New Bill to Help Families Struggling to Afford Diapers

End Diaper Need Bill Senator Tammy Duckworth family life Parent Herald

By Andrea Collin , Parent Herald Feb 14, 08:50 pm

Good news to U.S. families that can't afford diapers as the latest 2021 End Diaper Need Bill by Senator Tammy Duckworth is on the move.

Truth be told, 1 in 3 American families cannot provide their children with enough diapers, as they prioritize food over essential child care items. It also stops families from sending their children to daycare. On Monday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth introduced a new bipartisan bill to ensure each family can afford diapers.

According to the National Diaper Network, babies use up to 12 diapers a day. In comparison, toddlers use about eight diapers a day, which is around $80 a month, making low-income families unable to afford it.

The 2021 End Diaper Need Act aims to help these families as the inability to obtain diapers may severely strain their physical, emotional, and economic well-being.

Duckworth said, "With so many families struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads in the middle of a global public health crisis, the last thing parents should have to worry about is being able to buy diapers. Those are essential to their kids' health and well-being." Together with Duckworth are Sens. Kevin Cramer and Bob Casey as co-leaders on the measure.

End Diaper Need Bill Strategies

The bill will use the following three strategies to resolve the top three diaper issues.

1. According to the National Diaper Network, five million babies and toddlers live in poor or low-income households. Families struggling to pay bills are often forced to choose between the week's food and diapers.

Strategy: Between 2022 and 2025, the End Diaper Need Act will send $200 million to social programs per year, which will go towards diapers and other diaper supplies.

2. Many daycare centers and pediatric hospitals do not have diapers, forcing parents and caregivers to leave diapers with their children. If parents and caregivers are frequently unable to supply diapers, they can't leave their kids at daycare.

Strategy: The Diaper Bill will fund 200 "medically complex children" via Medicaid who needs or will be needing diapers.

3. Federal services such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or the Mothers, Infants and Children Special Supplemental Nutrition Program do not cover diaper costs. Diapers for individual health expenditure accounts are also not deemed reimbursable.

Strategy: The act will identify diapers and other diaper supplies as qualifying medical expenses to allow families to purchase them via their health savings programs or health reimbursement accounts.

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In 2019, Dr. Sanjeev Sriram, a general pediatric doctor in the Washington, D.C. area, said, "Past research has shown that providing diapers keeps children healthier and helps parents attend school and work, which of course benefits the family and the community economically." He added, "Diaper needs are the problem of every community, the problem of every state, and the problem of the country."

This made lawmakers believe that addressing diaper needs is like lifting children out of poverty.