The % of people in the U.S. living under $2/day (PPP) is under 2%, just like in all the other "first world" countries. That's the level set by the U.N.
The U.S. is #13 according to the UN's "Human Development Index", ahead of countries like Austria, Denmark, Italy, Belgium, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Germany.
U.S. infant mortality rate is 6.26 per 1000 live births which, as you point out, is higher than most other first world nations. On the other hand, the rate for the E.U. as a whole is 5.76.
You can point out that certain E.U. member states are "dragging down" the E.U. average. Okay. I can point out that certain U.S. states are "dragging down" the U.S. average.
It's also worth noting that there are significant demographic differences between the U.S. and those countries with better infant mortality rates. For instance, the rate among U.S. whites is 5.7. Among U.S. non-black Hispanics its 5.6. Among U.S. blacks its 13.6. Now one could argue that the extraordinarily high rate among blacks is due to poverty, except that the rate among non-black Hispanics is so low. Both groups are over-represented among the poor. Studies have examined the extent to which income and education level can explain the disparity between blacks and whites, and have found that neither explains the disparity. So it may just be genetic, in which case the U.S. is disadvantaged (demographically speaking) vs. predominantly white Western European countries.
I'm not saying there isn't a problem with poverty in the U.S. But are you seriously arguing that the U.S. is a "poor" country in a global sense, and/or that it should be classified as a "third world" nation?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2010 05:06PM by Isildur.