Provision of Free Period Products Evaluation - Baseline Survey

Tender description

The Scottish Government (SG), on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, wishes to commission primary quantitative research to supplement the existing monitoring and evaluation strategy for the provision of free period products from 2021-2025, by gathering baseline data about the current attitudes and experiences of people who may need to use period products (aged 16+). The research proposed in this ITT is concerned with maximising Scottish Government’s ability to answer the following research questions to be explored in the wider evaluation. It will do so by gathering baseline data in 2022 about attitudes and experiences of people who may need to use period products. We are anticipating to repeat this data collection in 2025 to measure changes over time. This ITT is merely concerned, however, with the collection of baseline data. The following research questions are anticipated to be covered by the research: What are current attitudes and experiences of menstruating people in terms of: - Being worried about having their period - Being worried about using period products - Having difficulties in accessing period products - Being able to continue with day to day activities during their period, including attendance at work and/or education - Having to use unsuitable alternatives or using products for unsafe durations - Concern around the amount of money having to spend on period products regularly/monthly basis - Ability to afford the range of period products that suit own needs - Whether there any differences in attitudes/experiences amongst those who have been able to access free period products already? Measure current reach / take up of free period products thus far. And among those who have benefitted from this free access, measure: - Main reason for accessing free period products (list of pre-coded answers, with an ‘other specify’ option). - Were product users able to access their preferred product types? - Were product users able to access products in a sufficient quantity to meet their needs? - Did product users experience any barriers to accessing free period products? - Do product users feel that they were able to achieve dignified access to free period products?