Two out of three women over 50 are struggling with their mental health, and 90% of them aren't asking for help.

These numbers come from a February 2026 UK study of women navigating menopause, caregiving pressure, financial stress, and the lingering “stiff upper lip” expectation that you just power through.  The study was conducted by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

But this isn’t just a London thing. It matters on this side of the pond, as well. Here and around the globe, women are increasingly running print businesses, managing operations, and leading sales teams. Addressing the unique needs of women (particularly in leadership positions) is a business-critical issue. We can say “business-critical” because it’s about more than simply caring for your team. Maintaining a healthy gender balance in your leadership has a direct impact on your bottom line. So keep that gender balance healthy.   

(See our previous coverage: “Run the World: Gender Diversity Is Good for the Bottom Line” and “Is Your Workplace Woman-Friendly?”)

The Invisible Load

The drivers behind this crisis—menopause symptoms, caregiving responsibilities, financial strain—directly intersect with senior roles that demand constant performance and emotional steadiness. Brain fog at 2 AM. Hot flashes during client meetings. Parents' medical appointments at 2 PM. Underneath it all, the study found, is the pressure to act like none of it is happening.

Print shops can treat these findings as a clear signal: Women leaders are carrying a heavy, often invisible mental load, especially as they enter their 50s, and proactive workplace design can make a real difference.

What Print Companies Can Actually Do

Fortunately, the study also found that there are practical moves that employers can take to mitigate the stress:

Normalize midlife mental health and menopause. Include menopause, midlife stress, and mental health in leadership and manager training. Invite a specialist (or use an online module) to brief supervisors on symptoms like brain fog, sleep disruption, and anxiety so they recognize certain performance dips as health issues, not “attitude problems.”

Build flexibility into demanding roles. Offer flexible start/finish times or occasional remote days for senior women juggling caregiving and health challenges. Look at travel-heavy sales or executive roles and identify where you can swap in virtual meetings, shared coverage, or rotation to reduce chronic overload.

Create safe, visible support channels. Ensure your EAP, counseling benefit, or local therapist partnerships are clearly communicated and explicitly framed as appropriate for midlife issues and menopause, not just “crisis only.” Train managers to do brief, regular one-on-ones that include open questions about workload and wellbeing, and to respond with adjustments rather than judgment.

Design peer and leadership networks. Launch a women-in-print or women-in-leadership circle where mid-career women can talk openly about stress, health, career paths, and bias.

Audit culture and recognition. Check whose contributions you celebrate. If awards and promotions skew toward younger talent, explicitly add recognition for mid- and late-career impact in areas such as operations, customer retention, and mentoring. Address bias and dismissive behavior on the plant floor (“overly emotional,” “can’t handle pressure”) via supervisor training and clear consequences. Stigma is a major reason women hide struggles.

What This Looks Like on the Ground

There are other practical steps that most print shops can take, as well. For example, designate a quiet room as a combined lactation/health room and explicitly includes menopause use in the policy: cool, private, with a comfortable chair and water. Offer flexibility to shift work hours during particularly intense caregiving and menopause periods.

Support for women’s health and emotional wellness is directly to business outcomes (see previous reporting, above). Women in print are advancing into leadership roles at a time when their bodies and life circumstances are demanding more from them, not less.

So…what steps are you taking?