The government is setting aside money to finance an extra 1000 distribution points for free sanitary products, minister for poverty Carola Schouten said in a briefing to MPs on Thursday.

The measure is part of a package worth €15.8 million to enable people on the lowest incomes to buy food, clothes and school materials.

A majority of MPs had pressed the minister at the beginning of this month for more measures to combat poverty.

Figures from the government’s macro-economic policy unit CPB have shown that almost a million people would end up below the poverty line next year if no action was taken.

The number of distribution points for sanitary products will go up from 1,500 to 2,500 the minister said in a briefing to MPs.

Sanitary products are crucial if women are to participate in society, Schouten said. A number of local councils already offer the products for free, for instance at food banks, schools, and community centres.

One in 10 women and girls don’t have enough money to buy them, a spokesman for the Armoedefonds, which is is responsible for the outlets, said.