Millions of people in the United States struggle to afford the products needed to manage menstruation. Over the past decade, researchers, advocates, and policymakers have devoted increasing attention to period product insecurity, documenting its prevalence across schools, colleges, homeless service systems, correctional facilities, health care settings, and households experiencing financial hardship. Research has also expanded beyond documenting unmet need to developing validated measurement tools, evaluating distribution programs, and examining connections between period product insecurity, health, educational participation, and economic well-being. This paper synthesizes the current evidence base and identifies key priorities for future research.

Why This Matters

Research increasingly links period product insecurity to broader challenges related to health, mental health, educational participation, employment, and financial well-being. Policymakers, practitioners, and advocates across the country are investing in school access programs, period supply banks, and menstrual equity policies, but researchers have conducted relatively few evaluations of whether these efforts improve outcomes. Understanding what works, for whom, and under what conditions can help organizations and governments design more effective responses to period product insecurity.

What We Found

Research on period product insecurity in the United States has grown rapidly, but important gaps remain.

• Researchers have documented period product insecurity across a wide range of populations, including students, people experiencing homelessness, incarcerated individuals, people receiving treatment for substance use disorders, transgender and nonbinary individuals, people living with HIV, postpartum individuals, and caregivers of young children.
• The field has made substantial progress in measurement. Recent work has produced validated tools that allow researchers to more consistently measure period product insecurity across studies and populations.
• Research on interventions suggests that successful distribution programs often tailor products and delivery methods to community needs, build strong partnerships among service providers, establish sustainable funding mechanisms, and adapt programs to local contexts.
• Policymakers have expanded access through school-based programs, correctional facility policies, tax reforms, and other menstrual equity initiatives. However, researchers have evaluated relatively few of these policies.
• Evidence linking period product insecurity to longer-term outcomes is beginning to emerge. Studies suggest that period product insecurity is associated with poorer mental health and may affect participation in school, work, health care, and social activities. However, researchers have conducted relatively little work examining whether improved access to products leads to sustained improvements in health, educational attainment, employment, or economic security.

Participants in a 2026 National Diaper Bank Network Research Advisory Council meeting identified outcomes research as one of the field's most important priorities moving forward. They also emphasized opportunities to strengthen implementation research, develop additional state-level prevalence estimates, improve menstrual health literacy, and evaluate existing policies and programs.

How We Did It

This paper provides a state-of-the-field summary of period product insecurity research in the United States. We synthesized published literature on prevalence, measurement, interventions, policy activity, and outcomes related to period product insecurity. We also drew on discussions from the August 2026 National Diaper Bank Network Research Advisory Council meeting, where researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and advocates identified priorities for future research and opportunities to strengthen the evidence base.