
I know it's a number of factors, but l've heard some say that one of them is rising poverty rates. Parents who are busy working to make ends meet don't have the time, energy, or money to teach their children the skills they should know, and instead often have to rely on childcare, where there are multiple children per staff member - in my state, the legal ratio for 4y/os is 1:12. Similarly, schools are hard places to have individual needs met, as student/teacher ratios are rapidly getting worse.