To not accept that there is 'period poverty' in the UK.....?

[rosetree7]

Fully expecting to be told I am BU, but I genuinely do not get this 'period poverty' malarkey.

Some reports say periods cost £42-45 a month (£500 a year.) Never in my life have I - or anyone else I know - spent £42-45 a MONTH on their period. Not even a tenth of that actually.

Some of the things they (supposedly) spend money on are tampons and STs (obviously...) You can get a pack of sanitary towels for less than a pound. Less than 50p in some shops!

And also mooncups.

Although mooncups cost £16 to £22, most mooncups will last 10 years, so you'd only buy 3 or 4 in your lifetime!!! And they also spend on pain relief - but paracetamol and ibuprofen are 16 to 26p a packet from Wilkos. And plenty of other shops sell them for a similar price!

Oh and apparently, they have to keep spending money on new underwear every month. What a load of shit.. I have bought 18 pairs of underpants in 5 years, (at a cost of around £25 for the entire 5 years!) 5 pairs of them are dark coloured - and I wear them for my periods. Never in my life have I bought new underpants for every new period.

So what is this all about? And how on earth are they coming up with such a ludicrous figure as £42-45 a month?! I mean, some girls are apparently using toilet roll as they 'can't afford' sanitary towels? In most cases, toilet roll is more expensive than sanitary towels FGS!

Op, your ignorance makes me feel ill.

I’ll give you a real life example - a free school meals family of seven, four daughters. Financially controlling dad with a taste for gambling. Kept absolute control of his wife through money to the point that she had to ask to buy tights. She barely had money for her own mature body needs. She simply didn't have money to provide pads for four girls. So she told them to use wadded loo roll.
Second real life example, single alcoholic mum, 2018, twin girls aged 13. Most of the time there’s no food in the cupboard never mind toiletries.

And before you say - oh well they should have left. And go where? Social housing for mum & 5 kids being so readily available these days!

Maybe you could try walking a mile in someone else’s shoes sometime.

OP have you read any of the posts where people have told you that OTC PAINKILLERS DO NOT WORK!!!!!!?

@vintagegoth that Pratchett quote is perfect. Thank you.

I sometimes buy the very cheap pads. They are a bit useless really, uncomfortable, don't hold their shape and not very absorbent. I use them when I know it will only be on short while, 30mins or less really.

We stopped at a supermarket on the way to holiday to use the loos. I thought I might come on atsome point so had shoved some towels in my case so I had some to then get to a shop. Lo and behold it had started. The choice was grim. Incontinence pads galore but not much San-pro. What they had was all bar one packet branded and expensive. No worries for me, but so easily for someone else.

I can't use tampons, a mooncup is coming nowhere near me.

Most sensible people don't have numerous children they can't afford or put drink before a child's needs.

If a child is not a priority to parents then safeguarding issues should kick in. Anybody who lets their children go without basics like tampons and food should be called up on it by the relevant authorities.

frothing mob of poor-bashers you mean someone with a different point of view - who isn't name calling and being rude?

BoxsetsAndPopcorn
Because you would know if a teenage girl didn't have access to sanitary products and using your amazing powers you'd just know and send that social services team in that isn't at all overstretched.

It is a welfare issue. Sadly when you've worked with children and young people you realise the threshold for help is really quite high before anything kicks in.

But hey, they're the feckless poor so judge away.

OP, are you by chance a "television personality" and former columnist? Your writing style and wording is very similar, if not.

I thought the same. The one who thinks it's tacky to name your children after places...oh wait! I wouldn't have bothered to comment if I'd have spotted it sooner.

Most sensible people don't have numerous children they can't afford

What do you suggest then because in some families these children already exist. Should they be shoved back up and the mother's legs sewn shut!?

If a child is not a priority to parents then safeguarding issues should kick in. Anybody who lets their children go without basics like tampons and food should be called up on it by the relevant authorities.

Buying the majority of cases the children are the priority and parents go without so that the children can have what they need but due to poverty there are times when an expense is too much and funds can't stretch to cover it. You can't produce money when there is no money.

Who should alert the relevant authorities, Boxset?

The people spending that much will be outliers but if you don't have £1 then even £1 is unaffordable. So yes of course some people have period poverty.

Eliza9917 Sun 05-Aug-18 21:15:23

"I think the estimates are over inflated but I don't understand why the charities etc that help tackle the problem don't try to give out mooncups or equivalent as much as possible. All the help I've seen offered is providing disposable items rather than reusable. Even people that can't use mooncups would probably be better off with reusable cloth pads"

Eliza would you be happy with a man telling you what to do with/or put into your body. If not then why on earth as a women do you think its ok to tell other women what to do with/put into their bodies. Im assuming you are female of course but owning a vagina does not make this attitude ok.

It doesnt give you the right to do on here what a male poster would be absolutely slated for.

Because its NO different.

Boxset your anti benefit anti sahp rhetoric is getting really boring. I suspect you used to post the same tripe under another name and people got used to that and knew your views so you changed name.

Things can change its not always or even often a case of people having children knowing they can't afford to provide for them.

Illness, disability, redundancy, bereavement can strike any family without warning.

In addition the girls having periods now, we're likely born before the sub-prime crash, austerity etc. The changes this govt has made not just to the benefits system but to the economy generally couldn't have been predicted. People aren't bloody psychic!

I suspect in your world only the wealthy should have DC. Which is bonkers as the population needs to be maintained. Such a view is elitist and bordering on eugenics,

Yes heaven forbid the parent actually provide themselves hmm

Hmm yourself
What part of having no money for food never mind other stuff dont you understand?

Do you think people are using food banks to save themselves a trip to aldi?
Ffs people are going weeks without money due to the great cock up that is universal credit. Have you read the thread on this? A woman rushed into hospital sanctioned and her bebefits stopped for 6 weeks due to missing a job centre appoint because she had the nerve to be rushed to hosp and didn't manage to csll them which is impossible anyway you cant actually talk to someone at your job centre you get a central call centre or recorded message Wtaf are you supposed to do with such wanton disregard for people?

If you have no money you have no money its pretty damm simple.

Boxset posts similar crap on all threads about poverty or benefits. There's really point engaging with her. I'm not sure she has the capacity for learning or empathy.

@BoxsetsAndPopcorn and we do but guess what? They are overstretched and underfunded and there's too many kids ... kids that are in serious danger,kids that are severely neglected,kids that are being abused or witnessing abuse. Because they can't just remove kids at the drop of a hat,because there are steps to be taken and chances to be given. Because some form of support should be offered,and eventually it is even if often is inadequate.Little Lilly not having been washed,or given breakfast for a week/month whatever is not a priority because despite her dire conditions,she is safe.

I've taken numerous water bottles into school this summer term because some parents either can't or won't at least provide a bottle(tap water is obviously available at school).

Yes it does exist sadly. One of my friends is head of PE at a secondary school and keeps a basket there with towels and tampons for girls who don't have access to them or have been caught short.

She said she replaces the stocks daily and out of her own pocket. I always buy a few packs for her when I am getting mine.

It is an over-inflated figure though.
I spend £17 a month on dd and me and I would say it's indulgent.
DD has a box delivered every month with her towels for the month, pantyliners and a few beauty box type things. Lip gloss, bubble bath etc. Oh and chocolate. That costs me £10.50 a month and then my tampons add the other £6 ish.
I could obviously cut down on that massively but it does really cheer dd up and it means she's never caught short and has a supply available as her cycle is still very unpredictable.

When I was younger my parents used to just get them with the shopping and leave them in the airing cupboard. Different absorbiences for my sister's and me. Always there in abundance.
Never any conversations about them or having to ask.
It saddens me to think that girls go without even the basics. It must be so uncomfortable and stressful

If people are turning to their doctors and asking to be referred to a food bank in order to be able to feed their children why do you find it hard to believe there is such thing as period poverty?

You realise there are people who have zero income. Absolutely nothing whatsoever for weeks on end? Thousands of people.

A lot of people using food banks are people in work too.
Debt is at an all time high, evictions have increased no end over the past 7 years. More and more people are becoming desperate.

So yes, YABU.
If you look around you and don't see the evidence of poverty then you are very privileged.

it also gives free contraception to women in many forms

What utter sanctimonious crap.

Circumstances change due to illness, redundancy, contract changes disability etc. Nobody plans to be in poverty ffs.

And as for saying people can get more working hours easily! Really when zero hours contracts are the govs answer to reducing the unemployment figures and a godsend to employers. no tax, no n
I. no holiday pay why would you give anyone proper hours?

Not everyone lives where there are jobs to pick amd chose from. 300 applicants for one job has any employer in the driving seat over pay and conditions.

Life isnt black and white. Some of us dont get a lot of choices.

Come in to work with me OP. See kids living in poverty that can't afford sanpro. Then see how you feel.

It is not an over-inflated figure at all - It is an example of how bad it can be for some women.

No one is saying every woman spends £45 for every single period just that it can really add up, therefore, women and girls have to resort to using inadequate substitutes that don't meet their needs properly.

I do think it was a bad way to go about it because we now have people like OP who use that figure as a way to deny all period poverty.

Anybody who lets their children go without basics like tampons and food should be called up on it by the relevant authorities

‘Tell you what Tilly, instead of giving you a pack of Always I’ll just make a call to the relevant authorities. Just as absorbant’

I agree op, I spent less on sanitary products a year than I do on shampoo.

@Cornettoninja as enraging as this thread is...thanks for that comment it made me proper chuckle.

As a general rule, [reputable] charities don't publish research on made-up topics. Tends to make them look untrustworthy. And a bit ridiculous. Like nobody should give them money. That sort of thing.

The Period Poverty section of Plan UK's Break The Barriers Report starts on page 42 (the report is about girls' experiences of periods, so lots of stuff about stigma, unsurprisingly).

I think children cellotaping toilet paper to their knickers because they've no access to sanitary towels/tampons means we've a period poverty issue in the UK. Don't think that's too radical a stance, either.