Lots of Americans can’t afford diapers, but the White House has a fascinating solution.
How distributors, manufacturers, and the White House are working together for good.
There’s a big diaper problem in America that no one’s really talking about.
Image via Jet/YouTube.
Nearly 1 out of every 3 families in the United States report they often can’t afford to buy diapers when they need them, the White House states. Plus, low-income households end up spending nearly twice as much on diapers as middle-class folks because they don’t have access to bulk stores that charge less overall for diapers.
This means that every day, millions of American families come face to face with a question that no one should have to ask: "Should I buy diapers for my child or food for my family?"
This reality has led to what politicians are calling the "diaper gap" — a widening gap between folks who can afford the diapers their babies need and folks who can’t.
Unlike other essentials like food and health care, the government doesn’t offer federal assistance to low-income households for diaper purchases. Because of this, low-income families end up spending an average $936 per child per year on diapers alone, which means moms end up keeping their babies in dirty diapers longer to save money, too. Research published in Pediatrics shows doing this can lead to diaper rash, infections, and even permanent scarring.
Good news, though: Our good old government has a plan.
Image via Jet/YouTube.
This is where things get kind of unusual: Enter Jet.com.
The White House started the conversation with Jet.com, a discount wholesale website, in the most public way they could — via Twitter. It was important for the White House to come clean about this longstanding problem and to make it known publicly they needed assistance from the greater community to find a solution.
Then Jet.com proposed some solutions, but they realized they had to start with bringing in a manufacturing partner to help make more affordable diapers a sustainable reality. Enter Cuties diapers.
Cuties discovered that the key to making diapers cheaper wasn’t even about cutting corners in diaper quality, but rather creating more efficient packaging.
Image via Jet/YouTube.
So they looked into cutting down on packaging and even found ways to fit more diapers into each package. Eventually they came up with some great ideas, and Jet took it from there.
Together with the White House, Jet.com set up a system that allowed any nonprofit to apply to procure drastically discounted diapers.
Image via Jet/YouTube.
They launched the program on March 10, 2016, with the goal of spreading the initiative nationwide through the tributaries of smaller, charitable organizations.
"We’re really just trying to broaden the network of organizations who think about delivering diapers to the families they already serve," Dana Hork, director of brand experience at Jet.com, said in a documentary interview.
Here’s how much cheaper Jet was able to make their diapers (with Cuties’ help, of course):
Image via Jet/YouTube.
For an enrolled nonprofit, that price comes down again to just 13 cents per diaper. That means people will end up paying approximately one-fourth of what they used to!
This program has the potential to shrink the diaper gap to nothing, which is a big deal.
According to the National Diaper Bank Network, the program should help distribute at least 10 to 15 million diapers to families who need them this year. While this may not be a permanent solution to the problem, it’s a heck of a good start.
It’s easy to get down on the government for not doing their job (especially these days).
Image via Jet/YouTube.
But this all happened because the White House asked the community for help, which is pretty cool. When you see collaborative initiatives like this, you realize there are some wonderful things being accomplished in our government — you just have to look for them.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."