Period poverty and not being able to afford sanitary products

[youdothebestvoices]

I recently saw something somewhere about the tax that is on feminine hygiene products (tampons, pads) and although the tax has been scrapped, this was never reflected in the cost of the products, and therefore the companies are just making more money without benefits being passed on to the consumer. This is unfair, of course.

This prompted a wider discussion around period poverty, and I suggested people try to switch to reusables if possible. Better for the environment, better for your pocket long term. I've been using them for about a year and I've probably saved around £70 this year and they're all going strong, no staining, I'll probably have them for several years before I need to think about replacing. I got a bit of stick for this saying how are people meant to be able to afford reusables if they can't afford disposables.
I think a starter pack of reusable pads will cost around £30 - £40, which includes everything you generally need for one full period, and individuals will cost somewhere in the region of between £3 - £7. There is also the option of making your own. A box of disposables will be somewhere between £1 - £7 depending on the brand you choose.
A reusable cup is circa £20 and there are other options too.

I really don't care if somebody chooses to use disposables, I opted for reusables once I realised how much I'd save long term, that I could get them customised for my flow (meaning I use three times less pads per day), better for the environment, less likely to give you thrush. Regardless of this, they aren't for everyone, that is fine.

But here is a serious question, and I am sorry if this comes from a place of privilege. Has anyone ever met anyone (in the uk) that cannot afford sanitary products? I am sure that there are people that can't, but how common is period poverty?

I can't say that I have met anyone who struggles to afford them. We are a working class household, I know several people that are on UC and receive other benefits, but none of them have ever said they struggle to buy sanitary products (this does include households with multiple women in), several of them have also opted for using period pants, cups, or similar, because they feel the initial cost is worth it longer term. Some that use disposables have just said they buy extra when they are on offer.

I'm really sorry if this is a thoughtless post and I also know that not everyone will chat to people about how easy they find it to purchase feminine hygiene products but I genuinely want to know how common this is, because I don't think I actually do know.
If you are somebody who has struggled to purchase these in the past, or now, I don't want this post to cause any offence as I genuinely want to understand if this is a common issue.

If you want to vote:
YABU - period poverty is really common
YANBU - I don't think I have met somebody who struggles with purchasing these

Free period products in Scotland has made a big difference- I work with young people, we provide free disposable products in all our bathrooms for immediate use, and have stands with tampons and towels to take home, and also cups and period pants.

so many valid pints above about needing to have resources to use reusables, to have the right living set up - even just time alone in the kitchen to sterilise a cup, cost of a seperate pan (which many people prefer) and the money for power to boil it for four minutes or whatever your own hygiene plan is.

but when it comes down to it, why would we not want period products to be free for everyone who needs them (and need has to be self determined!) If a man and a woman had exactly the same lifestyle, income and costs, but a woman HAS to pay for period products, the woman will be worse off. Period poverty / period inequality / profiteering healthcare companies… ugh! Free period products for all in whatever format works best. I’ll stick with my reusables, and it’s much better for the environment and for my body, but I have no right in imposing my views on what works for me on other people.

Have not read all the posts, despite my username.

The following is presented without endorsement, as I haven't fact-checked it.

There has been pushback against the idea of "period poverty":

1. Period poverty can suggest an issue with period products being overpriced, when in fact the evidence suggests its an issue of poverty generally.
2. Concerns about period poverty can lead to interventions that are hugely inefficient. One example: the provision of free products in schools. Sounds great in principle, but in practice, the products get purchased by whatever body or quango is running the scheme at hugely inflated prices. (Think the schools meals debacle during the pandemic, when private bodies provided meal packages that contained a few pounds' worth of terrible ingredients.) This just puts more money in the pockets of manufacturers, who leap at the opportunity to sell goods outside usual market conditions.
3. Setting up these interventions can also distract attention from other issues, e.g. the evidence suggests that girls miss school due to pain much more than being unable to afford products.

So I think some people would answer your question: "no, period poverty is not really a phenomenon in the UK - poverty, on the other hand, is."

This bullshit reusable agenda is so annoying. The thought of washing a used pad or painstakingly inserting and extracting a plastic cup to me is a hard no.

Perspective is needed. I bet the people who want disposables banned also drive cars and go on holiday, no?

Is there some sort of vendetta against menstruating women at the moment? We can use what the fuck we like. No I don't want a moon cup and no I don't want to entertain the laundry faff of dealing with reusable pads.

If I had fuck all money and had to choose between feeding me or the cats and buying sanitary products, I'd buy the food and make do somehow on the bleeding front.

I've never had to worry about affordility of such things but it doesn't take much imagination to figure out why some might struggle. Homelessness, financial abuse, addictions, child neglect, poor mental health...

Who are you imaging you know who would rock up and talk about their period poverty woes? Your colleagues? Your neighbour you've never spoken to?

I'm no longer in benefits but I used to be as a single mum, and was for an extended time (years). Sanitary protection was just part of the essentials I had to buy, I could never afford luxuries but was always able to buy tampons, food and toiletries and pay basic bills. I couldn't imagine being so poor that I couldn't afford those things - universal credit has certain amounts people are entitled to, and it should cover simple expenses like that, even if it's the cheapest range available. Of course some people aren't quite entitled to the full amount, eg if they have deductions or aren't entitled to benefits for immigration reasons. But for most people in the country, it's the minimum amount they'd have coming in.

I find it amazing that VAT was ever put on such products.

bad as the situation is in the UK, we should also be thinking of the girls in 3rd world countries are missing school because of a lack of such essentials. There is a women’s cooperative initiative who are learning to make their own.

my heart goes out to all women, in whatever country or situation who cannot afford such basic essentials. Periods are a pain, and society should be supporting women in dealing with them. Personally I am past that stages being post menopausal, and it is so good not to have to deal with them anymore.

Washable pads / pants are useless for heavy flow. They leak at the sides.
You then have the cost of washing them, and if you don't want staining you need something like 'vanish' to add to your wash. Making your own? With what? If you can't afford 80p for disposable, where do you get the money for materials? Ideally you'd need a sewing machine, or if hand sewing you'd have to have lots of time and be reasonably nifty with a needle and thread... have you seen the price of good quality thread and needles (cheap thread snaps and tangles, cheap needles wouldn't be tough enough for the job)?
Period cups, aren't suitable for a number of people, and washing them after each use can be tricky if you are out and about/ at work/ at school / college.
Poverty is real, and if you have a heavy flow, then it's more expensive than if you are light when only need to change tampons/ pads every 8 hours, compared to heavy flow needing tampons and a pad, or two pads and changing every 4 hours.
Think about it, if you can't afford to eat, where does the money come from for sanpro? Some people simply don't have 80p spare, it's hard to imagine if you don't mix in those circles, but it's a serious problem. Be very grateful you can afford washable or buy disposables if you so require, and if you want to help add sanpro to the food bank donations.

You are certainly coming from a place of privilege.

I'm one of 5 siblings. Elderly df on minimum wage, then retired, and keen on beer & bookies, dm worked part time minimum wage.

We hit our teens as DF retired. DM struggling to feed us, and cloth herself. We had school uniform from the second hand box and not much more.

DM's approach to periods was, you didn't talk about it, it wasn't her problem, and just use some loo roll, but STOP TALKING ABOUT IT. She could barely bring herself to say the word period, despite having five children. She certainly didn't mention tampons and once threatened to wash my mouth out with soap because I dared to say we had a session on contraceptives in biology that day. I doubt she would go near the word 'reusable'.

Teen years were humiliating hell. You have no idea !!

So try walking a mile in someone else's shoes OP. You were fortunate, others aren't.

Personally no, but I know women do pick them up in the food bank I run so I'm guessing by getting them free, they have a couple of pounds for other things. What I don't understand is why women chose branded ones when you can buy unbranded so much cheaper, I bought supplies for 3 of us on Saturday for £5

I'm the biggest tree-hugging leftie liberal I know, but you will prise my disposable (organic cotton or bamboo) tampons from my cold, dead / menopausal hands.

Tried a mooncup, loathed it. Hate pads and the lack of bodily autonomy associated with them so whether reusable or disposable, nope. Period pants ditto.

I do, however, wrap and dispose of them responsibly. Also I'm 44, so hoping this won't be an issue for too much longer.

The feminist cause that I will not champion has yet to be thought of, but in this instance, no.

Let women use what they want to use to manage their periods with dignity and affordability, whether that's reusables or disposables.

Btw I have reuseables, but at £20 a pair I only have 5 pairs, I'm going on holiday hence disposables

And have children, but probably use disposable nappies, so do loads of loads of washing along with their other reusable products.

Certain mumsnetters love to bang on about the environment but thread after thread of laundry porn exits with people doing up to 20 loads a week

I can afford disposable protection (just, I have to think about everything I put on the shopping list and if it can wait it does) but no way could I stretch to a £30-40 investment in reusables, even if they would save me money long term. I don't have my nails or lashes done btw and am currently saving for a long overdue haircut!

Sainsburys do decent pads for less than £1, just as good quality as more pricey pads and absorbent too- 2 packs per period is enough for most. I expect there are families where £1.60 a month for their daughters period products isn't prioritised, yes. No way would those parents invest in reusable sanitary products.

They had rags and hand/washed boiled but ask an elderly Auntie how that was as a teenager 🤔 there is nothing wrong with disposable sanitary protection. Reusable are for the privileged and that's fine but we don't have to demonise a packet of tampons as environmentally unfriendly,

I don't think they are that expensive when you can consider shop own brands and ones that on offer
A few months ago I bought a pack of period pants I haven't used them I only intend to use them to protect from leaks when travelling or a night out but will wear with a sanitary product too
I have worn them to bed over another pair of underwear for extra protection

I order period products for free (three months supply) from my local authority website. I have started doing this since it became free in Scotland. Non means tested.

Incidentally OP, there are still 35,000 households in the UK with no washing machine.

Do you fancy washing reusables by hand ?

We should be campaigning for free period products (disposable and/or washable) for all women and girls.

I didn't ask for periods.

I have just ordered two pairs of period pants through the local authority. No idea how much this would cost but it is free for residents where I live.

I have experienced not quite period poverty but close. I was lucky that I could switch to reusables. I did it gradually, buying one reusable pad a month as that was all I could afford. So many women can't afford that, or don't have facilities to wash pads.

People use food banks OP, because otherwise they couldn't afford to eat. Does it not follow that if you need to rely on charity for food, you won't have money for san pro either, and that it would be lower priority for what funds you did have than feeding your hungry child? Yes I do know people in this position. But that isn't necessary to extrapolate from what we all know about poverty generally, that this is clearly going to be an issue for women.

) many people comment the period pants take a long time to dry. If you change the 2 or 3 times a day, and you have a heavy period for a week, how many pairs would someone really need? It's not going to be just 2 or 3.

2. people living in poverty are unlikely to have a dryer to dry them.

3. people living in poverty possibly not going to have a wash g machine to wash them.

4. Many young people, families, women are in temporary accommodation with shared facilities. Is a 14 year old girl going to be wanting to scrub period pants in public, in front of strangers?

5)Why would women talk about not bei g able to afford period products? Why should someone struggling make it known that they are struggling and then delve into the most intimate part of their hygiene?? I have absolutely no problem sharing the spare sanitary items I carry with a complete stranger bit I strongly suspect neither they or I would want to share a conversation about struggling to buy sanitary items.

I gave a bigger reply on the last thread about this and the op then had literally no idea of what the issue with their post was.

Just donate period products in food bank collections whenever you can. It's needed and makes a difference.

@nubtheoryhhh

There's a new tool you can use called Donation Genie that lets food banks list the things they are short of and that they have excess of so that the information is available in near real time

www.donation-genie.co.uk/

Some food banks receive feminine hygiene products direct from companies so don't have a shortage, other smaller local ones find it more difficult to source bulk lots from suppliers.

It's not about period poverty, it's about poverty.

This can include not being able to afford a new bra for a female that has growing boobs for puberty. No knickers and vest for a young girl. No money to wash school clothes or bodies because it's too cold or no hot water.

It's all about poverty. Women demanding that it should be funded by the government is wrong imo. Women should be helping other women for this very unique issue of being a woman.