Menstruation and Education in Nepal
Open accessAbstract
This paper presents the results from a randomized evaluation that distributed menstrual cups (menstrual sanitary products) to adolescent girls in rural Nepal.Girls in the study were randomly allocated a menstrual cup for use during their monthly period and were followed for fifteen months to measure the effects of having modern sanitary products on schooling.While girls were 3 percentage points less likely to attend school on days of their period, we find no significant effect of being allocated a menstrual cup on school attendance.There were also no effects on test scores, self-reported measures of self-esteem or gynecological health.These results suggest that policy claims that barriers to girls' schooling and activities during menstrual periods are due to lack of modern sanitary protection may not be warranted.On the other hand, sanitary products are quickly and widely adopted by girls and are convenient in other ways, unrelated to short-term schooling gains.
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There is some evidence that improved hand-washing with soap at school, provision of sanitary pads, maintained and clean latrines can reduce absence in school-aged children, but a few studies found that school-based WASH interventions had no impact on student attendance.
“There is some evidence that improved hand-washing with soap at school, provision of sanitary pads, maintained and clean latrines can reduce absence in school-aged children (c.f. [11,18,35,37,42]), but a few studies found that school-based WASH interventions had no impact on student attendance [36,40].”
From Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools in Low-Income Countries: A Review of Evidence of Impact (2019) · cites this paper as [40]
Very few intervention studies include a focus on menstrual hygiene management in schools in low-income countries.
“However, these studies are qualitative and/or descriptive; very few intervention studies include a focus on menstrual hygiene management in schools in low-income countries [39,40,43].”
From Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools in Low-Income Countries: A Review of Evidence of Impact (2019) · cites this paper as [40]
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McMichael, C. (2019) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph16030359 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
“32 Oster and Thornton 2009 [40] Nepal Randomized control trial 4 schools in rural Nepal, Chitwan province; 198 adolescent girls and their mothers.”
BackgroundInfluentialSommer, M., Ackatia-Armah, N., Connolly, S., & Smiles, D. (2015) · Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education · doi:10.1080/03057925.2013.871399 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Jewitt, S., & Ryley, H. (2014) · Geoforum · doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2014.07.006 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Crichton, J., Okal, J., Kabiru, C. W., & Zulu, E. M. (2013) · Health Care for Women International · doi:10.1080/07399332.2012.740112 · Cited by 147 · see citing works
Murat Sahin, M. S., Linda Mason, L. M., Kayla Laserson, K. L., Kelvin Oruko, K. O., Elizabeth Nyothach, E. N., Kelly Alexander, K. A., Frank Odhiambo, F. O., Alie Eleveld, A. E., Emily Isiye, E. I., Isaac Ngere, I. N., et al. (2015) · Waterlines · doi:10.3362/1756-3488.2015.003 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
New Lessons: The Power of Educating Adolescent Girls—A Girls Count Report on Adolescent Girls
Lloyd, C., & Young, J. (2009) · doi:10.31899/pgy17.1011 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Putting menstrual hygiene management on to the school water and sanitation agenda
Marni Sommer, M. S. (2010) · Waterlines · doi:10.3362/1756-3488.2010.030 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Menstrual hygiene management in humanitarian emergencies: Gaps and recommendations
Marni Sommer, M. S. (2012) · Waterlines · doi:10.3362/1756-3488.2012.008 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
- Authors
- Oster, E., & Thornton, R.
- Affiliations
- National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
- ORCID
- Thornton, Rebecca
- Venue
- National Bureau of Economic Research
- Publisher
- National Bureau of Economic Research
- Published
- 2009-04
- OpenAlex
- W1565377400
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2012: 3
- Type
- report
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- National Bureau of Economic Research (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Harvard University
- University of Chicago
- University of Michigan
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Menstrual Health and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
- Keywords
- menstrual cups, menstrual products, adolescent girls, school attendance, women's education, rural Nepal, menstrual health, test scores, self-esteem, gynecological health, product adoption
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