Earlier this month, I attended the 5th annual Gender Wealth Summit, hosted by WOMEN’S WAY in Philadelphia. The theme was “From Mindset to Movement.” The room was full, and the premise was simple: the gender wealth gap is a better measure of insecurity than the pay gap. The gap compares the assets women own to the assets men own. It is a systems problem, so it needs systems answers.
THE LOOP NOBODY MAPS
Menopause is where the loop becomes visible
Here’s the cycle I see in my patients.
Menopause symptoms go unsupported. Women cut hours, pass on promotions, or leave. Lower earnings mean lower savings and smaller Social Security credits. Less leverage means fewer demands for coverage. Employers and insurers see no demand and fund nothing. Then the next woman hits the same wall.
The clinical side has its own gap. Menopause training in medicine is thin. So a woman gets dismissed in the exam room, then absorbs the cost at home. Out-of-pocket visits, sleep aids, and lost hours add up. That is the Menopause Tax™.
WHERE YOU HAVE LEVERAGE
You can’t fix the system by Friday. You can change your position in it.
Put a number on it. For 30 days, log every symptom-related cost: missed work hours, copays, products, and supplements. A vague burden is easy to ignore. A dollar figure is not.
Use pre-tax dollars. HSA and FSA funds can cover many menopause-related expenses. Check your plan’s eligible-expense list before you pay with after-tax money.
Make demand visible. Email HR and ask in writing whether your plan covers menopause care. One email is a data point. Ten emails are a pattern an employer has to answer.
Free move: Share your number with one colleague you trust. Costs stay hidden until someone says them out loud.
WHAT I TOOK FROM THE ROOM
The summit reminded me that neither willpower nor waiting fixes this. Individual effort alone won’t break the cycle, and neither will hoping policy catches up. You need information and financial tools now, while the structural fixes get built.
I’m asking you to name one cost you’ve been absorbing quietly. Hit reply and tell me what it is. I read every response.