‘Period Poverty’: Reducing Barriers To Menstrual Product Access

Roughly one-third of American women have struggled to afford products like pads and tampons, according to a 2023 survey conducted by data analytics firm YouGov.

Activists call this barrier to access “period poverty.” They say its impact is felt across American life, from the classroom to the prison system.

Lacey Gero is director of government relations at the Alliance for Period Supplies, a nonprofit network working to expand access to period products nationwide. She spoke to reporter Jack Walker about the danger of period poverty, and efforts across the country to address it.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Walker: What exactly is “period poverty,” and how is it impacting lives across the United States?

Gero: 2 in 5 people have struggled to purchase period products, and that’s period poverty. It’s the inability to afford an adequate supply of period products to manage one’s menstrual cycle. What we see is that period poverty exacerbates this vicious cycle of poverty by forcing menstruators to withdraw from daily life, lose pay or miss educational opportunities — or even risk infections by using proxy products such as socks or toilet paper, or not changing products as often as needed.

Our organization, I’m sure you saw on the website, is a national network of individual nonprofits that are working in their local communities to address period poverty. Those individual nonprofits collect, warehouse and distribute period supplies, so they’re doing that on-the-ground work. We also do awareness raising, research and advocacy to truly target and eradicate the issue of period poverty in the U.S.

Walker: What are some reasons an individual might struggle to afford period products?

Gero: One of the reasons that period products can be difficult to access in the U.S. is the cost. They’re quite expensive for something that is basic, essential and needed by anyone who has a period. In some states, they’re even more expensive because they’re charged a sales tax on the products, which is the case in West Virginia. Additionally, period supplies are not covered by any government assistance program like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). It forces people that have periods to spend their own money on products, and that can sometimes be challenging, especially for young individuals.

Walker: I know one setting this plays out is in the classroom. Actually, just last year state lawmakers considered — but did not fully pass — a bill to provide free period products to all schools in West Virginia. Could you speak to how this issue is affecting students?

Gero: Definitely. We see that students are impacted by a lack of access to period products, and the impact on the educational setting is quite tremendous. A study was actually conducted by PERIOD, another national organization that we work closely with, and Thinx, and they worked together. … The first time the study was done was in 2021, and then it was repeated again in 2023. Both times, that study found that 1 in 4 students have struggled to purchase period products. So that’s caused them to miss school and class time because they don’t have the products they need. So they’re staying home, or maybe they’re in class, but they’re distracted thinking about where their next product will come from, or if they’ll have to use some sort of proxy item just to make it through that school day.

Walker: Obviously, this issue doesn’t just affect youth. I know your organization also advocates for expanding period product access in prisons and jails. Could you speak to that work, too?

Gero: Yeah, this is really complicated. There’s laws around period products and prisons across the country, but they vary in outline and implementation. Some states require that period products are available for those that are incarcerated, but they have to request them, or they have to pay for them at the commissary. Sometimes, they don’t say how much that’s going to be. So it’s quite a challenge across the country in many states where there’s this barrier to access. You don’t know if you’re going to get the adequate amount of period products that you need to get through your period. We’re even seeing and hearing in some states that this is causing an issue between guards, who might be the ones that have the products, and those that are incarcerated. It creates a kind of unequal balance of power for somebody who’s just trying to manage their period. So, not having that access in prisons is a health problem and it’s also a dignity problem.

Walker: Beyond just buying and distributing more period products, what are some solutions people are pursuing nationally to end period poverty?

Gero: At the federal level, there’s been a few bills that have been introduced. But the really big one, the comprehensive bill, is called the Menstrual Equity For All Act. It was introduced by Congresswoman Grace Meng. She’s been introducing this legislation for quite some time, and every year there’s another layer added, because we’re realizing that we need products. In addition to schools, we need them in shelters, we need them in prisons. This bill really works to comprehensively address that. It targets access in schools, prisons, shelters, public buildings, so it would provide funding for that.

Walker: And at the state level?

Gero: At the state level, we talked about schools. There are 28 states and D.C. that have passed bipartisan legislation to increase access to period products in schools. Then there are efforts across the country in the 20 states that still charge sales tax on period products to get rid of that tax so the items are seen as basic necessities and not luxury goods. I think that issue particularly is making people really frustrated, because it’s a very unfair tax that only one portion of the population has to pay.

For more information on period poverty and efforts to expand period product access, visit the Alliance for Period Supplies website.