U.S. Social Well-Being Reaches a 25-Year Low
The nation’s social well-being has reached its lowest point in almost 25 years, with children and young people suffering most, according to a newspaper report.
An index developed by Fordham University researchers said child abuse, teenage suicide, drug abuse and the high school dropout rate had worsened in 1994, the most recent year covered, the New York Times reported Monday.
“The 1996 Index of Social Health” studies government statistics on 16 different social problems and then compares annual measures on a scale of 0 to 100. The score for 1994 was 37.5; the next-lowest was 38.1 in 1991. The best year was 1973, with a score of 77.5. The index dates to 1970.
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