Protection of Children in a Bad Condition and the Welfare State

I. Protection of Children Falling Short
Protection of children in the United States is in a very bad condition: nineteen states are being sued for their failure to protect children. It is shocking to read of how young the children are who die of abuse or neglect. "The overwhelming majority of children who die from abuse or neglect are under the age of four; roughly half are less than one year old." -- a hundred and ten Massachusetts children died between 2009 and 2013 in circumstances suggesting abuse or neglect, and that a third of them had been under the care of the D.C.F." [1]  Child protection is trapped in a cycle of scandal and reform.

" 'Public attention to the welfare of poor children,' the historian Linda Gordon has argued, 'coincides with the eras in which women have a strong political voice. It was therefore high when women were most actively fighting for the right to vote (from 1870 to 1920) and during the women's liberation movement (from 1961 to 1975).' 'Between 1970 and 2000, the number of infants murdered, per hundred thousand infants in the population, rose from 5.8 to 9.1.' " Today, the United States has one of the highest rates of childhood poverty of any  nation in the developed world." [2]

"The ten adverse childhood experiences are emotional, physical or sexual abuse; physical or emotional neglect; violence, alcoholism and drug abuse, incarceration, or mental illness within the family; and having been raised by anyone other that two biological parents." [3]

II. Factors Associated With Children Leading Healthier, Happier Lives
In countries with lower levels of political, economic, and social inequality, mothers and their children lead healthier, happier lives. The top ten of these countries are: 1. Norway, 2. Finland; 3. Iceland; 4. Denmark; 5. Sweden; 6. Netherlands; 7. Spain; 8. Germany; 9. Australia; and 10. Belgium. The bottom ten are: 170. Sierra Leone/Haiti; 171. Guinea-Bissau; 172. Chad; 173. Cote D'voire; 174. Gambia; 175. Niger; 176. Mali; 177. Central African Republic; 178. Dr Congo.

Top Ten                                        Maternal Health                                     Bottom Ten
1 in 12,160                                   A mother's lifetime risk of                       1 in 30
Women Die of a                           dying as a result of pregnancy                  Women Die of a
Maternal Cause                            or childbirth                                             Maternal Cause

1 in 290                                       Children's Well-Being                             1 in 8
Children Die                                A child's risk of dying before                   Children Die
Before Age 5                              their fifth birthday                                     Before Age 5                                  

$56,120                                     Economic Status                                      $635
Annual Income                           The gross national income                        Annual Income
Per Person                                 (GNI) per capita                                     Per Person

18                                             Educational Status                                   8
Years of                                    Expected time children                            Years of
Schooling                                  will spend in school                                 Schooling

39%                                         Political Status                                         11%
Seats Held                                Participation of women                            Seats Held
By Women                               in national government                             By Women  [4]
The U.S. is #33 on the list.

Footnotes
[1]; [2] and [3] Jill Lepore, "Baby Does," Time, February 8, 2016.

[4] "Welfare State," The Nation, February 15, 2016.