The United States lags far behind many other developed countries when it comes to spending money on child care support for children age zero to three, ranking second to last among 14 nations, funding $794 per child, the Economic Policy Institute reports.
Japan spends triple the U.S. level, $2,683, a year, while the United Kingdom level is even higher, $3,563, according to the preview of EPI’s annual “State of Working America.” The U.S. ranks above last place New Zealand, which spends $476 per child.
The EPI offers another depressing economic statistic about working families:
The total number of children with an unemployed parent rose from 3.5 million in 2007 to 7.2 million in 2009. Over the same period, the portion of children with at least one underemployed parent – who is not finding the amount of work he or she wants or needs – as also nearly doubled, from 9.1% to 18.1%. – “Steep rise in unemployment hurts children too.”
Thanks to Child Trends for finding this news.
Nominate Early Learning Winners: I have been meaning to highlight a great post over at Early Years, “Who's Doing Birth-to-8 Right?”
The Education Week blog wants to know what schools and school districts are doing the best job integrating early learning with first, second and third grade. After yesterday’s news, the Seattle School District may move into this category during the next year or two. What other Washington State schools are getting this right?
(The story is also a good reason to check out one of the top early learning blogs.)