The government is being urged to act now after it was revealed half of the UK population is facing £500 in extra costs for essential items. A study found many women were having to cut back on food and other important items to pay the bill.

New figures show the average woman across the UK will spend around £20,359 on menstruationproducts and side effects throughout her lifetime. While period products are already free in Scotland, the Government is being called to expand this free access to England as the costs extend far beyond thesecrucial hygiene items.

TV star Ashley James has joined the campaign to raise awareness for the petition stating: “It is shocking that in this day and age that the simple biological reality of having a period comes with such a heavy price tag…This shouldn’t be a luxury, it’s essential.

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“Clue’s ‘Cost of Bleeding’ research shows that this isn't just about the price of a box of tampons; it’s about recognising and understanding the hidden costs in stained clothes, pain management and the mental toll of managing these costs every single month. I’m proud to partner with Cluein campaigning for free access to period products in England.”

New consumer research by Clue, dubbed the Cost of Bleeding, highlighted the financial burden women face due to their biology. It found respondents spend around £41 every month on costs related to their cycle, roughly £492 every year.

This includes period products, making up £18 of this cost alone every month, as well as pain relief, cleaning, replacement clothing and the effect of periods on workplace productivity. Over a lifetime of periods, roughly 38 years’ worth, this costs the average woman around £20,359.

Over the course of a year, women spent £142 on symptom relief items like painkillers and hot water bottles. Nearly a third of respondents also faced extra costs for private healthcare to manage conditions related to their menstrual cycle like PCOS or endometriosis.

Two in five people responding to the survey admitted they’d had to cut back on essentials like food, bills or transport to pay for period products while nearly 40% were forced to use alternatives like tissues or wipes instead of pads due to the cost.

A 2023 ActionAid pollfound the number of women in the UK struggling to afford period products had risen from 12% to 21% in just one year. This equates to an estimated 2.8 million people struggling to afford the costs of their biology each month.

The Clue report showed women are vastly in favour of having free and widely accessible period products in UK schools, universities and workplaces. This is partially provided through the government’s period product scheme that is available to state-maintained and funded schools in England.

In 2022, Scotland marked a world first in making period products free for all by law through the Period Products Act. This legal duty required local authorities to provides items like pads and tampons to anyone who is in need.

In Wales, these products are free and availablethrough a number of organisations from libraries to leisure centres and food banks. In Northern Ireland, the Period Products Act 2022 allows anyone to get these items for free in libraries and people can take as many as they need.

In England, period products are only freely available in specific settings like some educational institutes. Rhiannon White, Chief Executive Officer at Clue added: “Addressing the ‘Cost of Bleeding’ is a critical step in our mission to close the women’s health gap and ensure equity for women and people with cycles.

“We have always used our platform, and responsibility as a brand, to advocate for systemic change, and will continue to use our voice to speak out on behalf of issues that women face today, in a bid to fulfil our mission of enabling a world where women live better. We encourage all men, women and people with cycles to sign the petition."