According to the latest barometer of the association Dons solidaires, 2.8 million women say they are regularly confronted with menstrual precariousness. Focus on the hygiene products section of the supermarket where the trade-off between eating and washing is played out.
“How do you feel worthy when you lack such essential products as menstrual protection?” The question is asked by Dominique Besançon, general delegate of the association Dons solidaires. “2.8 million women are regularly confronted with menstrual precariousness, that is to say that each month, they find themselves without sufficient menstrual protection during their period. They were 1.7 million to declare it in the 2021 barometer”she said, detailing the results of the latest barometer that the association is conducting in partnership with Ifop on the hygiene of the French.
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The cause of this progression? Inflation, at least in large part, which has continued to rise month after month since the start of the year. Because the hygiene department is not spared by the rise in prices. Even if it is the one where inflation is the lowest in your supermarkets, at 8.6% over one year in March 2023 according to data provided by our partner, the firm NielsenIQ, the increases in certain products can weigh heavily in the budget. Thus, boxes of sanitary napkins have increased on average, all brands combined, by 25 cents per box since March 2022. And over the same period, boxes of tampons have seen their price increase by 30 cents.
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Increases explained both by the increase in the price of paper and those of cardboard and plastic packaging, details Emmanuel Fournet, analytical director at NielsenIQ. “The testimonies we have from the women we interview show the reality of this precariousness on a daily basis. Some say ‘I deprive myself to leave more monthly protection for my daughters’, ‘I personally put toilet paper’says Dominique Besançon. Menstrual poverty is clearly gaining ground.”
“Women will help out with cotton, handkerchiefs, paper towel, washcloths. Beyond the health problem, it is a real attack on self-esteem, dignity.”
Dominique Besançon, general delegate of the association Dons solidairesat franceinfo
One in three French people have given up buying hygiene products because of their price
In addition to menstrual precariousness, it is hygienic precariousness as a whole that is progressing. Because when everything increases, from pasta to pet food, from electricity to baby diapers, hygiene products are often an adjustment variable. One in three French people say they have limited their consumption of hygiene products, according to this same barometer of Solidarity Donations and Ifop. “This is the really very alarming finding of this third barometer”regrets Dominique Besançon.
“Hygiene precariousness is no longer the prerogative of the most precarious people, of the beneficiaries of associations. It is now interfering more and more in French homes.”
Dominique Besançon, general delegate of the association Dons solidairesat franceinfo
The head of Dons solidaires also underlines the dilemma often posed to parents, “who arbitrate in favor of their children”, “who give up hygiene products so that their children can have shower gel, shampoo, soap”. And with the explosion in the price of diapers and baby food, this need to arbitrate is particularly accentuated for young parents from month to month.