Report: Congress spends less and less on children
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
Samuel Rivera, left, and Daniel Sanchez finish their lunch with orange slices. If parents can't bring their child in the mornings, they will have to find another childcare for their kids.
From education funding to programs that support children who are victims of abuse or neglect, to affordable housing subsidies, children are currently the direct and indirect beneficiaries of less than eight percent of the federal budget and that figure has been shrinking for years, according to an annual report released this summer, the Children’s Budget 2013.
Compiled by a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization, First Focus, the report said spending on kids is down for the third year in a row. For 2013, the federal government spent $280 billion, nearly $30 billion less than it's peak on child spending in 2010. When adjusted for inflation, that would add up to $55 million in budget reductions in today's dollars.
“Three consecutive years of cuts to investments in children sends a clear message that Congress is not prioritizing our kids and their families,” said First Focus President Bruce Lesley.
First Focus said children have received a disproportionate level of the budget cuts in another way: discretionary spending. Those budget decisions made by Congress in