Women with endometriosis may find themselves out of work or earning less.

According to official statistics, endometriosis may cause a woman to lose her job for up to five years following her diagnosis. It can also affect her ability to work.

According to data collected by the Office for National Statistics, there has been a “statistically-significant” decrease in average monthly earnings for women in England aged 25 to54 years who were diagnosed with endometriosis from April 2016 until December 2022.

It is likely that women with this condition felt unable to continue in their current job, or were not supported enough to do so. They therefore reduced their working hours or moved to lower-paid jobs.

The ONS said that this reduction in earnings may last from one to five year after the diagnosis. This is compared to the two years before the diagnosis.

In the first three month after diagnosis, the average monthly salary for all women included in the data set, both those who were paid and those who weren’t, dropped.

Then, it returned to the pre-diagnosis level from four to twelve months. The ONS reported that after diagnosis, average pay fell each year. It reached a PS130 reduction per month in the 4 to 5 years following diagnosis compared with two years prior.

The study found that women who were in paid employment saw their monthly earnings decrease on average between one and five years following diagnosis. This was compared to the two previous years. It reached an average of PS56 per week in the fourth to fifth years.

The ONS stated that the likelihood of being employed – or being able stay in a job – is statistically “significantly reduced” after an endometriosis diagnose.

The study found that it decreased by 2.7 percent points between four and five years after diagnosis, as compared to the two years prior to diagnosis.

Rebecca Florisson said that the data painted a “sharp picture” of the impact endometriosis has on women’s career and income, as well as its knock-on effect on UK plc.

Florisson cited a report from Endometriosis UK , which was published last year and examined the impact of this condition. The report concluded that almost half (47%) of women with endometriosis visited their GP at least 10 times before they were diagnosed. Women complained of being dismissed, ignored, and belittled about their condition.

She said, “This shows that women must be flexible before an official diagnosis of illness is made and after the diagnosis to manage their condition while working.”

The government has proposed several mechanisms to increase flexibility for workers, including requiring employers provide reasonable justification for refusing flexible working requests and proposing action plans that accompany gender pay reports. This could be crucial in enabling women stay at work while managing their health conditions,” she said.

It was especially important when you consider the 2,7 percentage points decrease in women staying at work. The Employment Rights Bill (by the government) has the potential to have a lasting, significant impact on the employment opportunities of women with endometriosis. However, the government must resist pressure from business to dilute the measures regarding flexibility.