DRANT # 313: USA - Third World Country

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US slips down development index Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed nation, according to a report from several US charities. "We get in this report ... an evaluation of what the limitations of human development are in the US but also ... how the relative place of America has been slipping in comparison with other countries over recent years." The US has a higher percentage of children living in poverty than any of the world's richest countries. In fact, the report shows that 15% of American children - 10.7 million - live in families with incomes of less than $1,500 per month. It also reveals 14% of the population - some 40 million Americans - lack the literacy skills to perform simple, everyday tasks such as understanding newspaper articles and instruction manuals. The US report identifies obesity and the lack of health insurance for some 47 million Americans as the most significant factors in premature death. It also provides a snapshot of the inequalities between the richest and the poorest Americans and between different ethnic groups. The report found that the US ranked 42nd in the world for life expectancy despite spending more on health care per person than any other country. Overall, the American Human Development Report ranked the world's richest country 12th for human development. The study looked at US government data on health, education and income. The report was funded by Oxfam America, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Conrad Hilton Foundation. The report combines measurements of health, education and income into one measurement - the human development index - based on that used by the United Nations. Health insurance The report, Measure of America, identifies significant progress in the US in the last 50 years. Life expectancy - which averages 78 - has risen eight years since 1960. A district in Manhattan has the highest human development index in the US: "Some Americans are living anywhere from 30 to 50 years behind others when it comes to issues we all care about: health, education and standard of living..." Sarah Burd-Sharps Author, Measure of America "...Just as revealing as the figures provided by the Measure of America report is the response to it on the part of the American media and political establishment. The report was published by Columbia University, one of the most prestigious American colleges, and its co-authors held a press conference on Capitol Hill to announce their findings. But not a single major daily newspaper carried an account, nor was the study mentioned on any of the evening television newscasts. The regional press in California reported the dismal last-place ranking for the 20th congressional district, but not the wider findings. And Talk Radio News Service, a web site serving the largely ultra-right talk radio industry, posted an item that turned the findings upside down, under the bizarre headline, 'Report: Most Americans doing better than fifty years ago." Japan has the world's highest life expectancy - 82.1 years - according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)..." The US report identifies obesity and the lack of health insurance for some 47 million Americans as the most significant factors in premature death. It also provides a snapshot of the inequalities between the richest and the poorest Americans and between different ethnic groups. "The Measure of America reveals huge gaps among some groups in our country to access opportunity and reach their potential," said the report's author, Sarah Burd-Sharps."Some Americans are living anywhere from 30 to 50 years behind others when it comes to issues we all care about: health, education and standard of living. "For example, the state human development index shows that people in last-ranked Mississippi are living 30 years behind those in first-ranked Connecticut." Asian males in the US were found to have the highest human development index score and were expected to live 14 years longer than African-American males, who had the lowest human development index rating. African-Americans had a shorter lifespan than the average American did in the late 1970s. More US babies die in their first year than in most other rich countries The report further breaks down its findings into the US's 436 Congressional districts. The 20th district, around Fresno, California, was ranked last - with people earning one-third as much as residents of the top-ranked US district,- in Manhattan, New York. The US north-east has the highest overall ranking because people there earn more, are more highly-educated and have the second highest life expectancy. West Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama are four of the five bottom states on the index. Mississippi is ranked lowest. Among other findings: Of the world's richest nations, the US has the most children (15%) living in poverty Of the OECD nations, the US has the most people in prison - as a percentage and in absolute numbers. 25% of 15-year-old students performed at or below the lowest level in an international maths test - worse than Canada, France, Germany and JapanIf the US infant mortality rate were equal to first-ranked Sweden, more than 20,000 babies would survive beyond their first year of life.