Approximately 14% of college students across the United States experience period poverty – meaning they cannot afford to purchase or access menstrual products. A new study of 462 college students in the University of Hawai'i school system reveals that period poverty may be notably higher for this population.
Period poverty can be a heavy burden for college students. Prior research links insufficient access to safe hygiene products (ex., tampons, sanitary napkins, pads, menstrual cups) with mental health challenges, increased risk of urogenital infections (ex. urinary tract infections), and missing school and work.
A study led by PhD candidate Samantha Kanselaar reveals that in the past year, one in four students in the University of Hawaiʻi system experienced period poverty. The findings also revealed notable unequal outcomes based on race, with half of Native Hawaiian students (51 percent) and 41 percent of Filipina students reporting period poverty in the past year. In addition, students who reported experiences with period poverty also experienced high levels of food and housing insecurity. The team's results showed students who face period poverty reported that it affected their academic performance and increased their likelihood of depressive symptoms.
"Experiencing period poverty on top of struggling to meet additional basic needs, like housing and food, negatively affected the mental health of many college students surveyed in the University of Hawai'i system, especially among Native Hawaiians and Filipinas," said Kanselaar, a PhD in public health candidate in George Mason University's College of Public Health.
The results showed that students facing period poverty also experienced negative outcomes like high levels of academic disruptions (35 percent), depressive symptoms (23 percent), food insecurity (42 percent), and housing insecurity (45 percent).
Why this matters
The team's findings expand on previous research about the negative impact of period poverty on students' well-being, which is critical to implementing effective policies and interventions to foster student success and improved mental well-being. Kanselaar's work also sheds light on the impact on Native Hawaiians, an underrepresented group in national data.
"Period poverty can reduce women's participation in school and in the workplace. That is why it is critical that we provide support to women and other menstruators in obtaining such basic necessities during menstruation," said Jhumka Gupta , senior author, violence against women and health equity researcher, and professor in the Department of Global and Community Health.
"Universities can offer support systems to students that provide free access to menstrual products, coupled with food and housing assistance and mental health support," said Kanselaar.
Similarly, being unable to access period supplies and additional basic necessities like food and housing could point to overall financial difficulties.
These findings also support the urgent need for legislation such as the Menstrual Equity for All Act, which calls for expanding access to menstrual products across a range of populations, including schools and universities.
Partnership and research impact
This project was led by an academic-community partnership between George Mason University College of Public Health and Maʻi Movement Hawaiʻi , a Hawaiʻi-based menstrual equity organization that has successfully advanced legislation requiring state public and charter schools to provide free menstrual products to students. Student study participants were recruited by Maʻi Movement Hawaiʻi and their university coalition, made up of students and faculty from three universities and seven community colleges in the University of Hawaiʻi system.
Through their research collaboration, they were able to uncover:
Half of Native Hawaiian university students experienced period poverty in the past 12 months with one in five students reporting it monthly.
Among students with food insecurity and/or housing insecurity, those experiencing period poverty were nearly two times more likely to report depressive symptoms compared with those without period poverty.
"When half of Native Hawaiian students in our public college system experience period poverty coupled with mental health and basic needs challenges, this is not an individual problem. It is a system failure and the research underscores what our nonprofit has been saying for years. Period poverty is intertwined with other societal issues, and worsened for Native Hawaiians who are already marginalized and underrepresented. As a Native Hawaiian woman, these findings make it even more critical that we change the narrative that perpetuates these inequities," stated Nikki Ann Yee, co-founder of Ma'i Movement Hawai'i.
Period poverty, housing and food insecurity, and mental health among college students in Hawaiʻi was published in the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
