UNICEF: The U.S. Ain't the Kind of Place to Raise Your Kids
NPR isn't afraid to tell it to us straight:
A new report from the U.N. Children's Fund says the United States and Britain are the worst countries in the industrialized world in which to be a child. UNICEF says an examination of 40 factors, such as poverty, deprivation, happiness, relationships, and risky or bad behavior puts the United States and Britain at the bottom of a list of 21 economically developed nations.
………The United States fared worst of all 21 countries in health and safety, measured by rates of infant mortality and accidents and injuries.
Some doubts about the comparison of U.S. infant mortality stats with the rest of the developed world here. And perhaps our 15 year olds, as degenerate as they are, (the surveyed age group for most of the following categories) might not agree with UNICEF's counting the following against our great nation:
The United States and Britain were lowest overall in the category of behavior and risks, meaning that American and British children are more likely to use drugs, drink alcohol and be sexually active than children elsewhere.
The full UNICEF report [PDF].
Nick Gillespie's 1997 Reason classic on the true, and nifty, status of the kids in America.
