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Menstruation hygiene management and work attendance in a developing country

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  • Krenz, Astrid
  • Strulik, Holger

Abstract

Women in developing countries face challenges in terms of managing their menstrual hygiene. Oftentimes they do not possess the right means nor materials nor have access to the right facilities. Using a newly released dataset for Burkina Faso and propensity score matching, we provide for the first time evidence of a strong causal impact of advanced menstrual hygiene management on work attendance. Access to advanced menstrual hygiene management materials (disposable sanitary pads) reduces work absenteeism of women by about 21 percentage points. When we stratify the sample by religious affiliation, we find the treatment effect to be insignificant for Christian women and strong and significant for Muslim women.

Suggested Citation

  • Krenz, Astrid & Strulik, Holger, 2019. "Menstruation hygiene management and work attendance in a developing country," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 364, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cegedp:364
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Herrmann, Mariesa A. & Rockoff, Jonah E., 2013. "Do menstrual problems explain gender gaps in absenteeism and earnings?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 12-22.
    7. Paul Montgomery & Julie Hennegan & Catherine Dolan & Maryalice Wu & Laurel Steinfield & Linda Scott, 2016. "Menstruation and the Cycle of Poverty: A Cluster Quasi-Randomised Control Trial of Sanitary Pad and Puberty Education Provision in Uganda," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(12), pages 1-26, December.
    8. Mariesa A. Herrmann & Jonah E. Rockoff, 2012. "Does Menstruation Explain Gender Gaps in Work Absenteeism?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 47(2), pages 493-508.
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    10. Emily Oster & Rebecca Thornton, 2011. "Menstruation, Sanitary Products, and School Attendance: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 91-100, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Silvia Castro & Clarissa Mang, 2023. "Breaking the Silence: Group Discussions, and the Adoption of Welfare-Improving Technologies," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 474, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    2. Kumar, Rahul & Maity, Bipasha, 2022. "Cultural norms and women’s health: Implications of the practice of menstrual restrictions in Nepal," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    3. Mang, Clarissa & Castro, Silvia, 2023. "Breaking the Silence," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277639, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Silvia Castro & Kristina Czura, 2021. "Social Norms and Misinformation: Experimental Evidence on Learning about Menstrual Health Management in Rural Bangladesh," CESifo Working Paper Series 9081, CESifo.
    5. Castro, Silvia & Czura, Kristina, 2021. "Social Norms and Information in Menstrual Health Management," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242423, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Czura, Kristina & Menzel, Andreas & Miotto, Martina, 2019. "Menstrual Health, Worker Productivity and Well-being among Female Bangladeshi Garment Workers," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 203, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    7. Rahul Kumar & Bipasha Maity, 2020. "Menstrual Restrictions and Women's Health in Nepal," Working Papers 45, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Menstrual Hygiene Management; Work Attendance; Period Poverty; Propensity Score Matching; Gender Inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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