Data link roundup (week of June 28, 2013)

The week's top data analysis links...
This week's theme: child and maternal wellbeing


GAP BETWEEN RHETORIC AND REALITY

American pundits may claim pro-natalist preferences, but the US has the highest maternal healthcare costs of any developed nation.

Compare that with Finland, where mothers-to-be receive both comprehensive prenatal care and a "starter kit" for raising a baby... and Chile, which recently announced a proposal to pay women to have children.


REPORT CARD ON CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES

The 2013 KIDS COUNT DataBook is now available online. Some highlights:

• High school completion rates are up for children in the US, as are math proficiency test scores.
• Child and teen mortality rates are down.
• Child poverty continues to be a problem, exacerbated by the lingering effects of the recession.

TEEN SEXUALITY

While media headlines and "common knowledge" would have us believe that teens are promiscuous, data from the Guttmacher Institute shows that the majority of teens delay sexual debut until at least age 18. Less than 20 percent engage in sex before age 15.

(And we already know that the teen birth rate is at a historic low.)

BEST CHART OF THE WEEK

Source: New York Times