New study reveals major benefits of free menstrual care to women living in poverty

Dignity Matters provides free menstrual care to 16,500 people each month, and a new study published in Women’s Health reveals how that translates into a better, healthier future for the women and girls we serve.

Like many women’s health issues, there’s little research on period poverty. This new study is one of the first to quantify just how much better women and families do when they have free, reliable access to menstrual care.

The authors surveyed women newly enrolled in programs similar to Dignity Matters (where they receive free monthly menstrual care in their community), and again after 1 year of support. They found that after a year of reliable access to free menstrual care:

The authors also found that each person receiving free period care saved an average of $88 per year to spend on other basic needs (like food, clothing, rent, and healthcare).

This study offers concrete evidence of what we have known since we started Dignity in 2016: providing free, reliable menstrual care is a straightforward and inexpensive way to improve the well-being and stability of women and families living in poverty.

We hope more studies will follow to replicate and expand on these findings. And we hope this will help convince local, state, and federal governments that passing legislation (like the I.AM Bill here in Massachusetts!) to provide free menstrual care to people in need is a worthwhile investment in the health and well-being of our communities.

Our thanks and congratulations to the authors of this study, and to the Alliance for Period Supplies for making this research possible.