Addressing period poverty can boost India's GDP by 2.7%: insights, implications & initiatives

Abstract

Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) is essential to the well-being and empowerment of women and adolescent girls. As per World Bank, on any given day, more than 300 million women worldwide are menstruating. However, an estimated 500 million lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management (MHM). And 4.5 billion people don’t have access to adequate sanitation facilities. My study included primary and secondary research and analytics to understand how menstrual health management is practiced across various parts of India, challenges and opportunities, barriers to access and stigmas associated and finally benefits gained by menstruators by using period products. It then looks at Menstrual Health Investment Index as a % of India’s GDP per capita, how current disposable period products are unaffordable for a large part of population and compares the cost of menstrual hygiene management for reusable alternatives vs the traditional disposable ones and how reusable options can help address period poverty. The research then estimates the economic gains that India can make to its GDP by positively impacting and addressing period poverty. It then looks policy, law and other implications and cites various positive work done by entrepreneurial changemakers, non-profits and individuals to address menstrual health and reduce and remove period poverty.