Child Care and Development

Hispanics in the United States increasingly fuel the nation's economic engine, especially as their labor-force participation grows and baby boomers retire. Yet, educational, political, residential, and cultural challenges facing Hispanic children are likely to hamper their future achievements, say contributors to Growing Up Hispanic: Health and Development of Children of Immigrants. The volume examines how neighborhood, family, school, and community affect these children's development and well-being.

Earlier this year, the Urban Institute and the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy brought together senior federal and state officials, leading policy experts, and researchers to propose and debate ideas for combating poverty and its harmful effects after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expires in 2010. Papers presented during "Reducing Poverty and Economic Distress after ARRA: The Most Promising Approaches" reflect on lessons learned from the recession and the changing economic, fiscal, and political landscapes to set out clear rationales for the authors' recommendations and offer concrete policy ideas for Congress, the White House, and states.

Kids' Share 2010: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2009, a fourth annual report, looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that historically children have not been a budget priority. In 2009, this trend continued, as children's spending accounted for less than one-tenth of federal outlays. While the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides a temporary boost, children's spending will continue to be squeezed in the next decade.

Hispanics are the largest immigrant group in the United States and the largest ethnic minority group in the nation. One in five children in the U.S. has immigrant parents. These children face a range of challenges, often caught in their communities’ changing social, political, and economic forces.

Less than one-tenth of the federal budget was spent on children in 2008. Over the next decade, as the stimulus bill provisions expire, interest on the debt rises, and entitlement program costs grow, spending on children is projected to shrink. In light of our rapidly expanding national debt, how should the nation invest in its next generation?