The £2 billion bladder bill: what happens when women’s health isn’t taken seriously at work

Bladder issues don’t tend to make headlines. They’re rarely mentioned in boardrooms, barely discussed in HR meetings, and often brushed off as a “personal problem.” But the reality? These so-called private health concerns are having a very public impact, costing the UK economy more than £2 billion every single year in lost productivity.

That’s 3.5 million working days lost annually to genito-urinary conditions. And the burden isn’t shared equally. These are issues that disproportionately affect women, particularly after childbirth and during menopause, yet they remain almost entirely absent from workplace wellbeing strategies.

We talk about back pain and alleviating those problems with specialist chairs or posture corrections.

We talk about stress and the multitude of ways it can be managed.

So why are we so coy when it comes to talking about what we can do to help our bladder health?

The Two-Billion-Pound Problem

When we talk about productivity loss, we usually focus on the usual suspects: stress, burnout, and bad backs. But there’s a quieter, overlooked issue that’s draining time and money from the UK workforce: bladder health.

According to the Office for National Statistics latest data, since 2010 an average of 3.5 million sick days are lost every year due to genito-urinary problems. That category includes conditions like urinary tract infections (UTIs), incontinence, overactive bladder, and other bladder-related illnesses.

These aren’t minor annoyances. They’re disruptive, recurring, and in many cases, debilitating and they’re costing employers and the wider economy dearly.

Using government productivity data, we can estimate the economic cost of these sick days:

• 3.5 million workdays lost (ONS) - how many sick days the UK takes each year from genito-urinary problems.

• £576.49 Gross Value Added (GVA) in a day (ONS) - how much the average worker adds to the UK economy each day.

  • 3.5 million workdays lost per year x £576.49 in daily GVA =

    • £2.02 billion in lost.

All sums and sources are available within the methodology below.

But this isn’t just a productivity problem.

Behind those sick days are millions of women trying to hold down jobs while managing conditions that are painful, stigmatised, and poorly understood. Women who miss out on promotions because of repeated absences. Women who suffer in silence because they’re too embarrassed to speak up. Women who plan their working day around the nearest loo.

And still, most employers don’t even realise it exists.

A Gendered Health Crisis

Bladder issues don’t affect everyone equally.

Since the mid-1990s, the average number of sick days taken by UK workers has steadily declined, from over 7 days per year in 1995 to under 5 by 2019.

But the data also reveals a consistent gender gap: women have taken more sick days than men almost every year since 2007. In 2022, that difference widened further, with women averaging 6.1 days off compared to 5.2 for men.

This isn’t just about general health. It reflects the ongoing burden of gender-specific conditions like bladder issues, menopause, and reproductive health, which are still under-recognised in most workplace wellbeing strategies.

One in three women in the UK are currently living with urinary incontinence, according to NICE, often tied to life stages like pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause.

These are biological realities, not personal failings. And yet, the stigma surrounding them means women are still expected to quietly “manage” without complaint.

That silence has consequences.

Many women miss work because of incontinence or UTIs but don’t feel comfortable disclosing the real reason to their employer. Others power through symptoms, are unable to concentrate, constantly scanning for the nearest toilet, or are too embarrassed to ask for time off. It’s a classic case of presenteeism, being at work physically but nowhere near your best.

And unlike conditions such as stress or back pain, which have carved out space in workplace wellbeing conversations, bladder health isn’t even on the agenda. There are few policies, no training, and very little understanding among managers or HR teams. If women are speaking up, no one’s listening. More often, they simply don’t speak at all.

For something that affects such a significant proportion of the workforce, the lack of recognition is staggering.

The Human Cost

Behind every sick day is a story. And when it comes to bladder health, those stories are often defined by frustration, embarrassment, and silence.

Jude hears from women every week who’ve had to make impossible choices: whether to call in sick again, whether to speak to a manager who won’t understand, whether to leave a job entirely because their condition became too much to hide.

These aren't rare or extreme cases, this is the reality for millions of women navigating work with symptoms that are dismissed as ‘just part of getting older’ or ‘something that happens after kids’:

• “I was too embarrassed to tell my boss I was off again because of another UTI.”

• “After giving birth, I leaked every time I laughed, I avoided meetings, presentations, even after-work drinks.”

• “I left my job because I couldn’t get through a single shift without worrying about an accident.”

These are not isolated incidents. They are the predictable outcome of a system that doesn’t take women’s health seriously. Not at work, not in policy, and often not even in healthcare.

The financial impact may be measurable, but the personal toll is harder to quantify: the missed opportunities, the stress of hiding symptoms, the quiet erosion of confidence and career momentum.

Time to Take Bladder Health Seriously

We’ve normalised the idea that women should simply “get on with it”, whether they’re leaking after childbirth, rushing to the loo in perimenopause, or fighting off yet another UTI. But the cost of silence is too high, for both individuals and the wider economy.

It’s time for workplaces to stop overlooking bladder health and start building it into their well-being strategies, just as they have with stress, mental health, and musculoskeletal issues. That means more than just awareness. It means:

Policies that protect dignity

Employees shouldn’t have to minimise or lie about their symptoms to take sick leave. Policies must acknowledge genito-urinary health as a valid, recognised reason for time off, without fear of judgement or career penalty.

Access to facilities

Reliable, clean, and nearby toilets are not a luxury, especially for those in frontline, shift-based, or warehouse roles. Denying access, or forcing workers to wait, can exacerbate health issues and increase absenteeism.

Training for managers

Managers need to know how to respond with empathy and discretion when someone opens up about a bladder condition. That starts with understanding the basics and ends with creating a culture where no one is shamed for their health.

Flexible working arrangements

From flare-ups to specialist appointments, flexible hours and remote working can make a significant difference in how someone manages their condition and whether they feel supported enough to stay in the job long-term.

And above all, it means recognising that bladder issues are not niche, not rare, and not a punchline. They’re real health concerns that deserve our respect and support.

At Jude, we’re here to help make that shift, with products designed to support women’s bladder health and a mission to end the stigma that keeps people suffering in silence.

If 1 in 3 women are affected and we’re losing over £2 billion a year, why is no one talking about bladder health?

Let’s change that.

Methodology

• ONS (the Office of National Statistics) - Average hours worked by industry.

  • 31.78 average number of hours worked per week - An average of the weekly hours of all people in employment in the UK from October 2021 to December 2024.

  • 6.356 average number of hours worked per day - We reached this figure by using the above sum and dividing by 5, the typical amount of days worked in a week.

• ONS (the Office of National Statistics) - Output per hour worked, UK.

  • £90.7 Annual Gross value added (GVA) per hour worked - In Table 1, an average of 2010-2022 was taken.

  • £576.49 Annual Gross value added (GVA) per day worked - We reached this figure by multiplying the £90.7 GVA figure with the 6.356 average number of hours worked per day figure.

• ONS (the Office of National Statistics) - Sickness Absence in the UK Labour Market.

  • 3.5 million lost workdays through sickness - In Table 4, an average of Genito-urinary problems through 2010-2022 was taken, the latest available data.

  • £2.02 billion in lost productivity - We reached this figure by multiplying the £576.49 Annual Gross value added (GVA) per day worked figure with the 3.5 million lost workdays through sickness figure.

• NICE - Urinary Incontinence.