The Shame Of The U.S. - Child Poverty

The United States is the richest country in the world -- and it has been for quite a while. How then, can we explain the chart above? It seems that out of the 35 richest (most developed) nations, all of them but one (Romania) has less child poverty than the United States -- significantly less for most of them.

The Research Office of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has released its new report on child poverty. They define a child as living in poverty if he/she is in a family that must exist on 50% less than the average disposable income in the country in question. In the United States, that would be a family living on the minimum wage, or less. And any family living on the minimum wage or less in the United States is truly in dire financial difficulty.

Out of the 35 developed nations, only two of them had a rate of child poverty that exceeded 20% -- the United States at 23.1% and Romania at 25.5%. The number 33 nation, Latvia, beat the United States by 4.3% having a child poverty rate of 18.8%. Fifteen of the nations had a child poverty rate of less than 9%. They are:

1. Iceland...............4.7%
2. Finland...............5.3%
3. Cyprus...............6.1%
4. Netherlands...............6.1%
5. Norway...............6.1%
6. Slovenia...............6.3%
7. Denmark...............6.5%
8. Sweden...............7.3%
9. Austria...............7.3%
10. Czech Republic...............7.4%
11. Switzerland...............8.1%
12. Ireland...............8.4%
13. Germany...............8.5%
14. France...............8.8%
15. Malta...............8.9%

These nations have all made a concerted and humanitarian effort to keep their children from having to grow up in poverty -- and they are succeeding (although some work still needs to be done). But with 23.1% of all children in the United States currently living in poverty, one would have to question just how hard the U.S. government is trying to eliminate child poverty. It would seem obvious that the United States is not trying hard enough, since the richest nation in the world should be leading the world in eliminating child poverty (at least in the top ten).

Do the American people care that nearly a quarter of all children in this country lives in poverty? If they vote to return the Republicans to power in November, the answer would be no, they don't care. That's because the Republican, instead of trying to lift children out of poverty, want to drastically cut social programs (that clothe, feed, and house those children) and education (which provides the only route out of poverty for those children).

Could they be more hard-hearted or morally reprehensible? Aren't we our brother's keeper -- especially when it comes to children? Why should anyone look to the U.S. for leadership when it won't even take care of its children?