Period poverty is a term used to describe a lack of access to proper menstrual products and the education needed to use them effectively. The American Medical Women's Association defines it as "the inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and educations, including but not limited to sanitary products, washing facilities, and waste management".
Period poverty is an issue that deals heavily with gender equality and economic justice worldwide. It has numerous causes and consequences that are far-reaching and reveal a lot about the lack of resources regarding menstruation. Particularly since the 2000s, period poverty has become an issue that governments and other actors have tackled worldwide, both separate from and within the proliferation of gender equality.
Causes
Period poverty is caused by a variety of social, economic and cultural factors. Period shaming makes girls feel insecure about the menstrual process and thus less likely to have period products on hand, as well as less likely to have conversations on menstrual health with friends and family members. In some cultures across the world, menstrual blood itself is seen as unholy and girls are encouraged to hide signs of menstrual bleeding from their male counterparts. In the US specifically, 80% of sampled 13 to 19-year-old teens believe periods have a negative association. This same study found that 57% have felt personally affected by this negative association, and 64% think society generally teaches girls to be ashamed of their periods.
Economic barriers can also worsen the troubles that women must endure to access safe period products. As of 2019, 35 out of 50 U.S. states tax period products as non-essential items. Additionally, said products are not covered in America's food stamps program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or its derivative for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Period poverty is interrelated with the "pink tax", a hypothesis which alleges that "women's products" are disproportionately more expensive than similar product types which are marketed towards men.
Consequences
A lack of sanitary period products can have multiple negative health effects on the female body. Using pads or tampons past their expiration date (five years when stored in dry conditions) renders the vagina vulnerable to infiltration by bacteria and mould. This can cause itchiness, irritation and an increase in vaginal discharge. Leaving a tampon in for longer than eight hours can cause other adverse effects such as toxic shock syndrome. Both of these situations are caused by a lack of surplus menstrual products, and 61% of American teens have reported wearing a pad or tampon for more than the recommended length of four hours.
The principal consequence of period poverty not related directly to female biology is girls often have to miss school if they get their period and do not have the products to handle it. The same survey found that more than 4/5 of the girls in their sample had missed class or knew of someone missing class due to their period. A 2014 report by UNESCO found that 1/10 of youth worldwide miss school during their cycle due to a lack of resources on hand.
Case studies
Case-study research has been crucial in collecting and synthesizing the (limited) data on period poverty's effects worldwide.
A study commissioned by Irise International examined six government-run primary schools in the Rukungiri district of Uganda. Researchers administered a questionnaire to 140 girls between March and April 2013. They found that 61.7% of those surveyed reported missing school monthly for menstrual health reasons. The main reasons cited for missing school were a lack of privacy, fear of staining their school clothes, discomfort from bloating, and pain from period cramps. Also, 87.8% of these girls were unable to buy pads at some point, either because of cost or lack of availability in local stores. The researchers also performed an examination of the schools' toilets and found a complete lack of soap, water, light, privacy and overall cleanliness.