This commentary is by Wendy Rice, a resident of Burlington and the principal of Vermont Connector.
A disproportionate number of Vermont’s youngest children receive public assistance and are affected by diaper need. Even with the urgent, unmet diaper need in Vermont, there are no state or federal safety net programs (Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, 3 Squares) that cover the purchase of diapers, despite the 11:1 return on investment.
Creating a publicly funded diaper bank distribution program would help to address economic and health inequities in Vermont’s most vulnerable population.
When I became a new parent, I was curious about the cost and time required to diaper my precious newborn. What I learned was mind-boggling! I discovered that on average I used over 2,500 diapers each year at a cost of over $900.
This realization made me wonder how families struggling economically meet this need. I quickly learned that diapering is one of the largest unmet needs in our community. Pre-pandemic, the National Diaper Bank Network estimated that one in three U.S. families struggled to purchase enough diapers.
The economic fallout of Covid-19, however, made this much worse. In Vermont, local diaper banks saw a 600% increase in diaper need during the pandemic. In response, the Junior League of Champlain Valley (the state’s only diaper bank) increased distribution from 100,000 to 824,225 diapers annually.
Why does this matter?
Diaper need is a significant economic and health equity issue for our youngest and most vulnerable. Without clean and available diapers, children are more prone to skin rashes, urinary tract infections, open sores, and other health conditions that may require medical attention.
Ongoing medical treatments for these preventable illnesses tax both our stressed health care system and programs such as Dr. Dyansaur/Medicaid. Diaper need also impairs a child’s ability to grow, learn and develop healthily.
Diapering also places a direct economic and emotional strain on low-income families. On average, children use eight to 10 diapers daily. Diapers cost $80 to $100 per child per month, averaging $900 per year. This expenditure is nearly 5% of gross income for a minimum wage earner.
Perhaps most significantly, diaper scarcity blocks access to child care — and subsequently the workforce and adult education or training for parents.
Diapers are an economic necessity for our workforce. An inability to access early childhood education thus limits the economic prosperity of individual families and our state as a whole.
What can be done?
With no safety net programs covering the purchase of diapers, corporate giving and private philanthropy have been the only means to close this gap. Given the number of children currently eligible for these programs, this is an egregious omission in public policy.
On an individual level, you can support the work of the Junior League of Champlain Valley, a National Diaper Bank affiliate. By fundraising or doing a community diaper drive, you directly support Vermont families confronting an unmet diaper need.
You can also advocate for statewide policy changes by contacting your local legislators. Voice your support for a Senate bill, S.198, an act relating to the Diaper Need Working Group, currently under review in the Health and Welfare Committee.
If you represent social service provider organizations (such as family/child centers, food shelves, child care centers, designated agencies, community action, or nonprofits serving low-income Vermonters), please consider supporting the Social Services Block Grant petition to procure an extra $200 million in federal funding to build a national community-based diaper distribution network.
Collectively, there are many actions that we can take to address the economic and health disparities of diaper need. For more information about Vermont diaper need or how to support local initiatives, please reference the resources below.
• Vermont Diaper Facts compiled by the National Diaper Bank Network
• “Bad jobs and no welfare give rise to a new type of charity: the Diaper Bank“
• “Here’s why poor families pay more for diapers”
• “Barrier to entry: How diaper need isolates parents”
• “The shocking link between diapers for poor babies and jobs for mom”
