Federal Spending on Children Is Small Share of GDP, Decreasing Over Time

Current projections show that the small percent of federal funding on programs for children (1.9%) is projected to flatten or even grow smaller in the next two decades.
Note: “Children” here means youth under the age of 19 (or birth to 12th grade), indicating that spending on the early childhood years is an even smaller portion than is represented in this data.

Chart: Source: Urban Institute's estimates on gross domestic product (GDP) based primarily on Congressional Budget Office; Updated Budget Projections: 2019 to 2029, (Washington, DC: Congressional Budget Office, 2019); and Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2020, Office of Management and Budget, (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2019). Get the data Download Image
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