Middle-Class Children Falling Further Behind, New Report Finds

NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- America's middle-class children have been steadily falling further behind their more privileged peers for the past quarter century – but the worst of the fallout has been held in check by essential policies and programs that could be unraveled, depending on key budget decisions, according to a new Foundation for Child Development report. These findings arrive in advance of President Obama's February 14 budget announcement -- and what is likely to be a charged Congressional debate that will determine the future of these programs.

"This report shows that we have a sleeping giant on our hands. For the past eight years, even before the 'Great Recession' hit, middle-class families have increasingly counted on essential public health care and early education supports to safeguard their children's well-being," said the report's author, Donald Hernandez, a sociology professor at Hunter College and The Graduate Center at the City University of New York. "If these programs face the budget ax, middle-class and low-income families will see the foundation for their children's prospects dramatically undermined."

Declining Fortunes of Children in Middle-Class Families is the first analysis to track over a 24-year period the relationship between family income levels and outcomes for children across key indicators of their health, education, and social relationships. The report is based on national statistics used in FCD's annual Child Well-Being Index (CWI).

Key findings:

• Children in middle-class families were losing economic ground long before the Great Recession. Between 2000-2008, middle class families' real income dropped by more than $4,000 compared to $139 for wealthier families.

• The income gap between families is widening. The gap in real family income separating the typical child in a middle-class family from the typical child in a high-income family expanded by more than 50 percent, or $33,300, from $59,800 in 1985 to $93,100 by 2008.

• Public education and health programs have stepped in to provide essential services for middle-class children that their parents cannot afford or take for granted.  Public policies are increasingly important in providing an essential foundation for children's future, particularly health insurance and PreKindergarten access.

• The precarious situation of the middle-class is also reflected in the rising numbers of middle-class children living with one parent or without a securely employed parent.  The proportion of children in middle-class families living with one parent increased from 14 to 23 percent during the past quarter century. Between 1993-2000 children with a securely employed parent increased, but three-fourths of these gains were wiped out by 2008.

"This study is a stark reminder that policies we set today have very wide and real ramifications in the lives of children – not only children from low-income families but children squarely in the middle class," said Ruby Takanishi, President of FCD.

For more on FCD or a report download visit http://www.fcd-us.org/resources/declining-fortunes-children-middle-class-families.

SOURCE Foundation for Child Development