{"id":14534,"date":"2024-12-05T16:58:04","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T16:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=14534"},"modified":"2024-12-05T16:58:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T16:58:15","slug":"government-spending-on-babies-is-falling-short-say-advocates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/05\/government-spending-on-babies-is-falling-short-say-advocates\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Spending on Babies is Falling Short, Say Advocates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Special to The Truth<\/em><\/p>\n

Ten percent of all U.S. children did not have enough food to keep them healthy in 2022. In the same year, the infant mortality rate increased for the first time in two decades and the rate of child poverty more than doubled. At a time when children need increased support to prosper, a new analysis of government spending in 2024 indicates that funding for programs benefitting the youngest Americans \u2013 those below the age of 3 \u2013 is falling short.<\/p>\n

\u201cBabies in the Budget 2024\u201d provides a comprehensive analysis of the share of spending allocated to children ages 0\u20133 across more than 150 government programs in the federal budget. Published by the bipartisan advocacy organization First Focus on Children, the analysis finds that for the third straight year, the share of federal spending on children ages 0-3 declined, from just 1.98% in fiscal year 2021 to 1.52 percent in 2024. On top of that, the small increase in dollars these programs received failed to keep up with inflation, ensuring that support for the nation\u2019s youngest children lags behind the estimated average rise in the cost of living for families.<\/p>\n

According to advocates with First Focus on Children and the National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers (NCIT), President Biden\u2019s fiscal year 2025 budget presents an opportunity to turn the tide. The president recommends increasing total spending on babies by $36.8 billion and significantly expanding the Child Tax Credit to reach low-income children currently left behind because their parents earn too little. These changes would increase the money available for babies by almost $28 billion in fiscal year 2025 \u2014 an inflation-adjusted increase of 630%. The budget proposal would also make vital investments in child care, housing, paid family and medical leave, mental health, nutrition and other areas that impact babies, toddlers and their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding a healthy, prosperous, and equitable upbringing for our babies translates directly to a healthy, prosperous, and equitable future for our country. Funding choices are just that \u2013 choices. And Congress and the Administration have the power to choose to support the well-being of children,\u201d says Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus on Children.<\/p>\n

To view the full report and to learn more, visit firstfocus.org.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur country can and must do more to make life better for babies, toddlers and families,\u201d said Jennifer Harris, senior health policy advocate for Alabama Arise, a member of the NCIT. \u201cWe should strengthen the Child Tax Credit and expand paid leave to help parents make ends meet. We should invest more in affordable housing and child care to ensure security and stability for our children. And we must close the Medicaid coverage gap in every state so families can afford the health care they need to thrive. Strengthening these family supports is the cornerstone to ensuring a brighter future for our children and our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtesy StatePoint<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Special to The Truth Ten percent of all U.S. children did not have enough food to keep them healthy in 2022. In the same year, the infant mortality rate increased for the first time in two decades and the rate of child poverty more than doubled. At a time when children need increased support to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[267],"class_list":["post-14534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14535,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14534\/revisions\/14535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14534"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=14534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}