U.S. Is a Poor Model for Reducing Social Exclusion in Europe

http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue40/SchmittZipper40.htm

-----

This paper reviews several international indicators of social exclusion to assess how well the United States has done in using its apparently greater flexibility and dynamism to reduce social exclusion. On most measures of inequality, poverty, health, education, crime, and punishment, the United States does not fare well compared to the much-better-funded welfare states in Europe. The gap between U.S. and European performance in many of these dimensions is striking, and not fully acknowledged in the current debate around promoting U.S.-style reforms in Europe. What is more surprising, however, is that the United States, in fact, performs poorly in two areas where U.S. superiority is usually simply taken for granted: incorporating traditionally disadvantaged groups into the paid labor force and providing opportunities for economic mobility.

-----