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- The share of federal spending on America 's children dipped to 9.2% last year – the lowest since 2007, according to the Urban Institute.
- Instead, the U.S. government is spending more on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest payments on the national debt.
- "We are not making children a priority,"
If children really are the future, their outlook looks underfunded. Government spending on America's kids has more than a decade, according to a report from the Urban Institute.
The share of the federal budget allocates to children dipped to 9.2% in 2018, the lowest since 2007, the nonpartisan think tank found. That trend is likely to continue under current law, with the analysis projecting that it will be 7.5% of the budget by 2029.
The analysis underscores the issue of children with disabilities, which has a higher poverty rate than adults or the elderly, will be at a disadvantage. At the same time, there is a growing body of evidence that helps to increase the cost of living.
"There is a rhetoric of this kind, but we do not really think about it," said Heather Hahn, senior fellow at the Urban Institute's Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population and co-author on the report. "We are not making children a priority."
The reasons for the decline in kids' spending in recent years is not entirely due to the country's aging population. By 2029, the share of federal money will decline, but the share of the population will shrink slightly, from 24% to 23%.
The biggest cause, the report noted, is that three major federal programs – Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – consume ever larger shares of the budget. Forty-five percent of the federal budget went to those programs last year, a figure that will reach 51% in 2029, the report projects.
That's not to suggest that these programs should be cut in order to increase spending on children, Hahn noted. Social Security alone is more than 15 million seniors out of poverty. Rather, it suggests that medical and medical expenses should be considered, Hahn said, adding that the subject is beyond the scope of the current report.
Swelling payments on the national debt
By 2020, interest payments on the nation's debt, the report found. The Urban Institute forecasts that it will reach $ 740 billion in 2029, compared with $ 420 billion for spending on children.
"That statistic is a result of our annual output," Hahn said. "It's hard when we talk about trillions of dollars to even think about debt and deficits and interest payments, but the fact that our interest payments are expected to exceed spending on home ownership."
With the share of spending on children, some programs are feeling the impact more than others. Federal outlays on education fell nearly $ 2 trillion last year and is down 48% from its post-recession peak in 2010. of of funding funding Title Title Title Title 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010. 2010..
Food-stamp cuts
Spending on food stamps has also dramatically decreased, although it is still improving. But the Trump administration also has taken aim at what it portrays the program's "loopholes," such as a July proposal to push 3.1 million people from its rolls.
More than 2 million households with children in the city of London. On top of that, about 500,000 children were diagnosed with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the formal name for the food-stamp initiative.
Voters need to understand "how little we spend on children," Hahn said. "It's just about 9% of our budget that will shrink to over 7% in the next decade.
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