University of Michigan researchers found that eighth-grade girls in Nepal showed greater gains in language test scores when their schools provided menstrual products in girls’ restrooms. Girls attending schools in the Chitwan Valley of Nepal where menstrual pads were available in girls’ restrooms showed greater gains in language test scores over the course of a school year than girls at schools without them, according to new research led by the University of Michigan.
The study found that eighth-grade girls in schools providing menstrual products improved significantly more on Nepali language exams after accounting for differences in prior academic performance, school quality, and family background. Although girls at those schools also showed greater gains in math and science, those differences were not statistically significant.
The findings suggest that a resource often overlooked in discussions about education—the availability of menstrual products at school—may contribute to students’ ability to succeed academically.
“Schools often focus on improving learning through investments in teachers, curriculum and technology,” said two of the study’s authors, William Axinn, U-M research professor at the Institute for Social Research and Anoushka Patel, Sociology Ph.D. student at UCLA. “Our findings suggest the everyday school environment, including whether girls have access to menstrual products when they need them, may also play an important role in supporting learning.”
The question is especially relevant during early adolescence, when many girls begin menstruating while facing increasing academic demands. In many low-income settings, managing a period at school can be difficult because of limited privacy, inadequate facilities or inconsistent access to menstrual products. Those challenges may contribute to missed class time or make it harder for students to concentrate during the school day.
To examine the relationship between menstrual product availability and academic achievement, researchers analyzed data from more than 750 eighth-grade girls attending 53 private schools in Nepal’s Chitwan Valley.
Students completed standardized exams in Nepali language, mathematics and science at both the beginning and end of the academic year. Researchers combined those results with observations of school facilities, classroom quality, school records and interviews with students and their families, allowing them to account for a wide range of factors known to influence academic performance.
Although every school in the study had restroom facilities, fewer than one in five stocked girls' restrooms with menstrual pads.
After accounting for differences in attendance, instructional quality, technology resources, household income, parental education and students’ earlier test scores, girls attending schools where menstrual pads were available showed significantly greater improvement in Nepali language achievement over the school year.
The positive relationships observed in math and science followed the same pattern but were not statistically significant, suggesting additional research with larger and more diverse populations is needed.
The study adds to growing research examining how school environments influence student success beyond the classroom itself. While improving instruction and expanding educational resources remain central strategies for supporting learning, the findings suggest that access to basic menstrual hygiene products may also be an important part of creating conditions that allow students to fully participate in school.
Providing menstrual products in school restrooms requires relatively little investment compared with many other school improvements. If future research in different settings finds similar results, access to these products could represent another practical way schools support girls’ educational success worldwide
The researchers caution that the study does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. Because the research was observational and focused on private schools in one region of Nepal, it cannot determine whether access to menstrual pads directly caused improvements in academic performance. Additional studies in public schools and in other countries will be needed to better understand the relationship.
Authors of the article include Anoushka Patel who is currently at the University of California, Los Angeles (previously at the University of Michigan), William Axinn of the University of Michigan, and Dirgha Jibi Ghimire of the University of Michigan.
The study, “The role of sanitary pads in school achievement in low-income settings,” appears in Social Science Research.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2026.103395
