2008 Woodie Awards
U.S., U.K., rank lowest for child welfare
U.N. report shows no connection between GDP and child well-being
Nicole Chismar '07
Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: World
- Page 1 of 1
The United States and Britain are no longer considered the best countries in which to raise a family according to a report released last week by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The Netherlands, a country in which marijuana and prostitution are deemed legal, garnered the top spot among a list of 21 industrialized nations.
Conducted by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Report Card 7: Child Poverty in Perspective measures child and youth well-being in the world's most economically advanced nations. The assessment analyzed six dimensions, including material well-being, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviors and risks, and young people's own subjective sense of well-being.
These statistics, however, have left many PC students unsurprised, as some believe that social programs have seriously impacted UNICEF's findings. "In order to be more successful in these rankings I think we should have more social programs similar to other nations such as the Netherlands," said Therese Griffin '07.
Innocenti Director Marta Santos Pais told The Associated Press that the rankings cannot be interpreted at face value.
"All countries have weaknesses to be addressed. No single dimension of well-being stands as a reliable proxy for child well-being as a whole. Several OECD countries find themselves with widely differing rankings for different dimensions of children's lives," Pais said.
Britain was ranked last in the family and peer relationships dimension, which measures the number of single-parent families as well as the number of times per week families eat together.
The country also ranked last in the behaviors and risks category, which assesses the percentage of children who eat breakfast, are overweight, sexually active, and utilize drugs or alcohol.
Unhappy with UNICEF's findings, the British government said the report did not consider its recent improvements to education, living, and health standards. According to USA Today, some of the report's statistics cover the years 2001-2002.
Meanwhile, the United States remained last in the health and safety category, which analyzes rate of infant mortality, birth rates, immunizations, and deaths from accidents and injuries. The United States was also ranked second to last in both the family and peer and behaviors and risks categories.
Moreover, Report Card 7 shows no correlation between per-capita gross domestic product and child well-being. Small European countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and Finland command the rankings respectively as two, three, and four.
Pointing this out, Santos Pais also told The Associated Press: "A country cannot be said to be doing the best it can for its children if other countries at a similar stage of economic development are doing much better-and that's what the league tables are designed to show."
Conducted by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Report Card 7: Child Poverty in Perspective measures child and youth well-being in the world's most economically advanced nations. The assessment analyzed six dimensions, including material well-being, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviors and risks, and young people's own subjective sense of well-being.
These statistics, however, have left many PC students unsurprised, as some believe that social programs have seriously impacted UNICEF's findings. "In order to be more successful in these rankings I think we should have more social programs similar to other nations such as the Netherlands," said Therese Griffin '07.
Innocenti Director Marta Santos Pais told The Associated Press that the rankings cannot be interpreted at face value.
"All countries have weaknesses to be addressed. No single dimension of well-being stands as a reliable proxy for child well-being as a whole. Several OECD countries find themselves with widely differing rankings for different dimensions of children's lives," Pais said.
Britain was ranked last in the family and peer relationships dimension, which measures the number of single-parent families as well as the number of times per week families eat together.
The country also ranked last in the behaviors and risks category, which assesses the percentage of children who eat breakfast, are overweight, sexually active, and utilize drugs or alcohol.
Unhappy with UNICEF's findings, the British government said the report did not consider its recent improvements to education, living, and health standards. According to USA Today, some of the report's statistics cover the years 2001-2002.
Meanwhile, the United States remained last in the health and safety category, which analyzes rate of infant mortality, birth rates, immunizations, and deaths from accidents and injuries. The United States was also ranked second to last in both the family and peer and behaviors and risks categories.
Moreover, Report Card 7 shows no correlation between per-capita gross domestic product and child well-being. Small European countries such as Sweden, Denmark, and Finland command the rankings respectively as two, three, and four.
Pointing this out, Santos Pais also told The Associated Press: "A country cannot be said to be doing the best it can for its children if other countries at a similar stage of economic development are doing much better-and that's what the league tables are designed to show."