The national debt is becoming more important than America's children. Investment in U.S. kids fell below 10 percent of annual federal spending in 2017 and is projected to shrink even more, a new study by the Urban Institute Kids' Share has found. Adults, on the other hand, hog 45 percent each year. Spending on children through tax provisions, education, and health care totaled $375 billion of America's $3.9 trillion in federal spending in 2017.