British and American Children Are the Worst Off in the Industrialized World

UNICEF have released their findings in a new report which assesses the well-being of young children in the industrialized world. Their findings are as follows:

"British and American children are among the worst off in the industrialized world", this is according to a UNICEF report released today which ranked the well-being of these two nations at the bottom of the 21 nations. UNICEF, in this new report, brings together the best of currently available data which provides an overview of the state of childhood in the economically advanced nations of the world.

With their findings that the well-being of children are best in "The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, and the fact that the United States and Britain find themselves at the bottom of the table." Bob Reitemeier, Chief Executive of The Children's Society stated; "We simply cannot ignore these shocking findings. UNICEF'S Report is a wake-up call to the fact that, despite being rich countries, UK and the US is failing their children in a number of crucial ways."

The United States and Britain ranked 20th and 21st in this, both countries falling into the bottom third of the six categories measured. The British Government were swift to react and criticizing the Report by saying, "they used years old data and did not measure recent improvements on issues such as teen pregnancies." The American Government have yet to make a statement.

Mr David Bull, Unicef"s Executive Director quoted: "All countries have weaknesses that need to be addressed and no country features in the top third of the rankings for all six dimensions. By comparing the performance of countries we see what is possible with a commitment to support every child to fulfil his or her full potential".

The report does not attempt to explain each country's invididual ranking but is intended to stimulate national debate and encourage countries to to address areas in which they have room for improvement. Mr Bull continues, "As the maxim goes, if you want to improve something, first you have to measure it. The United States came in the last two of the 21 countries measured so I think that our Government have a lot of work and debate to do on this damning report.

The full report can be viewed at www.unicef.org. or you can email direct media@unicef.org for further information. This is a national disgrace that has to be addressed immediately. With all the political canvassing I think that this issue should be on the top of any candidates agenda. Time to do something that our citizens can see and be proud of rather than "talking the talk and not walking the walk."