The article in the url below caught my eye because of the enlightened approach to women's healthcare (and associated issues around poverty) that the Scottish government is demonstrating:
"On Nov. 24, Scotland became the first country in the world to establish through legislation that access to period products is a right, a move that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described as groundbreaking. It caps a four-year campaign backed by a wide coalition of trade unions, women's groups, and charities and led by Monica Lennon, a member of the Scottish Parliament."
As the title of the article suggests, the issue of healthcare access in this case is secondary to the issue of poverty, which acts as a barrier to that access:
"The aim, Lennon says, is to eradicate 'period poverty'—the cost of the products can be prohibitive—and end the stigma around menstruation."
Some more detail about the legislation:
"Under The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act, approved unanimously in the Scottish Parliament, local governments will be required to make free supplies available in public buildings such as libraries and recreation centers to anyone who wants them. (Schools, colleges, and universities in Scotland have offered free products since 2018, and the legislation compels them to keep doing so.) The Scottish government estimates that about 13% of people who have periods will take part in the program in its first year. That would put costs, which it will cover, at about £8.7 million ($11.6 million) for 2022-23. Full implementation of the program will take two years."
As the budget to implement the legislation indicates, without assistance the cost of these products can quickly rise:
"In the United Kingdom, the average woman spends about £4,800 on the products over her lifetime, according to a 2018 study … and that amount can be higher for people with medical conditions such as endometriosis, which can cause heavier periods. For households living on low incomes, the expense is a burden."
As a result, "period poverty" is a real issue for many women, even in developed countries:
"A survey of more than 1,000 women in Scotland, which helped galvanize support for the bill, found that a fifth had experienced period poverty at some point in their lives. Unable to afford tampons or pads, some resorted to using toilet paper or even rags. One in 10 said they prioritized buying food over the products."
In many countries, women's healthcare products are not given preferential taxing, and are sometimes taxed higher because of the stigma that is often attached to them:
"In some countries, they're even treated as luxury goods and taxed like cigarettes, alcohol, and jewelry. The 2020 tax rate on menstrual products was 27% in Hungary, 25% in Sweden, and 16% in Mexico. In the U.S., 30 states levy a sales tax on tampons and pads, according to the advocacy group Period Equity, and they can't be purchased with food stamps."
Such taxes are considered discriminatory by activists due to the fact that they are not applied equally throughout the population:
"A handful of countries have scrapped the tax. The first was Kenya in 2004, and others that followed include Australia, Canada, Ireland, and from January, the U.K., where 'the tampon tax' became so controversial that major supermarkets started covering the cost of it themselves in 2017."
Many of these points are related to the larger issue of a pink tax, which is defined by Wikipedia as follows:
"The pink tax is a phenomenon often attributed as a form of gender-based price discrimination, with the name stemming from the observation that many of the affected products are pink. This is sometimes but not always a literal tax. Regardless of whether tax policies of state or federal governments are involved, there is a broad tendency for products marketed specifically toward women to be more expensive than those marketed for men, despite either gender's choice to purchase either product. The NYC Department of Consumer Affairs conducted a study that concludes that women's products are typically more expensive than men's (in New York city) without reasonable cause. There are many causes of this discrepancy, including the tampon tax, product differentiation, and the belief that women are less price elastic than men."
Take care
David
David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2020
Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler5e
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
Scotland Takes Aim at 'Period Poverty' by Making Products Free
By Caroline Alexander
November 30, 2020
Bloomberg CityLab
