New Resource Highlights Actionable Strategies to Reduce Period Poverty Among Adolescents

Many young people who menstruate face financial and material barriers to accessing menstrual products, otherwise known as period poverty, which impacts their health and well-being. While we continue to develop the research on menstrual health in the U.S., there are strategies decision-makers in education, health and human services and other sectors can implement to improve menstrual equity for young people. 

Releasing today, a new issue brief from clinicians, policy experts, and community activists at No More Secrets Mind Body Spirit, Inc. reviews the existing literature on adolescent menstrual health and inequities and proposes actionable policy and systems recommendations to address these issues, as well as areas for future research. 

An estimated 1 in 4 high school students in the U.S. reported being impacted by period poverty in 2021, with a disproportionate toll on Black, Brown and lower-income youth. This basic biological function should not be a barrier to social, emotional, educational and economic opportunities for youth. 

Grounded in research supported by a PolicyLab pilot grant, the lived experience of youth who menstruate, and the perspectives of community activists, this brief emphasizes the need for more research on the impacts of period poverty and the importance of collaboration with youth and education and health care decision-makers to create an environment that allows youth who menstruate to reach their full potential in society. 

Read the full brief here. 


In recognition of Sexual Health Awareness Month, be sure to also explore several recent resources that are part of an effort to use research and expertise to help other researchers, policymakers, program developers and institutions understand the downstream effects of limiting youth access to comprehensive reproductive health care: