Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression joins Purpose Coalition Menopause Awareness Day Roundtable

The Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression at the Department for Work and Pensions, Mims Davies MP has joined pro-social mobility Purpose Coalition employers for a Westminster roundtable on the menopause and women’s health in the workplace - to break down barriers to opportunity. 

The event took place ahead of Menopause Awareness Day, which takes place tomorrow, 18th October, and aims to raise awareness and aims to improve health and wellbeing for women across the world.

The menopause affects 3.5 million women in the UK workforce, and one in four of those consider leaving their jobs because of it. It can impact their performance, productivity, retention and morale but has too often been a taboo subject that was simply never discussed. 

In a new era of more open employee engagement, many organisations are acknowledging that eliminating the stigma associated with the menopause and talking constructively about its impact will lead to more effective solutions in happier, more productive workplaces.

The roundtable was Chaired by Purpose Coalition Chair Rt Hon Justine Greening, and brought together leading Purpose Coalition members, including The Co-op Group, Virgin Money, Centrica, Shoosmiths and UK Power Networks to explore the importance of moving up the issue in the workplace agenda, and highlight examples of best practice. Many Purpose Coalition Members have already put in place a range of initiatives to gain a better understanding of the challenges women face and to support their employees through the physical and mental health impact of the menopause.

Chair of the Purpose Coalition, Rt Hon Justine Greening, said: 

““It was fantastic to welcome Minister Mims Davies back to the Purpose Coalition to explore the importance of the Menopause and women’s health in the workplace, particularly with World Menopause Day taking place this week. Lots of employers are stepping up their support on menopause, whether through the practical support and advice that they can provide employees, or creating the wider support networks and culture that means the challenges of the menopause can be more openly discussed.”

“We’ll be taking forward all our work to improve women’s health in the workplace with our innovative Purpose Coalition members, as we aim to break down barriers to opportunity across the country”

Speaking at the event, Emma Morgan, Partner at Shoosmiths said: 

We’ve talked in depth today about menopause and how it is affecting our business, but also ways in which we can work to support women, and also to engage the male workforce as well because it isn’t just women who are affected. It’s something I am passionate about in our organisation and very much we want to make sure we are inclusive and support women across the business.”

Speaking at the event, Piers Claughton, Senior Advisor Public Affairs at Virgin Money said:

“It’s been great to be part of the roundtable today, hearing from the Minister about plans to tackle the discussion on the menopause, and it’s also been great to talk about what Virgin Money is doing, particularly around A Life More Virgin to allow flexibility to help people who are struggling with the menopause” 

Speaking at the event, Emily Gabrielson, Health and Wellbeing Manager at Centrica said:

“I was really excited to be part of the roundtable to discuss really important menopause policy and menopause guidelines. With World Menopause Day just around the corner it’s really important that we’re speaking about this, not just today, but every day.” 

The roundtable follows a similar event at the Labour Party Conference with Abena Oppong-Asare MP, Shadow Minister for Women’s Health and Mental Health to explore the need to change the conversation for women in the workplace.