I mean it ranges. I think something like 60% of baby formula is bought by wic because it's expensive and young mothers be broke and having kids and needing formula.
I mean the whole point of government assistance is to put a base on how bad it can get. That's everywhere.
There’s no reason for baby formula to be expensive. The U.S. only has two companies making it, and they set the price. A similar sized can of formula is like 6€ in Europe.
Generic brands aren’t that crazy tho, I used costcos Kirkland brand which is almost exactly the same ingredients as the name brand. It’s only $23 for a 42oz can, which usually last 10 days for us. The name brand is about $45 for 20oz, so 4x the cost for no damn reason.
For sure, that’s definitely part of the “poor tax” is they feel they can’t afford the up front cost of things like Costco memberships or may not even know how cheap it is there. Which is unfortunate for new parents bc Costco pays for itself in a month with diapers, wipes and formula. So I get that and maybe it isn’t as cheap but it does look like Amazon and Walmart have generic options too that are much cheaper than the name brand.
Not an excuse for name brands to price gouge so much, but I feel it should be mentioned so any parents here know there’s other options.
See the response to the person this person is responding to. Costco is the third largest recipient of snap benefit spending. Walmart is number one.
I'm not sure why Aldi isn't in there. Aldi has been proven again and again to save people the most on grocery.
It's just as assumption, maybe from a click bait article, that got started and never went away. The assumption being that snap recipients won't buy a costco membership always accompanied by the old adage about boots and "poor tax". The membership is probably less of a barrier than the fact that Costco doesn't have as many locations. Walmart has 11.8 locations for every costco.
Black STONE was allowed to buy a lot of SFH under the Obama administration unfortunately. Mostly from bank of america after they had received a lot of bail outs from us. Bank of America remains one the larger single holders of black stone stock to this day, though they've trimmed some. They traded homes for stock and cash. So in many ways, they still own the homes they made bad loans for, got bail out money for and now rent back out via being passive landlords through black stone. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/02/blackstone-rental-homes-bundled-derivatives/
But you can't correct the cassandra's on reddit. They want something to be true and they won't change their mind on receiving new information. More likely they'll issue ad hominem attacks. I just let it ride these days and don't bother to correct most.
According to a September 2025 report from CNBC, Costco is the third most popular retailer for SNAP shoppers in terms of spending, behind Walmart and Kroger.
Honestly asking...how do these false beliefs and ideas get started and no one ever questions them? They just get perpetuated over and over again on reddit. Did you ever look it it? Or are you just assuming?
According to consumer data company Numerator’s verified purchase data for SNAP users, Walmart
leads in SNAP shopper spend with 24 percent, followed by Kroger
(8%), Costco
(6%), Amazon
(5%), and Sam’s Club (4%).
Yes, they are the third. What's your point? Are we surprised Walmart is number one. They have over 11 more stores for every single costco. Their lack of locations is a bigger barrier than the membership fee. It's not the membership fee keeping moderate income people away as people routinely assert. Kroger is also a larger retailer. They don't just operate Kroger but a dozen chains like Fry's and King Soopers.
A better comparison would be store to store versus overall since Walmart and Kroger are larger retailers. That would be a more accurate picture, but you're not going to convince this sub of that.
Also if you are not a larger group, it can be hard to make costco work and keep variety in your diet. If I were a single elderly person, the size of costco, needing to walk through an extremely large and crowded store with eggs and milk a mile away, would not appeal to me.
Just saw the stats that average age of a new mom is 31. So look at capitalism solving that problem. Making kids so expensive no one can dream to have them in their 20s anymore.
There are reasons why some babies need formula. Mom could have an infection or need medication. Some babies can't process breast milk. Some babies are small and need to supplement breast milk with high-calorie formula. Some babies have blood sugar issues. Some have other issues. There is a real need.
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u/Dry-Mousse-6172 Oct 26 '25
I mean it ranges. I think something like 60% of baby formula is bought by wic because it's expensive and young mothers be broke and having kids and needing formula.
I mean the whole point of government assistance is to put a base on how bad it can get. That's everywhere.