Exclusive: Figures show 43 per cent rise in request to charities for free pads and tampons as women struggle with soaring costs
Maya Oppenheim Women’s Correspondent
The number of women turning to food banks and charities for free pads and tampons in England and Wales has soared to record levels, new figures suggest.
Bloody Good Period, a charity that helps provide other organisations with pads and menstrual supplies, says it has seen a 43 per cent surge in monthly product requests – rising from almost 43,000 in January to June last year to more than 61,000 packs in the first half of 2023. It comes as women in the UK continue to face higher prices for period products despite the so-called tampon tax being axed nearly three years ago.
Rishi Sunak scrapped the VAT on period products on 1 January 2021, declaring they would no longer be classed as “luxury, non-essential items”. The government said the tax on sanitary products amounted to around £15 million per year.
However, analysis by the think-tank Tax Policy Associates of prices since then suggests that only a fraction of those tax savings have been passed onto customers, roughly £9m over three years, leaving an estimated shortfall of £36m.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tampon-tax-savings-period-poverty-b2451077.html
NO COAST MENOPAUSE 