"Children's Budget 2009"
The federal government funds over 180 different children’s programs, from child health and education to child welfare and juvenile justice. In Children’s Budget 2009, a comprehensive guide to all federal spending on children, First Focus finds that only one nickel of every new, real non-defense dollar spent by the federal government in the past five years has gone to these programs. What is more, the overall share of federal, non-defense spending going to children’s programs has dropped by 12 percent over the past five years, and real discretionary spending on children has declined whereas other non-defense discretionary spending has increased.
The report includes an analysis of investments in children provided through the economic recovery package, known as the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). Within the $787 billion ARRA package, almost $144 billion went to children’s programs. This investment accounted for 18 percent of ARRA spending, a significant increase for America’s children. In fact, Children’s Budget 2009 reveals that all other federal spending on children accounts for less than ten percent of the entire non-defense budget.
Free copies of the book can be reseserved, and First Focus has made the full version available to download as a pdf.
