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!

depends on what sanpro you need - I need several packets of incontinence pads, (sanitary towels don't even come close.) Also around 2 boxes of maximum absorbency tampons ( not cheap ones). Also, several rolls of loo paper, cycling shorts to go under my work clothes, several pairs, to rotate, and at least one pair of shorts, several pairs of underwear, a towel ( that I've slept on) maybe a sheet or plastic undersheet all need replacing every month

50p or £1 is a huge deal when there is nothing left for food, or to put on the electricity.

I can't believe people in the thread are seriously suggesting using rags. For kids at school. For women working. What happens when they soak through? Stuffed in the sanitary bin? Staining school chairs?

I have horrific periods and could not use the 50p pads. I'd go through a pack a day. Same with cheap tampons. Soaking through in under an hour for 3 days at a time. Can you imagine that at work or school?

OP is incredibly privileged to have never struggled with her period and to have never had an issue affording products.

As for Mooncups they are wonderful. But may I quote Terry Pratchett:

“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.”

Spending £20 on a Mooncup breaks the bank, means no food for the child. So buy cheap tampons to last the week. Buy them again next week. And again. And again.

This thread is heartening for how many think the OP is being incredibly insensitive and self-centred. But sad because they think that way in the first place.

I tend to have heavy periods, and just stopped bleeding for 8 days. The worst moment I've had in the past was where I had to change a pad in less than an hour.

I just tried using reusable pads near the end for this month and found it worked well for me.

I do agree that the average spend is overstated, but it doesn't take much imagination to see how period poverty does exist, even considering the very few pounds it probably costs the average person.

@bluelady

You are totally stupid and living on a different planet from the rest of us.

No. I am living in the real world here, where NO-ONE buys new underpants and new bedsheets every month, and NO-ONE spends £43-45 a month on periods.

The parallel universe of mumsnet strikes again.

Glad to see quite a number of posters see sense, and agree with me though.

And FGS quit the 'what about if you have loads of teenage daughters' line. That is irrelevant. This is about each individual female. Quit moving the goalposts and trying to prove me wrong.

I am not wrong. I'm right. And quite a number of posters agree.

Apologies if this is a road well trodden, been here a year but missed any previous threads.

I used to use 10+ super pads a day. 55p for an asda 10pack ultra nights, maxi day pads 71p for 20. May not be scented and all-singing-all-dancing but perfectly adequate. Pain was awful, nothing from gp helped much, so bought naproxen. Over counter, £4.99, for the worst 3 days. (Shouldn't take it for longer.) Over counter codeine/ ibuprofen for the other 10 days. Maybe £7 to last 2 months. Often available on prescription. If pants got stained, wash with vanish. Or in my case cheap equivalent. So, £4.99, £3.50, 55p x 5 plus 71p x 3 does not equal £42 per month. And that's allowing for 110 maxi day/ night pads per period.

of course the gin in addition is not accounted for

and for above reasons calculations may not be entirely accurate pls feel free to correct me

Period poverty is not just limited to financial poverty. It also refers to lack of education about periods

I am not wrong. I'm right. And quite a number of posters agree

So you’re suggesting that everyone on this thread who is giving an example of their spend is wrong?

Fact - millions of families who can barely afford food, using food banks HOW is that "histrionic".

Interesting first post not!

No you don't have to keep buying sheets you can instead buy mattress protectors and other similar things (more expense!)

If you are on benefits and have you, plus 1 or 2 teen daughter's in the house one or 2 of which have heavy periods (it's genetic you tend to follow your mum with these things) you're looking at a high percentage of your household income each month to manage them.

Based on my cycle - 4 pads and 2 tampons a night (i have to wake to change them) and the rest of each period is double up of tampon and pad - if youve got 2 of you like that for more than a week. Ouch!

I expect the OP (and a few others) subscribe to the idea that everyone on a low income chucks their money at booze and fags and a massive TV.

rose fuck off with your shitty attitude towards Graphista.

Oh, I understand Op, you're as thick as pigshit.

@jacksback

LOADS of people have experienced poverty - including me, and no way have I never been able to afford sanitary towels.

Exaggerated sensationalised nonsense, spun out by the media, and some people on here are lapping it up and believing every word.

You haven’t answered my question about whether someone poor would be able to afford prescription drugs.

Agree, it is rubbish. I am suffering with a thyroid condition, just bled for 3 weeks and usually have 2 heavy periods a month. I usually buy more than enough in Superdrug where 60 tampons are less than 3 quid. I have to double up, so always buy 25p value sanitary towels in the main supermarket shop. Moon cups are 99p on ebay and Wish. Iro teens, it is neglect or parents trying to get stuff for free. I have been on welfare any caring mum would make that a priority. Reusable pads are for sale, we could make our own from rags

I am not wrong. I'm right. And quite a number of posters agree.

Three people agree with you, amidst over a hundred posts.

I probably spent over £500 in the 6 months that I bled daily. Got through a lot of pads. Needed a lot of extra pants as I could flood 3-4 times a day!

I'm glad I had surgery! It was my best decision. But my periods were always heavy so I did get through lots of pants and clothes etc.

LOADS of people have experienced poverty - including me, and no way have I never been able to afford sanitary towels

Oh you’re one of those tiresome posters who doesn’t understand their own experience might not apply to everyone.

Apply a little more critical thinking. It’s never a bad thing.

But if the only shop you can access is a Tesco metro or similar, then they normally only have branded pads/tampons, which are much more expensive than the own-brand or budget.

Same for painkillers.

Reuseable products need a large initial outlay, even if the do save you money in the long run.

I've given girls at school pads, mostly just when they've been caught out, but at least one has asked for a few because mum won't get to the shops tonight/staying with dad and don't want to ask/other things that make me suspect there's no money for pads.

Dozens of people in this thread have stated that they have experienced or are experiencing the kind of poverty you dismiss as not existing.

You are wrong. This is happening. I'm so glad that you have always been able to afford cheap pads. For others this is not the case.

What part of not enough money for food don't you understand, OP? If there's ot enough money for food, where's the money for sanpro coming from? Idiot.

Rose people are using food banks, it's not too far to imagine that they wouldn't be able to afford san pro too!
You are an idiot if you can't see that!

OP are you saying that all the people on here who have said they have experienced not being able to afford adequate sanitary protection are lying?

I want to see you say it. That they are all lying.

Seems to me that there's no real reason for that many unrelated people to lie. They're not people conjecturing, they're stating their own experience.

Are they all lying?