Abstract

Children represent one of the most vulnerable sections of a society. In India, a large proportion of children face marginalisation and discrimination that significantly diminish their opportunities and life chances. Investing in children of all ages can ensure that they can be brought out of the vicious cycle of poverty, discrimination and exploitation. By ensuring children remain healthy and educated; there exists more room for fostering innovation while augmenting the country’s skilled workforce which, in turn, leads to a better economic outlook and improved social cohesion.

This report looks at a study conducted by CBPS focused on analysing public expenditure on children, with the main goals of understanding expenditure patterns on children, where the money is coming and going, how the money is received and debited, and a larger examination of the distributional equity of these transfers. The study primarily uses public expenditure analysis and benefit/expenditure incidence analysis, referencing state budget documents as well as ‘Link Documents’, which describe the budget allotment for Zilla Panchayats. The analysis looks not to answer the question of how much should be spent by the government on children, but rather it shows how government spending is distributed and attempts to assess whether there are needs that remain unaddressed. The report shows that children’s spending has risen over time, though disproportionately between age groups, as well as education being the highest investment, though its impact is not fairly distributed either.

Jha, J., Krishnaswamy, D., Sharma V. (2014). Public expenditure on children in Karnataka. Bengaluru, India: Centre for Budget and Policy Studies.