America's Social Health

"Painting a vivid portrait of our nation's social health, this book is a clarion call for a fundamental change in the focus of public policy in America." "Social progress in the U.S. has stalled and the country's energies need to be directed at critical domestic issues in the years ahead." "Miringoff and Opdycke maintain that social conditions, like economic conditions, must be constantly monitored in order to have a clear sense of "how we are doing" as a society. They propose a new agenda for monitoring America's social well-being built around these sixteen key indicators of American life: infant mortality; child poverty; child abuse; teenage suicide; teenage drug abuse; high school dropouts; unemployment; wages; health insurance coverage, poverty, ages 65 and over; out-of-pocket health costs, ages 65 and over; homicides; alcohol-related traffic fatalities; food stamp coverage; affordable housing; and income inequality." "The authors argue that there needs to be a greater visibility for social issues - and a closer link between social reporting and public action - to better address the nation's social problems. They also consider the critical role of the media in advancing public understanding of social Issues. Provocative and compelling, this book will be an eye-opener for all Americans, especially those concerned with national initiatives designed to address today's crucial domestic concerns."--BOOK JACKET.Miringoff, Marque-Luisa is the author of 'America's Social Health', published 2007 under ISBN 9780765616739 and ISBN 0765616734.