It's Not Just Baby Formula: A New National Shortage Is Creating a Nightmare for Women

By Abby Liebing June 11, 2022 at 10:35am

Moms across the U.S. are in a panic with the baby formula shortage, but now all women are facing a shortage.

“In the last few months, I’ve visited stores in New York, Massachusetts, and California — no tampons,” Alana Semuels wrote for Time.

Now, people from all over the country are complaining about not being able to find what they need.

“Is there a tampon shortage or something? I just went to 5 different Walgreens [and] the shelves are CLEARED,” one user tweeted.

“I kept asking myself — am I going crazy? Because I went to so many stores and couldn’t find anything,” a mom in Queens said, according to Time.

With supply chains snarled all across the world, the tampon shortage seems to be just one more result of the problem.

Some manufacturers have acknowledged the product shortages.

P&G, which makes Tampax brand tampons, said the shortage is a “temporary situation” and that Tampax is working “24/7 to meet the increased demand for our products” and helping retailers get more products on shelves, CBS News reported.

“We understand it is frustrating for consumers when they can’t find what they need,” a P&G spokesperson said.

Have you seen tampon shortages in your stores?

Unfortunately, tampons and menstruation products are not something that women can simply do without for a little bit.

“You may be annoyed that your couch delivery is delayed or that you still can’t find your favorite running shoes, but you can wait — or buy something else. Women get their period every month, and if they’ve used tampons for their entire adult lives, they need tampons,” Semuels wrote in Time.

The shortage and necessity of tampons also mean that producers have hiked up prices.

In just a year, the price of feminine hygiene products in the U.S. has risen 10.8 percent, Time reported.

In January, Amazon took advantage of the shortage and listed one box of 18 Tampax tampons for $114, about six dollars more — per tampon — than women normally pay.

But women still have to buy them, even at sky-high prices.

“Periods don’t stop for pandemics,” said Dana Marlowe, founder of I Support the Girls, a nonprofit group that provides bras and menstruation products to homeless women. “Just because there is a shortage doesn’t mean your period is going to turn off that month.”

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