Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/CEugeneSteuerle

Federal Expenditures on Infants and Toddlers in 2007 looks comprehensively at federal spending and tax expenditures targeted toward infants and toddlers. This appendix details our data sources, the programs we include, and the methodology used to estimate the percentage of federal expenditures that went to infants and toddlers in 2007.

Two former directors of the Congressional Budget Office now at the Urban Institute join scholars from other organizations in a memo advising President Obama on how to balance the nation’s short- and long-term economic needs. To reduce escalating future deficits without endangering near-term recovery, the authors’ recommendations include action to stem the growth of Social Security and Medicare.

In this age of high-profile corporate foundations and socially responsible companies, the barrier between the nonprofit and business worlds is more permeable than ever. Nonprofits and Business assembles diverse researchers to examine nonprofits from commercial, economic, operational, and legal perspectives. As the government and the public have demanded greater efficiency from nonprofits, nonprofits have looked to corporations to find creative ways to raise money and demonstrate effectiveness. Nonprofits and Business is a unique resource on this emerging trend.

The Earned Income Tax Credit enjoyed marked success bringing low-income women into the labor force in recent years. At the same time, labor force participation by low-income or less-education men stagnated, and declined among young black men. In response to these labor market conditions, this paper analyzes several EITC reform options directed at increasing the EITC for low-income workers, in the hopes of drawing these men into the labor force. We estimate the cost of various proposals and put forth an additional proposal that breaks the EITC into two components – one focused on individual workers and one focused on supporting children.

In the run-up to the presidential election, the number of voters who call themselves independent is swelling. Both Barack Obama and John McCain can trace their primary victories largely to independents. At the same time, millions of Republicans and Democrats crossed over to vote in the other party's primary. Doubtless, the presidential election will swing on these voters.

In budget policy, myths are progress's number one enemy. One silly fiction now making the rounds is that we don't know how to judge the relative value of different types of health care, so we can't control health care costs-at least not for now. Like many myths, this one contains an element of truth-there is a lot we don't know. So what? It's still a myth that we know too little to act.

Kids' Share 2008, a second 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 2007, this trend continued, as children's spending did not keep pace with GDP growth. Absent a policy change, children's spending will continue to be squeezed in the next decade.

Key Facts: Kids' Share 2008 summarizes findings from the Kids' Share 2008 report, which 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 2007, this trend continued, as children's spending did not keep pace with GDP growth. Absent a policy change, children's spending will continue to be squeezed in the next decade.

I know. It's campaign time. Time for our politicians to promise us more and more. Of course, it is always someone else who will pick up the tab. Increasingly it is the young who are not only asked to pay more for others and get less for themselves, but who are being denied their fundamental democratic rights to share equally in deciding just what type of government we should have.

If current budgetary trends persist, sometime between 2016 and 2020 existing federal revenues will cover only health entitlements, Social Security, debt service, and a smaller defense budget, leaving nothing for anything else. The researchers warn that budget-driven reforms in health policy must aim to end automatic year-to-year budget growth and push Congress to formally recognize when it chooses health cost increases over other priorities. Rather than get derailed on the search for one grand reform, they suggest a host of reforms that would empower government, provider, insurer, and citizens alike to choose a better and more efficient health delivery system. Health Affairs_ 27(3):633-644 (May/June 2008).

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