Index shows ‘social progress’ beyond wealth

Bill Knight column for 12-9, 10 or 11, 2019  

            The new 2019 Social Progress Index shows how media and public fascination with the Gross Domestic Product and similar economic measurements don’t show countries’ true situations.

It also details how the United States’ condition is falling and failing Americans.

Published by the nonprofit Social Progress Imperative, the Social Progress Index (SPI) was developed in 2014 in response to the world’s financial crisis as a tool to help make decisions – whether policymakers or voters – and improve life. It evaluates basic human needs, foundations of well-being, and opportunity through 51 contributing factors such as safety, shelter and nutrition.

The group defines social progress as governments meeting citizens’ basic needs, establishing ways to let people enhance and sustain the quality of their lives, and creating conditions for everyone to reach their full potential.

The organization draws on the United Nations’ 17 sustainable-development goals, from eliminating poverty and hunger to providing decent work and taking action on climate change.

“Rather than emphasizing traditional measurements of success like income and investment, we measure social and environmental indicators to create a clearer picture of what life is really like for everyday people,” the report says. “The index doesn’t measure people’s happiness or life satisfaction, focusing instead on actual life outcomes in areas from shelter and nutrition to rights and education.”

“Wealth is not everything,” said the group’s U.S. director, Justin Edwards. The Index “is sort of challenging the way of determining progress only by an indication of wealth. We can use this to better understand our community at large.”

Elsewhere, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz warns that unless the obsession many leaders have with Gross National Product ends, there will be little chance of fighting climate destruction, financial inequality, and worldwide crises of democracy

“Something is fundamentally wrong with the way we assess economic performance and social progress,” said Stiglitz, co-author of “Measuring What Counts: The Global Movement for Well-Being,” published last month.

“If our economy seems to be growing but that growth is not sustainable because we are destroying the environment and using up scarce natural resources, our statistics should warn us,” he said. “If we measure the wrong thing, we will do the wrong thing.”

Weeks ago, San Jose, Calif., became the first U.S. municipality to use the SPI. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said the Index can show where needs aren’t met and where resources are used.

“We’ll be able to really understand in granular detail how we can best improve quality of life across matters from education, to safety, access to economic opportunity, income – a whole host of indicators we know that are important to the health and well-being of our community,” Liccardo said.

Social Progress Imperative CEO Michael Green said, “The rich world has to start taking the Sustainable-Development Goals seriously. Better outcomes in health and education or better protection of rights, the environment and minorities should be of interest to investors looking for lower risk and strong fundamentals for future economic growth.”

Index rankings and graphics for 149 nations show that Earth’s countries are underperforming in 8 of 12 major sections, so SPI predicts that the planet won’t meet the UN’s sustainable goals for 2030 until decades later.

The United States is one of four countries to backslide since 2014, including declines in health, education and personal rights. Despite spending more on health care than any country, U.S. health and wellness (75.27, #34) is comparable to Croatia’s (75.33, #33). U.S. schools (92.35, #45 on access to basic knowledge) are comparable to Uzbekistan (91.99, #48).

Overall, the United States ranks Number 26 in the world, SPI says; the Number 1 country is Norway.

Comparing Index findings, Americans’ situation is inferior to Norway’s in water/sanitation, shelter, access to basic knowledge, access to information, personal rights, personal freedom, and nutrition and medical care (particularly with a maternal mortality rate of 30 per 100,000 live births, compared to 3/100,000 in Norway).

The United States excels in inclusiveness, access to advanced education, and personal safety, but still trails not just Germany, Japan and New Zealand, but the Czech Republic, Estonia and Slovenia.

Globally, the biggest advances have been in shelter, water/sanitation, access to information, and advanced education opportunities. However, personal rights worldwide have declined, as 91 countries recorded fewer rights, with freedoms of religion and expression deteriorating the most.

“Social progress is not advancing quickly or widely enough,” Green said. “Even the most prosperous countries have areas of weakness that they need to address, and it should be of great concern to all, that rights are declining – including in the United States.”