Shocking report highlights extent of “period poverty” in Britain

More than 137,700 girls have missed school in the last year because they couldn’t afford sanitary products, a shocking new report into period poverty in Britain has revealed.

The findings emerged in a report of 500 girls aged 10 to 18, which shows seven per cent have been forced to skip school during their ‘time of the month.’

Of these girls, the average has missed five days of school during the last year – which made them feel embarrassed and ashamed.

In an attempt to avoid such a situation, six per cent of parents admit they have been so desperate to equip their daughter with sanitary protection they have resorted to stealing on the occasions they couldn’t afford to buy them.

While more than a fifth of mums or dads have gone without something themselves so they had enough money to meet their daughter’s needs. The studies among girls and parents were carried out by OnePoll.com.

Aileen Nathan, Associate Director Always, who conducted the research says, “These findings show that Period Poverty is a widespread problem amongst school girls in the UK: it’s surprising to see how it’s affecting parents as well as schoolgirls themselves. Always is a champion for gender equality, and ensuring girls have sanitary protection during menstruation is essential to enable them to continue to attend, and learn at, school. We’re pledging an estimated 5 million pads to schools to help those girls achieve their full potential.”

Sadly, a quarter of all school girls have at some point been forced to use tissues or cotton wool, or double up on underwear, as they have not had the appropriate protection.

As well as having to throw underwear away due to lack of supplies (13 per cent), more worryingly eleven per cent of girls are putting their health at risk by using products such as tampons for far longer periods than recommended– because they don’t have a replacement.

And nine in 10 girls know they’re not alone – as they have been asked by a friend for a pad or tampon because she couldn’t afford to buy her own.

Of the 500 parents polled, a fifth say they have struggled to afford sanitary protection for their daughter, and one in 10 have been forced to send her to school without pads or tampons, knowing she needed them.

Always also spoke to 545 of the nation’s teachers about ‘period poverty’ via We Are Futures, to find out how Period Poverty is affecting children in schools.

They discovered more than half of teachers are aware of some children being unable to afford protection for their period, and four in ten have resorted to supplying students with pads or tampons from their own handbags to try and help.

Luckily for students, almost half of teachers acknowledge the girls in their class will be too embarrassed to talk about what they need, but the same percentage have intuitively identified those in need of help.

And school staff are frustrated about the issue, with two in five feeling like they are failing their girls by not being able to provide them with a long-term solution, and a third feel angry because they think they should be doing more as a school.

This is highlighted by the fact 85 per cent of schoolgirls have no idea how or where they can get free sanitary protection.

And nine in 10 parents say their daughter’s school has not communicated with them about period poverty in any way.

It’s easy to get involved and help keep girls in school just by doing your weekly shop and purchasing any Always product. For every pack bought, Always will donate a pad to a school girl in need.

Over the past 15 years, Always has donated over 2 million pads to women in need through charity In Kind Direct and will continue to do so as part of the wider Procter & Gamble product donation partnership with In Kind Direct. Procter & Gamble was recently recognized by the charitys’ Founder HRH The Prince of Wales, with a special recognition award for ‘Greatest Volume of Products Donated’ as part of the charities 20 years of support celebration.

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