November 12, 2009

Kid's Share: An Analysis of Federal Expenditures on Children Through 2008

Julia B. isaacs, The Brookings Institution, Tracy Vericker, The Urban Institution, Jennifer Macomber, The Urban Institution, and Adam Kent, The Urban Institute write in this report that less than one-tenth of the federal budget was spent on children in 2008. Well over a third of the federal budget was allocated to the elderly and disabled for the non-child portions of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The children's share of the tax expenditure budget was also less than 10 percent. This third annual Kids? Share report examines expenditures on children during a time federal budgets are undergoing much change. The estimate of how much of the federal budget was directed toward children in 2008 is based on detailed budget data released in May 2009 and captures the effects of early responses to the recession. After an initial section explaining the methodology involved in estimating children's expenditures across more than 100 federal programs and tax provisions, the report presents findings in four areas: expenditures in 2008, historic trends across the budget, historic trends within children's expenditures, and projections through 2019.