2024 Hygiene report <\/a>found that 69% of adults experiencing hygiene poverty are having to make the difficult decision between paying for essential needs like food and bills or purchasing basic toiletries.<\/p>\nIt also showed 65% of parents affected by hygiene poverty have had to choose between buying hygiene products for themselves or their children.<\/p>\n
Nearly half of those affected are too embarrassed to ask for help.<\/p>\n
![\"Picture](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ruth-Brock-1024x683.jpg\")
Hygiene Bank Chief Executive Officer, Ruth Brock. Picture provided by Hygiene Bank<\/p>\n
Brock said: \u201cIt is just common sense that you\u2019re going to pay your rent and you\u2019re going to put food on the table and you\u2019re going to go without your hygiene products to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brock explains that several intersecting factors lead to hygiene poverty. People\u2019s incomes have not kept pace with the cost of basic essentials, and the pandemic worsened the situation.<\/p>\n
She said that people in hygiene poverty tell the charity of the shame, stigma and embarrassment. They feel humiliated and degraded and feel like they\u2019re failing as parents because they can\u2019t provide those basics.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Aisling Corr founded Productive, a charity which operates in the Thames Valley to highlight how hygiene poverty is not just a problem for those whole live in the city.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThere\u2019s some amazing organisations working on hiding poverty nationally and I know that they do have different branches across the UK, so I\u2019m sure there are efforts being made but I think locally, from what I\u2019ve seen, there is definitely a gap in support.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, food banks do offer a level of hygiene support, but it\u2019s not anywhere near, in my opinion, enough. It\u2019s not addressing all the different needs that people will have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corr explained that when they talk about\u00a0hygiene poverty, conversations often just touch on toothbrushes and soaps but there\u2019s much more to it such as period poverty.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThere\u2019s other topics that are less talked about around incontinence care or additional support for pregnancy, postpartum nursing, infants and children.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about not just increasing access locally, but it\u2019s also the sort of the spectrum of products that are available as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Impact on Businesses<\/strong><\/p>\nIn January 2025, the British Retail Consortium reported that UK retailers say crime is \u2018spiralling out of control\u2019, with 55,000 thefts daily and violent and abusive incidents rising by 50% over the last year.<\/p>\n
The British Retail Consortium reports that retailers are bearing the brunt of these increasing thefts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
According to the BRC, the rise in shoplifting stems partly from financial pressures, but organised crime has also contributed to the increase.<\/p>\n
A BRC spokesperson said: \u201cThat\u2019s why things like beauty products are being stolen more and you\u2019re seeing more security tags on those items where you wouldn\u2019t have before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s considered high value has completely changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
They noted that the 2014 change in law in England and Wales \u2013 which typically spares those stealing goods worth less than \u00a3200 from jail time \u2013 has exacerbated the crisis for retailers.<\/p>\n
Many retailers feel that theft is not a police priority, as officers often fail to respond to calls.<\/p>\n
The BRC spokesperson said: \u201cWe understand that the police have many competing priorities and retail theft might not always be priority number one.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they so often seldom attend when a retailer reports something, that it makes people think I can shoplift this and nothing\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Met Police declined to comment. <\/p>\n
This situation has forced many retailers to implement additional security measures.<\/p>\n
The BRC reported that retailers had spent \u00a31.8bn on crime-prevention measures, including CCTV, additional security guards, anti-theft devices, and body-worn cameras.<\/p>\n
Stores like Boots say over the last three years they have invested millions in security interventions, including connecting the majority of their stores to their in-house, state-of-the-art CCTV monitoring center. This allows store teams to access real-time response and support during incidents.<\/p>\n
Since 2021, they have also equipped team members with body-worn video cameras in many stores and invested in new digital software to better track offenders across all Boots UK locations.<\/p>\n
A call for action<\/strong><\/p>\nRetailers note that while some stem from organised crime it\u2019s also from individuals unable to afford basic necessities.<\/p>\n
The dramatic increase in theft rates indicates the need for comprehensive policy solutions to address hygiene poverty\u2019s root causes.<\/p>\n
Retailers like Boots works with The Hygiene Bank to provide toiletries to those who need it. <\/p>\n
Currently, VAT is charged on hygiene products, and The Hygiene Bank is campaigning to eliminate this tax.<\/p>\n
Brock said soap is as essential as sanitary products.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our first line of defense against illness and disease \u2013 a basic necessity in every home,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSoap isn\u2019t a luxury \u2013 it\u2019s a human right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feature image credit of Kate Darkins Photography. Picture provided by the Hygiene Bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deodorant, soap, and basic hygiene items have become among the most frequently stolen goods, with recent data revealing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,12450,393,4884,34080,75267,257,135,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-183363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-charity","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-hygiene","13":"tag-hygiene-poverty","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-metropolitan-police","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114680923805041721","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}