CHART: In Terms of Social Progress, America is Not #1 -- It's #16
As Americans, we like to think of ourselves as a world leader. After all, the United States has the largest economy in the world and is near the very top in GDP per capita. We are used to thinking that we lead on social issues like education, access to information, personal rights, and that we have been a model for the world in terms of creating opportunity for our fellow citizens. Yet the new Social Progress Index, a comprehensive framework measuring numerous important social outcomes, paints a very different picture - the U.S. ranks only 16th of 132 countries measured, behind other large countries such as Germany, the UK, Japan and Canada.
The Social Progress Index, a multi-year effort that I lead with Professor Scott Stern of MIT and a team of other colleagues and advisors, has for the first time set out to measure the success of a society in comprehensive terms, and independently of economic measures. We define social progress according to three broad dimensions: Does a country have the capacity to satisfy the basic human needs of its people? Does a country have the institutions and conditions in place to allow its citizens and communities to improve their quality of life? And does a country offer an environment in which each citizen has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential? We capture these in a rigorous measurement framework involving more than 50 specific outcomes using the best and most objective data available covering 132 countries.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-e-porter/america-behind-social-progress_b_5325877.html?utm_hp_ref=world
