Free Period Products Won’t Solve Period Poverty In The U.S.

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with the historically high unemployment rates in the U.S. have exacerbated period poverty; implementing policy is the next solution.

Period poverty as defined by author of Period Power Nadya Okamoto, is “the state of being unable to afford period products (or necessary items to feel clean) while menstruating.” Period poverty is a major issue not only in developing nations but also here in the U.S. one of the world’s most affluent nations. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected menstruators greatly as unemployment is at an all time high in the U.S., period poverty is more likely now than ever. According to a survey done by WASH United, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), and UNICEF one in four people have struggled with period management more since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The need for period products has greatly increased at non-profit organizations in the U.S., like PERIOD and Days For Girls, who donate period products. In the first quarter of 2020, PERIOD, a non-profit dedicated to ending period poverty and the stigmas around menstruation, alone distributed 43,000 tampons. After March 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, they would distribute over 1.2 million tampons. These products were donated to hundreds of service partners — fellow organizations who provide direct service to individuals, and receive period products through PERIOD — around the U.S., and in partnership with some international organizations.

At this point, the project has evolved from a surface-level approach in the context of COVID-19 to a deeper exploration of how this is a systemic problem that’s rooted in both misogyny and racism and deserves to be addressed through advocacy and legislation and how issues such as misogyny and systemic racism contribute. Providing free period products is a band-aid solution to a gaping wound that needs the care and attention it deserves.