Why do we need a diaper & period products bank in the ArkLaTex?

• 1 in 3 American families reports experiencing diaper need.

• 5 million children in the U.S. aged three or younger live in poor or low-income families.
  

• Infants require up to 12 diapers per day; toddlers require about 8.
  

• Disposable diapers can cost $70 - $80 per month per baby.
  

• No state or federal child safety-net program allocates dollars specifically for the purchase of diapers.
  

• Without transportation, buying diapers at a convenience store rather than a large “big box” store can significantly increase the monthly cost of diapers.
  

• Most childcare centers - even free & subsidized facilities - require parents to provide a day’s supply of disposable diapers.
  

• 1 in 4 menstruating people lives below the poverty line in Louisiana.
  

• 1 in 4 teens in the US has missed school due to a lack of period supplies.

DID YOU KNOW?

Louisiana finally repealed the "pink tax" - a tax on menstrual products & diapers - during the 2019 legislative session.

The legislator "who proposed the bill argued that tampons and diapers should at least be on the same playing field as Viagra, the male sexual enhancement drug, which is exempt from sales taxes."

Sources: https://nationaldiaperbanknetwork.org/diaper-need/

https://cdn.b12.io/client_media/HJ1wIVtI/e3b4ed6c-95f9-11ea-a54f-0242ac110003-Louisiana_APS_Period_Poverty_Fact_Sheet_052020.pdf

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_2f901a7e-71e1-11e9-8bd3-af0019bbc845.html