Public Attitudes Toward the Tampon Tax.

Menstrual products have historically been subject to an extra cost known as the “tampon tax,” which is still imposed in 21 US states, including Georgia and Mississippi, with a range of 4-7%. We aimed to explore the attitudes of people toward the tampon tax. We assessed these attitudes using a survey completed by 251 participants. The results revealed women were more familiar with the tampon tax as compared to men, but overall familiarity was low. Women were also more in favor of eliminating this tax and strongly believed that this tax affects gender equity relative to men. For both men and women, greater familiarity with this tax was associated with stronger beliefs that it negatively impacts gender equity and more support for its elimination. We also found a significant role of political orientation, where Democrats and Independents relative to Republicans were more in favor of eliminating this tax and believed more strongly that this tax impacts gender equity. This research suggests that support for the tampon tax is relatively low, it varies by gender and political orientation, and a general lack of familiarity with the tampon tax may contribute to why there has not been more advocacy for its removal.