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!

I have ruined quite a few sheets and knickers.

It's sometimes like a flood.

Add to that painkillers, maxipads and tampons (I wear pads and tampons during the first few days)?

No, it's not quite 40£. Also because I do still use underwear and sheets, even if they're a little stained (despite cold soaking)...

But it's certainly not cheap. It's luckily not an amount I have to worry about but some people unfortunately would.

As for the moon cup... True, that one time "investment" may pay for itself. But if you're scraping together money for food, school uniforms, sunscreen etc? 20£ for that cup may just not be available!

You could donate moon cups and period supplies to your local food bank?

Baby what the freak has being a red head got to do with it?

My nearest Primark is 45minutes away by car hardly cheap pants!

If you dont have 23p left because you are waiting 6 weeks for U.C. you dont have it. Its really that simple.

Oh, plus tests and treatment for my iron deficiency. (Went private for that...)

And the money needed to buy healthy, iron rich foods...

@PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks sorry f* knows.

I am actually quite taken aback by some of the responses on here. And I don’t mean from the people who are struggling to believe someone cannot afford a pack of sanitary towels.

The level of vitriol and venom aimed at some people who are surprised that people can’t afford a pack of STs is quite astonishing. All the outrage and bashing and insults, and ‘you have a heart made of freezing cold ice,’ and ‘you should be deeply, deeply ashamed of yourself,’ and ‘how can you look at yourself in the mirror,’ and ‘you have obviously never suffered ANY kind of financial hardship’ and so on and so on…

On the contrary, these particular posters probably HAVE suffered financial hardship, and struggled to pay their bills, and they STILL managed to provide sanpro for themselves. (And any daughters they have/had.) So they are just struggling to fathom how anyone cannot afford a couple of packs of sanitary towels or tampons - and a pack of nurofen plus - once a month. And I think the verbal attacks against these posters are totally unnecessary, and say a lot more about the people issuing the personal attacks.

The vast majority of people will struggle to understand how ANYONE can spend £45 a month on their period, as no-one they know does it (or ever has.) The vast majority of people will also struggle to fathom how someone cannot afford sanpro, which would be 2 to 4 pounds a month for most women (and maybe a fiver for some strong painkillers.) So a tenner a month maximum.

I think there are a small minority who cannot afford sanpro, but they are a very small minority. The ones who are seriously struggling, and not able to afford sanpro, (or much else,) are often the ones who have had their benefits messed up, (or been forced onto Universal Credit that has not yet been paid etc etc,) or are in a domestic violence situation... The vast majority of people on benefits can afford as much as anyone on minimum pay and the JAMs – (people who are 'just about managing!) because they get everything paid for. (Rent/council tax/dental/prescriptions/school meals/school trips etc.)

There is poverty in this country (obviously,) and it’s foolish to deny it. But many people who WORK live in a similar state of poverty as people on benefits, and have as little surplus income as people on benefits. Many people who actually work have to go to food banks, and these people struggle badly, and frankly, get sick of working all the hours God sends, and having no more money than the woman up the road with 3 kids who gets her rent paid, her council tax paid, and free school meals, and free school trips, and free dental, and free prescriptions etc etc etc…

So anyone suggesting it’s only people on benefits who struggle, is clueless, and has no idea what they’re talking about. And I am NOT benefit bashing, just stating a fact.

And I know this, because I have worked, at great length, with many people with money issues, and in poverty, and many of them are/were working. And I have also experienced struggling financially, and not knowing if there will be enough money to pay the gas bill at the end of the month. And I know that most people on benefits are no worse off than people on minimum pay/the JAMs.

All the JAMs/people on minimum pay manage to feed their kids and provide sanpro for themselves (and their daughters.) And these are the ones who are scratching their heads trying to fathom how anyone cannot afford a couple of packs of STs. And they are certainly not heartless and cold and evil, with ‘no clue’ about struggling financially.

Some people are coming out with tales of how they use a 16-pack of STs each day of their period, and buy new underpants every month, and new sheets every month, and spend £15 on super strong painkillers, and have to get a taxi to the nearest shop 10 miles away to buy their sanpro, and the nearest store to buy new pants is 45 minutes drive away, and a 23p pack of STs costs six pounds coz they have to add the £5.70 bus fare on to get them. Oh come ON!!!!!!

I don’t know a single woman – and never HAVE known a single woman – who buys new sheets and new underwear every month. Nor do I know anyone who would say 'my 23p sanitary towels cost six pounds, coz of the bus fare I had to pay on top to go get them!!!' I have never heard anything like it!

Some of the posts I am reading on here put me in mind of the Four Yorkshiremen sketch! On the other hand, someone posted a couple of pages back, about how they would be ‘fucked’ if they had ONLY £210 surplus income a week!

Yeah, some women have painful periods, and flooding (I have had it myself, and have had some pretty bad periods, where I have had to actually go home from work.) But it would probably be 2 or 3 times a year maximum.

To sum up; in the UK, most people do not buy new sheets and underpants every period, the vast majority of women will not spend £500 a year on their periods, women who cannot afford to buy sanpro (or have a husband who doesn’t let them buy sanpro) are few and far between, most people on benefits are no worse off than people on minimum pay, and the people who are struggling to believe someone ‘cannot afford their period’ are more than likely people who have struggled financially over the years, and still managed to afford it. And I have seen much more vitriol aimed at them!

Also, IME, the people who shout and complain the loudest, are usually the ones who have the least to complain about.

And go ahead and spout as much hateful venom at me as you like. I really don’t care. I am as entitled to my views and opinions as anyone else.

Finding it kind of at people crying crocodile tears about being upset with others , albeit passionately, disagreeing with them given I spent most of last night in tears and on the verge of a panic attack after one of these lovely posters “just stated their opinion” about me. I didnt see either/any of you guys springing to my defence @cathf or @Neshoma or any of the other staunch defenders of the right. Stinks a bit like hypocrisy to me. There is no point arguing with any of you, it’s a futile exercise. I will point out that freedom to express your opinion isn’t the same thing as freedom to have your opinion unchallenged. Given the weight of responses on here I would say your opinions on whether period poverty is a real thing or not have been found lacking, and you have lost the argument.

“hateful venom”??!! Really???!! Away an bile yer heid

I gave out my first biscuit! How exciting!!! ☺️☺️ Incidentally, poverty is about so much more than just “being skint”. It’s cultural and social isolation it’s grinding and there’s no escape.

@zeezee3 where has anyone suggested that it's only people on benefits that are struggling? We are all well aware that there are many working poor in this country & this is due to NMW being a joke - give people a decent wage & there would be no need for benefits to top up wages. If I was being paid NNW with benefit top ups it works out that my income would only be £100 a month more than claiming full benefits but once I deduct my travel costs I'd be approx £100-150 better off each month on benefits... the problem isn't with benefits it's with what the government consider to be a decent wage whilst they're being paid considerably more.

It's been well documented by many on this thread that the £45 a month is an overestimation for the general population (but a realistic cost for a few).

You admit that there is small minority who can not afford sanpro can you not see that for many of us that small minority is still too many? No woman or girl should be struggling to afford a basic need for something which is out of her control - surely we can all agree on that much at least?

You may not believe the costs that some on the thread have in respect of their periods but for some women/girls their period is an expense that they literally cannot afford. Between myself & DD I spend approx £45 a month without having to replace bedsheets & underwear every month but I do have to replace it at times due to DD's period coming on unexpectedly & being extremely heavy during the night. I wouldn't want her to be embarrassed by her friends seeing a massive bloody stain on her bedding in those instances & yes it has at times gone entirely through her sheet, mattress topper, duvet cover & duvet all of which had to be binned!

The level of vitriol and venom aimed at some people who are surprised that people can’t afford a pack of STs is quite astonishing

It's not just 'surprise' though is it. Do read the read. The rest of your long post isn't worthy of a response.

The sooner this thread fills up the better.

All this talk of the cost of transport to the nearest Primark is silly. There are plenty of similar shops that sell undies, even supermarkets do it now.

And doesn't anyone use the transport to get to other places? Does no one visit a supermarket?Just purchase some bits whilst you are already there, no one's suggesting spending £5.60 as a one-off trip into town.

When people are moved to Universal Credit they don't get any money for the first 5 - 6 weeks. This is poor advice as claimants can request an advanced payment to cover them for this period.

We know it isn't just people on benefits that struggle. Many folk have given their personal accounts of working yet still struggling...and been told they should move if living costs are too high/get another or second job if wages are too low/learn to budget better because there apparently is no way someone cannot afford things. Why should we accept somebody simply saying they have been skint but still managed to budget when the same curtesy isn't afforded the other way? Why should we be sympathetic to people who are happy to label those of us who have experienced this type of poverty as lazy/with bad priorities?

There is a massive level of hypocrisy on this thread...and it isn't from the ones who have genuinely experienced hardship. The statistics are there for people to peruse...unless you want to present statistics that dispute them to prove that period poverty doesn't exist, your disbelief is mere opinion. And as some posters have discovered, being vilified (wrongly in some cases) based on some idiot's misconception of poverty is pretty shitty

Tbh I am more concerned about the girls (like I was) who are in abusive and neglectful homes where they can’t get access to ST because it is not their parents priority, or the women suffering financial abuse from their partners who have no access to funds. Even outside of all this supposed budgeting and “can’t you just get some down the shop” mentality, those women and girls still exist and still need help.

This is poor advice as claimants can request an advanced payment to cover them for this period.
It's a loan, that they may not get and then they have even less money whilst paying it back.

And not everyone even lives near supermarkets and shops, in fact, plenty don't. They are rural. They cannot move as they don't have the money to do so.

This is poor advice as claimants can request an advanced payment to cover them for this period.

Which then needs to be repaid from future payments leaving people with even less money

Additionally, to the outside world I looked like a perfectly normal teenager, but inside I was broken and wearing rolled up toilet roll in my knickers. Think past what you can see.

does nobody visit a supermarket

Clearly missed the entire damn point. Some people don't have the luxury of travelling to supermarkets & have to make do with their local shop even for basic food supplies. These tend to have more expensive san pro on offer as opposed to the 23p brand spouted out on here. So you have a choice sometimes...add a box of £3 always to your shop & have the extra £2.60 (as per my own bus costs) to spend on food, or spend £5.60 on a bus. If I only have £10 to spend for the week, I'd rather walk to my little local shop, spend £3 on pads & have £7 for food than spend £5.60 on a bus, 23p on san pro & be left with only £4.17 (i think my maths is right) for food.

How or why is that so hard to grasp? If anything else crops up that then requires you to give up part of your £10 a week 'spare' cash, you could be lucky to have enough money for basic foods let alone the £3 needed for pads

IAmPickleRick sadly as this thread has shown, there are some people who would gladly question a teenager who needed san pro donations about why she didn't have the funds to start with. No doubt they would have a sliding scale of worthiness to decide which teens qualified for san pro help & which teens didn't

does nobody visit a supermarket no point if you don't have any money

zee come and sit in my office. I work with people paid well over the living wage and they still struggle. Mums going without meals so they can feed their kids. Don't get benefits just simply not enough.

It is happening right in front of us and to those you may not expect.

My example stated waaay earlier was when I was a working homeowner experiencing domestic violence, so nothing to do with benefits. But that experience makes me realise it can happen to anyone.

JAMs aren't an issue, because they ARE managing, even if it is just about.

Those on zero hour contracts so their UC is a nightmare as they never know if they'll have hours, don't know how much they've got coming in and don't know if they'll get sanctioned because they didn't get enough hours that week are affected. Those moving over to UC and getting no money for six weeks.... these are large numbers of people. Single parents who aren't getting the money from the NR parent are affected.

So those people and those experiencing DV can so easily see why period poverty exists and it is pretty outrageous that those fortunate enough not to have ever faced the situation don't have the intelligence, imagination or empathy (and I say this as an autistic adult) to try and see why the situation exists. Particularly when real life experiences are related at length throughout the thread (and dismissed as groupthink )

Anyway all one positive is that I am now co ordinating an entirely new red box location with support from my local unite community. From September this year girls at my eldest's school won't have to miss school because of their period. I know the more right wing element here may scoff at this and not particularly care but I prefer to use my outrage productively rather than goad, throw out insults and ask offensive questions of a sexual abuse survivor.

Today I'm walking to our nearest 'supermarket', a small Co-Op, to get my 10,000 steps in and pick up some ingredients for things like pesto and salads and homemade energy bars. I'm lucky I have the ability to do this and for me, it's a choice. But it's a tiny supermarket. There is no Primark or indeed anything much in the way of shops there - a few charity shops, a couple of independent shops selling trinkets and pubs. I'm fortunate I can afford Amazon Prime and have money to order things. Rural poverty definitely exists.

I’d have to drive 45 mins to get to a supermarket that stocks the tampons I need.

Otherwise I buy in bulk when I happen to go near a large Boots.

I’m lucky I can afford to do so

@BishopBrennansArse I care & think it's a great thing! I have contacted my local Red Box on FB to ask how I can help.

I'd hate to think of my DD's having to approach some of the people on this thread to request sanpro because they'd been caught short by an unexpected early period never mind because they or I couldn't afford it