Public opinion on menstrual precariousness as a public health issue in France 2021

In 2021, more than a quarter of French women were or had already been confronted with menstrual precariousness. On the occasion of the international menstrual hygiene day, the source sought to know more about the opinion of the French regarding this issue. Règles élémentaires, the first French association to fight against this phenomenon, asked the French if they considered this form of precariousness as a public health issue, which proved to be the case for more than three quarters of them.

A budget that can be too large

In France, most people who menstruate spend on average between five and ten euros per month on menstrual protection. However, menstrual protection is not the main expense related to menstruation: some people also have to devote part of their budget to purchasing painkillers, clothes, or medical appointments (especially for people suffering from endometriosis), which, for more than a third of people, amounts to more than ten euros per month. Yet, many people do not have sufficient economic resources to afford these items and services, which sometimes leads them to have to find alternatives, often unhygienic or even dangerous, and can prove to be a major constraint in their personal and professional lives. The crisis - as is often the case with insecurity in general - may have further increased this phenomenon: in June 2020, a third of women had experienced financial difficulties in obtaining protection since the beginning of containment, three months earlier.

What future for public policies?

While some victories have been achieved in a relatively short period of time, such as the provision of free protection in prisons, universities and some schools as well as the allocation of a dedicated national budget of five million euros, and the reduction of VAT, there is still a long way to go to eradicate this problem. The increase in the government budget allocated to this issue could allow the implementation of new measures and the reinforcement of those previously experimented. This could include, for example, ensuring the reimbursement of menstrual protection by the social security system - a measure widely supported by the French -, setting up free dispensers in company toilets, or introducing menstrual leave, i.e. a period during which a person suffering from painful periods can take one or more days of sick leave.