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Mum had re-use sanitary towels and brush teeth with water after falling into debt

A divorced mum-of-two reveals the 'dark times' she suffered after falling into hygiene poverty that left her feeling ashamed and embarrassed. Caroline Gandy-Brown, 54, spiralled into debt after a divorce and found herself having to sacrifice her own hygiene for the sake of the children. She laid bare the reality of hygiene poverty as new figures show single adults need an annual income of £31,536 to afford essentials - almost £2,000 more than the average £29,669 salary. Caroline would clean her teeth with the same old toothbrush for a year, sometimes with just water, so her kids wouldn't run out of toothpaste and when on her period she would reuse sanitary towels with toilet paper stuffed in them. She admitted: "I thought I had totally failed as a mum. "You do feel that you are absolutely an utter failure when you can't provide for your own family. With the average salary at £29,669, the latest research, commissioned by hygiene and health company Essity, in partnership with, Unilever, Haleon, Kimberly Clark and Edgewell, shows that one in four people are struggling to afford essentials including hygiene products. They have launched an in-store promotion in Tesco stores where customers buy two products and a hygiene product will be donated to charity In Kind Direct.