Free Pads & Tampons Are Supposed To Be Available In Schools. So Where Are They?

When Alisa Nudar needed a tampon unexpectedly in math class during her junior year at Bard High School Early College Queens, she was left with only a few options: Should she try to create a makeshift product? Skip the rest of the day and head home? Ultimately, she found a friend who could run and grab a menstrual product from her locker (making both of them miss class).

Nudar’s experience is shared by so many young people in the US today. Twenty-one states have no law requiring that public schools provide menstrual products to their students. Of the 29 that supposedly do — like New York — how many are really following through? How many are even telling students about the mandate? At an oversight hearing (to review and monitor the implementation of legislation) in NYC on September 18, 2023, Nudar testified, “I did not know period products were supposed to be distributed for free in school.”

If a public school were not required to provide toilet paper or hand soap to its students, the public would rightly be up in arms.

If a public school were not required to provide toilet paper or hand soap to its students, the public would rightly be up in arms. But because menstrual products are shrouded in stigma and institutional ignorance, menstruating students continue to suffer the consequences. As the legal director at Period Law — the only national legal and policy nonprofit in the country dedicated to fighting for menstrual equity — I get to help craft, advance and advocate for policies that honor people who menstruate. 

Today, 29 states mandate free menstrual products in some capacity in schools, with four states enacting laws within the past year. It’s extremely sound policy: Research shows that one in three menstruating teens struggle to pay for period products, and 84% of students have either missed class or know someone who has missed class because they did not have access to period products. The inability to afford menstrual products leads to unsanitary practices and health issues from reusing old products or creating makeshift ones.

When schools provide free menstrual products to their students, not only do they cut down on absenteeism, they combat the depression and anxiety associated with period poverty. Free, easy access to menstrual products is a matter of gender equality. Laws mandating free access ensure that all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, have the resources to manage their periods with dignity.