Grilling candidates on their kids agendas

The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, our member organization in the state, has been demanding that candidates in their gubernatorial election answer questions about what they’ll do for kids. We find that candidates often talk about “creating a better…

New Voices report on Obama’s budget

President Obama last week released his proposed federal budget. Today Voices presents its analysis of the president’s budget, an in-depth look at how children fare under Obama’s spending blueprint.

To be sure, Obama is under tremendous pressure to cut…

“Teens in Foster Care Need Greater Focus”

Today we feature a recent post from Voices member Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, whose important new report highlights challenges facing older youth in the foster system.

In December 2011, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children released its annual State of…

Report: “Higher state taxes are better for children”

The states with the highest tax rates also have the highest scores for child well-being, according to a new report from the Foundation for Child Development. The Foundation concludes that higher government revenues can translate into more and better…

The candidates will debate in Florida, but will children come up?

Naples Daily News this weekend ran an excellent piece discussing our new report that shows only 2 percent of presidential debate discussion has involved children’s issues. Florida is the next primary state after South Carolina and could be decisive…

Media “still not asking the candidates questions specifically about children” advocates say

Our friends at The Center for the Next Generation this week picked up our recent report on the presidential debates and contributed their view. The report found that only 2 percent of the discussion at the presidential debates so far…

“A perilous world for the nation’s children”

In an op-ed in the New York Times, Charles M. Blow sums up many indicators of child well-being, and finds the news is not good. Teen pregnancy, child poverty, food insecurity and many more factors point to “a perilous world…

9 million New Jerseyans, 2 million of them poor

There are almost 9 million people in New Jersey, and almost 2 million of them are poor or close to poverty, according to a new report. A local New Jersey newscast interviewed Cecilia Zalkind, head of Voices member Advocates…

Hurting government services will also hurt the economy

Many of the proposed cuts to government services will hurt not only child well-being but also the eoconomy, according to a new analysis. Significantly, the authors are not some bleeding hearts but part of global investment bank Goldman Sachs. They…

“Even short-term poverty can hurt kids’ health”

With one in five American children living in poverty, it’s important to understand the health problems that come with it.  A new report by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia shows that because so much important development happens in…