Junior high school students in Taipei will get NT$200 a month towards buying menstrual hygiene products. The scheme, which begins on Monday, will benefit more than 30,000 children.
A schoolgirl keys in the barcode for a pack of menstrual pads. And it’s coming at a bargain price, because starting Monday, junior high school students across Taipei will get about US$7 a month for menstrual hygiene products.
More than 30,000 students are eligible for the scheme, which is operating in Hi-Life convenience stores. One student says the system is very convenient because she can use her phone to get the discount.
Xinyi Junior High’s principal Chiang Chia-liang adds that the stores are open 24/7, so you can redeem the discount any time.
Taipei City Deputy Mayor Huang Shan-shan says the scheme has a budget of over US$2 million. She says each online voucher is valid for two months, so students can buy two months’ supply at a time, rather than go every four weeks.
The vouchers are valid for 10 hygiene products, and you can redeem them using self-service machines or through an app.
Huang says Taipei is considering offering the scheme to elementary school children. But she says school health centers already offer menstrual hygiene products to students, because often it’s their first period and they haven’t brought their own.
Period poverty is a problem across the world, but for students at Taipei's junior highs, menstrual hygiene products are one expense they won’t need to worry about.