Tesco has introduced a new scheme aimed at tackling period poverty during the cost of living crisis. Shoppers are being urged to ask customer service staff for a “white envelope” if they need sanitary products.
The products will be given out free of charge with “no questions asked”, the supermarket chain said. Signs have been put up in women’s toilets in sites across the country urging customers to make use of the scheme.
“To combat period poverty, Tesco want to ensure everyone has access to sanitary products,” one sign said. “If you are in need, please go to the customer service desk and ask for a white envelope. No questions will be asked.”
Online, some shoppers argued that sanitary products should always be free of charge as they broadly welcomed the scheme, which is similar to one introduced by Morrisons in April 2021.
Customers at Morrisons are urged to ask for a “package for Sandy” to receive free sanitary products.
Around one in eight (12 per cent) of women in the UK are affected by period poverty, according to the charity Actionaid.
Many have been forced to prioritise other household essentials over buying products like tampons, according to a survey commissioned by the charity last year.
Bloody Good Period, a charity that works to alleviate period poverty in the UK, said that the problem has spiked since the start of the pandemic.
The charity said it had been supplying six times as many menstrual products compared with before the coronavirus crisis.
A 2017 study by Plan International revealed that one in 10 girls in the UK can’t afford to buy menstrual products, while one in seven has struggled to afford them.
In 2021 changes were made to the UK’s tax system so that sanitary products were not classed as luxury items, making them cheaper.
