Updated: November 7, 2011
An annual national survey on child well-being found that 14.7 million American children – about 20 percent – were living in poverty in 2009, an increase of 2.5 million children since 2000. Child poverty increased in 38 states from 2000 to 2009. The Kids Count survey by the Annie E. Casey Foundation also concluded that low-income children will likely suffer academically, socially, and economically long after their parents have recovered from the economic recession. More than 20 states have also seen double-digit percent growth in the number of people seeking food assistance benefits from May 2010 to May 2011.
AAUW believes it is imperative that our national economic recovery plan reflect the realities of our nation and equally assist women as well as men to rebound from the recession. AAUW has worked to prevent cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which has been crucial in meeting a vastly increased need among people who lost jobs or income during the recession.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for August 19, 2011.
Once again, that's the question asked by the Children's Defense Fund Action Council® 2009 Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard. The CDF Action Council, CDF's sister organization, tracked votes that Senators and Representatives cast on important concerns affecting children and families in 2009. Their Scorecard gives each Member of Congress a score based on how often his or her votes helped protect children. Check the CDF Action Council® 2009 Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard to find out how your state's Congressional delegation scored for children in 2009. The 2010 Congressional Scorecard will be available once the second session of the 111th Congress adjourns. This annual Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard is part of the CDF Action Council's public education, ongoing policy analysis and advocacy for children. It should not be taken as an endorsement of any candidate for public office.
Just weeks after authorizing cuts to food stamp programs to finance an education jobs bill, the House may soon be forced to once again consider slicing funding from the social program to support a childhood nutrition bill integral to First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative. Though Democratic leaders vowed to replace the funding before it negatively impacts citizens in March 2014, many House liberals have voiced strong opposition to the measure, urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to consider alternative legislation that would spare food stamp programs. The legislation was passed by the Senate before they departed for their August recess period.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for August 20, 2010.
A study released Wednesday by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies indicates that the annual costs of child care in 40 states now surpass the cost of a year’s tuition and fees at a four-year public college. According to federal guidelines, families should spend no more than 10 percent of their income on child care; in most states the real costs are two or three times this recommendation. Parents, especially those with young children, are facing greater financial strains on their families, often forcing them to choose informal care options.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for August 6, 2010.
Over the next four weeks, the Children's Defense Fund will be releasing a compilation of the most recent and reliable national and state-by-state data on children through The State of America's Children® 2010. In short, the state of America's children is alarming as the report outlines the jarring reality that our nation-first in number of billionaires yet last in relative child poverty among industrialized nations-has failed to live up to its promise of equality and opportunity for its most vulnerable. CDF's The State of America's Children 2010 is a compilation of the most recent and reliable national and state-by-state data on poverty, health, child welfare, youth at risk, early childhood development, education, family income and gun violence.
The report provides a statistical compendium of key child data showing alarming numbers of children at risk: the number of poor children has increased by 2.5 million since 2000 to 14.1 million, with almost half of them living in extreme poverty, and 8.1 million children lack health coverage?with both numbers likely to increase during the recession. According to the CDF report, children in America lag behind almost all industrialized nations on key child indicators. The United States has the unwanted distinction of being the worst among industrialized nations in relative child poverty, in the gap between rich and poor, in teen birth rates, and in child gun violence.
Download the Report by Section:
*Throughout the month of June, CDF will release additional sections of The State of the America's Children 2010, along with related action alerts. Bookmark this webpage and check back for new data and to find out how you can take action to improve the lives of children.
- From a Children's Defense Fund e-Alert on May 29, 2010.
As parents across the country struggle to meet the demands of employment and parenting, some have been forced to quit their jobs due to the loss of state-subsidized childcare. Budget cuts in at least 12 states have drastically decreased availability, creating seemingly endless waitlists for diminished, state-subsidized children's programs. For many states, the cost of the cuts has outweighed their expense as more families are applying for cash assistance programs to account for lost income.
AAUW supports greater availability of and access to benefits and policies that promote work-life balance, which are critical for women for equitable access and advancement in employment.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for May 28, 2010.
The Children's Defense Fund recently released a new report in conjunction with the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that 3,184 children and teens died from gunfire in the United States in 2006-a 6 percent increase from 2005. This means one young life lost every two hours and 45 minutes, almost nine every day, 61 every week. Of these deaths, 2,225 were homicides, 763 were suicides and 196 were due to an accident or undetermined circumstances.
Read the report, Protect Children Not Guns 2009, to learn more about gun deaths in your state and how to protect children from gun violence.
- From a Children's Defense Fund e-Alert on Sept. 30, 2009
As the nation's largest single employer with over 2.7 million employees nationwide, the U.S. government should be leading the way in family friendly workplace policies. Instead, it lags far behind. Urge your senators to take an important step toward changing this by supporting the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (S. 354). This important legislation will provide federal workers up to four weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, and will be a significant step towards paid parental leave for all Americans. While the House passed this measure in the last Congress, the bill never got a vote in the Senate. With your senators' support, that could change this time around.
A report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research found the U.S. to have the least generous parental leave policies of the 21 high-income countries surveyed. A February 2007 study by Harvard and McGill University researchers found that the U.S. is one of only five countries out of 173 in their survey - along with Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea - that does not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave.
While federal workers are eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act, many cannot afford to take the time off while not receiving a paycheck, especially these days. The Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act will allow federal workers the ability to take care of and bond with their newborns and newly-adopted children, which is critical to the health and well-being of the child and the parent, without the increased burden of the loss of wages.
In these tough economic times, going without a paycheck could mean financial disaster for many families. The U.S. government should ensure that its employees can afford to take the leave they need to care for themselves and their families by making this leave paid. Such protections and improvements are critical to women's equal opportunity and economic security.
Urge your senators to support the Family Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (S. 354) so that America's federal workers don't have to choose between keeping a job and caring for a new child.
- from AAUW's Action Network for February 11, 2009.
On Wednesday, President Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2) into law, allowing seven million children to continue to receive government health insurance coverage and extending coverage to an additional four million children. The Washington Post reported that President Obama sees SCHIP as a down payment on his commitment to provide health coverage for all Americans. During the Bush Administration, former President George W. Bush vetoed two similar SCHIP bills.
- from AAUW's Washington Update for February 6, 2009.
Federal regulations that took effect in 2006 require that individuals provide proof of citizenship when applying for or renewing Medicaid or other public health insurance coverage. In the new Commonwealth Fund report, Getting and Keeping Coverage: States' Experience with Citizenship Documentation Rules, Laura Summer examines the impact the documentation rules have had on the stability of public coverage for low-income families in seven states: Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington.
According to Summer, a senior research scholar at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, the new requirements have increased the complexity, administrative burden, and costs of enrollment and renewal in each state, making more it difficult for children and their families to get and keep health coverage. In some cases, states' ongoing efforts to simplify enrollment processes have been curtailed, as resources were diverted for citizenship documentation purposes.
The report also found that a state's approach to implementing the rules, as well as its organizational and technological capacity, can mitigate the impact. For example, Washington State established a "Citizenship Central Unit" to help current and potential program participants document their citizenship, and state officials conduct database searches to find birth certificates for applicants and enrollees. These actions not only promoted coverage stability but also saved time for workers in the field.
- From a Commonwealth Fund e-Alert on January 13, 2009.
CDF recently released its State of America's Children 2008 report, a compilation of the most recent and reliable national and state-by-state data on poverty, health, child welfare, youth at risk, early childhood development, education, nutrition and housing.
The report provides a statistical compendium of key child data showing epidemic numbers of children at risk:
from the Children’s Defense Fund