It's Getting More Expensive to Have Your Period, Thanks to Inflation
Costs are soaring for components such as plastics, fluff pulp and cotton, leading to price hikes for pads and tampons
Menstrual pad component costs are ballooning.
Illustration: Cathryn Virginia
Source: Bloomberg, Price Hanna Consultants, Fastmarkets RISI
Inflation has come for period products, making it harder for US consumers with already stretched wallets to afford basic hygiene supplies they can’t skip.
Average prices rose 8.3% for a package of menstrual pads and 9.8% for tampons in the year through May 28, according to NielsenIQ. Personal-care goods, a broad category that includes period products and items such as shampoo and shaving equipment, saw their biggest annual price jump since August 2012, April figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics also show.