Leaving Too Many Children Behind: A Demographer's View on the Neglect of America's Youngest Children

Analyzing 2000 Census data on poverty, race and class gaps, Harold Hodgkinson warns that too many students are disadvantaged from the start. Poverty puts many young children behind during their earliest years. Hodgkinson argues that kids' invisibility in the lives of adults and in the political process explains why we've cut the elderly poverty in half since the 1970s, while the percentage of children in poverty has grown. Low-income children who need preschool the most are the least likely to be enrolled. In addition to calling for a Governors' Summit, this report calls for full funding for Head Start, quality universal child care, competitive wages for child care providers, and health care resources for all children.