What is Period Poverty

By: Sahasra Kalluri

Globally, 500 million menstruating people are affected by period poverty. 16.9 million of those people are within the US alone. A study by BMC Women’s Health found that 14.2% of college-aged individuals were affected by period poverty from 2020-2021, and 10% were affected almost every month. 

Now, what is period poverty? And why does almost no one talk about it? 

Period poverty is defined as insufficient access to menstrual products, education, along with hygiene and waste management. 

Menstruation, or what is commonly known as a “period” is defined as “normal vaginal bleeding that occurs as part of a woman’s monthly cycle” by the National Library of Medicine. This bleeding occurs because, every month, the body (if the person menstruates), is prepared for a pregnancy. If there is no pregnancy, the uterus sheds its lining, which passes through the vagina.  

Periods are a very natural process, and issues relating to them are often ignored due to the heavy stigma surrounding them, erasing many conversions that need to happen. 

On average, menstrual products cost twenty dollars for each cycle, which is around 240 dollars a year on basic necessities. In many states, feminine hygiene products are taxed very highly, anywhere from 4.7% to 9.9%, all of which are very high, and make them very unaffordable. Most assistance programs for women, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance programs (SNAP) and assistance for women, infants, and children (WIC) don’t include the purchase of period products. Many women reported having to choose between menstrual products and food each month. 

This leads to the overuse of common period products, like pads and tampons, which can cause toxic-shock syndrome, which can be deadly, and cheaper options are usually not very durable. Some women depend on toilet paper and similar products, which causes a lot of infections; for example, urinary tract infections. Additionally, a sample of college students showed increased levels of depression by women that were affected by period poverty. 

All of these alternatives are ways of adjusting to how expensive these products are; all of which are very dangerous, and can lead to further costs if medical attention is needed from the risks of over-use of products, infections, or psychological assistance in poor mental health. 

Menstruation cannot be stopped, and period products should not be considered a privilege. For women to continue to do their daily tasks, without worrying about bleeding down their legs, they need access to these basic hygienic needs. For women to have their basic right of being able to bleed with dignity, period poverty needs to end. 

Sources: 

• https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Abstract/2020/05001/Period_Poverty_and_the_Menstrual_Product_Tax_in.234.aspx 

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-menstruation-usa/even-in-the-u-s-poor-women-often-cant-afford-tampons-pads-idUSKCN1P42TX

• https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12905-020-01149-5]

• https://medlineplus.gov/menstruation.html#:~:text=Patient%20Handouts-,Summary,tissue%20from%20inside%20the%20uterus. 

• https://mostpolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Menstrual_Hygiene_Products_V2.pdf 

• https://now.org/blog/female-homelessness-and-period-poverty/#:~:text=The%20average%20woman%20spends%20about,about%20%2418%2C000%20over%20her%20lifetime.