How are the SNP tackling ‘period poverty’?

The SNP believe it is unacceptable that any woman or girl in Scotland should be unable to access sanitary products due to ‘period poverty’, where they cannot afford to buy these essential products. We want to make sanitary products easily accessible to those who need them, without stigma.

In government we introduced a pilot project in Aberdeen, which will mean at least 1,000 women and girls from low-income households will receive free feminine sanitary products. From August 2018 we will introduce a scheme to make free sanitary products available in Scotland’s schools colleges and universities. We will also consider action to support those on low incomes, but not in education, in light of the findings of the pilot scheme in Aberdeen.

At Westminster, we will also continue to hold the UK government to their commitment to remove VAT from sanitary products. Read more about our action on the Tampon Tax here.