Women lose nearly 10 days of productivity due to period symptoms

Menstrual symptoms, including painful cramping and heavy bleeding, affect nearly all women, and a new study finds that working through them can result in nearly 10 days of lost productivity every year. Researchers surveyed more than 32,000 women in the Netherlands between the ages of 15 and 45, and found that roughly 14% of women said they don’t go to school or work at some point during their monthly period. Some 80% reported going to school and work despite their symptoms, and researchers found that, on average, women missed about nine days of productivity due to working through their symptoms. Only 1 in 5 women told their employers or school why they were absent when they did take time off, and nearly two-thirds wished for more flexibility when it came to taking time off during their periods.