To say a period does not cost £25

[jinjkl]

I hear the story on the radio about MP Danielle Rowley standing up in parliament to speak out about period poverty.

Good on her - it shouldn't be a taboo subject and I feel for the homeless women or those in poverty who cannot afford basic luxuries. But I can't agree with her statement that each period costs £25, and that women spend £500 a year on sanitary products.

You can buy a 20 pack of supermarket own brand tampons for £1 and that lasts a whole period. Even if you buy Tampax you won't be spending more than £3. Sanitary towels are about the same.

You can pick up some painkillers for under £1. I know some women have extreme periods which require prescription medication, but this is uncommon and it still wouldn't cost anywhere near £25.

Some would probably argue it's the cost of replacing soiled knickers, but the whole period poverty campaign is centred around sanitary protection, not giving women women to buy new knickers after a period (I wish!)

I want sanitary protection to be free as much as the next person, but I just can't abide by these exaggerations. Any woman knows they don't spend £25 every month on their period, and if you are spending this much there is something seriously wrong.

Do you really think three billion women all have the same period as you?

Grow up. Every woman is different. Some will spend way less, while others will spend way more. Especially those who have to use tampons at the same time as a pad because of leakage, and then have to change every hour or so.

The thing is periods do cost that much for a lot of people and its not because they like luxury double quilted silk covered tampons. Basic own-brand sanpro is useless for a lot of people. We've all been women for a hell of a long time. If us heavy bleeders say it costs us £15-£30 then that is the reality of it. Just because it is not normal for you doesn't mean it's not normal. Just because a a large portion of woman can get away with 3 tampons a week doesn't mean everyone else should suffer.

How horrible to be told that if you can't afford it then you don't deserve adequate protection during your period. God help anyone who has ration their useless 33p tampons.

JacquesHammer

36 super applicator pearl tampons from Tampax cost £5.69 from Boots. That's just under 16p each.

You'd have to use about 150 of those in a single period to spend £25.

I get that some people bleed so heavily that they need to change their tampon every hour, or they may need to double up with towels, or their periods may last ten days, or what have you. But even so, I'm sorry but very few women are going to be spending £25 a month just on sanpro. And those that are probably have a medical condition which is making their periods very out of the ordinary.

Generic paracetamol and ibuprofen costs pennies.

I don't think we should be making light of the issue by implying that spending this much is common, or artificially inflating the amount people spend by factoring in expensive branded painkillers, or - worse - magazines and chocolate.

I'm pretty sure that a homeless woman who can't afford sanpro would not consider Nurofen or Dairy Milk part of the essential expense of having her period that she cannot afford.

There’s no excuse to be paying £25 a month,

If you'd bothered to read the thread, you'd see that for some women, there is. Or is everyone who isn't Just Like You a liar?

Some brands really don't 'do it' for me mind. I have had really heavy periods all my life, mine last 8-9 days, gutted but just one of those things you get used to lol, and go through the super plus tampons, at least 3 boxes on a bad week, then as you say, extra washing, loads more loo roll, pain relief costs more as I get awful migraines with mine so used to cost me a couple of days off ( oh the joys! lol) But don't think its £25 per. Maybe £15 roughly??
As for Scented tampons, jesus, what next, pretty pictures on 'em? Or maybe they'll play a tune to tell you when they're full! lol x

I used to struggle to pay for wretched periods which lasted about 6- 9 days... I think each one cost around £10 including chocolate, painkillers and baths. Which is quite a lot if you are signing on.

The wine and chocolate all adds up!

A shout out for proudestmum and several others though who've made excellent points on this very goady thread.

We ought to be standing together as Clionba said ^^ but we're really not and actually, I wouldn't want to stand alongside some of the posters on here if this is what they really think.

36 super applicator pearl tampons from Tampax cost £5.69 from Boots. That's just under 16p each

Gee thanks. It’s almost like I haven’t thought about trying other, cheaper brands

People keep throwing out the "some women have bad periods, most don't."

I think that's bullshit. If people actually spoke about periods I bet it would surprise you how many women have an awful time and spend a lot.

It's not even period poverty, it's periods in general lessening the chance for women. Girls taking time off school, women taking time off work. It's on the same level as childbirth, except we don't have a choice regarding our periods.

More should be done to make people, mainly women, see that for many women, periods are fucking debilitating.
1 in 10 women have PCOS alone. That's a lot of women struggling and just one of the many causes of bad periods.

1.5 million struggle with endometriosis.

I'm not a mathematician, but that's a lot of women.

Those two conditions are also hard and often not diagnosed.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe - well said, as if it wasn't tough enough. It actually depresses me, the lack of empathy and also the girls and women who can't afford safe, hygienic and comfortable sanpro.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

Yes I quite agree, we ought to be standing together and not leaping down the throats of other posters with a slightly different take on what we all agree is a serious problem.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all debate respectfully?

I imagine that if the average male MP were reading this thread he’d probably chuckle to himself and think, “look at these hysterical women all arguing with each other, thank god we don’t have more of them in parliament!”

My periods don't cost me £25, I buy the cheapest pads going and don't spend that much on chocolate. I don't really see the point in buying expensive sanitary pads as they are only going to get soiled anyway.

What a horrible thread. Women seem to suffer from some sort of bizarre stockholm syndrome.

I'm really pleased she spoke up, how brave. None of us know how it is to experience anything other than our own periods so fuck off with your judging other women. You're traitors to your own sex.

I'm wondering if the cost of the Pill is being added on.

I use 2x Lillets Ultra £3.50, 1x Night towels £1.50 1x Super Plus Extra flow £1.00 1x regular flow £1. Lots of laundry on top so no where near £25

JacquesHammer Tampax isn’t even a cheap brand!

I had horrendous periods until I finally managed to convince them to give me an ablation

if you added up my sanitary wear, the amount of underwear and clothes I have had to throw away in my lifetime, the painkillers, prescription drugs, migraine pills and then on top of that, you added in the impact on my work (time off - though I really tried not to but i would also add in the impact on my productivity, which was massive - hard to concentrate when you are bleeding like niagra falls), and mine lasted 10 days (!) I would say £25 per period wasn't generous enough!

but I appreciate her point and I'm pleased she's making it

all I can say is if men suffered an infliction like this that threatened their productivity and affected them like it affected women, something would have been done about it already

I've just finished my period I had to buy

Prescription for strong painkillers (£8.80)
2 packs always nightime as they are the only ones that work for me at night (£4)
4 packs bodyform pads (£6)
2 packs maternity pads for the first couple of days (£2)

So £20.80 and that was with all pads being on offer. Mine are so bad paracetamol and ibuprofen won't touch the pain and I find supermarket pads just don't absorb enough. Some months I can't afford the prescription so I spend 4 days curled up in pain, fortunately I'm a sahm so don't have to worry about taking the time off work now but I used to have at least 1 day off most months.

Tampax isn’t even a cheap brand!

And indeed the only brand that works for me is more expensive.

The really cheap ones are plastic coated, they're itchy and chafe, they're really prone to leaking and smelling to IME. I use a moon cup now with washable liners in case of a leak but when using pads I was changing every 2 hours for the first 3 days and then every 4 hours or so for the other 3/4 days.

I'm not abnormal I just have heady periods, yes I have seen the doctor about it but other than having pcos I've never had anything else diagnosed.

heavy not heady!*

Tokyo

I repeat Danielle did not say women spend £25 per month, she said she had spent £25 so far that week.

Danielle is absolutely right to highlight the worst case scenario in order to concentrate minds and illustrate the seriousness of the situation.

Good for you and your average periods op. I use a variety of sizes and products for my 8 day heavy period and count myself as fortunate because I can afford what I need. Those that can’t need all the help they can get in my view.

She then said the average cost for a woman over a year is £500. But we don’t know what’s ncluded in that - sick days, gynaecology appointments, replacing clothing, bedlinen, prescriptions etc..