Two out of 5 women in the United States can’t afford to buy period products. Not having them can affect everyday life, like the ability to go to school or to work.
A period packing party was recently held by a Tempe group that gives away feminine hygiene products to those in need.
Ask any girl or woman and there’s still plenty of shame and embarrassment around periods. But not on this day.
Dozens of volunteers are stuffing tampons, pads and other period products in brown paper bags. The volunteers are with Women 4 Women Tempe, a nonprofit that distributes feminine hygiene products to those experiencing period poverty, like Elevar Maximus, who is homeless.
“So it's not something you think about when you become unhoused,” she said. “It's probably the last thing you think about. And then on top of it, it's like $8, and that's on the cheap side, for a box of tampons.
And if you have no money or little to no money, it could mean going without.
“So are you going to get tampons or are you going to eat? And people don't seem to realize that," said Maximus.
And period products aren’t eligible purchases under nutrition programs known as SNAP or WIC, nor are they covered by Medicaid. At the same time, period poverty is a public health issue.
Lacey Gero is the director of government relations at the Alliance for Period Supplies, a national organization committed to ending period poverty.
“One of the things that we see is that people are at risk of getting an infection if you are using an item like a sock or rag or even a wad of toilet paper. It's not made for periods. It's not built for that,” she said.
Or if they do have a pad or tampon, “[t]hey're going to try to stretch, stretch those resources that they do have, so that they can get to school or they can get to work, and they don't have to risk missing those opportunities in their daily life," said Gero.
Gero also says Arizona is one of several states that taxes period products as a luxury item.
“So it would be the same price that you're paying on period products, you're going to pay on going out and purchasing something fancy or just a toy for your kids. It's the same tax that’s getting taxed on period supplies," said Gero.
And what states should realize, she says, is that pads and tampons are a basic necessity.
“One thing that I've learned through my work across the country is that we need to be talking about periods more, especially with non-menstruators because they don't understand what this actually means and how it impacts someone's lives," Gero said.
But even people who menstruate may not be aware of period poverty. Before starting Women 4 Women, president and co-founder Kay Wright was one of them.
“I had never thought about what it would be like to be on the street and have your period and it was so, so disturbing to me. And I started talking to my friends and they said the same thing, ‘Oh my gosh, that would be awful. I never thought about it," said Wright.
That was seven years ago. Now, she and her army of volunteers gather like this, almost weekly, to pack bags, which are then distributed to 35 different partner agencies around the Valley.
In May, Women 4 Women gave away 4,300 bags, “which is 37,000 pads and over 19,000 tampons that we've distributed,” she said.
And it’s not cheap. Women 4 Women relies on grants and donations. But this organization is also feeling the pinch of rising costs.
“We're averaging about $4 a bag,” said Melissa Singer, a longtime volunteer who does the shopping for the group.
“So when I go buying, I look at every penny, because someone says, ‘Well, what's two cents more?’ I said, ‘well, I'm buying 700,000 pads. That's a couple thousand dollars.’ So we are forever trying to get the best price," Singer said.
But even for those who are not experiencing period poverty, the cost of pads and tampons is a lot.
On average, one month of period supplies goes for $8.70. That’s according to a recent study by Plush Care, an national online health care provider.
But periods aren’t one-size-fits-all. Many women have to use a variety of sizes and products throughout their cycle.
“We want people to have the products that they need. There's no luxury to it. It's something you just have to have to get through the day.”
And it's something that only policy makers can change, by eliminating the tax on period products or making it so that public spaces — like schools and libraries — provide pads and tampons free of charge.
In fact, a bill introduced in the Arizona legislature earlier this year would have done just that. That bill died.
