AGENDA • What is human development?
• What are the possible benefits of a new approach?
• What are our findings?
• What will it take to boost HD scores?
About the Project
A nonpartisan, non-profit initiative established to introduce to the United States a well-honed international approach and tool for measuring human well-being: the human development approach and the human development index.
Mission: to stimulate fact-based public debate about and political attention to human development issues in the United States and to empower people with an instrument to hold elected officials accountable for improving Americans’ human development.
Funders: the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Oxfam America, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, and the Annenberg Foundation. Publisher: Columbia University Press
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What is Human Development?
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The human development approach was developed at the United Nations in the late 1980’s, based in part on the work of Harvard economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen.
Human development is defined as a process of enlarging people’s freedoms and opportunities and improving their well-being.
This approach is a response to the failure of purely economic metrics to capture how people are faring.
Human Development Concept
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Measuring Human Development
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Top-Ranked Countries in Human Development 1980–2005
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Possible Benefits of a New Approach
Benefits of a New Approach
• This well-honed international tool reveals new insights when applied to the United States.
• Many are alienated by today’s bitterly polarized debates. This approach could promote a more informed, reasoned debate using objective facts and comparisons.
• Economic indicators only tell part of the story.
• Empowers people with an instrument to hold elected officials accountable.
• Connects research to action on well-being.
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What the HD Index Reveals
Historical Trends in Human Development
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YEARAMERICAN HD
INDEX
LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH
(YEARS)
AT LEAST HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA (%)
AT LEAST BACHELOR’S DEGREE (%)
GRADUATE OR PROFESSIONAL
DEGREE (%)
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
(%)
MEDIAN EARNINGS
(2005 DOLLARS)
2005 5.05 77.9 84.2 27.2 10.0 86.8 27,299
2000 4.67 77.0 80.4 24.4 8.9 82.8 27,382
1990 3.82 75.4 75.2 20.3 7.2 80.8 23,164
1980 2.86 73.7 66.5 16.2 5.6 71.9 21,432
1970 2.10 70.8 52.3 10.7 3.6 73.3 20,613
1960 1.23 69.7 41.1 7.7 2.5 76.9 15,732
Progress stalled
Rate doubles
Lifespan increase
d by eight years
Steadyprogress
American Human Development Index
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TOP:
CT
STATE MAP
BOTTOM:
MS
The U.S. Human Development Index is
5.06
American Human Development Index
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT MAP
The U.S. Human Development Index is
5.06
TOP:
CD 14 NY
BOTTOM:
CD 20 CA
15
HD
Index
Health IndexLife Expectancy at Birth
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STATE MAP
The U.S. Life Expectancy is
78
TOP:
HI81.7
BOTTOM:
DC73.8
Health IndexLife Expectancy at Birth
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT MAP
TOP:
CD 8, VA82.9
BOTTOM:
CD 5, KY
72.6
The U.S. Life Expectancy is
78
Life Expectancy by Race/Ethnicity
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Global Health Comparisons, Healthcare Spending
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Global Health Comparisons: Life Expectancy
THE MEASURE OF AMERICA | AMERICAN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2008–2009
Infant Mortality: If the U.S. had the rate of the top-ranked country (Sweden), over 21,000 American babies would have lived to celebrate their first birthday.
Health
We have the medical knowledge to transform asthma from a fatal disease to a manageable chronic illness. But compounded layers of advantage/disadvantage result in very different life chances:
Education IndexEducational Attainment and School Enrollment
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STATE MAP
BOTTOM:
MS
TOP:
DC
The U.S. Education Index is
5.04
Education IndexEducational Attainment and School Enrollment
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT MAP
BOTTOM:
CD 29,TX
TOP:
CD 30, CA
The U.S. Education Index is
5.04
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Upper Secondary Graduation Rate, 2004GLOBAL COMPARISON
Teenage Pregnancy
Income IndexMedian Earnings for the Population 16 and Older
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STATE MAP
The U.S. Median Earnings are
$27,299
BOTTOM:
MT$22K
TOP:
DC$37K
Income IndexMedian Earnings for the Population 16 and Older
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CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT MAP
The U.S. Median Earnings are
$27,299
BOTTOM:
CD20, CA
$17K
TOP:
CD 14, NY
$51K
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Share of Household Income by Quintile, 2006
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Median Net Worth, by Race
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Child Poverty: % of children in poor households
How can we build American’s assets?
United Kingdom’s Baby Bond Act
• Launched in 2005
• Savings account for every British child
• At birth and again at age seven– automatic £250
• Low-income children get double
• Families can add more money tax-free
Employment & Income: Family-friendly policies
More than three out of four mothers of school-aged children are in the workforce.
Women pay a “caring penalty” in jobs: lower paychecks, smaller retirement accounts, job loss.
In the U.S. there is no federally required:•paid maternity leave (171 countries)• right to breastfeed (107 countries)•annual paid vacation (137 countries)•paid sick leave (145 countries)
What will it take to boost HD scores?
Who’s poor in America? Poverty among elderly and kids has declined dramatically
8-Point Human Development Agenda
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1. Promote prevention.
2. Make health care affordable for all Americans.
3. Modernize K–12 education.
4. Invest in at-risk kids, the earlier the better.
5. Strengthen and support families.
6. Boost incomes and aid asset-building.
7. Launch a Marshall Plan for the Gulf.
8. Take responsibility for the most vulnerable.
Website: measureofamerica.org
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Check out the
Interactive Maps!
Thank You
www.measureofamerica.org