The United States is the wealthiest large economy in the world. Yet, for some reason, we can't seem to find a way to invest in our nation's children. 

A new UNICEF paper, Child Well-Being in Rich Countries, looks at how wealthy countries are raising their children. It examines "children’s well-being in terms of material conditions (related to household-income levels); health and safety; education; risky behavior (such as excessive alcohol consumption); and physical environment, including housing conditions."

Are we spending too much on seniors and too little on kids? Many will recognize this as a classic either-or fallacy (what about tax breaks for the wealthy…?) But with Ronald Brownstein, Ezra Klein and Charlie Cook all repeating the Urban Institute statistic that federal spending on seniors is nearly seven times that on children, the idea that seniors are crowding out children’s programs is catching on in Washington. Meanwhile, Urban Institute’s estimate that state and local governments spend nine times more on kids than on seniors hasn’t gotten the same attention. Overall, it appears that government spending on seniors is roughly double (or less) that on children, though this measure includes Social Security, which is almost entirely funded through worker contributions.

Hundreds of babies and toddlers from low-income families in the Green Bay, Wis., area will be happier and drier in the coming months, thanks to the 13,000 diapers collected by Brown County United Way, in partnership with the Greater Green Bay Labor Council Community Services Committee and 21 community partners. Dan Wadle, the AFL-CIO Community Services liaison, says:

It’s a case where there’s a lot of need in the community as far as with low-income families. It’s difficult to afford diapers.

Anyone who has ever raised kids knows that in those early years, you can never have too many diapers. But for low-income families, the cost of keeping infants in an average of about a dozen diapers a day and toddlers in eight can be a major financial burden.

This week in Green Bay Wis., the Brown County United Way, in partnership with the Greater Green Bay Labor Council Community Services Committee along with 21 community partners launched the first annual Brown County Diaper Drive.

Teachers helping teachers—that’s what the AFT is all about and that’s the goal of the union’s brand-new website. Share My Lesson, launched yesterday, is slated to become the nation’s largest online community for U.S. teachers to collaborate and share teaching resources and innovative ideas, according to AFT.

Thanks to the Institute for Policy Studies for this eye-opening chart showing how high child poverty is in the United States compared with other developed nations. The data is stunning—a U.S. child poverty rate of 23.1 percent, compared with 5.3 percent in Finland and 8.5 percent in Germany. Even the rate next worse to the United States—12.1 percent in the United Kingdom—is far lower. What really sets this chart apart, though, is the comparison with the percentage of those in the top 1%.

Here’s a letter to the editor in The Hill by Diann Woodard, president of the School Administrators (AFSA), the only national education union representing principals, assistant principals and school administrators.

Zachary Teutsch in the AFL-CIO Office of Investment, announces the launch of a fantastic new resource for all of us to gain and improve our financial literacy.

Most schools don’t teach our kids about avoiding credit card debt. Most of us never had anyone take the time to teach us about the financial implications of a birth, a death, a wedding, a divorce, or retirement. This is because there isn’t much financial education in the United States and most of it is by salespeople who would like us to buy their products.

Nicole Gentile, a teacher with the  Cleveland Metropolitan School District and an AFT member, wrote this message to Ohio working families about the job-killing ramifications of S.B. 5, a new law that attacks the collective bargaining rights of workers seeking to maintain a middle-class living. Together with thousands of Ohioans, Gentile is working to repeal the law in the November elections.

If you’ve watched any of the Republican primary debates, it’s possible to mistake presidential wannabee Mitt Romney as the voice of reason in that group, most of whom long ago teetered off the edge of rational discourse.