Christine Jardine
Main Page: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)Department Debates - View all Christine Jardine's debates with the Cabinet Office
(1 day, 14 hours ago)
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Bridget Phillipson
I pay tribute to Lyndsay, and I would be delighted to meet her and my hon. Friend to discuss what more we can do. It is good to see businesses and public services already opting to provide products, but it is right that, in parallel, we make sure that women have more money in their pockets and are lifted out of poverty. We are doing that by making work pay, cutting energy bills and scrapping the two-child limit, but I look forward to discussing this issue further with Lyndsay and my hon. Friend.
Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)
Period poverty is a huge issue. The measures that the Minister has outlined are welcome, but it is a much wider issue. It has been estimated that women spend 20% more than men in their lifetimes on essential products—not cosmetics, but essential hygiene products. For a family with two or three children who are girls, that has a massive impact on their budget. Will the Government consider something that I have suggested often: looking at the pink tax—the extra money that women are charged—and doing something about it?
Bridget Phillipson
The hon. Lady raises a fair point and a fair challenge. No one should pay more for essential products, including health or hygiene-related products. I will pick up the issue with colleagues across Government, and I will come back to her with a full response.