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I swear my stress response accelerator pedal is GLUED to the floor — stuck on full throttle and WHAT A PAIN IN THE U KNOW WHAT!  Not up for whining about my ‘dis-abilities’ or my day now that I am home after a long day which included ridiculous and stupid state-of-Arizona stupidity bureaucratic STRESS — so just posting THIS from New York City’s Blog — which contains information that alone didn’t get my day off to a happy start:

The Recession and Child Well-Being

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 08:07 AM PST

When the economy takes a downturn, it often hits the most vulnerable children and families the hardest. The recent recession is no exception. As a result of increased poverty, approximately 43 percent of families with children report difficulty in affording stable housing. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of households classified as “food insecure” – 21 percent of all households with children fell into this category in 2008, the highest percentage since 1995 when yearly measurement started, and a nearly 25 percent increase from 2007.

These are the findings of a new series of papers, The Effect of the Recession on Child Well-Being, written by researchers from PolicyLab at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The report examines four areas – health, food security, housing stability and maltreatment – and reviews the relationship of each to the well-being of children during recessions both past and present. According to the report, it will take years for families to return to pre-recession income levels, with low-income families struggling even longer to rebound. A second key finding is that public programs play a pivotal role in moderating the negative impacts of a recession. A companion set of policy briefs consider the role of public programs in economic recovery and provide recommendations for improving the provision of services to vulnerable children and families as we bounce back from the recession.

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