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!

The £500 figure came from a survey of 2134 women and included money for chocolate, magazines and DVDs.

It's back to poor reporting.

Im lucky but It's obvious from my knowledge of friends' lives that some women suffer badly during periods.
But poor data and reporting is causing any real issues to be clouded.
Honestly I'm not actively watching " news " anymore. It's disinformation far too often.

But poor data and reporting is causing any real issues to be clouded.

This ^

After all the state provides them with an income or top-up's, in the for of benefits/tax credits, that should cover the costs of essential outgoings.

If they actually get it on time or at all. If you are on zero hour contract you cannot budget the same every week some weeks you wont have money spare because you dont get paid at all and top ups wont cover essentials after paying to keep a roof over your head!.

And how do you budget for things when it takes 6 weeks to process your claim? If you lose your job or become ill and you have no money coming in for 6 weels what the fuck are you supposed to do?

Instead of arguing that its always the persons fault why cant you accept that this is happening right now. People are using foodbanks to feed thier families and btw you have to be referred by an agency or gp to even go to one and some food banks only allow you 3 visits so after that you are screwed.
Its not some made up scaremongering people are living in extreme poverty in uk in 2018. Just because it doesnt affect you doesnt mean its not real. Working with family services i have seen how some families have to live i wouldnt wish it on anyone its not a great life relying on benefits with illness/joblessness thrown in believe me.

Help with budgeting and how to be financially savvy will help many families if there is that option available to them (and that doesnt happen very often now due to budget cuts ) but if you dont have money coming in budgeting is impossible.

Gosh over 700 posts needed to convince some MNers that not everyone has as much money as they do.

I mean, really?

Not really.

It's the madey-uppy numbers that cause most head shaking.

It's the madey-uppy numbers that cause most head shaking

Then don’t focus on the numbers, focus on the reality that some women and girls are facing not being able to afford san pro on a regular basis.

Does it matter if it's one teen girl or 100 missing school because they don't have access to sanpro?

We live in the 5th richest country in the world and some families have to use food banks to eat. Let that sink in for a bit. If you can't buy 2 packs of 11p noodles to eat for the day, you can't buy tampons. Even 23p ones.

Frankly, like other posters, I don't care if it's neglect, I don't care if it is because mum and dad can't afford to feed the goat and buy tampons. It should not be happening to one single UK child. It should not be happening to any child, anywhere in the world but that it's happening in the UK is abhorrent. We can afford to fix this problem but the powers that be choose not to.

Frankly, like other posters, I don't care if it's neglect, I don't care if it is because mum and dad can't afford to feed the goat and buy tampons. It should not be happening to one single UK child. It should not be happening to any child, anywhere in the world but that it's happening in the UK is abhorrent. We can afford to fix this problem but the powers that be choose not to

I swear to god if there was a MN equivalent of a standing ovation I’d give it to you!

YES! To everything you’ve said.

It's the madey-uppy numbers that cause most head shaking.

Actually the ££ are irrelevant. It doesnt matter if it costs £1 a packet or £10 if you dont have it you cant get it.

The fact that it is a problem that is well documented and pretty obvious to anyone who has read this thread from links and personal experience is horrifying in uk in this time.

I,m merely pointing out that presenting a plausible case which has accurate estimates would be better than the campaign as publicised and reported.

I didn't think that would be so controversial.

Its not controversial, but it is deflecting from the issue. There are women and girls who can’t afford san pro. That is not in question, but quibbling over the numbers is not helping them or solving anything.

Okydoke.

You might want to ask yourself why you’re so unwilling to help, and why you seem to get so righteously angry with other people, children in some cases, who need compassion and assistance

I'm neither angry nor lacking in compassion. I accept some women do not have access to appropriate sanpro, my argument is why don't they. I've been out this morning and watched a family shove over £10 into a vending machine buying sweets and crisps. How the guy ate them with no teeth in his head is a mystery. Then as I left I had to walk through their plumes of cigarette smoke. I'd never do that now let alone if I was a poor as a church mouse. I don't think giving out free products to every woman on benefits is the answer.

If food banks only allow 3 visits one has to wonder what the rational behind that is. Maybe SanPro could be distributed similarly.

Unfortunately posters like Neshoma have to see things first hand before they get into their thick skulls that issues are more complex than simply people's poor budgeting skills or parents neglecting their children.

I am not thick. Why are you being rude and making assumptions? That isn't the spirit of MN or appropriate debating. How do you know I've haven't seen 'things' first hand?

I have had heavy periods for all of my adult life. I can flood a towel in under an hour on the first two days of my cycle. If I'm at work and in meetings that I can't leave for up to three hours that means I need to use a tampon, two towels overlapped because of the blood. Two pairs of underwear to hold the towels securely in place and add additional leakage protection. And after all that I've still flooded to my trousers in under two hours. I can easily go through 2 packs of pads and tampons each a cycle. Plus the electric it takes to run my washing machine higher to remove blood stains from clothes and bedsheets and the money to replace those items when there not salvageable. Or how about a day's leave because I can't make it in due to pain.

But I like your attitude OP, if it's not happening to me its doesn't happen.

How do you know I've haven't seen 'things' first hand?

Your posts about people living in poverty are pretty revealing. Your lack of empathy and compassion despite your protestations make it abundantly clear too.

You’re one of “those” posters when it comes to poverty/benefits.

In short, what I’m trying to say is that if you don’t post wilfully ignorant and nasty posts, you won’t get the responses you get and then get offended by.

Literally nothing I’ve seen you post is in the spirit of MN, so that’s a very ironic thing for you to say.

So because one family has bought sweets from a vending machine & smoke, you have decided that that equates to every family who can't afford san pro??! You know nothing about a family's finances or priorities based on them spending money on junk & fags

my argument is why don't they

Does it matter? If we’re talking about girls kissing education I frankly don’t care whether their parents are stony broke, frittering away their benefits on vending machines (is there an eye roll emoticon?) or whatever.

I care that a girl is reaping the consequences.

I am pretty certain Always wouldn't pay for prime time advert slots highlighting UK period poverty if it wasn't a thing.

So, how does a family on zeros hours budget?

When I relied on mine, I received around £128 p/w in wages, £160 in WTC/CTC and £35.50 in CB.

My rent was £58 p/w and my council tax £18 p/w. I needed £10 p/w each on gas and electric and water rates were £12 p/w, internet £5 p/w and phone £5 p/w.

We didn't have telly but we did have Netflix.

I had two children and myself to feed.

Tell me how you would budget that when the £128 disappears for 4 weeks with no notice.

I never went without tampons, btw or had to visit food banks but I came close a few times and relied heavily on relatives to bail us out.

I knew that period poverty existed, just didn't realise how widespread it was until reading this. We had little money when I was a teenager. My mum bought me one pack of pads a month, and I had to use pocket money if I needed more. By the sound of it, I was luckier than many.

I've taken it for granted that for my adult life I've been able to buy these essentials without worry. I looked on the Red Box website, and it looks like there's really good coverage where I live, so I'm going to donate a few quid to help keep it up.

It's odd, isn't it? How at least three posters insist it's only a matter of poor budgeting but when faced with the actual budget of a woman whose been in poverty, they have no answers?

It must be possible, right? Because no-one is in a position where they might have to go without basics if they budget properly.

While I'm out of that situation now, sadly, there are many working women who aren't, including two I work with in the same job who currently have no hours and won't have any until the 18th of August but of they run out of food or sanpro, I guess it's just because they didn't budget properly.

Frequency
I have asked several times on this thread that if you have NO money how do you 'budget' yet none of these people insisiting its the persons fault has managed to answer that question.

I suppose its easier to blame people who are poor through no fault of thier own than to actually find an answer to the problem.

I suppose its easier to blame people who are poor through no fault of thier own than to actually find an answer to the problem

And there it is. That’s exactly it.

I am genuinely distraught by hearing how much some women bleed.
Isn't that something doctor should look at and help with? The amount of blood some describe is dangerous, isn't it?

And even the best budget can be completely ruined by an unexpected expense - something essential breaks down, or the children have a growth spurt, and need new shoes. These things happen to all of us, but when there is no slack in your budget, and you have little or nothing in reserve, that one unexpected expense can tip you over the edge, leave you with no money for the essentials and having to decide where to cut things out - food for the kids, essential toiletries, san pro etc.

And if you are so brassic that you are having to choose between feeding your kids, and buying san pro for yourself, you won’t have the money for the bus fare/petrol to get to the supermarket with the wide range of budget options, so will be relying on the nearest shop which may well have less choice and be more expensive.