Federal Appropriations Cut Children
President Scheduled to Release Budget Monday, 2-13-12
Though children comprise a quarter of our population and are some of our most vulnerable, funding for children represents a small piece of the federal government.
In Fiscal Year 2011, spending on children fell to 8.4% of total federal spending, including funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This is down from a high of 9.2% in 2010.
With the drop in ARRA funding and states across the nation fiscally strained, a second year in a row of discretionary cuts are not what children need. As child poverty rises, this final agreement moves in the wrong direction for children.
While discretionary funding is significant, more than 70% of the federal money that goes to children comes in mandatory spending. Although proposals were made to limit mandatory funding, levels will remain stable for the current fiscal year. With passage of final appropriations bills, FY 2012 will be, for the first time, the second year in a row that discretionary funding for children has been cut. In total, when adjusted for inflation, discretionary funding for our children will decline by more than 2.2%. This amounts to a loss of nearly $1.7 billion since FY 2010. At a time when almost 1 in every 4 children live in poverty, funding for our children should be on the rise.
Help Us Protect Investments in Children! Sincerely, Action for Children North Carolina |
