United States ranks out of top 10 in well-being index; see what dragged U.S. down
By , on September 16, 2014 at 3:38 PM, updated September 17, 2014 at 12:55 AM, Source - Al.com
This map, produced by Gallup-Healthways, shows a breakdown of which areas score high and low on a global "well-being" index. Overall, the United States ranks 12th. But some regions, including the South, rate considerably below the national average.
Americans like to think of their country as the greatest on Earth, but the United States is not among of the top 10 in a report on global well-being published Tuesday by Gallup-Healthways.
The organization, which relied on 133,000 surveys in 135 countries in 2013, rated each nation in five categories â purpose, social, financial, community and physical well-being. The U.S. ranked No. 12.
The report describes the United States having a "good-but-not-great well-being" in 2013. More than a third of its citizens are "thriving" in three or more of those elements. The figure for other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is 24 percent.
"Globally, the U.S. ranks in the top 20 worldwide in purpose and social well-being, with strong levels of thriving and relatively low "suffering" in each element that set it apart," the report states. "In other areas of well-being, however, the U.S. does not stand out. The percentage of American adults who are suffering in physical and community well-being is comparable to global levels."
Gallup and Healthways executives said they produced the rankings to give leaders in other countries information they need to improve the lives of their citizens.
"Working together, Gallup and Healthways have the unique ability to measure well-being at individual, organization and geographic levels, creating a 'golden thread' of data and insights that allows us to act with precision to create meaningful change in populations," Healthways CEO Ben Leedle Jr. said in a prepared statement.
Jim Clifton, chairman and CEO of Gallup, said in a statement that every leader has a responsibility to improve the lives of the people they serve.
"As the Gallup-Healthways partnership expands its global view, discovering new opportunities and challenges, this landmark index provides a significant step for our partnership in becoming the world's official statistician for well-being and the leading provider of well-being improvement strategies across the globe," he stated.
Top countries a surprise
Surveyors asked 10 questions to rate well-being in five categories:
- Purpose, which measures whether people like what they do each day.
- Social, which measures whether people have supportive relationships and love in their lives.
- Financial, which measures whether people have enough money to do what they want.
- Community, which measures whether people like where they live and feel safe.
- Physical, which measures how people rate their health.
The countries at bottom of the rankings are hardly a shock. They include nations wracked by war, poverty and corruption. Syria and Afghanistan, for instance, tie for last with 1 percent of citizens thriving in at least three categories. Other countries include Haiti, Chad, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The countries that topped the list, though, might qualify as surprises. Panama ranks first, with 61 percent of citizens thriving in three or more of the well-being categories. Costa Rica (44 percent) ranks second, Brazil (39 percent) is tied for fourth and Uruguay and El Salvador (37 percent) are tied for sixth.
Other counties in the top 20 are richer nations that generally fare well in international comparisons â countries like Demark, Austria, Sweden and Canada.
Globally, just 17 percent of the world's population is thriving in three or more elements. The Americas does the best, with all elements outperforming the global averages.
The Gallup-Healthways report indicates that that the United States has a big gap when it comes to financial well-being. A relatively high 37 percent of respondents reported they are thriving in this category. But the percentage of respondents who were suffering, 24 percent, also was high.
"And while the U.S. has the largest (Gross Domestic Product) in the world and the 10th highest GDP per capita, it ranks 34th in terms of the fewest adults who are suffering (24%), including 23% among those who are employed," the report states.
The report deems physical well-being the nation's "weakest link," especially among younger people. Of citizens younger than 45, only 33 percent are thriving. That is 7 percentage points less than the average among countries in the Americas.
Physical well-being also is a challenge. The report noted that the country's obesity rate, 27.7 percent, is the second-highest in the hemisphere, edged only by Mexico.
Big regional differences
A map broken down by region shows that while the United States overall is close to the top of the global well-being ranking, parts of America are "struggling" more.
While more than 40 percent of the population parts of the Midwest are thriving in three or more categories, for instance, the figure for parts of the South is between 10 and 20 percent. That would put the South in the same category as most of Asia, Eastern Europe and parts of Africa.
A more in-depth report earlier this year by Gallup-Healthways, which used different criteria, also showed the South lagging in well-being. Alabama, for instance, scored a 64.1 out of 100 overall in that March report, slipping two spots from the previous year to rank 47th in the country.
The Mobile metro area, which includes the city and all of Mobile County, ranked 181st out of 189 metropolitan areas with a 62.9 rating. It was the only metro area in Alabama to finish in the bottom fifth nationally in all six categories.
All five metro areas measured in Alabama have dropped precipitously compared with the rest of the country. Huntsville, for instance, was ranked 14th in 2008, placed 81st last year. That was still tops for the state.
Source - http://www.al.com/news/index.s...anks_out_of_top.html