How much does the U.S. spend on child care?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, your big brain, the information provided and any links below:
Wow! Based on the data from the chart above, how much does the United States spend per year per toddler (children 2 and under)?
How much does the average O.E.C.D. (wealthy) country spend on toddlers per year?
Why do you think the US is such an outlier when it comes to toddler spending?
What is one consequence of such low toddler spending in the U.S. and why don’t all the U.S. toddlers just up and move to Finland?
Toddlers can’t vote in any of the countries in the chart, why do you think US toddlers are so much poorly funded than toddlers in other countries?
Norway spends about $29,000 MORE per year on toddlers than we do in the U.S. When we say “toddler spending” what specific programs and spending are we talking about?
The United States spends 2.4 times as much on the elderly as on children, measured on a per capita basis, with the ratio rising to 7 to 1 if looking just at the federal budget. Why do you think that we value older Americans so much more than young (and future-old) Americans?
How does the demographic diversity of Norway differ from the United States, and how much do you think that impacts toddler spending?
The United States has free universal (for all) public elementary, middle and high schools. “We as a society, with public funding, spend so much less on children before kindergarten than once they reach kindergarten,” said Elizabeth Davis, an economist studying child care at the University of Minnesota. “And yet the science of child development shows how very important investment in the youngest ages are, and we get societal benefits from those investments.” Why don’t we as a society invest in free universal early childhood education?
"One other thing I'll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education in Washington D.C., and sending all education and education work and needs back to the states," Donald Trump said in a video posted to social media in October 2023 where he laid out his vision for education. "We want them to run the education of our children because they'll do a much better job of it." How do you think the new Trump presidency will alter the level of spending on toddlers and children by the federal government?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Learn More
Read about how US early childhood education compares to other nations.
Act on your Learning
Contact your U.S. Senators and let them know what you think about how much we support our children.
Get Creative
If America were a movie villain, what movie villain would we be?
