life stage in her presentation, “The Menopause Penalty.” 

Using rich administrative data from Norway and Sweden, Persson painted a stark picture of the impact of menopause on women’s lives. Her research, which is joint with Gabriella Conti at University College London, Rita Ginja at the University of Bergen, and Barton Willage at the University of Delaware, reveals that this biological transition affects far more than health, rippling across employment, earnings, and reliance on social safety nets.

Menopause, defined biologically as the end of menstruation, often comes with a range of physical and psychological symptoms, from hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and fatigue to depression and brain fog. Despite these challenges, public understanding of menopause remains limited, and research on its broader societal impacts is sparse. Persson emphasized that while motherhood and childbearing have been extensively studied in economics, menopause, which affects almost all menstruating individuals, has not received similar attention.

Her research revealed that women often experience a short-term surge in healthcare use after a menopause diagnosis, particularly for general practitioner and specialist visits. However, a more alarming finding was the significant decline in full-time employment and earnings. Less-educated women and those in routine-intensive or manual jobs faced the steepest economic penalties, highlighting the role of workplace flexibility and job type in mitigating menopause’s impact.

A controversial yet widely used treatment for menopause symptoms, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), has undergone shifting medical guidelines. Persson capitalized on these shifts to examine whether HRT alleviates menopause-related economic challenges. Her findings suggested that HRT users experienced smaller declines in earnings and employment, pointing to the potential for targeted medical interventions to lessen menopause’s economic toll.

Menopause’s societal implications extend far beyond individual women, influencing workforce dynamics and public health systems. Persson argued that policies supporting women during menopause could yield substantial benefits. Initiatives promoting workplace flexibility, public sector employment, and broader access to medical care may have the potential to reduce the economic penalties many women face.

Persson’s research arrives at a moment when menopause is finally entering public conversation. With increasing mentions in media and politics – for example, Michelle Obama recently highlighted menopause in a campaign speech for Kamala Harris – it’s clear that the societal impacts of menopause can no longer be ignored. Her findings not only underscore the economic and social costs of this transition but also highlight opportunities for intervention and policy reform.

Through her work, Persson challenges us to reimagine menopause – not as an isolated biological event, but as a transformative period with far-reaching implications for women, workplaces, and societies at large.