The share of the General Fund dedicated to Connecticut’s children shrank from 32.4 percent to 30.6 percent - Jonathan Kantrowitz

The share of the General Fund dedicated to Connecticut’s children shrank from 32.4 percent to 30.6 percent - Jonathan Kantrowitz:

The share of the General Fund dedicated to Connecticut’s children shrank from 32.4 percent to 30.6 percent

 Despite an economic recovery: child poverty is at an all-time high, statewide wage and poverty gaps by race are wider than they were pre-recession and economic segregation has left many cities grappling with high poverty, high unemployment and incomes that do not support a family’s most basic needs. Connecticut Voices for Children hosted its 15th Annual Budget Forum to call for strategic investments in the health and education of children that are essential to the state’s long-term economic well-being.

New analysis by Connecticut Voices for Children presented at the Budget Forum finds that, despite increased investment during the recovery, the share of the General Fund dedicated to Connecticut’s children shrank from 32.4 percent to 30.6 percent. The declining share is largely a result of the increased share of the budget dedicated to debt service and employee benefits. Even though there was an increase in funding in education and health care since 2010, these investments were insufficient to keep pace with the needs of children and families[1]

As a way to address enormous disparities, new interactive ‘Mapping Disparities by Race and Place’ maps were revealed, finding that, in Hartford, for example, nearly 1/2 of the city’s children live in poverty. That is three times the state child poverty rate of 14.8 percent and 25 times more than some of the state’s wealthiest towns.[2] As a way to address these disparities, Voices also calls on policymakers to support property tax reforms, such as a statewide property tax and low-The share of the General Fund dedicated to Connecticut’s children shrank from 32.4 percent to 30.6 percent - Jonathan Kantrowitz: