- US fares poorly in OECD survey of childhood welfare, despite above-average spending, By Greg Keller (AP), September 1, 2009, Los Angeles Times: “America has some of the industrial world’s worst rates of infant mortality, teenage pregnancy and child poverty, even though it 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 United States 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 Tuesday, ‘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…”
- High spending fails to improve child welfare, says OECD report, By Owen Bowcott, September 1, 2009, The Guardian: “High public spending in the UK on child welfare and education is failing to deliver results, an international comparative study warns today. The report, by the Paris-based International Organisation for Economic Development (OECD), points out that Britain, although moderately well placed in the rankings, has relatively high rates of teenage pregnancy, drunkenness and young people not in education, employment or training (neets). The survey, entitled Doing Better for Children, suggests that globally girls do better than boys and that, while bullying is on the decline, children are smoking and drinking more…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty