The Measure of America, 2010-2011: Mapping Risks and Resilience

Key Findings

2 THE MEASURE OF AMERICA 2010–2011 “You manage what you measure.” Among management consultants, this phrase has become something of a mantra. With the rapid advance in recent years of computerization and digital networks, the capacity of businesses, universities, governments, and other institutions to measure results has grown exponentially. You can see the thesis at work in school districts across the United States, where administrators are now measuring student achievement and adjusting pedagogy and resources on the basis of test results. They are managing what they measure. This Human Development Report is the second produced for the United States, following the inaugural 2008–2009 report. It provides a gauge of core areas of wellbeing , or human development, across the nation, with data broken down by state, congressional district, race, gender, and ethnicity. Three areas in particular form the basic building blocks of human development and contribute the data used to calculate the American Human Development Index: health (the capacity to live a long and healthy life), education (access to knowledge), and income (the capacity to maintain a decent standard of living). As America’s economy, educational infrastructure, and health-care system have expanded and evolved over many years, the average income, educational attainment, and life expectancy of Americans have risen. But they have sometimes risen in wildly divergent fashion for different people in different places. The typical Asian American in New Jersey lives one quarter century longer, is eleven times more likely to have a graduate degree, and earns $33,149 more per year than the typical Native American in South Dakota, whose earnings are below the median American earnings of 1960. This is what is meant by a “gap” in human development; measured on the American Human Development Index, the gap between Asian Americans in New Jersey and Native Americans in South Dakota translates into an entire century of progress in health, education, and living standards. Americans are one people, but given vast gaps in human development among them, they face starkly different challenges. This report provides measurements of some of the most important indicators of human development in the hope that such data will lead to better management of the conditions that create, or contribute to, those outcomes. Particularly in times of budget cuts and hard choices, good data Key Findings Americans are one people, but given vast gaps in human development among them, they face starkly different challenges. 3 Mapping Risks and Resilience KEY FINDINGS are indispensable for wise decisions. By presenting measurements of well-being beyond the narrow confines of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other economic indicators, this report offers a tool to pinpoint areas, some chronic, that will require sustained attention if America is to realize the promise of genuine opportunity for all its citizens. Furthermore, a more holistic analysis of which groups are surging forward and which are stalled or left behind is essential to helping the most vulnerable develop the resilience necessary to prevail in the face of financial crisis, recession, environmental catastrophe, or other challenges. Indeed, the theme of this year’s report is Mapping Risks and Resilience. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the financial crash of 2008, and the BP oil spill in the Gulf, it is clear that the capacity to weather difficult times is crucial. Yet tens of millions of Americans lack even the most rudimentary shelter from a storm, be it meteorological or financial. Decreasing the risks Americans face and increasing their resilience in the face of adversity are keys to advancing human development. We have included a number of new features since publication of the first human development report, The Measure of America 2008–2009: • New American Human Development Index scores and rankings for states and congressional districts to facilitate comparisons with data in the first report • New analysis of race and ethnicity by state • Encouraging examples of what is working to address stubborn social and economic problems • A Dashboard of Risks, a supplement to the American HD Index that measures risk in ten areas of health, education, and income. The Dashboard features faster-changing indicators to highlight pervasive risk factors, from low-birth-weight babies and children not enrolled in preschool to housing insecurity and those not counted in unemployment figures because they have stopped looking for work (see pages 34-35) • An appendix of indicators for further analysis, including comparisons of the United States and other OECD nations Along with these new features, the report and Index contain a wealth of data...