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America's Social Health: Putting Social Issues Back on the Public Agenda
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Comments/Reviews
Description: Calling for a fundamental change in the focus of public policy in America, this book paints a vivid portrait of the nation's social health. Miringoff and Opdycke clearly show that social progress has stalled and the country's energies need to be directed at critical domestic issues in the years ahead.
The authors propose a new agenda for monitoring America's social well-being built around sixteen key indicators of American life, such as infant mortality, teenage suicide, health insurance coverage, and affordable housing. They 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.
The book builds on the work of the Institute for Innovation in Social Policy and argues 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. It considers the critical role of the media in advancing public understanding of social issues, and examines important advances in the community indicators movement and international social reporting. Eye-opening and compelling, the book is a provocative centerpiece for policy debates and national initiatives on today's crucial domestic concerns.
Selected Contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Social Reporting in American Life
1. We Can Do Better: Toward a New Public Dialogue on Social Health
2. Shaping Everyday Discourse: The News Media and Social Issues
3. Social Reports: Institutionalizing the Reporting of Social Indicators
4. Measuring Social Health: The Index of Social Health and the National Survey of Social Health
Part II. A Closer Look: Key Indicators of Social Health
5. Social Indicators for Children
Infant Mortality
Child Poverty
Child Abuse
6. Social Indicators for Youth
Teenage Suicide
Teenage Drug Abuse
High School Dropouts
7. Social Indicators for Adults
Unemployment
Wages
Health Insurance Coverage
8. Social Indicators for the Elderly
Poverty, Ages 65 and Over
Out-of-Pocket Health Costs, Ages 65 and Over
9. Social Indicators for All Ages
Homicides
Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities
Food Stamp Coverage
Affordable Housing
Income Inequality
Conclusion
Notes
List of Graphs and Tables
Appendix A: Selected Social Indicator Data Over Time
Appendix B: Technical Note on the Index of Social Health
Appendix C: Technical Note on the National Survey of Social Health
Index
About the Institute/About the Authors
Comment(s): "Marque-Luisa Miringoff and Sandra Opdycke are among the nation's leading pioneers in their field: social indicators. They knew many years ago what the rest of us are now waking up to. GDP does not tell us enough about how we are doing as a nation. We need a smarter, more comprehensive and more honest approach to the nation's social health. This book summarizes the achievements of the social indicators movement to date. They are impressive. And the authors' own work leads the way. But far more has to be done. How is America doing? Not well, as you will see when you read this volume. But you would not learn that from the indicators the government, the media or Wall Street watch." -- Jeff Madrick, Editor, Challenge: The Magazine of Economic Affairs
Review(s): A readable book for studies in social policy, political science, and social work. Recommended. Choice
The authors have succeeded in their efforts, and we look forward to future editions of this fine book. Journal of Comparative Social Welfare
    
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