Duke 2008 | ASHE | Equity and Efficiency in Health and Healthcare

Research Objective: What is the effect of the menopause transition on labor market outcomes? Previous researchers have suggested that both menstrual cycles and the menopause transition can have negative consequences on some women's health and lifestyles. The objective of this study was to explore the effect of the transition from premenopause to postmenopause on women's labor supply and wages.

Study design and methods: Panel data methods (individual fixed effects) were used in labor force participation and wage regressions. Data were drawn from the 1995 to 2003 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Women, a survey which included women aged between 42 and 52 years in 1995. The wage model was corrected for possible endogeneity of the menopause variables using the instrumental variables method. The key explanatory variables were reproductive stages, i.e. premenopause, perimenopause, surgical menopause, or natural postmenopause. I also included interaction terms for the menopause stage and hormone use.

Findings: Controlling for demographic, socio-economic, and health variables, women in premenopause were 2.5% less likely to be in the labor force than women in postmenopause. There was no statistically significant difference in labor force participation between women in perimenopause, women who had surgical menopause and women who experienced natural postmenopause. Women who had surgical menopause and who used hormones to control menopause symptoms were 3.5% more likely to be in the labor force. For the wage regressions, I find that women in premenopause earned 2.3% more than women in postmenopause.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that labor force attachment increased as these women moved from premenopause to postmenopause. Hormone use was beneficial for women with surgical menopause because these women were now more likely to be in the labor force. However, even though labor supply increased as women went through menopause, it was associated with a wage penalty. The findings imply that among a generally healthy population, the transition to menopause is not disruptive to the decision to work but this increase in labor supply is accompanied by a wage penalty.