Britain Abolishes the Tampon Tax!
By: Sanika Sharma
Published: March 21, 2021
Britain entered this new year by making an enormous progressive change for menstruators all over the nation. On Friday, January 1st of 2021, following its departure from the EU, Britain became the latest country to transform its retail measures on menstrual products, abolishing the so-called “tampon tax'' and no longer classifying the products as nonessential.
The abolishment of the tax is part of a wider government initiative to end period poverty, attempting to increase the accessibility of sanitary products despite financial constraints. “Research released in May from Plan International U.K., a children’s charity, found that three in 10 girls ages 14 to 21 struggled to afford or get access to sanitary products during the coronavirus lockdown,” according to a New York Times article. Since last year, the British government’s initiative to make period products more attainable has also included supplying sanitary products free of cost in schools, colleges, and hospitals.
Since 2016, 10 states in the United States have eliminated the tax in a similar attempt, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Utah, and Washington. Hopefully, the list continues and other states follow the example Britain has set.
Blog Source: nytimes.com
Image Source: theguardian.com