The Formula Crisis Takes an Economic Toll on Families in Gas Money and Wasted Hours

The shortage comes as inflation is squeezing household budgets, and hits low-wage workers especially hard.

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Reade Pickert

June 8, 2022, 9:30 AM EDTListen to this article5:32Share this articleFollow the authors@readep+ Get alerts forReade Pickert

Source: Datasembly

Families are spending hundreds of dollars filling their tanks with expensive gasoline to drive across cities and counties in search of any supply they can get their hands on. Some are paying big premiums to online sellers, shouldering the burden of shipping costs for something they used to pick up just down the street. Parents are devoting dozens of hours to the search, and in some cases, mothers are starting to think about having to choose between working and chasing formula.

For Maria Vidart-Delgado, who lives with her husband and two kids in Waltham, Mass., the pursuit ate up around two hours daily for three straight weeksshe was calling stores, driving to track down supplies, and checking online. Vidart-Delgado, who works from home, has tried to keep it outside of work hours, but the crisis is an ever-present distraction. Her boss has been "incredibly understanding," she says, even offering her time away from the job so she can focus on her family. "I have to workI need to work, but just thinking, having that in the back of my mind," Vidart-Delgado says. She wonders how she can focus "when I don't know what I'm going to feed my baby, you know?"

The formula crisis is just the latest burden thrust on parents, especially mothers, in the Covid-19 era. Women were pushed out of the workforce in droves at the start of the pandemic, and while many have returned, thelack of affordable child careremains a challenge. Meanwhile,burnoutis widespread.

The economic pressure from the formula shortage comes at a time when family budgets are already buckling under the weight of inflation, with higher costs for a range of necessities such asgasoline,groceries, andrent. Gas prices in the US are at record highs, up about 50% from the end of 2021, making driving long miles from store to store even more expensive.

Soaring prices at the pump mean that Villegas, the mother from Texas, has to make some tough choices. She might drain about a quarter-tank driving to several stores searching for formula. That's a strain for her one-income family. Child care is so expensive she can't work. Now she also has to pay shipping costs when she buys formula online. "Sometimes we are short on money," Villegas says. Her family often has to choose between putting gas in the car or bringing groceries home.

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The formula shortage began with supply chain turmoil caused by the pandemic, but it was exacerbated afterAbbott Laboratoriesrecalled formula and shut down a Michigan factory in February over contamination concerns. On June 4, Abbott said it wasrestartingproduction at its Michigan facility, but the initial output, focused on specialty and metabolic formulas, isn't expected to reach consumers until around June 20.

President Biden listens during a virtual meeting with baby formula manufacturers on June 1.Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

President Joe Biden has invokedemergency powersto speed production and created a program calledOperation Fly Formulato import supplies from other countries. Even so, his administration has drawn criticism from lawmakers in both parties over the government's slow response to the crisis.United Airlines Holdings Inc.has agreed to transportKendamilformula free of charge from Heathrow Airport in London to multiple airports across the US over a three-week period, the first flights to be donated by an airline carrier. That formula will be available atTargetstores across the country in the "coming weeks," the White House said on June 1.

The problems are especially acute for low-wage workers, who often lack time off and may be juggling long hours and multiple jobs, says Stefania Albanesi, a professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh. It can also be harder for low-income mothers to breastfeed, since their jobs often don't offer paid maternal leave or have the facilities needed for pumping breast milk during the workday.

The development of infant formula was a key factor that enabled more women to enter the workforce, says Albanesi, who researched the impact of the product along with advancements for maternal health. The availability of formula helped explain about 20% of the rise in participation of married women in the labor force from the early 1930s to the early 1970s, she says.

"It's a privilege to be able to breastfeed in the United States, because of this dichotomy that most parental leave benefits are provided by firms, but firms only provide these benefits to their higher-wage, typically college-educated workers," she says. Lower-wage parents already using formula "might be stuck in a bind," she says, adding "they don't have the time to procure the formula, but at the same time they cannot quit their job or go back to breastfeeding." With Ella Ceron and Martine Paris

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-08/baby-formula-shortage-exacerbates-gas-price-pain-for-parents?srnd=economics-vp

Please summarize for my notes on inflation.