With rampant unemployment, foreclosures, homelessness, hunger and massive federal and state budget cuts looming, children’s well-being is in great jeopardy. The gap between rich and poor families continued to grow and millions more children fell into poverty. One in five children is poor and children are our nation’s poorest age group. Every 32 seconds another child is born into poverty.
American education, once the envy of the world, is in dire straits with more than 60 percent of fourth, eighth and 12th grade public school students reading or doing math below grade level. For Black and Hispanic children, it is nearly 80 percent or more.
Children of color, now 44 percent of America’s children, are at increased risk of being uninsured and in poor health and being killed by guns. A Cradle to Prison Pipeline haunts them from birth to adulthood.
This downward spiral for America’s children continues through all indicators, as the recession and slow recovery have taken the harshest toll on the most vulnerable.
Using the latest data available, this comprehensive report includes a foreword by Marian Wright Edelman, “Moments in America”—a snapshot of children each day in America, and 11 chapters on the well-being of children across the. More here.
