Every Child Left Behind

I finally had the chance to read the UNICEF report on child poverty in wealthy nations (An overview of child well-being in rich countries pdf.)and it confirmed some of my worst fears. The study ranked the situation for children according to 6 categories (Material Well-Being, Health and Safety, Educational Well-Being, Family and Other Relationships, Behaviors and Risks, Subjective Well-Being). The Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries came out on top; Germany fell in the middle, while the laissez-faire Anglo-Saxon capitalist dream nations the United Kingdom and the United States were at the bottom, coming in behind Greece and Poland. The US and the UK find themselves in the bottom third of the rankings for 5 of the 6 dimensions reviewed

In Germany there was quite a bit of hand-wringing over the report.  The Unterschichtenblog (Poverty and Unemployment in Germany) quotes Prof. Dr. Gunnar Winkler (president of Volkssolidartaet) who views the report as an indictment of the domestic policies of the federal government:

"Es ist bezeichnend, dass der Exportweltmeister immer wieder im Mittelfeld landet, wenn es um die Lage der Kinder geht. Der UNICEF-Bericht ist ein weiteres Armutszeugnis für die herrschende Politik", betonte Winkler. Er zeige, dass die Bundesrepublik noch weit entfernt sei davon, kinderfreundlichstes Land zu werden. Der Bericht mache zurecht darauf aufmerksam, dass ein politisches Gesamtkonzept fehle, damit Kinder aus benachteiligten Familien bessere Chancen bekommen. "Wer die Gesellschaft zunehmend allein ökonomischen Kriterien unterordne, muss sich über solche Ergebnisse nicht wundern. Wohlklingende und gut gemeinte Absichtserklärungen reichen nicht aus, um die Situation zu verbessern."

In the US, there was virtually no response to the report, which was released just as President Bush asked congress to approve another $100 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is one chart in the report that is most telling. On p.8 the wealthy countries are ranked according to the percentage of childrenin household with incomes of less than 50% of the median.  The US is the world leader here by a large margin, with 23% of children (age 0-17) living in poor households.

Then just this week another report came out that was so shocking that it did receive a bit more notice in the media and the blogosphere. The McClatchy company analyzed the US census figures and determined that 16 million Americans are living in "deep poverty":

The McClatchy Company – owners of the Miami Herald – a CBS4 news partner – went through an analysis of 2005 census figures, the latest available, and found that nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty. A family of four, with two children and an annual income of less than $9,903 — half the federal poverty line — was considered severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less than $5,080 a year.

The poorest city in the US is Washington DC, which is only appropriate, since median family income has fallen since 2001 when Washington DC’s most famous resident – George W. Bush – was selected assumed the presidency.

But we needn’t worry that Greece or Poland or any of the countries that treat their children better would ever attack the United States.  For in defense spending we lead the world.  In fact our defense budget is greater than that of all the other "wealthy nations" in the UNICEF report combined.