We are tracking the Great Recession’s impact on state early learning budgets and a new report suggests lawmakers should spend more not less in that arena because kids falling into poverty during downturns can struggle for years with work and school, while also reporting poorer health.

Plus, children who become poor in a recession are more likely to remain poor once they are adults, the Center on Law and Social Policy reports this week, referring to a First Focus study released earlier this year.

Children who fall into poverty during a recession will fare far worse along a range of variables, even well into adulthood, than will their peers who avoided poverty despite the downturn in the economy. These children will live in households with lower overall incomes, they will earn less themselves, and they will have a greater chance at living in or near poverty. – “Turning Point: The Long Term Effects of Recession-Induced Child Poverty.”

The study examined two different populations, which lived through separate post-war recessions, the first from 1972 to 1975 and the second from 1980 to 1982. Researchers found lessons for policymakers dealing with the current recession: Now is the time to invest in programs that could help an estimated 3 million kids on the edge of the poverty line.

“This makes a strong case for investing in children in times of economic downturn. Yet, revenue shortages in many states are causing investments in children and families to be cut,” CLASP added in its analysis of the report.

That is the bad news. The good news is that Pre-K Now found many states are preserving spending on early learning, though often not spending more.

This week official and more casual advocates of more money for children and family programs got help.  Zero to Three created a virtual toolbox to help you “understand the ways your state budget and tax system impact policies for infants, toddlers, and their families.”