Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Restaurants get off to a quick start thanks to game-changing policies
High service charges on event ticket refunds call for further regulation
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
US urged to spend more on under-six
Source: Agencies |
September 2, 2009, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AMERICA suffers the industrialized world's worst rates of infant mortality, teenage pregnancy and child poverty, even though the United States spends more per child than better-performing countries such as Switzerland, Japan and the Netherlands, a new survey indicates.
The OECD, a Paris-based watchdog of industrialized nations, urged the US to shift more of its public spending to its youngest children, under the age of six, to improve their health and educational performance.
The report released yesterday, "Doing Better for Children," marks the first time the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has reported on child well-being within its 30 member countries.
The US spends an average of US$140,000 per child, well over the OECD average of US$125,000. But this spending is skewed heavily toward older children between 12 and 17, the OECD survey showed.
US spending on children under six, a period the OECD says is key to children's future well-being, lags far behind other countries, amounting to only US$20,000 per child on average compared to the OECD average of US$30,000, the survey showed.
As a result, it says, infant mortality in the US is the fourth-worst in the OECD after Mexico, Turkey and Slovakia. American 15-year-olds rank seventh from the bottom on the OECD's measure of average educational achievement.
Child poverty rates in the US are nearly double the OECD average, at 21.6 percent compared to 12.4 percent.
The rate of teen births in the US is three times the OECD average, with only Mexico recording a higher rate among OECD countries, the report said.
"A better balance of spending between the 'Dora the Explorer' years of early childhood and the teenage 'Facebook' years would help improve the health, education and well-being of all children in the long term," the OECD said.
The OECD, a Paris-based watchdog of industrialized nations, urged the US to shift more of its public spending to its youngest children, under the age of six, to improve their health and educational performance.
The report released yesterday, "Doing Better for Children," marks the first time the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has reported on child well-being within its 30 member countries.
The US spends an average of US$140,000 per child, well over the OECD average of US$125,000. But this spending is skewed heavily toward older children between 12 and 17, the OECD survey showed.
US spending on children under six, a period the OECD says is key to children's future well-being, lags far behind other countries, amounting to only US$20,000 per child on average compared to the OECD average of US$30,000, the survey showed.
As a result, it says, infant mortality in the US is the fourth-worst in the OECD after Mexico, Turkey and Slovakia. American 15-year-olds rank seventh from the bottom on the OECD's measure of average educational achievement.
Child poverty rates in the US are nearly double the OECD average, at 21.6 percent compared to 12.4 percent.
The rate of teen births in the US is three times the OECD average, with only Mexico recording a higher rate among OECD countries, the report said.
"A better balance of spending between the 'Dora the Explorer' years of early childhood and the teenage 'Facebook' years would help improve the health, education and well-being of all children in the long term," the OECD said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
