Raising awareness regarding period poverty

Fast Facts

Approximately half of the population will have a period every month for decades of their lives.

Period supplies are a necessary product, each month, for millions of people across the country.

National surveys and research studies report that one in four women and girls struggle to secure enough period supplies to meet their needs each month due to a lack of income.

This lack of period supplies, known as period poverty, can adversely affect the health and well-being of menstruators.

National surveys also report that one in five women and girls miss work or school due to lacking a sufficient amount of period supplies.

Period poverty exacerbates the vicious cycle of poverty by forcing menstruators to withdraw from daily life, losing pay or missing educational opportunities.

Menstruators struggling with period poverty risk infections by using proxy products – such as socks or toilet paper – or not changing products as often as needed.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of people out of work and greatly increased those struggling with period poverty.

Period supplies are essential to the health and economic well-being of menstruators in both overcoming and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Period poverty is a public health issue, and addressing period poverty can lead to economic opportunity for the state’s people and communities and improved health for women and girls/menstruators, thus ensuring all people have access to the basic necessities required to thrive and reach their full potential; and

As a trusted community-based organization the MDDB Alliance for Period Supplies Program recognizes the importance of period products in ensuring health and providing economic stability and thus distribute period products through various channels.

The MDDB Alliance for Period Supplies volunteers served on the front lines of COVID-19 pandemic response helping families in our communities’ weather the crisis.

While experiencing severe increases in demand for period products due to the pandemic economic shutdown, these organizations did everything in their ability to increase period product distributions and support those in need of immediate assistance.