Governor Newsom’s budget reflects science of early childhood
Lindsay Dunckel
The Union – Other Voices
January 20, 2019
Our children are our future: and the very architecture of their brains is being built each day of their young lives. Ninety percent of lifetime brain development takes place by a child’s sixth birthday — so early investments pay off.
Gov. Newsom has embraced the science of early childhood development in his proposed budget, which includes $2.4 billion in early childhood investments, including significant funding for health care, home visiting programs, early developmental screening, high-quality early learning and paid family leave.
California has the highest child poverty rate in the nation. You read that right. The great state of California, sixth largest economy in the world, home of Silicon Valley and 144 billionaires, has a larger percentage of children living below the federal poverty level than any other state, more than 1 in 5 children (23 percent). And though children in Nevada County fare better, with about 15 percent living below the federal poverty level, a decade ago that number was 9 percent. For context, the federal poverty level for a family of four was $25,100 in 2018 which is about one-third of the self-sufficiency standard for a family of four in Nevada County. Additionally, about 1 in 4 Nevada County children live in food-insecure households, where they cannot count on having enough to eat. Poverty and food insecurity take a toll on child development and compromise our future.
Nevada County is home to about 4,500 children birth through age five and each one of them is a local treasure! Birth rates are declining; here in Nevada County, we have the oldest average citizens of any of the 58 counties in California. Here, only about 23 percent of households have children, compared with 37 percent of households in California overall. Today’s children are tomorrow’s workforce, volunteers, civic leaders, home buyers. With Gov. Newsom’s proposed investment, we can begin to make sure that each one of them is equipped to contribute to making Nevada County a wonderful place to live in the future.
Lindsay Dunckel, PhD, is the executive director of First 5 Nevada County.