Cuts to food assistance drive decline
U.S. investment in the nation’s children fell for the third year in a row, according to a new report released today on Capitol Hill, driven largely by cuts to food assistance and other life-sustaining programs.
Topline findings from Children’s Budget 2024, released today by First Focus on Children, show that the U.S. allocates less than 9% of the federal budget to children, who account for roughly one-quarter of the population. This continued, systematic disinvestment in the nation’s children has produced deep gashes in the social safety net that keeps children fed, housed and healthy.
“In this country, the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world, we shouldn’t have one child going to bed hungry, we shouldn’t have one child living below the poverty line,” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) told attendees in opening remarks. “Poverty doesn’t just happen,” she continued, “it’s a policy choice.” Lee also received a Champions for Children award from First Focus Campaign for Children today. Just 40 members of the House of Representatives receive this annual award.
Overall, U.S. investment in children declined nearly 6% from Fiscal Year 2023, according to the report, with the bulk of cuts made in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Roughly 14 million children rely on SNAP for nutritional health and more than one-third of all SNAP recipients are children.
“This is the last domino to fall of all these great things we did during the pandemic,” said First Focus on Children Vice President of Budget Policy and Data Analytics Chris Becker, noting that the share of investment in children is down roughly 25% from its high point of 12% in FY 2021. “We are prioritizing children less and less,” he added.
More than half of all voters think we are investing too little in children, according to a national poll conducted by Lake Research Partners in May 2022. “Voters are already there,” LRP Vice President Cate Gormley told attendees. The survey also found that 7-in-10 voters favor an improved Child Tax Credit, with nearly 60% strongly in favor.
International spending on children makes up a dramatically smaller share of the federal budget, Children’s Budget 2024 finds, with total spending equaling approximately 1/100th of domestic spending on kids. Spending on international children’s programs accounts for a mere 0.09% of the total federal budget and only 10.16% of spending internationally in FY 2024.
“Every single indicator we look at is improved when there are investments in children,” said Danilea Ligiero, Chief Executive Officer of Together for Girls. “And our foreign assistance to the poorest countries around the world allows them to make those investments. And as a result, we are safer. And we are able to show the world what matters.”
For more analysis of U.S. investment in children, including charts and graphs, visit Children’s Budget 2024.