About three in five people with periods have struggled to afford menstrual products and one in four have worn a tampon or pad for more than four hours in the past year due to cost, an Australian survey of more than 153,000 people has found.
In its second triennial report on period poverty, charity Share the Dignity found that periods were still having a substantial impact on the ability of women, girls and gender-diverse people who menstruate to study, work and play sport without interruption, due to cost, pain and stigma.
Period poverty is defined as a lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities, waste management and menstrual education.
In every state and territory, at least 24.1% of respondents said they had worn a tampon or pad for longer than four hours because they didn’t have enough of them, and at least 60% said they had found period products hard to afford. Medical experts recommend changing disposable period products every four to eight hours to avoid infection.
Nearly one in five (19%) respondents had needed to improvise – for example, using toilet paper instead of a pad – due to cost barriers.
Some 55% of respondents to the online survey, circulated between March and May, reported they had missed work due to their period in the preceding year, with 91% saying pain was a cause, 45% reporting mood or emotional disturbance as a factor and 33% reporting fear of leaking.
Period poverty was a significant issue for people outside the cities, with 73.6% of respondents in rural areas saying they found it difficult to afford period products. Cost was only marginally less of a barrier for people in urban areas, with 63.1% of respondents saying they found period products hard to afford.
Rochelle Courtenay, Share the Dignity’s founder and managing director, said despite being aware it was an issue, she was shocked at the extent of period poverty that the survey showed.
“It’s actually not just those that are living below the poverty line,” Courtenay said. “The increase in the cost of living is so high that women are choosing to forego period products to be able to afford rents or mortgages, electricity, food, fuel, childcare costs, all of those other things. I think they’re putting themselves last, as per usual.”
Period poverty was particularly acute for people with disability, Indigenous people and those who did not identify as female, the report said, with 78% of respondents with disability and 83% of Indigenous respondents saying they found menstrual products difficult to afford. Affordability was also a problem for 83% of the 1,731 respondents who identified as gender diverse.
Period poverty was also spread across income brackets. More than four in five of those earning under $50,000 reported finding it hard to afford period products in the previous 12 months, as did three in four of those earning between $50,000-$89,999.
Respondents who worked in low-paid sectors such as disability support, retail, cleaning and customer service experienced the highest levels of period poverty among those who were employed.
Some 68% of respondents said they had missed sport due to their period, and 63% said they had missed school or university classes. Of respondents who needed period products in hospital, 12% said they were not able to get them.
Courtenay said while some workplaces and government schools had begun providing free period products, these were still few and far between, and provision of them in all hospitals, schools, Tafes and universities should be a priority for menstrual equity.
“Anywhere anyone is getting an education, they should have access to period products,” Courtenay said. “There is a real skill shortage here in Australia, and we’re making it harder for girls to be able to get an education.”
Share the Dignity was also advocating for councils to take responsibility for providing period products and sanitary bins in sports facilities and libraries.
“Just don’t make it an extra barrier that stops people from participating … We can solve that. We can fix that,” said Courtenay.
