California Passes First-Ever Bill To Give Poor Families Money For Diapers

[calinewarkwc69]

California could soon become the first state in the country to offer poor families some help with an expensive necessity: diapers.Diapers aren’t covered by food stamps - in California, they’re classified along with cigarettes and alcohol as invalid purchases - nor by the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program for low-income mothers.

Comments

[amw]

It is definitely a problem in and of itself. It's not like some baby's pee stains have any more cooties than one of your other neighbors' cum stains. Public laundromats are public laundromats. No one likes em. Most renters need em. That's life. You probably get more germs from the beer glasses at your local dive bar. And don't get me started on privatized daycare and the lack of decent parental leave in the US.

Although changing these things is probably more difficult than sending a bit of government cash Procter & Gamble's way, I would like to think that a progressive state with a strong Democratic legislature could do a little more to discourage consumerism and truly help children to grow up in a respectful and environmentally aware community.

I know I am not a parent so I am probably insensitive to the realities of the situation, but lately it's really been making cringe seeing how many tax credits and "benefits" ostensibly to help the poor and working class end up just being ways to help them buy more stuff from the rich. Why not just tax the rich a bit more and let the poor decide for themselves if they want to spend that extra cash on an energy star washer vs thousands of disposable diapers?

[moonshaz]

Why not just tax the rich a bit more and let the poor decide for themselves if they want to spend that extra cash on an energy star washer vs thousands of disposable diapers?

I already responded to this in another reply, but briefly, the problem with this is that it assumes that everyone has a place to put a washer, appropriate plumbing hookups, etc. This is not a safe assumption. With lower end rental housing, you're lucky in some cases if there are laundry facilities IN THE BUILDING (as opposed to having to drive across town to a laundromat.

[rhysande]

Plus, a lot of these families are homeless.