The Dependent Class Gets Free Diapers

Parents will do anything for their kids. They’ll stay up nights when they’re sick, walk them to school so they stay safe, take an extra job when the children’s needs strain the family budget. Many a mom or dad has pulled extra hours at work to afford braces, tutors, or diapers.

Hardworking moms and dads who go the extra mile will be funding diapers for those who don’t.

Except when the government gives those diapers to you — just as long as you don’t make too much money.

Now, hardworking moms and dads who go the extra mile for their kids will be funding diapers for those who don’t.

The Obama administration is again swaddling lower-income individuals with free stuff — this time, it’s baby diapers. Citing a pressing “diaper disparity,” Cecelia Munoz, the White House director of the Domestic Policy Council, reminded America via a commentary on the White House website in March that some Americans cannot buy diapers in bulk — thus saving money by doing so — because they don’t have transportation, among other factors.

Munoz said one in three families still struggle with the availability of affordable diapers.

“That is rich, considering that due to Obama’s policies, I can’t find a good full-time job but instead am working two part-time jobs,” a New York City father of three told LifeZette. “Here’s the reality: Your baby needs diapers, or formula, or new shoes? You go out and work for it. You don’t show up at a diaper drop and take taxpayer-funded diapers.”

Munoz said that for the lowest-income earners, diapers consume up to 14 percent of their income, at $936 per child per year. Along with transportation issues, Munoz says that many don’t have the credit cards to buy in bulk, nor do they have access to technology to place diaper orders online.

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And maybe most importantly — in the government’s eyes, anyway — there is no assistance program for diapers.

How does all of this government largess work? The White House established a Community Diaper Program with Jet, an e-commerce company, and Cuties, a diaper brand, in March. Nonprofit organizations can apply to the program, allowing them to buy diapers cheaply in bulk. These will then be distributed to poor families. Individuals can also order diaper care packages that can be shipped to those in need, or they can make a donation. This will cost $10 million, funded by taxpayers.

“I’ll be standing behind them at the store, tired from my full-time job, and wondering how I, myself, will afford diapers next week,” said one working mom.

“So this is essentially a public-assistance Costco for diapers, except poor families won’t pay,” said one Boston mother of one. “I am all for helping the poor who cannot help themselves — that’s the American spirit. But this is not the way. Instead, we should have business-friendly policies and regulations from the federal government and a national emphasis of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps — working at McDonald’s or whatever it takes, to care for your baby.”

“It is amazing and distressing that supplying American families with diapers is now considered a matter of importance at the White House level,” said Amy Ridenour, chairman  of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. “Diapers used to be something provided by the parents, who made certain they had enough money for diapers before having children. If they needed help for some reason, they would turn — presumably shamefacedly — to their immediate family for help. Certainly not to the White House.”

Related: Government Handouts Out of Control

President Obama confirmed there are already “740 nonprofit locations” participating in the Community Diaper Program across the U.S. “[This is] an example of how the government can collaborate with the private sector to address common challenges together,” Obama wrote on Medium.com.

A more accurate portrayal of the diaper dole, however, would be to admit that this is instead an example of how the government can turn what it terms “common challenges” — meaning challenges that all parents, regardless of income, face — into special allowances and privileges for lower-income individuals.

Said Ridenour, “I find it amazing that a White House that seems so willing to kill coal and other jobs in service of a global warming theory that is not coming true, and commit other oppressions in the name of environmental protection, assumes all diapers must be disposable. What happened to reusable cloth? Come on, people. If you can’t afford a constant supply of disposable diapers, get cloth diapers and wash them. I’ve done this. Cloth diapers do work, and you only pay for them once. You don’t even have to buy them new, and best yet, you don’t need any help from the White House.”

“This is so unfair,” said a Des Moines, Iowa, mom. “Now, someone collecting welfare can order diapers on their free phone that they got from the government on their way to use food stamps at the grocery store. I’ll be standing behind them at the store, tired from my full-time job, and wondering how I, myself, will afford diapers next week. How is this good for either of us, in the end?”