Is menopause stopping more NZ women from stepping into senior leadership roles?

News reports on some recent research had me – and many others with ovaries – alarmed and, frankly, a bit cranky. Although we’re now 52 years on from the Equal Pay Act, it would appear we still have a long way to go in gaining gender equity and equality in our working and financial lives.

New research from Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission shows the KiwiSaver gender gap has widened in the past year. There’s now a 36% gap between the amount men and women are saving for retirement in KiwiSaver each year, which outpaces the still-significant gender pay gap.

(Right now, the gender pay gap is 8.6% but significantly wider for wāhine Māori, Pacific and Asian women, and disabled women.)

Though men and women are contributing the same percentage of their salaries to KiwiSaver, women are disadvantaged, it’s thought by working part-time and taking greater unpaid care responsibilities.

In related news, the NZ Herald published its survey of the country’s top-earning CEOs. Of the top 10, just one is a woman, and of the 54 CEOs in the survey, only seven are women.

It’s hard not to draw the conclusion that barriers still exist to women stepping into senior roles. I also can’t help but reflect that at the time women should be advancing their careers at the same pace as their male peers – midlife – they’re also facing an extra challenge: menopause.

This transition of perimenopause and menopause – though temporary – can have a big impact on working life. Recent research published by the NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) on menopause and the working lives of women concluded that menopause “is still very much a silent transition when it comes to the New Zealand workplace, hindering women and employers from working together on solutions”.

The report found three-quarters of NZ women who experienced menopause symptoms said these negatively affected their work. The most common and debilitating symptoms were sleep issues, loss of concentration and brain fog. Lack of motivation and confidence also figure prominently.

In the survey, 14% of women said they had to reduce their working hours to manage their menopause symptoms, and 6% changed roles. And 20% of women who experienced symptoms said it would have been helpful to have been able to make adjustments, but they never requested any, mostly because of menopause and gendered ageism stigma.