Exploring Australian Women's Attitudes Towards Paid Menstrual Leave: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Abstract

Background: Australian lawyers, researchers and unions are advocating for the implementation of national paid menstrual leave legislation. The scarce research in this emerging field has not thoroughly explored women's attitudes towards such leave.

Aim: To explore Australian women's attitudes towards paid menstrual leave.

Materials and methods: Participants (n = 923, female sex assigned at birth currently or previously menstruating; 18+ years; resident in Australia; fluent in English) primarily recruited via social media, including accounts of Australian women's health and menstruation support groups for conditions such as adenomyosis and endometriosis, using a passive snowball sampling frame, completed an online cross-sectional mixed-methods survey.

Results: Most (85%) expressed being somewhat to definitely in favour of paid menstrual leave, 4% were unsure and 11% were somewhat to definitely not in favour. Younger age and history of missing work due to menstrual pain were significant independent predictors of support for paid menstrual leave. Women preferred menstrual leave to be paid (rather than unpaid or reimbursed as additional income if unused), available monthly, with a once-off doctor's approval required to access leave. Overall, 73% of participants reported positive impacts on employees in response to open-ended questions about potential impacts (positive, negative and unintended). The most common categories were better workplaces and productivity and improved work outcomes.

Conclusion: Research such as this is essential for informing considerations about menstrual leave legislation. Further research investigating the attitudes of a wider range of stakeholders, such as men, colleagues, employers, employment lawyers and economists, is needed to develop an inclusive understanding of menstrual leave.