Public discourse in this election year has largely ignored the plight of our nation’s children. Debates and position platforms have glossed over what the COVID-19 pandemic has meant for their stability and well-being. And despite a new study released last week finding that poverty has grown by six million people in the past three months, with circumstances worsening most for Black people and children, candidates and elected officials have remained largely silent.
Even as the virus has devastated the health and economic well-being of many of our communities, we’ve acted like children are immune — not just to the virus itself, but to the emotional trauma and economic pressures that they and their families are facing. In fact, every aspect of the lives of children are being impacted. There should be no disagreement about prioritizing the health, safety, and well-being of every child. But long before this crisis, few of our nation’s leaders have chosen to put the needs and interests of children front and center. This is despite the fact that the United States has for a very long time been woefully behind other nations when it comes to child welfare.
The U.S. has one of the highest rates of child poverty among developed countries, and child poverty is 50 percent higher than adult poverty. Infant mortality is more common in the United States than in many other economically advanced nations. The United States spends a smaller share of its GDP on benefits for children than other wealthy nations do. The federal share of spending on children has dropped from 8.19% to just 7.48% (equivalent to a 9% drop since 2016), and a recent study projects that spending on programs and benefits for children will decline by more than 25 percent over the next decade.
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