Forum Post: United States Ranking among Industrialized Nations

The distribution of wealth in the United States is among the most unequal among industrialized nations, according to a study by the independent Bertelsmann Foundation, based in Gutersloh, Germany................................ It was conducted independently of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the foundation said, but gives credit to the battle cry of many protesters that "we are the 99 percent" — the vast majority of the population that does not benefit from the income of the world's leading economy...................................... The United States ranked in the bottom five on a combination of issues including poverty prevention, health and access to education — ahead of only Greece, Chile, Mexico and Turkey — according to the study on social justice in the 31 developed nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development............................. Distribution of wealth in the United States is the most unequal among the nations examined, with more than 17 percent below the poverty line. Of those living below the poverty line in the U.S., some 21.6 percent of them are children, who also suffer from a lack of access to equal education, it showed.