In the United States, women are more likely to live in poverty due to a plethora of intersecting issues. Period poverty is defined as being too impoverished and under-resourced to afford menstrual products, such as pads, tampons, and other necessary hygiene items. In a community-engaged research project, I used scholarly articles, existing program websites, journalistic coverage, previously published personal narratives, and a qualitative interview to identify the impacts and effects of Period Poverty on young women in schools and low-income or homeless women. The cost of menstruation is a hefty one, with many women having “to choose between buying food and spending money on menstrual products”. Period products are not covered by government welfare/assistance programs, many organizations that provide services for homeless populations are not allowed to use their funds to provide menstrual products, and, in many states, menstrual products are taxed as a luxury item (a “pink tax”/sales tax on products that are considered “non-essential”). There are extended impacts on mental health, with elevated rates of anxiety and depression, impacts on physical health, loss of education for high school and college-aged women, and the perpetuation of the cycle of poverty. Mel Rodriguez, coordinator from Miami Valley Immigration Coalition in Dayton, reported her clients are struggling with access, with no donors or period products available as well as an increasing number of those in need and increasing anxiety and danger with the pandemic. This research has conveyed the imperative need for federally mandatory free menstrual products provided in workplaces, schools, and public buildings. Over the 2021-2022 academic year I have worked solo and in partnership with Miami University’s Sex Education Studies Center to acquire a total of 3,110 menstrual products to donate to local organizations that serve low-income and immigrant populations. This service work along with comprehensive Sex Education works to highlight women’s health and reproductive struggles and end the stigma that surrounds menstruation and thus combat Period Poverty.
Author: Aiyana White
Advisor: Jacqueline Daugherty
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