‘How Far Behind’ Are Children Being Allowed To Fall?

An OECD publication called The Children Left Behind is a statistical report card and analysis on child well-being for 24 of the world’s richest countries.

A combination of indicators for the three dimensions of well-being, defined as material, education, and health, were statistically analyzed for each country to determine “how far children are being allowed to fall.” This means measuring the gap between the median level of child well-being and the bottom-level.

The report points out that for any statistical distribution, a certain degree of “falling behind” is inevitable. However, as countries are ranked accordingly for each dimension of well-being, the question becomes, “Is there a point beyond which falling behind is not inevitable but policy susceptible, not unavoidable but unacceptable, not inequality but inequity?”

For more insight, read the OECD report The Children Left Behind: http://www.unicef-irc.org/article/693/