Watchdog Projects Ongoing Drop in Share of Federal Spending on Kids
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The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released its estimates as the nation's debt and deficits are on the rise.
Spending on programs for the nation’s children will continue shrinking as a share of the overall federal budget in the years ahead if current trends continue, according to a watchdog group.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said in a recent paper that spending on kids has already fallen to 9.8 percent of total federal spending in 2016, from 10.7 percent in 2010.
Estimates the group released last week, which it emphasized are “very rough,” predict that this spending level will decline further, to 7.4 percent by 2028 and 6.8 percent in 2038.
By 2048, the group estimates that 6.3 percent of the budget will be spent on children—assuming certain trends continue.
“That's less than one-third of what will be spent on Social Security, on Medicare, or on servicing the debt,” the article says.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget often raises red flags about the nation’s rising budget deficits and debt.
Earlier this year, the national debt climbed above $21 trillion.
In a budget outlook released last month, the Congressional Budget Office noted:
At 78 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), federal debt held by the public is now at its highest level since shortly after World War II. If current laws generally remained unchanged, CBO projects, growing budget deficits would boost that debt sharply over the next 30 years; it would approach 100 percent of GDP by the end of the next decade and 152 percent by 2048. That amount would be the highest in the nation’s history by far … The prospect of large and growing debt poses substantial risks for the nation and presents policymakers with significant challenges.
One contributor to rising deficits in the years ahead is the Republican-backed tax overhaul President Trump signed into law last year.
The law included permanent tax rate cuts for businesses and temporary ones for households. CBO’s figures show that the law will provide a boost for the economy, but not nearly enough to offset the roughly $1.8 trillion it will add to the nation’s deficits over a decade.
The article from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget can be found here.
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Bill Lucia is a Senior Reporter for Government Executive's Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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