Wasn't intending to do a diary today, but when I was opening up my e-mail program a few minutes ago, I came across this A.P. story that is just now making its way across the wires:
UNICEF: U.S., British Children Worst Off
BERLIN - The United States and Britain ranked at the bottom of a U.N. survey released Wednesday evaluating the well-being of children in wealthy countries.
The Netherlands topped the report issued by UNICEF, followed by other European countries with strong social welfare systems - Sweden, Denmark and Finland.[snip]
When my first reaction was one of indifference to the story, when I found myself shrugging this news item off thinking "Basically we tied for last place with the UK? Hmmm. Not really surprised by that..." THAT'S when I knew there was a problem.
I have grown so accustomed to the deleterious impact of the Bush Administration across so many macro-issues (credibility, respect, global partnerships, etc.) that I almost glazed over the meaning of this story -- we are not just being shortchanged our present, we are being shortchanged in our future.
more after the fold
Second-to-last place? More or less a tie for last place? With the UK? We came in 20th out of a field of 21? So, when my first reaction was one of indifference to the story, when I found myself shrugging this news item off thinking "Basically we tied for last place with the UK? Hmmm. Not really surprised by that..." THAT'S when I knew there was a problem.
From theA.P.the story:
BERLIN - The United States and Britain ranked at the bottom of a U.N. survey released Wednesday evaluating the well-being of children in wealthy countries.
The Netherlands topped the report issued by UNICEF, followed by other European countries with strong social welfare systems - Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Among the report's overall findings was that wealth alone did not guarantee a child's well-being, with some poorer countries scoring ahead of richer ones. The U.S. and Britain finished 20th and 21st overall, respectively, behind Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
In other words, by the UNICEF standards, while United States is one of the wealthiest countries on the planet, that fact by no means guarantees any benefit to the children born here.
That is a problem.
UNICEF ranked 21 industrialized countries in six categories: material well-being, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviors and risks, and young people's own subjective sense of well-being.
The U.S. was last for health and safety, measured by rates of infant mortality, low birth weight, immunization, and deaths from accidents and injuries.
The full report, as issued by UNICEF, is available on-line here.
When I was read the report, one thing immediately jumped out at me. Consistency.
What caught my attention was how consistently and uniformly the US fared across five of the six categories (there was no scoring for the US on the sixth category of "Young People's Own Subjective Sense of Well-Being" -- the report notes that the US did not provide data for this component of the evaluation).
Yeah, consistently and uniformly alright --> POORLY. In looking at the rankings across all 6 categories, it would not surprise me that had the US provided data for the sixth category it would have made little impact on the US's ranking overall (it may possibly have secured last place for us).
If this UNICEF evaluation was a test at our nation's commitment to and actual delivery of safety, heath, security and possibility to our nation's children, we failed. Miserably.
Again, from the A.P story:
The U.S. was last for health and safety, measured by rates of infant mortality, low birth weight, immunization, and deaths from accidents and injuries.
Britain was last in the family and peer relationships ranking, which measured such things as the rate of single-parent families and whether families ate the main meal of the day together more than once a week.
Britain also finished at the bottom in behaviors and risks, which considered factors such as the percentage of children who ate breakfast, consumed fruit regularly, were overweight, used drugs or alcohol or were sexually active.
The U.S. was second from the bottom in both of those categories.
Here is a thumbnail sketch of how we fared overall:
- Material well-being: 17th (17/21)
- Health and Safety: 21st (21/21) Last
- Educational well-being: 12th* (12/21)
- Family and Peer Relationships: 20th (20/21)
- Behaviors and Risks: 20th (20/21)
- Subjective well-being: N/A
(Note: *our best ranking in the evaluation -- and still in the lower half of the rankings...)
The scores are as as unacceptable as the reality they demonstrate.
As if there isn't already enough damage being done by this current administration, what the report highlights for me is that we are going t be experiencing the repercussions of the administration for a great many more years, long after they are gone.
I have grown so accustomed to the deleterious impact of the Bush Administration across so many macro-issues (credibility, respect, global partnerships, etc.) that I almost glazed over the meaning of this story -- we are not just being shortchanged our present, we are being shortchanged in our future.
If one were to use the UNICEF evaluation as a diagnostic tool, measuring our nation's future health based current indicators monitoring our nation's children, sadly, we are in need of immediate help and attention. Our children's lives are at stake.