America’s Social Health: Putting Social Issues Back on the Public Agenda

Calling for a fundamental change in the focus of public policy in America, this book paints a vivid portrait of the nation’s social health. Miringoff and Opdycke clearly show that social progress has stalled and the country’s energies need to be directed at critical domestic issues in the years ahead.The authors propose a new agenda for monitoring America’s social well-being built around sixteen key indicators of American life, such as infant mortality, teenage suicide, health insurance coverage, and affordable housing. They maintain that social conditions, like economic conditions, must be constantly monitored in order to have a clear sense of ＂how we are doing＂ as a society.The book builds on the work of the Institute for Innovation in Social Policy and argues that there needs to be a greater visibility for social issues - and a closer link between social reporting and public action - to better address the nation’s social problems. It considers the critical role of the media in advancing public understanding of social issues, and examines important advances in the community indicators movement and international social reporting. Eye-opening and compelling, the book is a provocative centerpiece for policy debates and national initiatives on today’s crucial domestic concerns.

Marque-Luisa Miringoff, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY. She has served as Chair of the Sociology Department and Director of the Urban Studies Program. She has been a member of the Institute for Innovation in Social Policy since 1985 and its Director since 2004. Her writings include The Social Health of the Nation: How America Is Really Doing (1999) with Marc Miringoff and Sandra Opdycke, The Social Costs of Genetic Welfare (1991), mand numerous articles on health and social indicators.,
Sandra Opdycke, Ph.D., has been Associate Director of the Institute for Innovation in Social Policy since 1985. Her writings include The Routledge Historical Atlas of Women in America (2000), Placing a Human Face on the Uninsured (2000), The Social Health of the Nation: How America Is Really Doing (1999) with Marc Miringoff and Marque-Luisa Miringoff, No One Was Turned Away: The Role of Public Hospitals in New York City Since 1900 (1999), and American Social Policy: Reassessment and Reform (1986) with Marc Miringoff. She previously taught at Vassar College.