MEXICO CITY/ZURICH – Middle-aged women now represent a record share of the global workforce, owing to gains in female labor-force participation and demographic shifts. Moreover, many will have already absorbed or moved past the “child penalty,” the well-documented career disruption and loss of earnings caused by the transition into motherhood. There is a big, unaddressed problem, though. Far from leveling out, the playing field remains tilted. As women reach middle age, they face yet another biological hurdle: menopause.

© Project Syndicate