Over a quarter of Amsterdam women can't afford period products

Over a quarter of Amsterdam women couldn’t afford menstruation products like tampons or pads at least once during the past year, sometimes forcing them to stay home from school or work. And the problem is growing, the non-profit organization Neighborhood Feminists and research agency Opinium found in the first-ever study of menstruation poverty in Amsterdam, Het Parool reports.

The researchers surveyed 870 menstruating people from all parts of the city and age groups. The results shocked them, initiator Anneloes Dijkman said to the newspaper. While menstruation poverty - women and girls unable to go to school or work because they can’t afford menstruation products - has received more attention in recent years, there has been little to no quantitive research in the Netherlands.

Of the women who couldn’t afford period products, more than 60 percent made do with alternatives like toilet paper. Over 70 percent had to stay home from school or work. They also cut back on groceries and school supplies to buy tampons or pads. The researchers only looked at sanitary products. These figures don’t include additional needs like painkillers for cramps.

And this is a growing problem, the researchers found. 41 percent of the respondents said they had more trouble affording their period in the past six months than the six months before. They cited loss of income and rising prices as the leading causes.

People who menstruate spend about 5,520 euros in their life on menstrual products, according to Neighborhood Feminists. This is based on an average period and without additional products. The organization urged the city government to devise a structural solution, like finding a way to provide free menstruation products. “It would be great if we were ahead of the curve in this regard,” Dijkman said to Parool. “That suits Amsterdam. We take care of our people and do things together.”