Monday opened on a depressing note, with a new report saying the Great Recession will wipe out advances in “children’s economic well-being” made over the last 33 years and reduce the number of kids in pre-kindergarten.

The recession will push the percentage of children living in poverty to 21 percent next year, up from 17 percent in 2006, cut families’ median annual income to $55,700 and move the obesity rate among children even higher, the Foundation for Child Development reports today.

The recession “will affect their health and educational attainment,” Kenneth Land, project coordinator and director of Duke University’s Center for Population Health and Aging, said in a statement. “The fact that we may actually reverse hard-won gains made over the last 35 years is alarming.”

For early learning advocates one of the biggest concerns is the report’s suggestion that pre-k enrollment may fall, as families struggle with lower incomes, job losses and budget cuts.

“The result will be that the children who are not involved in high quality
PreK programs today will become below-basic performers on Fourth, Eighth, and Twelfth Grade tests in the future,” the foundation said in a summary.  “Now, in the maelstrom of this current recession, is the time to protect children’s educational futures.”

The Child Well-Being Index report also said the historic economic contraction will hit children of color hardest.

“When the economy is doing well, their well-being gains are more dramatic. When the economy slumps, they are harder hit than their white counterparts because more children of color live in poverty to begin with,” Ruby Takanishi, president of the research and advocacy foundation, said in a press release, referring to Latino and African American children.

You can read the Reuters story here and the full report here.