CHILD GROUP TO DEBT COMMISSION: “DON’T BALANCE THE BUDGET ON THE BACKS OF CHILDREN”

Nation’s largest network of multi-issue child advocacy groups testifies to importance of investment in young

WASHINGTON – Voices for America’s Children (Voices), the nation’s largest network of multi-issue child advocacy groups, testified today before the president’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform on the importance of investing in children and youth.

Read the debt commission testimony by Voices for America’s Children.

President Obama’s debt commission will examine government revenue and spending for ways to reduce the national deficit, but it must also recognize the needs of children suffering in the wake of the recession, Voices said.

“There has been a lot of rhetoric in the last several years about the need to reduce spending to make a better future for our children and grandchildren. The sad truth is that children’s spending as a percentage of all spending is headed down, and more children – especially children of color – are at increased risk,” Voices for America’s Children President and CEO Bill Bentley said.

“Reducing deficits, especially if Social Security, Medicaid, or domestic discretionary spending is targeted, would only exacerbate the situation,” he added. “The country must not balance its budget on the backs of children and poor people who can least afford it.”

Bentley cited studies showing that Social Security pulls more than one million children out of poverty each year and supports millions more. “We all think of Social Security as a retirement program, but it actually protects the whole family. Nearly seven million children receive survivor’s benefits and 1.6 million get aid as family members of disabled workers.”

Voices for America’s Children is concerned that the needs of children could get lost in the discussion about cost-cutting. “Rethinking the federal budget is important. But family budgets are even more important, especially for those families that need economic security for the health, safety and well-being of their children,” Bentley said.

Noting that the commission has the power to help shape policies for future generations of Americans, Bentley urged members to “avoid recommendations in your final report that will expose more children to risk, drive up the number of children in poverty and further reduce federal spending on children just as it is becoming clear to most that investment in children results in a significant return to taxpayers.”

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As the nation’s largest network of multi-issue child advocacy organizations, Voices for America’s Children (Voices) has been on the forefront of every major child policy victory for the past quarter-century. With 60 members nationwide, Voices speaks up for kids, and mobilizes and advocates for public policies to improve the lives of all children, especially those most vulnerable, throughout the United States. Visit us at www.voices.org.

Voices is a founding member of the Children’s Leadership Council, a coalition of more than 50 leading national policy and advocacy organizations. www.childrensleadershipcouncil.com.