Menstrual pain & the economic purse: calculating and interrogating menstrual symptom productivity loss and the Australian economy

Abstract

Globally rising female labour force participation represents one of the most noteworthy economic developments of the last century. Despite this increase, little is known about the individual and broader economic costs tied to working women’s experiences of menstrual symptoms. To advance feminist inquiry into economic issues affecting women’s working lives and contribute to redressing this knowledge gap, we adopt a human capital approach to calculate and understand the cost of lost productivity associated with menstrual symptoms to the Australian economy. Our results reveal how lost productivity associated with menstruation is estimated at $4,882 Int (AUD $7,176) per person annually. Arising from a menstrual symptom prevalence rate of 90% a substantial economic burden of $9.527 billion Int ($14.005 billion AUD) is reported. Though workplace accommodations enhance women's working lives and diminish productivity losses associated with menstrual symptoms, they are not commonly available in workplaces, an absence we problematise.