Surge in Britons relying on charities for sanitary pads as inflations worsens

Britain’s cost of living crisis is forcing people to turn to charities for sanitary products, the latest sign of how households are being squeezed by the economic slowdown.

With inflation at levels last seen in the 1980s, charity Bloody Good Period distributed 150 per cent more packs of period products in May and June than a year earlier. Sales of some of supermarket giant Tesco Plc’s own-brand sanitary products have soared more than 100 per cent since the summer of 2021 as consumers choose cheaper products to save money.

The UK is facing the longest economic slump since the financial crisis as fuel and heating costs soar because of the war in Ukraine. Many Britons will be sucked into poverty by the slowdown, with the number of households with no savings set to double to 5.3 million by 2024.

Inflation is expected to peak at 13.3 per cent in October when energy price caps rise. Some people will have to choose then between “putting food on the table, keeping the heating on, or a pack of pads,” said Terri Harris, education manager at Bloody Good Period.

With energy prices expected to soar this winter, British households are looking at annual bills of more than £4,000 (US$4,856) based on current expectations. That’s almost 14 per cent of a British household’s disposable income before government support measures are taken into account.

“If we don’t bring inflation back” to the 2 per cent target then “it’s going to get worse for the least well off,” BOE governor Andrew Bailey said last week after the bank announced its largest rise in interest rates in 27 years. “I have huge sympathy for those who are struggling.”