Why Diapers?

Diaper Needs Facts

  • 1 in 2 Families struggle to afford diapers for their children.
  • No Social Safety Net Government programs such as SNAP, WIC (Nutritional Program) and Medicaid do not cover diapers.
  • Diapers Cost $70-$100 per month Parents experiencing diaper need have missed an average of 5 days a month which is a $612 loss of income in Connecticut.
  • Diaper Need Intersects with Food Insecurity 28% skipped meals 35% cut back on food and groceries.
  • 46% of parents reduced spending in other areas to afford diapers -Diapers are 4th largest household expense Rent/Mortgage, Utilities, Food, Diapers Please leave the other sections and diaper photo.
Stacks of cardboard boxes, some labeled "Huggies," are arranged against a wall.

Clinton Distribution Sept 2023

Diaper Facts Sheet
NDBN Diaper Check

Not having a full day’s supply of diapers impacts a family in the following ways…

Diaper Need is a Public Health Issue
Parents who cannot afford to provide enough diapers for their child are forced to leave their baby in a soiled diaper longer than is appropriate. This frequently leads to diaper rash and may cause staph infections and urinary tract infections.

Diaper Need is an Education and Employment Issue

  • Without a day’s worth of disposable diapers, children from low income families cannot attend daycare.
  • CT State daycare slots go unused because families cannot afford diapers.
  • Children who come from lower income families hear 3 million less words than middle class children by age 4.
  • Within an “in need” neighborhood only 1 in every 13 children owns a book.

This is why education through daycare is so important.

Diaper Need is a Maternal Mental Health Issue
Dr. Megan Smith, an assistant professor of Psychiatry at Yale University, has done research on the lifelong impact of how the stressors of diaper need affects families. Her research has brought diaper need to the forefront:

  • Not being able to provide diapers for children is the #1 stressor for mothers even over the stress of affording food.
  • When families have basic needs, such as diapers, laundry detergent, and feminine hygiene products, it opens more space in the prefrontal cortex to allow for bonding and attachment.

Not having to worry about basic necessities opens economic paths for parents.

“An adequate supply of diapers may prove to be a tangible way of reducing parenting stress and increasing parenting sense of competency, enabling parents to be more sensitive with their children, and thereby improving parenting quality and overall child outcomes,”
– Megan Smith, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine