A bipartisan group of legislators joined advocates on September 9 in demanding federal action to end diaper insecurity, which currently affects almost half of U.S. families with young children, according to The NDBN Diaper Check. When families cannot afford an adequate supply of diapers, maternal and child health, access to early childhood education, and parents’ ability to attend work and school all suffer.

The Congressional briefing was hosted by the National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) and included the debut of the “Mapping Diaper Insecurity in the US” dashboard, a resource created through a partnership of the Urban Institute with NDBN. The dashboard shows that it would take an average of almost 4.8 billion diapers each year to meet the needs of families with children 3 and younger. It also reveals how many diapers individual counties would need to keep every baby who lives in households that struggle to afford diapers clean, dry, and healthy.

“The dashboard you all have created will give us a better sense of the challenges our families across the country are having. And we can better advocate … that this is not a Democrat or Republican issue, or Black or White or Brown. The issue impacts all Americans. And so we should be able to come together,” says U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ-8). “We know that anytime we give parents extra resources, they will invest it in their children.”

U.S. Rep. Brittany Petterson (D-CO-7) talked about how diaper insecurity contributes to workforce shortages, noting that 10,000 new mothers in her state would like to be employed but struggle to find and afford childcare. “We need to make sure that our kids are taken care of from day one, that our moms are able to be in the workforce, and that their kids are clean, dry, and healthy,” she says.

“These issues are personal to me,” said U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA-7), the father of a toddler with another child on the way. “Cost of living issues are the number one issue that people are facing across our country…it’s a particular challenge for young families trying to raise children.” He expressed his support for the Improving Diaper Affordability Act of 2025, which would make infant diapers a qualifying expense under Health Savings Accounts and prohibit states from subjecting diapers to sales tax, describing the legislation as “common sense.”

Chair of the Congressional Dad’s Caucus, U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34) stressed the importance of bringing issues to lawmakers, so they understand the challenges families are facing. “Diapers are one of those issues. Until you’re in it, literally in it, you don’t really know what you’re dealing with, how much they cost.” He stressed that members of Congress who “talk a big game about family values” must also “actually pass bills that value families.”

In addition to supporting the Improving Diaper Affordability Act, NDBN Director of Government Relations Lacey Gero said that members could address diaper insecurity by supporting the End Diaper Need Act, which would devote $200 million annually to diapers for families with low incomes; and supporting changes to Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to cover diapers under these existing federal programs.