Volunteers from Baby Bounty, a nonprofit member of the National Diaper Bank Network, distribute diapers to Las Vegas-area families struggling to afford basic necessities.
The November jobs report is out and it confirms what diaper bank leaders throughout the country know: the economy is not getting better for the unprecedented number of children and families struggling to afford the basic necessities they need to survive.
Today’s The Washington Post reports that leading economists and policymakers say that the U.S. economy is at “a perilous moment.”
“The number of Americans reporting trouble getting enough to eat has been creeping up, according to Census Bureau data. About 13 percent of households with children reported being sometimes or often not having enough food to eat. More than one in three people surveyed recently said that they are having difficulty paying for household expenses.”
“Lines of cars continue to demonstrate the elevated demand for basic supplies like food and diapers.”
“’Demand continues to be two to three times across the board what it was pre-pandemic,’ said Phillip Vander Klay, director of policy and government relations at the National Diaper Bank Network, which works with about 220 diaper banks around the country. ‘With the combination of shutdowns starting up again, increased restrictions and the delay in getting more emergency relief from the federal government, we really expect this to continue into the holiday season.’”
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis earlier this year, the National Diaper Bank Network has been working to get funding, to address the meteoric rise in diaper need, included in emergency relief approved by Congress. We believe the bipartisan stimulus package being negotiated currently on Capitol Hill offers new signs of hope.
According to the Post, “lawmakers on Capitol Hill are beginning to coalesce around negotiations around a $908 billion bipartisan spending deal that would extend some relief to unemployed workers.”
NDBN has been in contact with our champions in Congress and leaders in both the House and the Senate, in recent days, to continue to push for much-needed emergency assistance for diaper bank programs.
“The generous aid programs that helped prop up businesses and households during the worst of the pandemic have long expired…Unemployment benefits for an estimated 12 million people will expire at the end of the year,” writes the Post.
Diaper need, much like food insecurity, is relevant, particularly as we see a surge in the virus which is “touching off a new round of closures and restrictions, as the caseload surges to new heights across a broader swath of the country than before.”
We need Congress to act and help vulnerable people who are struggling to afford even the most basic necessities.
I encourage you to share The Washington Post story on social media feeds, along with comments on the level of need you are witnessing in your community. If you are able, please consider making a donation to a diaper bank in your community or to the National Diaper Bank Network.
If you or someone you know is struggling and needs assistance, please call 2-1-1 or log on to 211.org to find resources in your area.
— Joanne Samuel Goldblum is the CEO of the National Diaper Bank Network, and co-author of Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding, and Ending US Poverty, Hardcover – February 2, 2021.
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