Economic Opportunity, Health and Education
Let’s take action against Period Poverty together!
by Demetria Mosley on Oct 12, 2023
Each month, 1.8 billion people around the world menstruate.
The menstruation process, which is often referred to as a period or a cycle, causes blood from inside the inner lining of the uterus to flow outside of the vagina.
To prepare for their menstruation, a person might spends around $20 per month on products like pads and tampons. If there are multiple people in the household with a period, families could spend close to $1,000 a year on menstrual products.
What is Period Poverty?
Period poverty is the lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, toilets, handwashing facilities, or waste management.
Period Products are a necessity. Access to period products are essential to the health and well-being of people who menstruate. Period products are not an optional for people who menstruate, they are required.
In the U.S., 2 in 5 people with periods struggle to purchase menstrual supplies due to lack of income. In South Carolina, One in five women and girls fall beneath the poverty line.
Our state is one of 21 states that tax period products as ‘non-essential goods. The additional costs that families are forced to pay due to taxes on essential goods should not exist. These products are necessary for a healthy life.
The Women’s Right and Empowerment Network (WREN) is partnering with The Period Project and Power in Changing to advocate in South Carolina for the removal of sales taxes from essential items like tampons, baby and adult diapers, and infant food.
Take Action against Period Poverty by contacting your senator today and tell them to remove the tax from these essential items. Click here to take action.