Sec. 2. Findings

238 words·~1 min read·/bill/117/s/237/is/section-2

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Congress finds the following: Infants need between 6 to 12 diapers a day. Infants and toddlers lacking access to clean diapers have a greater risk for health complications, which require costly and difficult to access medical care. Prior to the COVID–19 pandemic, surveys indicated that 1 in 3 families in the United States with young children could not afford an adequate supply of diapers to keep their child clean, dry, and healthy. Low-income families pay an even higher than average price for diapers because they do not have access to money saving alternatives such as bulk buying or online shopping that can reduce costs.

Low-income families spend about 14 percent of their income on diapers. Clean diaper access presents a financial and stressful burden on families’ dependent on child care services. Research indicates that when diaper need is a barrier to child care, parents miss an average of 4 workdays a month. The COVID–19 pandemic has further raised demand for diapers and strained diaper banks’ ability to meet low-income families’ needs. Prior to the COVID–19 pandemic, nonprofit diaper bank distribution only met 5 to 6 percent of diaper need.

Since the start of the COVID–19 pandemic, diaper banks around the country have experienced double, triple, or greater increase in demand for diapers due to the pandemic and economic shutdown. Nonprofits alone cannot fully address this public health crisis that impacts 1 in 3 families in the United States.