UK terminates Tampon Tax: A significant and necessary step

Tampons are products used by women during their menstrual cycle. This good could be classified as need, making it essential for survival and something that all women should have access to. UK officially left the European Union on 31st December 2020, and with this its obligation for a 5% tax on tampons was also forgone, the UK could now choose to tax this good according to its will, since the EU did not allow the tampon tax of 5% to be reduced or abolished, however since BREXIT is now complete the Boris led government has made the decision to take a step which was long needed.

The tampon tax raises the price of the good, making it expensive for consumers, and in some cases may also make it unaffordable for poor consumers, which should not be the case since making tampons inaccessible can have multiple adverse effects.

Woman who cannot afford these products during their cycle, may feel stressed and depressed, they are less likely to go to work and if they do, they are more likely to be less productive and efficient at work, hence reducing the output and causing an economics loss to the society. Women who go through mental health effects may further have negative effects on their family and children.

Most of all, not having access or not being able to afford these products further increases the gender inequality between men and women, employers may choose to hire male workers since they may see this as a limitation of hiring female workers since the female workers may not be able to give their fullest and thinking about this as a long term problem for their business.

Although this step will reduce the government revenue, it has the capability to make women more productive, increase economic output and therefore assist economic growth while also striving for a less gender biased society and business environment. The increase in output means women will earn more and therefore pay more income taxes, hence making up for the lost revenue from the tampon tax. Not wearing tampons or similar products could lead to infections and other health problems, therefore, making them more affordable would lead to a healthier society and moreover reduce the burden on the healthcare system and reducing the cost to the government of providing healthcare.

In my opinion, tampons should be treated as a merit good, something which the government provides to the citizens because they feel the society would benefit from its consumption. These goods are usually under consumed leading to welfare loss in the society. Hence in addition to abolishing the tax, I feel the government should take a step further and subsidize the tampons.

Photo Credits- Amnesty International

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