Toddlers
Critical analysis
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?
Congress is negotiating the details of the $3.5 trillion infrastructure spending bill, and many elements are likely to be cut to decrease the cost. The current draft of the child care plan would make attendance at licensed child care centers free for the lowest-earning families, and it would cost no more than 7 percent of family income for those earning up to double the state’s median income. It would provide universal public preschool for children ages 3 and 4. And it would increase the pay of child care workers and preschool teachers to be equivalent to elementary teachers (currently, the median hourly wage for a preschool teacher of 4-year-olds is $14.67, and for a kindergarten teacher of 5-year-olds $32.80.) What is your opinion on this kind of investment?
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?
Learning Extension
Read about how US early childhood education compares to other nations.
Action Extension
Contact your U.S. Senators and let them know what you think about the infrastructure spending bill.