The Children of the Great Recession

Is The Great Recession over? Is it entering a double dip? Will the economy ever fully recover?

Almost every day several economists can be heard on the business cable channels discussing these questions. Agreement is scarce. Conclusions more so. And when the TV programs end, aside from being reminded of George Bernard Shaw's wisdom ("If all economists were laid end to end, they still would not reach a conclusion"), I think about one fact that we do know with certainty: Not since the Great Depression has the economic plight of the nation endangered children more.

How bad is it? A recent report, published by The Foundation for Child Development (FCD), provides the chilling details. This year, the number of children living in poverty will climb to 15.6 million, an increase of more than 20 percent in just four years. Moreover, the number of homeless children will spike more than 50 percent above 2007 totals, to nearly half a million.

This recession will erase more than three decades of progress in the key indicators of family well-being - poverty, parental employment, family income and children's health insurance. Perhaps even worse, the FCD study concludes that this economic shipwreck will reverse years of improvement in fighting child crime, drinking and drug use.

Most dramatically, these declines will be felt in America's classrooms. A declining U.S. economy leads directly to poorer school performance and lower school readiness. The FCD report points to recent history as a guide, pinpointing the two recessions of 1981-82 and 1990-91 as the key culprits for drops in reading and math scores during subsequent time periods, the mid-1980's and mid-1990's.

Today's young students who fall into poverty will face a similar fate. And there are many more affected at-risk students today than in those previous recessions. With their families unable to afford early education programs, they'll enter kindergarten behind their peers. Thinking that we can catch them up later is an illusion: students in poverty entering kindergarten are much more likely to register lower math and reading scores by the fourth grade and drop out of high school within a decade after that.

The results of inaction are clear: The Great Recession is pushing children into near-vertical decline and with them their future high school graduation rates and their job prospects.

It's up to all of us to prevent this debacle. And we can do it more inexpensively and more efficiently than any stimulus program. A recent Urban Institute report notes once again what so many other studies have shown: that low-income children who attend high-quality preschool programs are 40 percent less likely to be held back a grade, 30 percent more likely to graduate from high school and 100 percent more likely to graduate college. Waiting for the next spurt of economic growth is not an option. Instead, now is the time to tell our federal and state lawmakers to reaffirm our commitment to America's true insurer of economic growth and equal opportunity: early childhood education. With federal and state budgets strapped - and federal stimulus funds near an end - government spending priorities become all the more important. Given what's at stake, early childhood education must be their number one concern.

The Great Recession may be over. The Great Recession may still be going. The Great Recession may not soon end. But its damage is here today creating consequences for children that will reverberate throughout the 21st Century. The future economic success and survival of these children - and the nation - rests on how we respond to this challenge.

 

Comments

[melodyhritt]

10:29 AM on 08/23/2010

High quality preschool is onlythe first step in ensuring success in education and life. The nonprofit organizati­on, School on Wheels of Massachuse­tts (SOWMA), helps children impacted by homelessne­ss achieve their full potential by providing one-on-one mentoring, educationa­l services and support, and new backpacks and school supplies to youngsters in pre-K through college.

Since its 2004 founding, the privately funded organizati­on has provided much-neede­d educationa­l support to 900 children living in transition­al shelters and apartments­, hotels and motels at 10 locations in Eastern Massachuse­tts. This year, SOWMA is expanding once again by providing academic and financial support to abandoned, runaway and homeless youth ages 16-22 with its new High School Plus program. High School Plus has already helped ten students complete high school and enroll in college. More will join them soon.

Increasing government spending on early childhood education offers one important way to create a better future for America and her children. Supporting SOWMA's efforts to serve children impacted by homelessne­ss with much needed academic services and support is another.

[Diane Nilan]

08:13 AM on 08/07/2010

Mr. Pritzker makes critical points underscori­ng the devastatio­n facing children. I'd like to clear up one ongoing confusion-­-"The number of homeless children..­. nearly half a million."

In fact, schools, required to identify and document the number of homeless students, indicate in 2008-09, the number reached almost 1 million.

Add younger (at least 40% of the overall HC population­) and older siblings (up to 3 million hard-to-co­unt youth) not included in HUD's count, and million easily shoots up by millions. Many schools fail to identify students experienci­ng homelessne­ss, and the number climbs to an even more frightenin­g level.

Two issues jump out:
1) Congress has been bamboozled by HUD's homeless census. HUD ignores the families doubled up or living in motels, or not staying in HUD-funded shelters. That's a significan­t number--mi­llions perhaps.

2) HUD reports to Congress that 500-600,00­0 people are homeless, painting the picture of the grizzled guys on the streets that few really care about. A recent Government Accounting Office report criticizes HUD's stubborn position on the homeless definition­.

We fight to increase funding to assist homeless students. My Change.org Poverty in America post this week offers a broader perspectiv­e and possible responses. http://usp­overty.cha­nge.org/bl­og/view/ba­ck-to-scho­ol_blues

And as we fiddle, Rome burns. We lose the potential of millions of kids who face daily challenges that would daunt most of us capable adults. And we wonder why our nation continues to deteriorat­e?

[tompoe]

12:53 PM on 08/08/2010

Good points. The tragedy as I see it, is the distressin­g knowledge, that if we put a face on these statistics­, we risk being slashed to pieces by those who would charge, exploitati­on! I suspect the situation would change dramatical­ly, were we able to use a similar campaign to missing children. After all, are they not missing when they are homeless?

[Diane Nilan]

09:16 AM on 08/12/2010

Thanks, tompoe. For the past 5 years I've tried to put a face on the invisible issue of homeless families. It's a daunting task, but even more daunting is trying to survive as a family or youth on your own in a nation that gives more protection to Canadian geese than to humans without homes.

I created a simple petition to urge Congress to increase resources for schools helping homeless kids. This is a very effective program that is minimally funded. Looking for people to sign and share this petition. http://www­.change.or­g/hearus