EDITORIAL: Wednesday’s Poverty declines dramatically worldwide

Feb. 01--These days when you see a headline with an upbeat, positive spin, you have to perk up.

Such was the case with a column by Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times: "Why 2017 may be the best year ever."

Whoa, isn't the Times supposed to be predicting doom and gloom with a Trump presidency? Kristof sees bright skies with a worldwide view.

For instance:

--Every day, 250,000 people rise out of extreme poverty.

--In 1980, more than 40 percent of people worldwide were living in extreme poverty. Now, it's just 10 percent.

--Since 1900, more than 100 million children's lives have been saved with vaccinations, breast-feeding, diarrhea treatment and other public health programs.

--Until the 1960s, most people worldwide were illiterate. Now just 15 percent are.

We're living in the age of miracles, says Kristof, quoting an antipoverty advocate.

ABORTION DECLINES

The abortion rate is lower than anytime since 1973 when it was legalized.

This is the continuation of a trend since 1981, reports the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights.

There still are far too many abortions -- 926,200 in the United States last year, reports The New York Times.

Researchers contend that long-term birth control is helping, such as the IUD and contraceptive implants. Abortion opponents cite efforts at state levels to limit abortions, but state declines didn't always coincide with restrictive laws.

The key is for good family planning, so that births are wanted and pregnancies are properly spaced out. That also will help reduce the rate of infant mortality.

FALLING PRISON RATE

President Barack Obama left office with a smaller federal prison system than the one he inherited.

The effort to be smarter with prison sentences has gained wide partisan support on financial and humane grounds.

The goal is to save prison for the clearly dangerous prisoners and find alternative means to rehabilitate people so they can return to society as productive citizens.

In 2015, the total incarceration rate for federal, state and local prison facilities fell to the lowest level since 1998, reported the Bureau of Justice Statistics in The Washington Post.

Since peaking in 2008, the incarceration rate has fallen every year, a decline not seen since the 1960s.

Proof that this decline is smart comes with an overall decline in the rate of violent crime during the same period.

In fact, the states with the biggest drops in their prison population saw the biggest declines in crime, reported the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Specialty drug courts, which use the carrot of drug treatment with the stick of reimprisonment, have been largely effective.

CANCER DEATH RATE DROPS

The cancer death rate in the U.S. has dropped by 25 percent since its 1991 peak.

This translates to more than 2 million lives saved.

The reduction is largely due to less smoking and early detection and treatment, reported the American Cancer Society in The Washington Post.

There's a big gender gap, though. Men are 40 percent more likely to die from cancer than women.

Men are more likely to die from liver cancer, an especially lethal form.

For men, the most common kinds of cancer are: lung, colorectal and prostate. For women: lung, breast and colorectal.

Racial disparities are falling, though the cancer rate remains 15 percent higher for blacks than whites.

There is still much people can do to reduce the risk of cancer by focusing on healthy behaviors, such as good diet, regular exercise and regular physician checkups.

GOOD NEWS ON HEALTH

The year also was marked by more evidence that the positive impact from exercise can hardly be exaggerated.

Your risk of early death rises by 42 percent if you're out of shape. That's almost equal to the risk of death from smoking, reports The New York Times.

Put in dollar terms, we would save $2,500 on medical costs from heart disease by simply walking for 30 minutes most days.

The great news is it doesn't take a lot of exercise to make a good impact on our health.

OPTIMISm ON FINANCES

Americans are more optimistic about their finances than five years ago, reports a survey of 1,800 adults conducted for New York Life.

The proportion of those who feel more financially secure about retirement increased by 20 percentage points since 2011.

Greater percentages of people are reducing debt and saving more.

More Americans are making long-term plans rather than single-year resolutions.

more JOBS locally

The largest increase in employment for the nation over the previous year was racked up in November by metro areas in Orlando (up 4.5 percent) and Jacksonville (up 3.6 percent).

Salt Lake City and Seattle narrowly trailed Jacksonville.

This comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

RECORD CAR SALES

The year 2016 was marked by a record number of cars and trucks sold, beating the previous year's record.

A total of 17.5 million light vehicles were sold last year.

"The economic picture is good, the stock market is strong, wages are edging up, the job picture is good -- a lot of factors worked in favor of good car sales," said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at Autotrader in The Washington Post.

Ford has its best sales year in a decade in 2016 with 2.6 million vehicles sold.

Aging cars eventually had to be replaced. The cycle is ending.

___

(c)2017 The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.)

Visit The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, Fla.) at www.jacksonville.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.