Tampon and Formula Shortages
With COVID (sort of) behind us, the effects brought by the pandemic are still very evident. In recent months, we have witnessed two nationwide shortages that are going to drastically affect women. Baby formula and tampon shortages are both going on right now. The formula shortage was caused by Covid-19 and problems within the supply chain and it has continued to worsen through 2022. The tampon shortage has been caused by an interruption in the supply chain for materials like cotton and plastic. These materials have increased in price also causing tampons to rise in price. This is because they have used these materials a lot during the pandemic for Personal Protective Equipment required by medical personnel. Also, factories have been short staffed and there have been reported delays in transportation. These shortages have led to women panicking. Thus, many have stocked up so they will not be affected as much. However, for those women that did not over shop, formula and tampons are almost impossible to find.
Women that advocate for breastfeeding and see it as the best way to feed an infant are not as concerned as other women that are affected by this shortage. They believe that breastmilk is better for retaining nutrients and vitamins, bonding, digestion, and reducing an infant’s risk of developing certain diseases. However, there are some women who are not able to breastfeed or choose against breastfeeding. These are the women that this shortage has affected and will continue to affect the most. Women often choose formula because it allows for a more flexible schedule, one that does not include pumping multiple times a day. Also, babies do not have to eat as frequently with formula, and mothers are able to eat and drink whatever you want without fear of accidentally passing it onto your baby. There are also women who use both breastmilk and formula to feed their babies. These women will also be affected greatly as they may use both due to problems with latching, the infant being underweight, or the body not producing the right amount of breastmilk necessary for child development.
The women that will be impacted by the tampon shortage are those that regularly use tampons. Some women many not find this shortage to be a problem because they use other feminine products during menstruation. This could be because of personal preference, religion, or even medical problems. Some women choose to “free bleed” meaning they choose not to wear any feminine products to conceal their menstruation. Their goal is to help the environment and to also normalize women bleeding during their periods. Regardless, some women just do not use tampons. However, its summer and for those that do wear tampons, and like to swim, this might be conflicting with their summer plans. Also, with less production of cotton and plastic, pads and some types of menstrual cups could be in danger next. Therefore, this could potentially affect almost all women with menstrual cycles.
Solutions to these shortages are not as easy to pull off as other problems affecting women. With the COVID-19 pandemic, understaffed factories, newly rising prices, and shortages of important products have been very prominent in the past two years. That being said, a short-term solution for these shortages would be to import these products from other countries. For the time being, this could make it easier to find those products on the shelves. We cannot rely on imports forever though. Eventually, we must increase domestic production and get our companies back to manufacturing and selling effectively on their own. Fixing staffing issues is a lot more complicated than it seems. The easy answer is to just increase wages. But, this would cause an increase in the price of the products and this could lead to inflation which is sort of what we are experiencing now. The prices of these products have already been raised to compensate for the lack of supply. We would need the government to encourage people to work with incentives. We would also need people to not buy in bulk, only buy what you need for right now. Buying too much in advance will only cause the shortage to advance faster. Also, the government could implement purchase regulations on products in a shortage to further prevent panic buying from occurring. This means the government will put limits on products and how much you are able to buy so they will not be exhausted too quickly. Hopefully, we will be able to solve both of these shortages quickly and efficiently.