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Why are diapers so expensive?
11–20 of 563 posts
Re: Why are diapers so expensive?
#12Even 50 cent diapers are less expensive than the time it costs you to change them. So I don't think they qualify as "so expensive".
Re: Why are diapers so expensive?
#13My wife and I cloth diapered both of our children. In addition to being radically cheaper it also resolved rashes/eczema in both kids as well as accelerated potty training. There is an 'ick' factor but liners and a toilet sprayer take care of 99% of that.
A lot of people don't live in places with an in-home washer/dryer. They have to go elsewhere in the building for pay laundry or to the laundromat. This makes it logistically and financially nearly impossible to use cloth diapers. Not to mention the substantial up front cost for cloth diapers, which makes them inaccessible for people living paycheck to paycheck. This is an example of how having money allows you to sav…
When I think about UBI I worry about responsible spending and wonder if just subsidizing common items food, clothing (diapers) and household goods wouldn't be a smarter solution overall.
In relation to the case in the article, I wonder if we couldn't subsidize certain items and allow parents to receive a one month supply at low to no cost? Why should we give disadvantaged people $180 a month just to let several middlemen take a cut via the corner drugstore?
Re: Why are diapers so expensive?
#14Even 50 cent diapers are less expensive than the time it costs you to change them. So I don't think they qualify as "so expensive".
Maybe you should have read the article. Maybe not expensive for a software developer making 6 figures a year, but that's not most people. For people living near poverty levels $1k a year is a lot of money.
Re: Why are diapers so expensive?
#15Whenever something like this comes up, my first question is always: "OK, how did we do this before diapers were invented, and what happened to that?"
Cloth diapers are still around, and better and easier than they were then.
Re: Why are diapers so expensive?
#16> Diapering a child now takes about $1,000 a year for an average product.
That doesn't seem right. Are these people buying the smallest quantities possible? You can buy ~300 diapers for $30 on amazon. That's only $360 /year.
Re: Why are diapers so expensive?
#17My wife and I cloth diapered both of our children. In addition to being radically cheaper it also resolved rashes/eczema in both kids as well as accelerated potty training. There is an 'ick' factor but liners and a toilet sprayer take care of 99% of that.
A lot of people don't live in places with an in-home washer/dryer. They have to go elsewhere in the building for pay laundry or to the laundromat. This makes it logistically and financially nearly impossible to use cloth diapers. Not to mention the substantial up front cost for cloth diapers, which makes them inaccessible for people living paycheck to paycheck. This is an example of how having money allows you to sav…
You can hand wash them in a bucket with washboard (though we didn't) and line dry them. We actually line dried ours about once a month to air them out and sun-bleach the cloth. About 30 $5-15 cloth diapers lasts you 3-4 days between washes.
Re: Why are diapers so expensive?
#18> Cloth diapers aren’t always an option.
And here lies the total and utter bullshit. They ARE an option.
At an alleged $1000 a year, a payback scheme on a cheap washing machine would allow cloth and ease the work load on the mother.
The total and utter arrogance people have with disposable diapers blows me away.
There are cases you can make up in your head of a single mother working two jobs and still not being able to get a loan for a cheap washing machine / not allowed in the apartment, but this is NOT what this article is talking.
If you want more time watching GoT feel free to use disposable diapers, but don't bullshit there are no other cheaper options.
In other funny stuff there is quite a market for upscale reusable diapers embroidered etc that cost $100's each.
Re: Why are diapers so expensive?
#19> Diapering a child now takes about $1,000 a year for an average product. That doesn't seem right. Are these people buying the smallest quantities possible? You can buy ~300 diapers for $30 on amazon. That's only $360 /year.
No source but I believe that's a big issue. If you don't have money, you can't buy at scale (or store/transport it). Though here it isn't that much (relatively) like say buying bulk beef vs store bought.
Re: Why are diapers so expensive?
#20Whenever something like this comes up, my first question is always: "OK, how did we do this before diapers were invented, and what happened to that?"
It's a good question, but often the answer is "we had a stay at home mum that had time for all this stuff", which I think could be the answer here (I don't know if cloth diapers are time consuming or not). Older solutions might be perfectly viable but no longer practical because of cultural changes.