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Jasmine Smith couldn鈥檛 have guessed the cascading effect her three-year-old daughter鈥檚 broken arm would have on their lives. The older woman who watched her daughter while Smith worked wouldn鈥檛 let her daughter return while her arm was in a cast. Smith had to leave her job as a substitute teacher for Buffalo Public Schools to care for her daughter.

Then Smith found out she was pregnant. To make some money she started watching two other children along with her daughter, but the further she got into her pregnancy the harder it was, and she eventually had to stop. The foregone income meant that she couldn鈥檛 afford to buy the things she needed for a new baby. She and her husband are separated and Smith is solely responsible for financially supporting both kids.

鈥淎t that point I really didn鈥檛 have anything,鈥� Smith said. She hadn鈥檛 planned to have another child, so she had given everything of her older daughter鈥檚 away except a crib. She still needed not just a car seat, but smaller things like an outfit to bring her home in from the hospital. She simply couldn鈥檛 afford to buy diapers and wipes. 鈥淚t was emotional for me because I was realizing, 鈥業鈥檓 about to have a baby in a month or so鈥� and I don鈥檛 have anything to even bring her home in,鈥� 鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was very scary because I didn鈥檛 know what I was going to do.鈥�

Then Smith found what she calls a 鈥渂lessing鈥�: the diaper bank in Buffalo, New York. The executive director started sending supplies to Smith鈥檚 home: diapers, wipes, bottles, and even an outfit. 鈥淚t was literally the very first thing, the only thing I had for my unborn child at the time,鈥� she said. Seeing the packages arrive brought her to tears.

In a new survey of American families, the National Diaper Bank Network has found something alarming: diaper need has increased significantly since the last time it surveyed families in 2017. Today nearly half, or 47 percent, of families report not always having enough diapers to change their children as often as they would like, finding it difficult to afford buying diapers for their children, and/or running out of diapers because they couldn鈥檛 afford enough.

鈥淚t was embarrassing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very humbling experience to have to ask somebody to help you provide for your family in that way.鈥� But finding a resource that could help her get the necessities she needed to care for her new baby at least offered her relief. 鈥淚 just looked at it like, 鈥業 can鈥檛 believe that somebody I don鈥檛 even know is helping me with something that鈥檚 so important to me,鈥欌�� she said.

Smith is just one of millions of parents who struggle to afford diapers for their children. In a , the National Diaper Bank Network has found something alarming: diaper need has increased significantly since the last time it surveyed families in 2017. Today nearly half, or 47 percent, of families report not always having enough diapers to change their children as often as they would like, finding it difficult to afford buying diapers for their children, and/or running out of diapers because they couldn鈥檛 afford enough. That鈥檚 much higher than the who reported diaper need in 2017. With such high levels, perhaps it鈥檚 not surprising that the newest survey found diaper need among all income levels. It was very high for low-income households, two-thirds of whom had diaper need, but over a third of middle-income families and even 6 percent of high-income ones also dealt with it.

The survey of 1,000 families with a child under the age of four currently wearing diapers, which was conducted by YouGov, is comparable to the 2017 version, said Kelley Massengale, director of research and evaluation at the Diaper Bank of North Carolina. Both surveyed nationally representative groups of families 鈥� this survey based its demographics on the 2019 American Community Survey 鈥� using the same screening questions to identify those with diaper need. There was one change in the most recent version: clarifying that running out of diapers because a parent forgot to pack enough on an outing doesn鈥檛 qualify as diaper need; in this survey, language was added to make it clear it was about being able to afford enough.

When the pandemic hit and governments shut down businesses and enacted stay at home orders, families lost jobs and income, and diaper need rose sharply. 鈥淒iaper banks across the country responded to an unprecedented request for diapers,鈥� Massengale said. 鈥淢any families experienced diaper need for the first time.鈥� Even after the federal government launched a number of programs aimed at helping households remain financially whole, many families still struggled to buy basic needs. The new survey, conducted in April and May of this year, shows that those struggles continue. 鈥淚t鈥檚 persistent,鈥� Massengale said. Not to mention that most of the pandemic-era programs, from rental assistance and eviction moratoria to extra food stamp benefits to an increased Child Tax Credit, have all ended.

Increasing inflation, meanwhile, has been squeezing family budgets鈥攖he cost of diapers has risen along with food, rent, and other goods. All of this has meant that the crush of demand sparked by the start of the pandemic hasn鈥檛 eased. At the Diaper Bank of North Carolina, 鈥渋t hasn鈥檛 stopped. It just hasn鈥檛 slowed down at all,鈥� Massengale said. 鈥淲e get calls daily asking where they can go for diapers.鈥�

The survey also sheds light on what it means for families to experience diaper need. Among those who reported it, nearly half said they reduced their spending on other needs to afford them, the most common of which was entertainment outside of the home. That can mean a family forgoing a museum outing or the chance to see a movie in the theater. Perhaps more dire, however, was that over a third cut back on food, while one in five reduced spending on utilities. Over a quarter skipped meals so they could buy more diapers. 鈥淧arents are doing everything they can for their children,鈥� said Joanne Goldblum, chief executive officer of the National Diaper Bank Network. 鈥淲e have a system that is so barbaric that we expect parents not to eat in order to provide for the basic needs of their children.鈥�

Diaper need also has a big impact on a family鈥檚 ability to work. Most child care centers require families to send their children with a set supply of diapers. Among those with diaper need, a quarter of parents and caregivers said they had to miss school or work because they didn鈥檛 have enough to send a child to child care. They had missed about five days, on average, in the month prior to the survey.

Diaper need also has mental health impacts. Seventy percent of those who reported diaper need said they were stressed or anxious about caregiving responsibilities, while over half felt judged as a bad parent or caregiver.

Smith is now back to work: she works part-time for Every Bottom Covered. But she鈥檚 still struggling to afford diapers and the other necessities her daughters need. 鈥淭here are times when she may run out before I can afford to get her some more,鈥� Smith said of her baby. She gets diapers through the diaper bank, but it鈥檚 a set amount every 30 days. She is sometimes forced to choose between the basics: paying rent, buying enough food, getting feminine products for herself, or buying diapers and wipes for her youngest. Sometimes she鈥檚 foregone feminine products and used some tissue instead so she could afford diapers. Sometimes she鈥檚 run out completely and had to use some extra blankets or sheets.

鈥淚t鈥檚 embarrassing and it makes you feel bad,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淢ommy guilt is a real thing, to not be able to do essential things for your kids.鈥�

Diaper need is not really a disease itself; it鈥檚 a symptom of how many American families live in such financial precarity that they can鈥檛 afford the most basic of necessities. 鈥淚t is not logical to think that a family would only struggle with diaper need,鈥� Goldblum said. The survey illustrates that 鈥渇amilies are making untenable choices, and diapers are one of those things.鈥�

The country made a different choice in 2021 when it expanded the Child Tax Credit, offering it to all low-income families, even those earning little to no income, sending it out monthly, and increasing the amount to $300 a month for children under age six and $250 for older ones. Child poverty by the end of the year, which meant families had more resources to afford all of their needs, including diapers. 鈥淭he problem with poverty is not having the money you need,鈥� Goldblum pointed out. These kind of payments lifted the burden of diaper need from far more families.

There are other big policy solutions Goldblum says would address the problem, such as universal, affordable child care and preschool 鈥� both of which would ease families鈥� budgets and therefore make more room to afford diapers 鈥� or a minimum wage that increases automatically with inflation so families鈥� pay can keep up with the cost of their needs.

One thing that won鈥檛 necessarily solve the problem: cloth diapers. They require families to do extra laundry 鈥� families who are already struggling to afford basics like laundry detergent or laundromat money. Plus, many child care providers won鈥檛 even accept cloth diapers given that soiled ones have to be stored for a parent to take back home. It鈥檚 therefore 鈥渘ot necessarily a solution that parents can access all the time,鈥� Massengale said.

Smaller but meaningful solutions to diaper need could include adding federal funding to ensure every child care center that accepts subsidies is also given money to provide families with diapers. 鈥淭hat is something that could be done easily,鈥� Goldblum said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a single budget line item.鈥� The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides qualifying low-income families with cash, could add a diaper credit, similar to in 2017. Federal buildings, homeless shelters and federally qualified health centers could have diapers to give away for free.

Some action has already been taken. In 2022, the federal Administration for Children and Families announced it would for the first time in grants to get more diapers to families struggling to afford them. have exempted diapers from sales tax, with more currently considering doing the same.

But it鈥檚 not clear when larger-scale relief will come. The expanded Child Tax Credit expired at the end of 2021, as one potent example, and lawmakers haven鈥檛 brought it back.

鈥淭here鈥檚 still not a unified response, on a policy level, to address child poverty in the United States,鈥� Goldblum said.

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 社区黑料. Learn more here.