"An urgent spotlight on a dire injustice."—Publishers Weekly
A revealing account of parenting in a country that neglects the needs of poor families—through the humble diaper.
Many of us take diapers for granted. Yet diaper insecurity is a common, often hidden consequence of poverty in the US, where nearly half of American families with young children struggle to get enough diapers.
Drawing on interviews with mothers dealing with this overlooked issue, Jennifer Randles shows how diapers have unique practical and symbolic significance for the well-being of families. Tracing the social history of diapering, Randles unravels a complex story of caregiving inequalities, the environmental impacts of child-rearing, and responsibility for meeting children’s basic needs. Yet it is also a hopeful story: the book chronicles the work of people who manage diaper banks as well as the growing diaper distribution movement.
A hard-nosed yet nuanced tale of parenting, Living Diaper to Diaper is an eye-opening examination of inequality and poverty in America.
Jennifer Randles is Professor of Sociology at California State University, Fresno, and author of Proposing Prosperity? Marriage Education Policy and Inequality in America and Essential Dads: The Inequalities and Politics of Fathering.
"Strikingly original and eminently readable, Living Diaper to Diaper beautifully considers how diapers are a prism for social inequalities shaping families’ lives in the US. By placing the challenges of obtaining diapers within political and economic contexts, and by examining community-based organizations and movements trying to address diaper gaps, Randles contributes unique understandings of poverty and reveals everything families do to care for their children in a system that simply doesn’t give them a chance."—Joya Misra, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
"There are few things more consequential and also overlooked than diapers. Increasingly expensive, necessary every day for years, and hard to ration, diapers—and the inability to access them—shape the contours of the daily lives of families of young children. In this important book, Jennifer Randles finds that diapers are a window through which we can see the complex and sometimes contradictory meanings and expectations of motherhood, cleanliness, neglect, environment, poverty, politics, and inequality. With a crisp analysis of policy and a deeply empathetic exploration of the challenges faced by families, Randles offers insight into the daily struggles and strategies necessary to care for children."—Jennifer Reich, author of Calling the Shots: Why Parents Reject Vaccines and Fixing Families: Parents, Power, and the Child Welfare System
"Jennifer Randles has been at the forefront of research that brings attention to the issue of diaper need in the United States. While diapers are a fundamental necessity for raising children in today's society, families with limited incomes can find themselves without enough. Randles details the implications of this hardship for parents and children alike while also shining light on what this tells us more broadly about the nature of parenting in poverty in the US today."—Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Professor of Public Affairs and Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison
296 pp.6 x 9Illus: 3 b/w illustrations
9780520401204$29.95|£25.00Paper
Feb 2026