Report: Recession still weighs heavily on children

A report released today by the Children’s Alliance says nearly four in 10 Washington children live in low-income homes and that the rate of unemployed parents has doubled during the Great Recession.

Today is the fifth day of a 30-day special session of the Legislature called to bridge a new $2 billion budget gap brought about by a slower-than-expected economic recovery.

The yearly Kids Count report was put out as children’s advocates arrive at the Capitol today to make their case for continued state investment in programs helping children.

The report says 39 percent of children are in homes earning 200 percent or less of the federal poverty level, and it says this means the families struggle to pay for food, health care, and housing. Overall, one in four of the state's 1.5 million kids experience "food insecurity," defined by hunger experts as uncertainty that can range from hunger to starvation.

Children of color are more adversely affected and more likely to grow up in financially challenged homes, said Paola Maranan, executive director for the alliance.

The government’s 2011 poverty line i s calculated at $10,890 for a single person, $14,710 for a family of two, $18,530 for a family of three and $22,350 for four – which puts the 200 percent level at $44,700 for a family of four. You can read the whole children’s report here, and a news release highlighting its findings is here.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed a half-cent sales tax to raise about $500 million and closure of some tax breaks to raise few hundred million more dollars that could reduce the impact of cuts her budget proposal otherwise would make in education, healthcare and other programs.

Gregoire’s proposed supplemental budget includes cuts to public schools, child care assistance and foster care programs. A link to the budget information is here.

The report on the well-being of children was a joint project of the Children’s Alliance advocacy group and the left-of-center Washington State Budget and Policy Center, which has advocated for changes in the tax codes to generate more revenue for programs.