The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Children

Virtually all the progress made in children's well-being since 1975 - particularly the improvements of the 1990s -- will be wiped out by the current recession, according to a report released on Wed., June 3, 2009 at the New America Foundation.

"We will lose ground that had been gained over the past three decades," said Kenneth C. Land, project coordinator for the Child and Youth Well-Being Index, which uses federal statistics to track how American children are faring in domains such as health, safety and education. The 2009 edition was released today and included a special focus report on anticipating the impacts of the 2008-2010 recession.

The report shows that children's well-being started to decline last year and is expected to dip to its lowest point in 2010, when many economists believe the full impact of the recession will be felt.

It projects that next year 21 percent of children will be in poverty and 28 percent will not have at least one full-time working parent. The median income for all families will drop to $55,700. Single-parent households led by fathers will be hardest hit.

The economic downturn will ripple across other domains as well, according to the report, causing breakdowns in community ties (driven by unemployment or housing crises) and family structure (due to an expected uptick in divorce rates). Fewer children at 3 and 4 will be enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs, and violent crime will likely increase. The number of children reporting good health is expected to dip (with obesity rates increasing due in part to a reliance on less healthy foods), but government health insurance policies should lessen the economy's ill effects. 

Panelists at today's event, who remarked on the report's conclusions and the economy's impact on children, included Ruby Takanishi, president of the Foundation for Child Development; Greg Acs, senior fellow at the Urban Institute; Barbara Bowman, adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on early education; and Reihan Salam, fellow at the New America Foundation.  The event was moderated by David Gray, director of the Workforce and Family Program at the New America Foundation.

The Child Well-Being Index is funded by the Foundation for Child Development and coordinated by the Child Well-Being Index Project at Duke University.

 

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Participants

Kenneth Land
John Franklin Crowell Professor of Sociology, Duke University

Ruby Takanishi
President, Foundation for Child Development 

Reihan Salam
Fellow, New America Foundation

Barbara Bowman
Chief Officer for Early Education at the Chicago Public Schools
Consultant to the Secretary of Education

Greg Acs
Senior Fellow, Urban Institute 

Moderator
David Gray
Director, Workforce and Family Program, New America Foundation