‘Back of the queue’: school Students Get Free Period Products but Uni Students Don’t

University students who struggle with period poverty “fall through the gaps” as schools hit one year of free menstrual products.

In June last year, almost 90 per cent of schools and kura opted in to get free period products offered by the Government, but universities were left out. However, Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick said, with the funding they are given, “Universities could provide period products if they wanted to.”

Swarbrick said, “People don’t wanna see children punished but they’re happy for over 18-year-olds to be punished.”

“There is particularly an attack from the right of politics that adults, people over the age of 18, who are experiencing poverty are somehow deserving of it because they haven’t worked hard enough and all of those really old, really tired narratives.”

“It is very much the case that people are not comfortable blaming children.”

A Youth19 survey found 12 per cent of year 9 to 13 students who menstruate have difficulty affording period products. While there are no New Zealand studies about period poverty among university students, Swarbrick said the Green’s People Inquiry into student wellbeing indicated that essentials like period products were unable to be purchased by students. Swarbrick has only had the conversation of free period products in universities “in passing”. She said, “Whenever it comes to any kind of policy that seeks to support younger people or people on lower income, students are very often those who fall through the gaps.”

The Government provides funding to universities each year. Swarbrick said, “There is a lot of discretion and flexibility about how they decide to use that funding particularly in the wellbeing space. So, universities would be able to provide period products, if they wanted to.” She said instead of having certain events, the University could use that money for wellbeing initiatives, like the provision of menstrual products.

While there is no policy that requires universities to provide period poverty support, Swarbrick said the code of practice for pastoral care, for the first time, puts in requirements for campuses to take into account the wellbeing of students. The code was required to be implemented by the start of the year, however, “all of our universities are still quite a while away from having fully implemented it”.

Massey Wellington Students’ Association (MAWSA) Co-President Elizabeth Hodgson felt Massey could provide free period products if they wanted to. “It clearly isn’t happening, so we could do more to pressure the University to put more aside for that because it would benefit all students.” Hodgson is currently in the process of getting sanitary bins in all bathrooms on the Wellington campus. In four blocks, she found 17-bathroom stalls without sanitary bins. “It's not a small number let's just say that.”

“It's one thing to talk the talk and it's another thing to walk the walk. Massey has generally been quite positive about it but when it comes to actually taking action, they’ve been quite slow.”

Hodgson has been part of creating Flow Week, which educates and celebrates menstruation. She said within that week, companies get involved and give a limited number of period products to MAWSA for free. “Since then, we’re trying to have discussions with our fellow Massey student associations cohorts about period poverty and trying to work out trials to combat that.”

A Massey University spokesperson said, “Massey University is not aware of any Government plans for free period products in New Zealand universities.”

“Our student associations do currently subsidise menstrual cups and have welfare programmes in place to support students in financial need.” The University also provides a limited supply of feminine hygiene products available to students in emergency situations. “The University has started discussions with Libre and our student associations as we recognise the impact period poverty has.”