More than 137,000 Girls in the UK Miss School Because Families Can’t Afford Sanitary Products

Children are being forced to miss school because families cannot finance sanitary products.

More than 137,000 girls in the UK have missed school during the last year.  The average number of school days they lost was five.

A six per cent of parents admitted they had resorted to stealing sanitary protection for their children because they just couldn’t afford to buy them. A fifth of parents also said they went without something they needed themselves to be able to afford the price. One in ten parents said they just had to send their child in with nothing to use at all.

“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,” Aileen Nathan, Associate Director at Always said.

“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.”

Always conducted the research which also found that a quarter of school girls had tried to use tissues or double up on underwear at times.

Schools are aware of the problem with four in ten teachers supplying pads or tampons to try to help.

A two in five school staff said they were angry the children were failed by the lack of a long-term solution to the problem.

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