by Genine Hopkins

Created on: February 26, 2008

Human rights is not solely an issue of civil rights and the two should not be confused. Many in the U.S. feel that any human rights issues are only the concern from emerging industrial states, yet despite America's great wealth, we are at the bottom of the heap among industrialized nations around the world when it comes to a definition of human rights which includes not only freedom to political ideas and thought but to economic dignity and access to education, health care and security of well being. Pride goeth before the fall and America should heed the warning. This essay does not compare the living conditions in developing nations with those in the U.S.; there is no argument that there are many in the world who live in conditions one would be pressed to find prevelent in the U.S.. Offered instead is a realistic look at how the U.S. rates among other developed nations in the world. Because so much data is available on the economic conditions of children throughout the world, human rights can be measured by analyzing America's ability to offer basic rights to its children.

Throughout the history of the U.S., our nation has been heralded as "the land of opportunity" and indeed there are countless stories of rags to riches. But even this is a fallacy, with a poor child in America statistically less likely than counterparts in other nations, such as Germany and Switzerland, to break free of the cycle of poverty. (Poor Kids in a Rich Country - Rainwater & Smeeding use the Luxembourg Income Study to rate nations) Despite the liberal market economic system which marks many an idea of freedom to move within the market, it has failed America's young.

The 2007 UNICEF report on Child Poverty in Perspective reveals that the U.S. and United Kingdom repeatedly rank in the lower third of the 20 countries of the study. Even in material well-being, which accounts for relative income poverty, and such things as percentage of homes with less than 10 books, the U.S. ranks only above Ireland, the U.K., Poland and Hungary. How should we define relative income poverty? The UNICEF site states "the poor are those whose resources (material,cultural, and social) are so limited as to exclude them from the minimum acceptable way of life in the Member States in which they live". When comparing "relative income," which is the child's ability to participate in society "norms" based upon an average package of goods and services, the U.S. places at the very bottom of the pack finishing last.

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