Diapers.
San Francisco and their famous income disparity and
high rents, means that the have-nots are hard pressed for some of the basic needs. Things like diapers can end up taking a huge chunk out of a low-income family's paycheck.
San Francisco is stepping up in the diaper department:
San Francisco plans to spend about $479,000 annually to distribute diapers monthly to families in need. Still in its pilot phase serving 257 families with a child under the age of one, the city says that the diaper program will be operating at full capacity by Nov. 1, at which point it will serve roughly 1,300 families with children under three years old.
The director of Planning at the San Francisco Human Services Agency was inspired by an
NPR story about a diaper bank in Connecticut for people in need. He made an important connection between the cost of diapers around low income housing, versus the cost at
big box stores.
Shortly afterward, he heard that the price of diapers at the corner grocery stores around public housing developments could run as high as 50 cents each. It compares unfavorably to the price of diapers at bigger retailers such as Walmart, at which they can cost as little as 17 cents. And with a newborn going through up to 12 diapers a day, the costs can rack up.
“That's the high cost of poverty,” said Kelly. “When you’re very poor, you don't get the break of shopping around and having a lot of shopping choices. You're vulnerable to being exploited. And your ability to plan and research your economic choices is really limited because you’re just trying to get through day to day.”
There are tons of things wrong with income inequality in places like San Francisco that will not be solved by free or cheaper diapers. However, having an important city's municipal agency recognize their need to help ameliorate the working poor's conditions is a step in the right direction.