TY  - JOUR
AU  - Oster,Emily
AU  - Thornton,Rebecca
TI  - Menstruation and Education in Nepal
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14853
PY  - 2009
Y2  - April 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14853
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14853.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Emily Oster
University of Chicago
Booth School of Business
5807 South Woodlawn Ave
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773/834-1552
Fax: 773-834-8172
E-Mail: eoster@uchicago.edu

Rebecca Thornton
University of Michigan
611 Tappan St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Tel: 734-763-3720
E-Mail: rebeccal@umich.edu
AB  - 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.
ER  -