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The Common Good: Social Welfare and the American Future
uninsured children is approximately $1 billion (see Figure 2.2).
It is important to note that this new coverage is "Medicaid only."
It is not an extension of Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(afdc). We do believe
that afdc eligibility
requirements should be updated. But we do not believe that an
extension of Medicaid should be tied to
afdc.
Ideally, both
Medicaid and employer-sponsored group health insurance ought to be
broadened to assure health coverage for all Americans. It is
important to put some restrictions on cash welfare assistance in
order to maintain the incentive to work, though this goal can be
met with higher cash assistance benefits than now exist in some
states. But health coverage for the poor ought not to be held
hostage to these necessary restrictions on cash assistance.
Chapter
I.
Chapter 1 of
the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 funds
compensatory education programs for low-income and educationally
deprived students. Evaluations of the Chapter 1 program have shown
positive short-term effects on student performance, and some
evidence suggests a favorable longer-term impact.
The real
level of outlays per poor child for this program has fallen in
recent years, as slight absolute increases in funding have not kept
pace with the combination of inflation and the higher number of
children living in poverty. The proportion of poor children served
by Chapter 1 fell from 75 percent in 1980 to 54 percent in 1985.
Outlay increases of $1.5 billion per year would make up most of the
erosion in real benefits per poor child associated with inflation,
and enable many school districts either to extend services to some
newly poor children or maintain services for a longer part of some
children's schooling (see Figure 2.2). That might help avoid the
erosion of shorter-term gains that has been found in some
evaluations.
Conclusion
Neither we
nor any other group have solutions for all the profound problems of
social welfare that shape the earliest stages of life in America.
The amount of new government spending that we have recommended to
help children in need—$6.2 billion—would go a long way
toward meeting the needs of disadvantaged children. It is worth
noting, however, that the recommended budget would not extend help
to each and every child in need—a reflection of current
budget realities and the value of learning as we go. We believe
this investment in better opportunities for American children will
produce great future benefits for our whole society.