The social health of the nation : how America is really doing
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The social health of the nation : how America is really doing
Oxford University Press, 1999
- : hbk
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-239) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: hbk ISBN 9780195133486
Description
For the past twelve years, the annual release of the Index of Social Health has been a major event, cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other national media our most reliable barometer of progress in addressing America's social ills. Now, in The Social Health of the Nation, the Index for 1999-an invaluable fount of information-is available for the first time in book form.
Rejecting the notion that the Dow Jones Industrial Averages and its ilk are the sole valid measures of progress in the United States, the authors offer a fuller and deeper view of our nation's quality of life, gathering together statistical information on such factors as the well-being of America's children and youth, the accessibility of health care, the quality of education, or the adequacy of housing. Readers will find solid information about drug abuse, children in poverty, life
expectancy, homicides, and health insurance coverage. And we get these facts in context, so that we know where we are improving-for instance, poverty among the elderly, infant mortality, and the high school dropout rate have all declined. Equally important, we discover where we are losing
ground-suicide rates among the young are 40 percent higher than in 1970, for example, and income inequality is at its worst level in 50 years.
Here then is the key to the true State of the Union. The first national survey in the U.S. to bring together varied aspects of social health, including education, work, family, medical care, American culture, and the arts, The Social Health of the Nation gives us a more finely focused picture of the national fabric-and reveals where that fabric needs mending.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780195133493
Description
Rejecting the notion that economic indicators are the only valid measures of progress in the United States, the authors offer a fuller and deeper view of the quality of life in the United States, presenting reliable information on such factors as the well being of America's youth, accessibility of health care, the quality of education, and the adequacy of housing. The book will include initial publication of this year's Index of Social Health, developed;by the authors, which has been a nationally covered media event for the past twelve years. Drawing on a grant from the Ford Foundation, the authors convened a twenty-five member team, taken from the media, universities, and government, including economists, sociologists, psychologists, and physicians. With the asssistance of this working group, the authors developed this nine chapter book, providing the most up-to-date information available on improving, shifting, and worsening social performance in the United States.
Table of Contents
Part One: Seeking the Socia Side of the Official Portrait
1: How Are We Doing?
The Dominance of the "Economy":
Changing the Picture:
2: Part of a Tradition
Social Reporting in America: A History:
Advances in Other Nations:
New Stirrings at the Local Level:
Renewing the National Effort:
Part Two: Framing a Social Health Perspetive for the Nation
3: There's Something Else Out There
The Indicators:
The Approach:
4: Indicators of Improving Performance
5: Indicators of Worsening Performance
6: Indicators of Shifting Performance
7: Judging Current and Future Social Performance
Part Three: Pursuing a Practical Vision
8: Advancing the Field
New Concepts and Ideas:
New Structures of Continuity:
9: Improving Social Reporting
The Federal Government: The Most Important Source:
The Media: Telling the Story:
Epilogue
Appendices
Notes
by "Nielsen BookData"
