Kids’ Share: Analyzing Federal Expenditures on Children

Posted by Urban Institute on December 23, 2025

A new Urban Institute series looks comprehensively at trends in federal and state spending and tax expenditures on children—the kids’ share of public spending. Children can’t vote and they can’t lobby for public resources, but their well-being and development affect the future economic and social health of the country. Children also can’t work their way out of poverty, so the government has a special calling to protect them. Public investments are used to educate children; promote their health, safety, and well-being; ensure their basic needs are met; and help protect their families from financial hardship. These investments come in the form of direct spending on programs that serve kids and through tax benefits that offer their families financial assistance. Determining how government spends money, and who benefits, reveals our priorities. This series seeks to inform a national conversation about how best to invest the country’s resources by examining federal and state expenditures on children in the past and projected into the future.

The series includes special reports and briefs, the annual Kids’ Share chartbooks, web features and fact sheets, blog posts, events, and data appendixes.

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