Period Poverty
Wednesday, 11 November 2026
Contributions
Mr Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool) (Lab)Labour
2. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle period poverty.
The Minister for Women and Equalities (Bridget Phillipson)Labour
This Government are focused on giving people more breathing space. We are tackling the root causes of poverty through measures to make work pay, and are boosting the living wage so that no one has to go without the essentials. We are working with businesses to ensure that women are supported at work, and we support women’s health needs through our action plans too. We are ensuring that those with the greatest needs can access period products, with schemes that are already operating in schools and health settings.
Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to my constituent Lyndsay Hogg for her tireless campaign to persuade businesses to provide free sanitary products in their public toilets? Lyndsay believes that we should go further and make that a legal requirement for businesses, ensuring that no woman or girl is ever prevented from participating fully in society because she has no access to essential sanitary products. Does the Minister agree that that could be a huge step forward in tackling period poverty, and will she agree to meet Lyndsay and me to explore how we can make this ambition a reality?
I pay tribute to Lyndsay, and I would be delighted to meet her and my hon. Friend to discuss what more we can do. It is good to see businesses and public services already opting to provide products, but it is right that, in parallel, we make sure that women have more money in their pockets and are lifted out of poverty. We are doing that by making work pay, cutting energy bills and scrapping the two-child limit, but I look forward to discussing this issue further with Lyndsay and my hon. Friend.
Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)Liberal Democrat
Period poverty is a huge issue. The measures that the Minister has outlined are welcome, but it is a much wider issue. It has been estimated that women spend 20% more than men in their lifetimes on essential products—not cosmetics, but essential hygiene products. For a family with two or three children who are girls, that has a massive impact on their budget. Will the Government consider something that I have suggested often: looking at the pink tax—the extra money that women are charged—and doing something about it?
The hon. Lady raises a fair point and a fair challenge. No one should pay more for essential products, including health or hygiene-related products. I will pick up the issue with colleagues across Government, and I will come back to her with a full response.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5435644.