The news lately is not good in terms of America’s children. I just heard this morning that we are at a thirty year low in crude birth rate. Back in 1960 we were around 24 births per thousand. Today it’s around 12. What do these numbers indicate about national attitudes? Last night I heard again how severely depressed the younger generations are, with suicide rates rising.

One strong indicator of how we feel about our children is how much we spend to keep them healthy and happy. In that department it seems we are falling far short, spending only around 10% of our total budget on programs for children.

“In 1995, America ranked ahead of nine developed nations in the share of the economy the federal government spends on children. Since 2004, America has ranked third-to-last in spending, with only Mexico and Turkey lagging behind, as other countries have increased their spending on family benefits.” 

These statistics become even more interesting when we compare them to the 46 percent of the federal budget we spent on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for adults. It appears we have been helping out our elderly at an increasing rate, but ignoring the needs of our young.

Also in the news constantly, our apparent inability to pay teachers a living wage, not to mention daycare workers and others who cater to the needs of our youth. Do these numbers reflect how we really feel about the future citizens of our country?

This has been an issue for us as Americans for decades. Do we care about the children who aren’t ours? I know for certain the present administration does not care. What about the rest of you?