Pain and Prejudice: A Mixed Methods Study Exploring Australian Women’s Attitudes Towards Paid Menstrual Leave

Abstract

Lawyers, researchers, and unions have been advocating for the national implementation of paid menstrual leave legislation in Australia. However, the scarce research in this emerging field has not thoroughly explored women’s attitudes towards paid menstrual leave and whether this leave is something they would want to access. Hence, this mixed methods study aimed to explore Australian women’s attitudes towards paid menstrual leave via a crosssectional online survey. Of 923 participants, 85.04% expressed being somewhat to definitely in favour of paid menstrual leave, 4.44% were unsure and 10.51% were somewhat to definitely not in favour. Additionally, this study identified age and history of skipping work due to menstrual pain as significant independent predictors of support for paid menstrual leave. The findings also highlight that women had the strongest preference for menstrual leave to be paid and available on a monthly basis with the requirement of a once off doctors’ approval to access leave. Women’s opinions on the positive, negative and unintended impacts of menstrual leave on Australian employees, were also examined, revealing several common categories through a Content Analysis. The implications of these findings for potential law reform in Australia are thoroughly discussed. This study highlights women’s diverse opinions regarding paid menstrual leave in Australia, emphasises the importance of consolidating the main stakeholders of a movement to guide law reform and provides insights into how women in Australia wish to be supported by their workplace during menstruation. Keywords: menstruation; paid menstrual leave; menstrual health; workplace accommodations; Australia