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Washington, D.C., July 23rd – Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat, announced today that the recently released Human Development Report of the U.S. reveals Virginia’s 8th District, containing Northern Virginia’s close-in suburbs of Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and Reston, is ranked the 2nd most well-off in the nation out of all 436 congressional districts. (View Congressional District maps w/ rankings). Rep. Moran has represented VA-8 in Congress since 1990.
“It’s no secret that Northern Virginia is a great place to live,” said Moran. “But what’s most interesting about the report is the great disparity in our nation between the haves and have-nots. We have the greatest income gap between the top 1 percent of households and the bottom 90 percent since the Great Depression. 47 million Americans go without health insurance everyday. This report is a wake-up call to all Americans. We are only as strong as our weakest link and closing that gap should be a national priority.”
Most economists use indicators to evaluate public welfare such as GDP, the Dow Jones, NASDAQ, consumer spending etc. The Human Development Report differs from traditional models by emphasizing the broader, everyday experience of ordinary people. It has created the American Human Development Index, which provides a single measure of well-being for all Americans, disaggregated by state and congressional district, as well as by gender, race, and ethnicity.
The three core areas emphasized in the index include: 1) living a long and healthy life 2) having access to knowledge and 3) enjoying a decent standard of living. All data is procured from U.S. government sources.
The report found that Northern Virginia’s 8th District ranked:
• 1st in health index with the longest life expectancy in the nation at 82.9 years; 10 years greater than the KY-5 which has the shortest life expectancy
• 3rd highest in education index; based on educational attainment and school enrollment
• 3rd highest in income index; based on median earnings for population over age 16
The combination of these index scores placed VA-8 second out of all 436 congressional districts with a total Human Development (HD) index score of 8.14. The U.S. as a whole has an HD score of 5.06. The top ranked congressional district was NY-14, located in Manhattan, NYC.
Other statistics of interest:
• Virginia ranks among the top six states for having the greatest disparity between their highest and lowest ranking congressional districts. Highest: VA-8; Lowest VA-9
• Connecticut has the highest HD index score among all states; Mississippi 50th; Virginia ranks 13th, Maryland 5th and Washington D.C. 3rd
• VA, DC, Maryland are in the top ten for having the highest median income among states. The other seven top states are located in the Northeast.
• U.S. spends roughly $5.2 billion every day on health care--more than any other nation in the world. Yet Americans live shorter lives than virtually every Western European and Nordic country.
• U.S. infant mortality rate is on par with Croatia, Cuba and Poland. If the U.S. rate were equal to that of 1st ranked Sweden, 21,000 more American babies would have celebrated their first birthday in 2005.
Starting in 1990, the United Nations began publishing a global Human Development Report. This year, the first Human Development Report focused solely on the U.S. was produced. Published by Columbia University Press and the Social Science Research Council, the report was funded jointly by OXFAM, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Conrad Hilton Foundation, the Social Science Research Council and the Annenberg Foundation. The U.S. report will be a biannual publication.
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