New data from affordable healthcare provider, Benenden Health, reveals that women living in Greater London are missing an average of 7.5 days of work a year due to health issues, exacerbated by a lack of appropriate healthcare support for female workers.
Benenden Health found that more than four in ten (47%) women in Greater London have heard derogatory comments about a female employee’s health in the workplace, often around them taking time off work, being difficult to work with or not able to do their job properly. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this has left many women reluctant to discuss their health issues with managers, with 52% feeling uncomfortable doing so.
Benenden Health’s research also showed more than two thirds (70%) of business owners across Greater London believe that they could help to improve the productivity of female employees if women’s health was better supported.
Identifying some of the key issues that women in Greater London face in the workplace, more than two thirds of women (71%) said they find it challenging dealing with periods at work, while 63% have faced challenges when pregnant. In this instance, more than half of women (52%) revealed that they have had difficulty when trying to conceal a pregnancy in the workplace and almost two thirds (62%) say they have struggled with the impact of the menopause at work.
This survey was carried out amongst 5,000 female employees and 1,000 business owners, as part of a wider campaign by the healthcare provider, highlighting the presence of the gender health gap within the UK and how it impacts women’s professional lives. Currently, data suggests the UK has the largest female health gap among G20 countries, and the 12th largest globally. Benenden Health’s research looks at how this manifests itself, in a campaign that seeks to understand, and remove, the barriers to a more equal workforce when it comes to health outcomes.
These findings highlight a crucial need to improve manager knowledge and sensitivity towards women’s health issues, allowing for more open, honest and potentially difficult conversations to take place in the workplace.
Rebecca Mian, Head of Human Resources at Benenden Health, said: “While we already knew that a gender health gap exists in the UK, it has been eye-opening to see how this presents in the workforce with women missing so many days at work due to health challenges. Often, women are facing these challenges due to a lack of understanding about their health, so it is vital that we can help to develop this understanding among employers.
“Understanding and adequately addressing women’s health issues in the workplace is not just good for the employees, it is integral to building stronger, more collaborative, and successful businesses.”
Benenden Health has partnered with the UK’s leading charity for gender equality and women’s rights, The Fawcett Society, to further understand the experiences of women and health challenges in the workplace.
Jemima Olchawski, Chief Executive at the Fawcett Society, said: “At Fawcett, we believe in workplaces that work for women, at every stage of life, which is why it is so important for us to partner with Benenden Health on its new campaign. Research like this shows just how much work there is still to be done in even just beginning to understand how stark inequality is in the UK today, and in ways that can seem ‘invisible’.”
In partnership with The Fawcett Society, Benenden Health is on a mission to raise awareness of the gender health gap in the UK by highlighting the challenges that women face and supporting better health outcomes for all. Benenden Health is private healthcare done different, believing that no matter who you are and what your medical history is, you deserve access to great healthcare.
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