By Marian Wright EdelmanNNPA Columnist The U.S. likes to be No. 1 in most things and boasts about being the leader of the free world. Why then are we so content to lag behind many other less wealthy industrialized nations in policies protecting children? What does it tell us about what and who we value? Among industrialized countries, the United States ranks: 1st in military technology1st in military exports1st in Gross Domestic Product1st in the number of millionaires and billionaires1st in health technology1st in defense expenditures1st in the number of persons in prison or jail12th in living standards among our poorest one-fifth of children13th in the gap between rich and poor children14th in efforts to lift children out of poverty18th in the percent of children in poverty22nd in low birth weight rates25th in infant mortality Next to last among donor nations in the proportion of GDP devoted to international aid to impoverished peoples Next to last among 16 industrialized countries in the proportion of GDP devoted to income support for non-elderly families Last among 16 industrialized countries in the proportion of children living in poverty after all income supports are counted Last in protecting our children against gun violence According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. children under age 15 are: 9 times as likely to die in a firearm accident,11 times as likely to commit suicide with a gun, 12 times as likely to die from gunfire, and16 times as likely to be murdered with a gun, as children in 25 other industrialized countries combined. Of the 191 members of the United Nations, the United States of America and Somalia (which has no legally constituted government) are the only two nations that have failed to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Black infant mortality rates in our nation’s capital exceed those of 55 nations, including the Bahamas, Barbados, and Libya. Twenty-six major industrialized countries provide paid parental leave; the United States is not one of them. The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not provide guaranteed prenatal care for every pregnant woman. I believe we can and must do better. If you believe we can and want to help, join our Leave No Child Behind(r) movement by visiting our Web site at www.childrensdefense. Marian Wright Edelman is Founder and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund and its Action Council whose mission is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. ###
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