A Jewish woman has the halachic status of niddah from menarche until she immerses when she marries. However, at present, the niddah status does not affect single women, since the only consequence of being niddah is that physical contact with men is forbidden, and halacha anyway forbids physical contact between women and men outside of the context of marriage.

On the spiritual level, a woman's niddah status does not imply any wrongdoing or inferiority. This is true for both married and unmarried women.

At the time of the Beit Hamikdash, the ritual status of niddah did affect single women, who immersed in the mikveh to allow participation in certain Temple rituals and to enable direct preparation of bread when performing the mitzvah of "challah" - a portion of bread gifted to a kohen. Since the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, there is no need for a single woman to immerse to remove her niddah status. In fact, single women are generally not permitted to immerse in the mikveh, other than for the purpose of conversion, and in some communities, before Yom Kippur, as a symbolic act of repentance.

Note that "unclean" is an unfortunate translation of the Hebrew word for ritual impurity "tamei". Tumah is a ritual status, not a function of bodily cleanliness.

This response was updated on 11 December, 2025.