Packages of Tampax brand tampons on a drugstore shelf in Latest York on Wednesday, February 10, 2016.
Richard Levine | Corbis News | Getty Images
Over a lifetime, period products within the U.S. cost a complete of around $6,000 per person, in accordance with research published in 2021 — and that is before tax.
In 21 states, a sales tax of between 4% and seven% applies to items like pads and tampons, making them more costly, data from the Alliance for Period Supplies show.
Most states don’t tax certain essential goods, comparable to food market produce, canned food and prescription medicines. But in states with a “tampon tax” — a term that sometimes applies to tampons plus many other menstrual care products — these products are considered “luxury items.” (Broader still is the so-called pink tax, which is not an actual tax and refers to instances during which items marketed toward women, comparable to razors, deodorants and shampoo, cost greater than equivalent products marketed toward men.)
Over the past 4 a long time, states with sales tax have been enacting laws that eliminate such taxes on menstrual products. Minnesota was the primary to achieve this in 1981, and 23 others have followed suit, together with Washington, D.C.
Texas was essentially the most recent: Since September, there was no state sales tax on period products there. In Kentucky, two bills that may waive its tampon tax — one Republican-sponsored and the opposite Democrat-sponsored — were introduced last week.
The map below shows which states have tampon taxes and which don’t. Alaska, Delaware, Montana, Latest Hampshire and Oregon do not have sales tax on any products.
Lacey Gero, director of presidency relations for the Alliance For Period Supplies, said Southeastern states often follow Texas’ model for their very own laws, so more may eliminate tampon taxes in the approaching years.
“We have already heard from states like Alabama, where there’s going to be an enormous bipartisan push for laws to exempt each diapers and period products from sales tax this 12 months,” she said. “So I believe the wave is already happening.”
Kentucky Rep. Lisa Willner, a Democrat who introduced one in all the state’s two bills aimed toward the tampon tax, said laws in other states may bode well for her own effort.
“Kentucky is a deep red state, so seeing this achieve success in other red states absolutely is a really hopeful sign that this needn’t be a partisan issue in any respect. It is a public health issue,” she said.
Roughly 1 / 4 of teens and a 3rd of adults reported having trouble affording period products in a 2023 survey from the underwear brand Thinx and the nonprofit organization PERIOD. The problem is more pronounced amongst Black and Latinx people in comparison with white people.
Many public health experts see period products as essential goods: In the event that they’re harder to search out or afford, people may stretch a specific product’s use longer, which may raise the chance of infection or toxic shock syndrome — a rare, life-threatening condition. Some people may additionally miss work or school while on their period in the event that they do not have access to menstrual care products, or forgo other basic necessities to be able to purchase them.
“It’s like, ‘Do I spend money on gas to get to high school or do I purchase period products? Or, after I’m in school, I could be concerned about bleeding through clothes — so do I’m going to class or do I just skip it?'” said Jhumka Gupta, an associate professor of public health at George Mason University.
Gupta’s research has shown that not having the ability to afford menstrual products is linked to a better incidence of depression.
There are still several obstacles to eliminating the tampon tax nationwide.
“One in all the things that states are grappling with without delay is tense and stricter budget cycles are coming up, so there’s a fear of lack of revenue,” Gero said.
Willner said that is a challenge in Kentucky, where the income tax rate has decreased during the last two years. A state policy passed in 2022 goals to step by step lower individual income taxes until they’re eliminated, so long as a set of fiscal requirements are met.
Willner added that some state legislators also query whether the tampon tax should go away.
“There are numerous my colleagues who don’t see the importance of this, or they’ll say, ‘It’s just such a small amount of cash’ or, ‘Why is that this even needed?'” she said. “In fact, the individuals who ask those questions are inclined to be individuals who aren’t affected by sales tax on menstrual products.”
Along with waiving the tampon tax, Willner’s bill would put aside $2 million for Kentucky public schools to produce free menstrual products to students in grades 6 through 12. The Republican-sponsored bill doesn’t call for such funding. Willner said she added the supply after hearing from middle and highschool students concerning the embarrassment and anxiety they felt over having or expecting their period at college.
“It brought back memories for me,” Willner said.
Nonetheless, she added, that provision could make it more difficult to get the bill passed.
“I even have to say I’m a bit skeptical that it’ll,” she said.
In 25 states and Washington, D.C., period products are purported to be provided to students totally free. Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Latest Mexico, Latest Jersey and Ohio all passed laws creating such policies last 12 months. But not all 25 states allocate money for this purpose, so it’s often up to colleges to use for grants or pay for the products themselves.
Gero said that advocates totally free period products are pushing for extra laws that may expressly put aside funding for schools to offer them.
In the longer term, states may additionally consider bills that make period products free in public restrooms, she added. Ann Arbor, Michigan, became the primary city to try this after passing a bill in 2021.
“We’re just excited that more local level initiatives are happening, since it’s putting the pressure on the states to take more motion,” Gero said.