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.

Oh and my stats come from the Mayo Clinic site, btw, in case anyone tries to dispute them.

Looking at this from the pov of what an individual spends is perhaps a bit misleading. The parents of a family of three girls are going to spend a lot, if they are responsible for buying the period supplies. This is the arrangement in many homes.

As a mother of four daughters, I spent about $60 per month on menstrual supplies. I have a friend with triplets whose DDs had their period at age 11, and two older girls. Her monthly spend on pads and tampons was huge.

I’m absolutely staggered by the “well it’s not like that for me therefore I cannot comprehend that the situation could possibly be any different for anyone else, despite dozens of people telling me it is”.
£25?
Cost me my career

She actually explained why it cost £25 here: www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2018/06/i-told-parliament-i-had-my-period-here-s-why#amp

Still agog that some people can make 1 pack of 20 last a whole period!

When I was younger and on the pill a box of 20 would last at least 2 periods

1 light or super light tampon changed every 8 hours = 3 a day, for 3 days = less than 10 tampons needed per period.

As I could go as much as 8 months without a period due to PCOS, a box of tampons could last a year easily

Unfortunately the damage to my womb lining since then, that means I can't sustain a pregnancy, means that even with a copper IUD in to try and help me menstruate, I still don't get any real bleeding. I don't have enough bleeding for a tampon, I could just use a pantliner - but the black spotting I get because my lining doesn't shed properly is too distressing, so I use a Mooncup just so I don't have to see it.