Business
Almost Half of American Parents Can’t Afford Diapers, Report Finds
Since the outbreak, diaper costs have increased, putting a strain on parents' budgets particularly those of low-income families, according to a Thursday story from Fox Business.
Babies can go through more than a dozen diapers a day, as parents are well aware. According to NIQ data on disposable diaper sales in the United States, the average package cost for that requirement climbed from $16.54 in 2019 to $21.90.
Nearly half (47%) of American families will find it difficult to afford diapers in 2023, according to the National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN), a nonprofit organization that partners with diaper banks across the nation and supports organizations in collecting and distributing free diapers to those in need.
“Goods are really expensive,” said NDBN CEO and Founder Joanne Samuel Goldblum. “We saw the increase of SNAP and WIC during COVID, and that’s going away. I think that’s a huge factor in this,” she added.
The St. Louis Area Diaper Bank aims to provide more than three million diapers to more than 700,000 families this year, according to Muriel Smith, executive director of the organization. He pointed out that many of the families who received diapers never fully recovered from the pandemic and frequently reside in areas of extreme poverty.
“Since the pandemic in 2020, it has increased tenfold almost for us,” Smith said. “Before the pandemic we distributed about 1.5 million diapers out to the St. Louis community. We now distribute twice as many annually.”
Smith made the point that if a child's diapers aren't changed frequently enough, it could be harmful.
“Obviously for the child that’s a physical issue because they might be experiencing more UTIs or diaper rash,” Smith added.
According to Goldblum, families are being forced to “cut back on other things” including entertainment, food, utilities, and rent due to the high expense of diapers.
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