White House Announces Plan to Make Baby Diapers Affordable

The White House on Thursday announced a new initiative aimed at making baby diapers more affordable for struggling Americans.

At least one major diaper manufacturer has agreed to help bridge the so-called “diaper divide” that affects nearly one in three families, the White House said in a statement. Huggies said it will donate 22 million diapers this year to the National Diaper Bank, a nonprofit that distributes free diapers across the country.

The collaboration is also slated to aid the Covenant House, the largest privately funded agency in the U.S. that helps the homeless, according to the White House. “When families can’t afford a healthy number of diapers for their babies, they’re faced with a choice between buying diapers and paying for food, rent, or utilities like heat. That’s a choice that no family should have to make,” the White House statement said.

Some of the nation’s poorest families spend about 14% of their income on diapers, which is about $936 per child each year, it said. To make ends meet, some parents stretch the time between diaper changes to make their resources last, which can lead to serious health problems, officials said.