It’s time to put an end to ‘period poverty’

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Originally published in Bizwomen

By Maria Molland

One of the little-noticed stories of this midterm election was Nevada’s vote to eliminate the sales tax on tampons and sanitary pads — becoming only the 10th state to do so. Despite the elevation of menstrual equity as an issue worldwide, progress in this country has been painfully slow.

Women being penalized for their biology is ridiculous and has to end.

What I also call period poverty is the lack of access to basic menstrual hygiene products such as pads or tampons. For girls in school or women at work, period poverty means skipping class or calling in sick rather than face their classmates or co-workers unprepared because they cannot afford to buy these products. Women who are homeless or incarcerated are similarly affected.

The vast majority of states charge a sales tax for these products of between 4 percent and 10 percent. The Nevada sales tax that will end in January is 6.85 percent. Exempting these products from sales tax — like other necessities such as food and prescription drugs — will make access to these products more affordable.

It may not make too many headlines, but period poverty is a major driver of social, economic and gender inequality worldwide.

According to the Center for American Progress’ Shriver Report, roughly 42 million women live under or close to the poverty line. Yet, the federal government still excludes menstrual products —despite their classification as “medical products” by the FDA— from programs designed to help low-income families, namely Medicaid, SNAP and WIC. In fact, both SNAP and WIC classify pads and tampons as “luxuries” along with items such as pet food, cigarettes and alcohol.

The average woman has her period for 2,535 days of her life, which is equivalent to almost seven years. Imagine being unable to provide your body with the products it needs to function at school or at work for that length of time.

Policies like these perpetuate the cycle of period poverty. Women shouldn’t have to pay the price of missing out on their education or a chance to earn a living just because they can’t afford an obvious necessity.

It’s time to fix this

The good news is that there are a growing array of grassroots efforts dedicated to solving this problem and menstrual equity as a whole.

In recent years, a number of middle and high schools have taken concrete steps to address period poverty for their students. In Dublin City, Ohio, for instance, a mother convinced her local elementary and middle schools to provide free tampons and pads in school bathrooms when her sixth-grade daughter struggled to manage her period. And a 14-year-old studentconvinced her school to provide free tampons and pads at Islander Middle and High School in Washington state.

Thanks to grassroots activism like this, lawmakers have taken notice, passing pro-menstrual equity policies and legislation in several states. In the last two years, for example, New York, Illinois, Florida and Connecticut have all cut sales tax on menstrual products. Though there are still 35 states that levy those taxes, two dozen of them have recently introduced similar bills.

In July, the U.S. House of Representative passed a bill that would allow women to buy menstrual hygiene products with pre-tax money from their health plans’ flexible spending accounts. The bill awaits action in the Senate.

And worldwide, Australia eliminated the tax this year following Malaysia and India this summer and Canada in 2015. Kenya was the first nation to take this step nearly 15 years ago.

Nonprofit organizations such as The Tampon Club and Period.org are taking the issue to the streets, encouraging members to organize baskets of products in communal restrooms, making them freely available to all. And Free the Tampons is providing education and resources that empower advocates to create change for women nationwide.

Let’s get to work

The good news is that we can all help advance these solutions, and it isn’t even hard to do.

Write your local legislators and ask them to make sure period solution products are tax-exempt and encourage them to provide students with access to menstrual products. If you’re in college, write members of your local student government about the school budget.

If we’ve learned anything over the years, it takes agitation to get the advancements and treatment we deserve. Viagra is a medical necessity but not tampons? What’s wrong with that picture?

Menstrual products should be affordable, tax-exempt, safe and accessible to all who need them. The fight to advance menstrual equity is gaining momentum. Now, it’s up to us to keep agitating for more.  

Maria Molland is the CEO of Thinx, a company making washable and reusable underwear for people with periods and bladder leaks.