Giving Compass' Take:

• Shawna De La Rosa reports that period poverty - being unable to afford menstrual products - is a significant reason girls miss school. Shame, stigma, and lack of information about menstruation also play a role. 

• How can funders help to increase access to menstrual products? What programs are already working? 

• Learn about one teen's solution to period poverty. 

Many female students would rather miss class than go to school while menstruating if they lack access to feminine hygiene products, according to the State of the Period study sponsored by Thinx and Period. Poverty plays a large role in access to obtaining these products, but there is also cultural stigma around menstruation that causes embarrassment and feelings of shame for some girls.

The study conducted by Harris Insights & Analytics of 1,000 teens ages 13 to 19 found 20% — one in five —  of teenage girls surveyed can’t afford to purchase menstrual hygiene products. It also states that two-thirds of respondents feel stress because they don’t have access to tampons and pads, 61% have worn tampons more than four hours, 25% missed class because they didn’t have access to tampons or pads, and 83% think lack of access "is not talked about enough."

The study centers on the need for more education on this topic, as 76% of students feel they know more about the biology of frogs than they do about the biology of the female body, and it also found many students feel ashamed when they are menstruating.

Read the full article about period poverty by Shawna De La Rosa at Education Dive.