What Debt Pressure Means for Child and Family Policy
What Debt Pressure Means for Child and Family Policy
Warnings of a bond market crisis are no longer coming from the fringes.
Hedge fund giants, former budget directors, and green eyeshade types across the ideological spectrum are all pointing to the same thing: federal debt math is increasingly unsustainable.
What’s Happening: Interest payments on the debt are exceeding $1T annually; more than federal spending on Medicaid, SNAP, and disability insurance—combined.
What Happened Before: The U.S. has dodged enough fiscal cliffs to defy deficit doubts. Growth post Great Recession via low interest rate-fueled borrowing undermined concerns.
Because debt is central to policy-directed spending, deficits and debt are inherently political; those in power often dismiss deficits while those outside it decry them. That risks missing a shift.
What Could Be Different Now: The baseline debt level is higher, inflation is pushing interest rates higher, and geopolitical uncertainty is undermining long-held assumptions of U.S. finance.
If borrowing costs keep rising, the pressure will reach states. Flexible programs, like those serving children and families, will be the first to feel it.
Why it Matters: This isn't just budget theory. It’s a structural tension with real-world stakes.
This matters for child and family policy: economic growth matters both for families’ financial stability and the tax receipts that drive domestic spending. Now is a chance to think ahead.
As these pressures rise, discussions that start in Excel files on Wall Street will shift to those in state budget passbacks. That could translate to fewer staff serving fewer families.