Press Release
Deon’s New Report:
Period Poverty in Greece
Email: info@deonpolicy.org
Boston, MA, October 21, 2026: Deon Policy Institute, together with It’s Just Period and WHEN, has published Period Poverty in Greece and Proposals to Address It, researched and written by Ismini Drosoforidi and Afroditi Xydi, and edited by Stella Kasdagli and Pinelopi Theodorakakou, available here.
Period poverty refers to the inability to afford or reliably access period products, and to the consequences that follow: the use of improvised alternatives, absence from school and work, reduced participation in social life, and the associated health risks. The cost is recurrent and non-discretionary, and it falls disproportionately on low-income households.
The European Union has recognised this as a pan-European challenge. Council Directive (EU) 2022/542 allows member states to apply a reduced VAT rate below 5% or a zero rate to period products, and several member states have since done so. Greece has not. Period products remain subject to the standard rate of 24%, the rate applied to cosmetics, tobacco and alcohol.
Building on MRB Hellas’s first measurement of the issue in 2018, the study documents, for the first time at a nationally representative level, the extent of period poverty in Greece, the stigma that surrounds it and the impact of menstrual pain on daily life. It is based on a survey carried out in December 2025 with a sample of 2,000 people, as part of MRB’s long-running “Trends” survey.
The study identifies several key findings:
1 in 8 women (12.5%): were unable at least once in the past 12 months to buy period products because they could not afford them, a share that rises to 19.2% when the question concerns another woman in the same household.
1 in 10 women (10.2%): have resorted to makeshift means to manage their period because they could not afford products.
1 in 6 women (16.6%): went without basic goods such as food, bill payments or medical expenses at least once in the past year in order to cover period-related needs.
These difficulties also extend to participation in education, work and social life:
9.3%
have missed at least one day of school or studies due to a lack of period products
10.6%
have missed at least one day of work
16.9%
have limited their participation in social activities
Among women who report complete financial hardship, these rates almost double, while Thessaloniki records a particularly high burden, at 28%, almost double the national average. The study also records the stigma that still surrounds menstruation and the effects of period pain on daily life:
Almost 6 in 10 people (59.7%): believe that women have felt shame or taboo about their period, with society identified as the main factor (36.3%).
Almost 1 in 2 women (49.8%): say that period pain has affected their ability to function at least once in the past 12 months.
Based on these findings, the authors set out a comprehensive framework of policy proposals:
Reducing or abolishing VAT on period products: a reduction from 24% to 13% or 6% would align Greece with the European Parliament resolution of January 2019 and the practice of 16 European countries and the United Kingdom. The reduction to 13% is estimated to cost €10.6 million a year, or 0.02% of annual state tax revenue.
Expanding nationwide and making permanent the Ministry of Health and UNICEF period products programme in schools: so that access to period products does not depend on where one lives.
A “Period Voucher” of €130 per year: for menstruating people aged 10 to 24 in less developed areas.
Price caps on basic period products: applied regardless of the point of sale.
Paid period leave for women with severe dysmenorrhea: upon medical certification, following the example of Spain.
These proposals are complemented by systematic monitoring of retail prices and coordination with the private sector. The full study is available here.
About the initiative
The study is an initiative of It’s Just Period, Deon Policy Institute and WHEN, with the scientific collaboration of MRB Hellas and funding from Lidl Hellas and the Mediterranean Women’s Fund.
It’s Just Period is a non-profit organization leading the effort to reduce VAT on period products in Greece, promoting menstrual equity through information, awareness and access to period products.
WHEN is an organization for the professional and economic empowerment of women and equality at work, working to ensure that all women have equal opportunities in public life.
About Deon Policy Institute
Founded by a group of Greek academics, entrepreneurs, and professionals, the Deon Policy Institute is a non-partisan think tank that aims to organize and transform the Hellenic Diaspora into a catalyst for the progress of Greece.