San Francisco took a step toward covering a basic human need in November: diapers. Diapers are necessary, expensive, and not covered by food stamps, forcing low-income families to spend up to 14% of their annual income on diapers, and leading to unhealthy strategies like not changing babies often enough or trying to dry out and reuse diapers. Now, a $2.5 million state grant to the San Francisco Diaper Bank is helping many more families get the diapers their kids need.
Families who get CalFresh food assistance are eligible for up to $100 per month in diapers for kids under three years old. “And because the diapers are distributed through the Diaper Bank, which is run jointly by the Human Services Agency and the Help a Mother Out diaper-aid nonprofit,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports, “that makes San Francisco the first county in the United States to supply free diapers to people getting food stamps.”
“There have been times when I had to buy diapers instead of dinner,” one mother receiving the diapers told the Chronicle. “I need at least two boxes a month, and that may not seem like a lot of cost to some people (about $30 a box), but sometimes we just don’t have the money. This really helps a lot.”
Having enough diapers can make it possible for parents—usually mothers—to improve their lives, since many daycares won’t accept babies without a supply of diapers. Without daycare, mothers aren’t able to go to school or work.
This shouldn’t be an issue, of course. Families shouldn’t have to worry about one of the most basic needs for keeping babies safe and healthy. But they do, so San Francisco’s step is a big one, and one that should be copied everywhere that people claim to care about keeping babies safe and healthy.