When It Comes to GOP-Imposed Cruelty and Austerity, What About the Children?

Healthcare consulting firm Sg2 projects 150,000 to 159,700 additional births will result from the decision returning health care policy decisions to states. Once confirmed, this estimate means at least 750,000 extra children will be born by 2028. The federal government and states currently provide inadequate supports for existing children while also failing to prepare for this incremental population growth.

To survive and thrive, all children need health care, food, shelter, along with early care and education. Eventually, these children will need access to quality education preparing them to read, write, and do math. These resources and services are essential, independent of where the children’s parents live. Increased births and inadequate supports create a perfect storm of unmet needs for American children.

As legislators negotiate budgets determining which services to offer, they emphasize the needs of constituents who vote with low regard for children’s needs. For example, in federal debt ceiling negotiations, Congress increased military spending and preserved retiree benefits. Lobbying entities sent direct mailers urging constituents to tell Congress, “No cuts. No way.” In the same negotiation, Congress clawed back unspent Covid relief funds. Although the public health crisis related to the global pandemic formally ended, children’s needs remain constant. Children don’t vote as military personnel, retirees, and their families do. However, decisions made today about children’s needs will affect outcomes related to their well-being tomorrow.

Sg2’s report also estimates 18,400 to 19,600 children requiring high levels of health care will be born annually, including 5,400 born early preterm. Children need access to health care, even before they are born, through their mothers’ prenatal care. During the pandemic, some adults and many children had access to health care through Medicaid. Even as parents became ineligible for this coverage, some children remained eligible. Unfortunately, some parents were unaware of the rules. Estimates suggest 14 million Americans could lose health coverage through Medicaid eligibility, and half of those losing coverage are actually eligible for benefits. Without intervention, some children might lose their health care coverage unnecessarily.

Children don’t vote as military personnel, retirees, and their families do. However, decisions made today about children’s needs will affect outcomes related to their well-being tomorrow.

Even when health coverage exists, availability of providers is inconsistent. My home state of North Carolina has 100 counties. Twenty of these counties have no pediatricians and twenty-six are without physicians practicing obstetrics and gynecology. In this relatively rural state, limited numbers of providers means patients must travel distances to receive care. Nationally, rural residents travel an average of 10.5 miles to visit the nearest hospital while urban residents travel an average of 5.6 miles.

Children need adequate nutrition under any circumstances. During recent federal budget negotiations, a work requirement was added for some recipients receiving Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. While there are no clear estimates of how many recipients will lose SNAP benefits, any trip to the grocery store is a reminder that food costs more today than it did last month or last year. Even without specific estimates of the number of people losing SNAP benefits, one can conclude this seemingly small change will increase food insecurity and affect some children.

Children’s access to housing is limited by what their families can afford. An “affordable housing” entity in North Carolina bought an apartment building, proposing a $300 monthly rent increase with 45 days advance notice. The building was a source of affordable housing for workers and students in this urban center near a university. Coupled with another $50 rent increase imposed less than six months prior, rent increased nearly 50% within a year.

Workers from coast to coast know salaries are not increasing that quickly. Very few household budgets have adequate surplus to absorb rent increases this large without external cash infusions. As housing costs increase nationally, housing insecurity is another challenge affecting some children.

Some parents work to support themselves and their children. To work outside the home, parents of young children need child care. The pandemic amplified the existence of too few providers to meet demand. Even with federal subsidies making pay competitive, some providers left the field for their own health and well being. These changes increased turnover among providers and reduced workforce by 8.4 percent since February 2020, decreasing slots available. Cost of the remaining slots creates another obstacle for some families. In some urban markets, child care costs for one year exceed the annual cost of housing, making it out of reach for many families.

States such as Washington are committed to providing early care and education to all of its children. Using a targeted tax increase for its wealthiest residents, the state was able to provide early care and education for children from low income families. Even if some states are unable or unwilling to implement such an excise tax, repealing Trump era tax cuts among the wealthiest Americans and corporations could have a similar effect for children nationally.

To avoid the imminent storm, states must propose and enact laws providing essential supports for all American children to access health care, food, shelter, as well as early care and education.