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!

@allthegoodusernameshavegone presumably because you have less periods than hair?

allthegood
Do you agree that not all women are as lucky as you?
Or
That because you only spend £x a month all women are the same?
Or
That real poverty where women do not have any money for food never mind san pro exists?

My periods are extraordinarily heavy. I need hefty supplies and go through many more in a week than some women could use over multiple periods. The heftier supplies are more expensive per unit and I need more of them.

Also, I have a cushy job where on my worst days I can sit at my desk with a heating pad. No one is complaining when I spend 10 minutes in the bathroom every hour. If I was Working a more typical job I would at the very best be burning through sick days and more realistically getting sacked.

Our town has become a "Red Box" area, which means there are dedicated collection points for sanitary protection. Check out www.facebook.com/theredboxprojectuk/ to see whether there is one in your area. However much it costs, it is too much for some people. I have never been too poor for sanitary protection but I have an imagination, so I'll keep on donating in the hope that it saves at least one girl from stress.

I think the OP is just being goady. Maybe she herself is fortunate and can cope without having to buy new knickers or spend a lot of money on STs like Always Ultra. But I used to have my knickers and jeans flooded if I didn't change every hour, and I wouldn't have coped at all if it wasn't nighttime strength. And I used to have to sleep with a towel underneath me.

I'm just glad it's over. The OP should just thank her lucky stars she doesn't have the problem herself.

As an 80s teen, for years I sellotaped wads of loo roll to my pants. And I flooded at times. It was hell, sometimes I couldn't leave the house. My biggest fear was the wad coming unstuck and falling out.
It's now 2018. I haven't had that problem for most of my adult life.. until last year finding myself out of work for a short while it was a toss up one month, between food and tampons. I chose tampons. I was just fortunate a friend ended up bringing a food parcel round.
I don't know what people find so hard to believe.
I can't claim benefits and again I'm out of work. But I've made sure I stock up on tampons to get me through my job hunt...

I have just leaked through a super plus tampon and a cloth maternity pad, straight through to my underwear and onto my pajama bottoms.
Now this is an easy fix.
I can just rinse and wash everything in the washer, my washing is easily dried on the line and i have a whole stash of reusable cloth pads, and i can jump in a shower and get dry and into clean PJs
7 years ago, this would have required washing my clothes by hand because my washer had broken at the same time as my fridge freezer and i could only afford to replace one with a cheap second hand one (guess which i picked) and cleaning myself in freezing cold water because the gas would have run out from trying to dry all our stuff on the radiators because everytime i put a washing line up, some idiots from the estate cut it down and i had to rewash all of our clothes.

Then id have had to put in another cheap tampon and use another disposable, cheap maternity pad, as well as adding extra layers of tissue/a flannel to ensure i didnt leak through onto my bedding because it would be much more difficult to wash. Then i would have to hope i had some clean clothes to wear and I would have had to change every couple of hours, but i had to try and stretch out the sanpro o had to ensure it lasted the entire 7 days my very heavy periods last for, and buy gas so that i can dry the clothes i have to wash because im beleding all over them because the cheap sanpro isnt doing its job!

Thats period poverty. Thats what i was on about before.

It isnt as simple as just buying cheap products. It is much more than that. It is being in poverty and not having anything spare to buy more sanpro of you run out.

When i was on benefits i didn't always have the money to buy sanitary products.
It was a toss up to buy food, pay my bills ( which ones) and things related to my health.
Periods are not cheap.
I used certain tampons as i found others made me leak. £2for box of about 10, which would only last 2/3 days, ( and i’d have to buy 2 diff sizes),
Pads £5 for 2 diff lots.
I’ve had to buy new clothes too when i’ve leaked through and i couldn’t go home to change.
Mine could last anywhere from 6-9 days too.
Fun times.

Why are some people, OP included, saying not to include a missed day's work when that day is directly linked to a very heavy period? When I was self employed I'd lose £64 per day when I couldn't make it to clients. That plus Tena Lady Pants at £8 per pack, 2 prescriptions at £8.60 each, luckily not needed every month as I'd get the largest amount allowed each time, then finally pads paired with reusable pads = a hugely expensive period. I'm very envious of people on here who can get away with a pack of pads each month.

I agree. I have been so poor but saved for two packs of 90p tampons.

It annoys me. I'd rather a poo poverty campaign. Way more expensive for loo roll.

Yes I have normal periods but still heavy for first few days and sees me through. There are things so much more stressful being poor like bus fare being 4quid a return to the supermarket. Or needing things you could only dream of saving up for.

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

When there are people on this thread who are either wilfully ignorant, trotting out their denials that poverty exists and is widespread now in the UK, or else callous beyond measure as demonstrated by those who seem to believe 'that poor women/girls should cut up rags, stick them in their knickers and quit complaining' it makes me really fucking angry; I mean to an 'incendiary' degree. So my earlier comments were actually my 'restrained' reaction, if you didn't like those you are fortunate I didn't say what I really think. And since when did bigotry, lack of empathy and wilful ignorance count as points of view anyway? I call it what it is, prejudice against the poor, plain and simple.

I get circumstances can change but many could gain work or work more hours but don't want to as it's easier to claim benefits instead.

Because sometimes you're worse off... I have a friend who is paid NMW a quick check on the tax credits calculator shows that if she earns £200 a year more from employment she's pushed into a different bracket & would lose £675 a year in tax credits so that's actually a loss of £475 - £39 a month approx what I pay to cover DD's sanpro & painkillers so if that was me DD could easily be pushed into period poverty by my working more hours.

It's not just people on benefits who are affected by this it's people who are out there working in crappy jobs being paid crappy wages because the governments idea of the living wage is bollocks & imo that's what all politicians should get... NMW & see how they bloody get on with it... I guarantee there'd be a review of the NMW within a fortnight!

Lots of people are priced out of work.

There is also the issue of beginning work forcing people into universal credit, which folk are understandably nervous about

I was someone who had to choose between buying an electric and gas token for my meter or buying sanitary products. Obviously I chose the tokens and used toilet roll and used to stay in the house that week as was leaking everywhere.

You have obviously never lived in low income circumstances so think yourself lucky.

I am no longer in that sad position either, why not follow my lead and go and buy some sanitary wear and put in in your local food bank collection.

@JustPutSomeGlitterOnIt no nurses in schools, no money in school budget for san pro.
No money in school for textbooks or paper half the time. Teaching staff pared to the bone. Hence teachers buying food, san pro and classroom resources out of their own pocket.
I have just bought a box of gluesticks (144) for my classroom...I would hope that I can make them last but given how many get nicked, broken or generally spannered about with, I will need to replace in Feb. Will also be buying colouring pencils, writing pens and am on able books to buy a few second hand text books for A Level students.

What do you think is spent each month when you have two to three week long periods ?

Must be lovely to be so bereft of imagination that you cannot see that living in shared accommodation (hostel, refuge etc) without access to your own lavatory or washing machine or even hot water makes for a rather different leaking-through experience.

it also gives free contraception to women in many forms

It was last night I read it but I think you have read this totally wrong. It was in reply to the fact that condoms are provided so evidence of misogyny but female contraception is also provided foc.

I get awful periods and have spent £30 on one before. I can imagine tampons, sanitary towels, new underwear, higher electric bills due to having to wash your sheets and extra 2/3 times because no sanitary towel/tampon is good enough to control your flow, loss of earnings due to time off work, increased appetite and nausea leading to consumption of more food/sweets, potential prescription costs for stronger drugs etc etc. Lots of these aren't necessary but may be contributory to that £500 figure. Until you've suffered true poverty you may find it hard to understand that sanitary products for 3 women sharing a household adds up.

Off to start a new thread explaining there is no such thing as seasickness. I've been out in boats in all sorts of weathers and never experienced it so clearly those people who claim to have been puking their guts out are making it up for attention. After that I might tackle the subject of hay-fever.

There's definitely an element who prioritise other things over buy sanitary items.

If someone is down to their last £1 we should be looking at how they spend their money/benefits to ensure they aren't spending unnecessarily. ie is the best utility tariffs, learning to economise, know how to batch cook and stretch meals, even that they are on the best Sky package for their income (some packages are very expensive and Sky do their very best to keep your custom).

There are some who don't or won't prioritise sanpro and they can be the sort of families who don't even buy toilet paper, nor toothbrushes and paste - which are other important items.

The problem is that the MP included things like chocolate which is frankly ridiculous. The other problem is some people close down every option or solution. For some a mooncup will be the perfect answer, others would get on well with re-useables.

All theses 'what if's' and 'buts' are frankly getting boring. there will always be people with unique situations and one off's. There isn't an answer for every situation.

corythatwas
Brilliant.
Can I start one about nut allergies too? I eat nuts all the time and it really annoys me to see these drama queens acting like a spec of nut will kill the. Who do they think they are expecting us all to care that they have a special toy to stab themselves with? They're always making a fuss when we go for food about where food has been prepared etc. Just bloody eat something. I think they are exaggerating, after all I eat nuts and have never died.

Cory hostels and refuge do provide lavatories and hot water. It may not be the luxury of on-suite but it is provided. If I had absolutely nothing I would be grate to just have access to these.

Cory I could start a goady thread claiming that hyperemesis gravidarum isn't a thing because I've been pregnant 3 times & wasn't sick once so clearly everyone else is just making it up

If someone is down to their last £1 we should be looking at how they spend their money/benefits to ensure they aren't spending unnecessarily. ie is the best utility tariffs, learning to economise, know how to batch cook and stretch meals, even that they are on the best Sky package for their income (some packages are very expensive and Sky do their very best to keep your custom).

This misses the point. When you are in low-paid work and/or inadequately housed and/or the top-up benefits are set at below the level at which decency and dignity are possible (and those benefits are poorly delivered) being able to spend time and energy shopping around for the best deals and having a huge freezer for batch cooking and having enough money to bulk buy is not always realistic.