Scotland votes to provide free period products universally

Gervais08

beachhead wrote: »

Probably meant to say men suffer the menopause too

If I was hooked up - mine would lol!!!

strandroad

igCorcaigh wrote: »

Unreal. Is this not provided by schools?
I went to a segregated (boys) school in primary.

It wasn't not in my time anyway. If you were surprised or ran out or had an accident, tough. You only had what you or your friends had on you, or you had to make do with toilet paper (not good).

That's the thing, imagine that as a lad you only have access to toilet paper if you carry it with you. And can buy it in the first place. If you forget or run out or have an accident there is no dispenser on the wall. How would it make you feel?

Tork

strandroad wrote: »

Period products are super cheap though, you can have a large box of own brand tampons for literally one euro and that's a two or three months' supply. If you can't give your daughter 50c a month you shouldn't be seen as fit to receive her child benefit...

Makes them really easy to fund too. No reason for not stocking them in schools or public facilities.

Have you used own brand sanitary products? I have and found many of them crap. I'm not an own brand snob by any means but any I tried in the past were inferior to the so-called luxury brands.

I wonder as much as anything else if this is aimed at girls from certain ethnic minorities where they're not so supportive of girls. Periods can be a messy business especially in the early days when you're not experienced. That's where, traditionally, girls in some countries stop going to school and their education begins to suffer.

strandroad

Tork wrote: »

Have you used own brand sanitary products? I have and found many of them crap. I'm not an own brand snob by any means but any I tried in the past were inferior to the so-called luxury brands.

It's a mixed experience alright, but families in poverty are probably not going for luxury toilet paper either. Any mass schemes could bulk procure too, so they could get better quality for the price.

Tork wrote: »

I wonder as much as anything else if this is aimed at girls from certain ethnic minorities where they're not so supportive of girls. Periods can be a messy business especially in the early days when you're not experienced. That's where, traditionally, girls in some countries stop going to school and their education begins to suffer.

I sure hope it would help them all.

Tork

igCorcaigh wrote: »

Unreal. Is this not provided by schools?
I went to a segregated (boys) school in primary.

In my primary school there wasn't a dispensing machine at all. In secondary there was but you had to pay for the tampons or pads. You had to have the exact coins on you too - it wasn't one which counted out the coins you put into the machine or gave you change. If they wanted €1.50 and you only had €2 you were fecked, basically. It is a horrible feeling to know you need a pad or tampon and can't get to them. No amount of toilet paper can stop the flow of blood on a heavy day

hynesie08

Akesh wrote: »

The average cost of 'period products' according to the latest period poverty motion were 132 euro per year or 2.54 per week.

There is no 'tampon tax' in Ireland. The argument for this proposal is completely nonsense.

Grand so, with bulk buys and government discounts, times the amount of women who will need this, it will be pennies of my tax money.

Happy for it to be used for this instead of some of the ****e it goes on.......

Yellow_Fern

Stupid idea. Users of a resource should pay.

strandroad

Tork wrote: »

In my primary school there wasn't a dispensing machine at all. In secondary there was but you had to pay for the tampons or pads. You had to have the exact coins on you too - it wasn't one which counted out the coins you put into the machine or gave you change. If they wanted €1.50 and you only had €2 you were fecked, basically. It is a horrible feeling to know you need a pad or tampon and can't get to them. No amount of toilet paper can stop the flow of blood on a heavy day

This reminds me, if dispensing machines a) exist b) happen to be stocked, they are so overpriced!

I used to work in a fancy corporate office, where we had bean to cup coffee machines, free pastries, cereal, milk, snacks and even hand lotion - and yet you had to pay for a flippin tampon.

Yellow_Fern

hynesie08 wrote: »

Grand so, with bulk buys and government discounts, times the amount of women who will need this, it will be pennies of my tax money.

Happy for it to be used for this instead of some of the ****e it goes on.......

Yeah governments have such a great record of making services cheaper. A mock private driving test can be gotten for 30 Euro, a real one costs 85 Euro. Governments always make things more expensive.

Tork

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Stupid idea. Users of a resource should pay.

Would you be happy to pay for toilet roll every time you have to go to the jacks?

ceegee

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Stupid idea. Users of a resource should pay.

What's your stance on public buildings providing free toilet paper in their bathrooms?

One eyed Jack

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Yeah governments have such a great record of making services cheaper. A mock private driving test can be gotten for 30 Euro, a real one costs 85 Euro. Governments always make things more expensive.

A ridiculous comparison to make a point about Government funding! Governments provide many services and resources to you without your paying for them. You don’t even have to avail of these services if you’re so principled about paying for resources you use, but they come in handy for other people. This service for example for men -


National Condom Distribution Service overview

Yellow_Fern

Tork wrote: »

Would you be happy to pay for toilet roll every time you have to go to the jacks?

I dont use public toilets. They are disgusting. Public toilets are classic example of how free services are always abused. Even a token fee of 40 cents goes a long way to to avoiding abuse of the resource.

Tork

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

I dont use public toilets. They are disgusting. Public toilets are classic example of how free services are always abused. Even a token fee of 40 cents goes a long way to to avoiding abuse of the resource.

So where do you go to the toilet when you're caught short? Do you bring your own toilet roll?

El_Duderino 09

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Yeah they’ll surely be the cheapest ones. The luxury brands will still be on sale like always.

This.

Anyone worrying about someone well heeled scoring a few free tampax, when they can well afford them needn't worry.

They'll probably be some crap brand, that people will avoid if they can. They'll be an option for people who can't struggle to afford them.

One eyed Jack

Tork wrote: »

So where do you go to the toilet when you're caught short? Do you bring your own toilet roll?

They’ve clearly been holding it in...

Tork

Tork wrote: »

So where do you go to the toilet when you're caught short? Do you bring your own toilet roll?

He turtles

Nermal

ceegee wrote: »

What's your stance on public buildings providing free toilet paper in their bathrooms?

Should I have recourse in law if it has run out?

hynesie08

MikeOxsgreen wrote: »

This.

Anyone worrying about someone well heeled scoring a few free tampax, when they can well afford them needn't worry.

They'll probably be some crap brand, that people will avoid if they can. They'll be an option for people who can't struggle to afford them.

They'll be like the free condoms or lube you get in family planning clinics, they'll do the job they're supposed to, but you'll get what you pay for.

An Ri rua

Zaph wrote: »

What complete and utter nonsense. Period poverty is very real for many women, I've read stories of girls skipping school when they had their period because they couldn't afford sanitary products. A simple measure to ensure that doesn't happen again in the future should be applauded, not derided.

Would you concur that food poverty might be more widespread, even among this subgroup? Therefore free food too? For all.
Don't get me wrong, I agree. Free everything, comrade.

strandroad

Tork wrote: »

So where do you go to the toilet when you're caught short? Do you bring your own toilet roll?

For this discerning customer we have a toilet paper vending machine, €1 per sheet.

ExMachina1000

A smart operator would gather up thousands of these free products and sell them online to English, Northern Irish and Welsh consumers.

Few bob in it

Tork

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

A smart operator would gather up hundreds of thousands of these free products and sell them online to English, Northern Irish and Welsh consumers.

Few bob in it

Unlikely. Cheap/own-brand sanitary products are a last resort. They really aren't as good as their pricier, branded equivalents.

rainbowtrout

igCorcaigh wrote: »

Unreal. Is this not provided by schools?
I went to a segregated (boys) school in primary.

I would say generally not on a formal basis. If a girl is stuck in my secondary school, they would generally head to the chaplain, the secretary or a teacher they have a good rapport with and they'll be sorted out.

Always actually have a free schools pack, and I get an email every year about it once I signed up, so they have sample packs with maybe four pads or tampons in them and an educational leaflet, there's some teaching materials in with them too. I've offered the boxes (in a one to everyone in the audience type way) to classes of girls when the boys are absent, and generally they refuse, so the idea of 'people who can afford it shouldn't be getting free stuff' that was being floated doesn't really happen, and teenagers love free stuff. I'd say there's about four dozen sample packs sitting under my desk at the moment at school.

Having said that it was generally the girls from less well off families who were glad to take some boxes away with them, and more importantly they knew there was a supply in my lab should they be caught out. They don't have to say they can't afford them, they'll just say they don't have sanitary products in school and got caught out. It's very easy to give them extra packs in the 'sure keep them in your locker so you don't get caught out again' or 'you'd be doing me a favour by taking some of these as they're cluttering up the lab' without making it difficult for a student.

Tork

Dealz is a godsend for stocking up on branded products but of course not everybody has access to a shop like it. If you're a bloke, the price of branded (i.e. Tampax, Always) products in Dunnes and Tesco could be an eye opener for you. Bear in mind too that most women won't make it through their period using just the one pack of tampons or pads.

ExMachina1000

Tork wrote: »

Dealz is a godsend for stocking up on branded products but of course not everybody has access to a shop like it. If you're a bloke, the price of branded (i.e. Tampax, Always) products in Dunnes and Tesco could be an eye opener for you. Bear in mind too that most women won't make it through their period using just the one pack of tampons or pads.

Have you ever seen the price of Gillette razors

hynesie08

Tork wrote: »

Dealz is a godsend for stocking up on branded products but of course not everybody has access to a shop like it. If you're a bloke, the price of branded (i.e. Tampax, Always) products in Dunnes and Tesco could be an eye opener for you. Bear in mind too that most women won't make it through their period using just the one pack of tampons or pads.

Was there a TD who stood up in the dail and said period poverty wasn't a thing, and his maths was based on 5-7 pads a cycle?that was an embarrassing one.......

Tork

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

Have you ever seen the price of Gillette razors

Yes. There is a difference between a man choosing to shave his face and a woman taking steps to stop menstrual blood seeping through her clothes every 4 weeks.

strandroad

ExMachina1000 wrote: »

Have you ever seen the price of Gillette razors

I raise you the price of Gillette Venus.

None of them are essential either.

smokingman

I welcome this. For the posters trying to scream "what's next?! Free food?!"...
Why not?
We're a species, not any notion of a nation.