No student should have to miss school, no adult should have to miss work, and no person should have to miss out on daily life because they are unable to afford the basic necessities they require.
Consequences of Period Poverty
Missed school
Studies show that 1 in 4 girls in the U.S. will miss school due to period poverty. Even when students can attend school on their periods, 38% claim that they “cannot do their best schoolwork” without access to period supplies, and 53% stated that they can never locate these essential products in school restrooms. Chronic absenteeism and resulting high school dropout have been linked to negative outcomes in adulthood including poverty, health problems, decreased civic engagement, and involvement in the criminal justice system.
Missed work
Missing work due to period poverty can result in an overall decrease in wages, advancement, and productivity, contributing to more women becoming stuck in a cycle of poverty. More than 1 in 3 low-income menstruators have reported missing work, school, and other important appointments due to a lack of period supplies. According to a study conducted in Australia, “$9.6 billion is the total dollar figure that we can attribute to missed work days due to periods per year.”
Reinforcement of systemic inequalities
Studies have repeatedly shown that Black and Hispanic/Latino menstruators are more negatively impacted by period poverty than white menstruators, while trans men and non-binary people who menstruate are often left out of conversations about period poverty altogether.
Financial hardship
Government benefit programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), do not cover the cost of menstrual supplies, forcing menstruators to make tough choices at the grocery store. For individuals and families on tight budgets, the need to make these difficult purchasing decisions repeats on a monthly basis.
“There’s a very simple way to describe period poverty: you go to the supermarket and you have to actually choose whether you can buy a bag of pasta or a box of tampons. It’s that basic.”
– BBC Scotland News, August 2022
Negative physical health outcomes
Menstruators with limited or no access to period products experience physical health repercussions because they are more likely to engage in behaviors that put them at risk for infection and infertility, such as wearing products too long or repurposing rags, socks, or toy stuffing to manage their menstrual cycle.
Menstruators who are low-income or from marginalized backgrounds are less likely to seek and receive quality medical care due to geographical distance, lack of insurance, discrimination, and inflexible work schedules, forcing them to make decisions about menstrual health without professional guidance.
“My dad had lost his job and period products were a luxury,” she says. “I’d try to go a full day without changing the pad. I’d end up resorting to paper towels.”
– Harvard Public Health, June 12, 2023
Mental health: Feelings of shame, anxiety, and depression
The inability to manage ones basic needs can feel dehumanizing. A 2021 George Mason University study reported that 68.1% of women experiencing period poverty have symptoms consistent with depression. A survey distributed by Sylvia’s Sisters to our recipients in 2020 found a high level of shame and embarrassment amongst participants. These feelings can be compounded in parents who don’t feel they can help their menstruating children.
“At Risk” Populations
The consequences of period poverty are drastically exacerbated for populations already considered “at risk,” including the incarcerated, the formerly incarcerated, the unhoused population, addicts and domestic abuse victims.
In prisons, period products can be withheld as a form of punishment or as a power play.
Domestic abusers often assert control over partners who menstruate by limiting their supply of period products and refusing to provide funds to purchase these essential supplies. This form of abuse reduces the victim’s financial independence and can limit their ability to leave home during their period, leading to feelings of isolation and diminished self-worth.
Who experiences period poverty?
Where there is poverty, there is period poverty. In Virginia, there are over 1.8 million people of menstruating age and 40% of them are considered low-income.
Studies have shown that women of color and college-aged women are particularly susceptible to period poverty.
Despite the large number of period products Sylvia’s Sisters distributes, our data shows we’re meeting less than 1% of the need in our area.
The situation is worse in Uganda
Period poverty persists on a large scale in Uganda due to a variety of factors including societal stigma and a lack of access to clean water. According to UNICEF, 23% of Ugandan girls drop out of school after they begin menstruating.
According to WASH United, 65% of girls and women are unable to meet their menstrual health needs in Uganda.
In addition to lack of access to reusable period products, they don’t have consistent access to clean water, sanitation services, safe and sanitary bathing facilities, all of which are critical components of proper menstrual health.
There is also increased pressure for girls to drop out of school, marry and have children once they begin menstruating.
Doesn’t Virginia provides these products in school bathrooms for free?
In 2020, legislation was passed requiring Virginia schools to provide free period products in bathrooms; however, this law is an “unfunded mandate” that places the financial burden for purchasing these products directly on schools. As a result, its enforcement has been inconsistent and many schools, particularly those with a higher low-income population, are still dependent on our services. Data shows that our donations of free period products, leggings, and underwear to local schools are working. On average, 83% of schools who received our products in Richmond, Chesterfield, and Henrico had a decrease in chronic absenteeism for female students in the 2023-2024 school year as compared to the previous school year, and school representatives have informed us that attendance has improved in schools that receive our donations.
Virginia is relatively progressive. There is no state tax on period products.
Read the full state snapshot by the Alliance for Period Supplies.
Dive Deeper: Period Poverty Studies
Thinx, Inc. & PERIOD.: State of the Period, 2023
- 23% of teens have struggled to afford period products.
- 40% of teens and 52% of adults have worn period products for longer than recommended.
- 61% of teens agree that too many people miss valuable school time because they do not have access to period products. This is felt more acutely by Hispanic and lower-income teens.
- 75% of teens say there is a negative association that periods are gross and unsanitary, and 60% agree that society teaches people to be ashamed of their periods.
- 78% of teens say they are taught more about the biology of frogs than the human female body in school.
- 90% of teens think schools should normalize menstruation.
- 60% of adults say period stigma impacts their comfort with their body, and 46% are afraid their career growth could be negatively affected if they ask for accommodations. This dynamic is stronger with lower-income adults.
Big Bloody Survey: Share the Dignity, 2024
- $9.6 billion is the total dollar figure attributed to missed work days due to periods per year.
- 83% of Indigenous people have found it difficult to afford period products.
- 78% of people with a disability found it difficult to buy period products.
- 83% of gender diverse participants found it difficult to buy period products.
- 5 out of 10 respondents missed work due to fear of leaking.
- 55% missed work due to their period.
Dignity Grows: The National Research Initiative on Period Poverty, 2023
- More than one-third of American women (35.8%) experience period poverty at some point in their lives.
- 45.6% of Black survey respondents and 36.6% of Hispanic/Latino respondents reported experiencing period poverty, as compared to 32.7% of white respondents.
- Of the respondents who experienced period poverty, 66.20% reported negative impacts on their mental health, 55.60% reported disruption to their daily activities, and 46.9% and 30.4% reported interruptions with their work and education, respectively.
BMC Women’s Health, 2021
- This study of college-aged women found that among those who reported experiencing period poverty every month, 68.1% reported symptoms consistent with moderate or severe depression as compared to 61.2% of women who had experienced any period poverty, and 43.4% of those who had not experienced period poverty.
- Those who struggled to purchase or access period products claimed to feel embarrassed (47%), ashamed (35%), or depressed (32%).
Women’s Health Journal, 2024
Organizations distributing free period products from a period supply bank reported that since they started providing period products, clients were more likely to:
- seek other agency services (73.5%)
- start a conversation about other needs (66.7%)
- extend the length of their relationship with the agency (60.0%)
- keep scheduled appointments (62.1%)
- ask for assistance with another need (75.0%)
- communicate between visits (42.4%)
- participate in other agency programming (55.9%)
Sources
- Alliance for Period Supplies, 2021
- U by Kotex, 2021
- Thinx & PERIOD, 2023
- Ohio State News, 2020
- US Department of Education, 2019
- Share the Dignity, 2024
- BMC Women’s Health, 2021