The union said the fall in the number of health visitors since 2004 was a "national scandal".
Unite also criticised the low numbers of full-time qualified school nurses, saying more men should be encouraged to go into the role.
Addressing the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery, the union said new health visitor registrants fell from 717 in 2004 to 253 in 2008.
A union spokesman said: "Allowing this to happen has been a social experiment that will have affected a whole generation of children's lives. Furthermore, it will cost the total economy, from health expenditure, criminal justice and unemployment, billions of pounds in the future."
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