One of the seven societies
United States: Participation to Burden, Worth and Respect
The five final values
| Measure | United States | Reference point |
|---|
| Participation to Burden ratio, paid work (with home work) | 0.30 (0.55) | 1 = participation equals burden |
| Ratio of the richest 1% (its parts counted in hours of work) | −0.86 | 0 = on the brink; above 0 = inside the green boundary |
| Overall worth level, hours of NEP work a week per capable adult (set point) | 32.6 (33.0) | Above the set point (in brackets) = spare participation |
| Respect value | 0.79 | 1 = world-average preference gradient where the hours given equal the hours needed |
| VIL depth | 92% | 0% = no need rests on a resource that does not satisfy the green check |
Size of the society
| World Bank region | North America |
|---|
| People in 2025 (millions) | 341.8 |
|---|
| Share of the world | 4.2% |
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The ratio and its parts
| NEP share of paid hours | 0.41–0.47 |
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| All-hours ratio R (2020) | 0.68 |
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| Ratio, paid work (narrow–broad) | 0.30 (0.28–0.32) |
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| Ratio, with unpaid home work | 0.55 (0.53–0.56) |
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· All six measured values lie between 0 and 1; none reaches 1. The highest is 0.71 (India), the lowest 0.30 (United States).
The richest 1% of adults, in hours of work a year
| Final value | −0.86 |
|---|
| Range from the tests | −0.92 to −0.71 |
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| Own work (hours) | 2,148 |
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| Others' work drawn (hours) | 26,966 |
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| Drawn beyond own work (hours) | 24,819 |
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All four groups, in hours of work
| Bottom 50% | 3.18 |
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| Middle 40% | 0.41 |
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| Next 9% | −0.11 |
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| Richest 1% | −0.86 |
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Other sides of the same picture
| Richest 1%: carbon, times the fair share (2019) | 104 |
|---|
| Wealth held offshore, % of the society's yearly output (2023) | 8.5 |
|---|
| Tax collected, % of net domestic product (2021) | 32 |
|---|
Food grown and sent out
| Food grown ÷ need | 1.74 |
|---|
| Sent out, share of need | 0.20 |
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| Share that feeds people | 0.34 |
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| NEP work given (+) or drawn (−), net, hours a week per capable adult | −4.1 |
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| Food counted | 1.00 |
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Overall worth level
| Worth level (hours of NEP work a week per capable adult) | 32.6 |
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| Set point (hours needed a week per capable adult) | 33.0 |
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| Capable adults below the set point | 55% |
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The hours given to the NEPs are close to one another (25.6 to 36.1 a week per capable adult); the set points differ much more (25.0 to 45.1). So where needs go unmet, it is not because people work less: Nigeria's capable adults give 32.5 hours a week to the NEPs, about as many as those of the United States (32.6). What differs is what each hour yields for the society's own needs. It yields more where machines and fuel do part of the work (see Part 6), and less where part of what the society has goes to others: Nigeria pays out part of its income abroad every year, and about one in six of the doctors it trained works in a rich country. The six domains show where each set point comes from:
The three routes
| Caring acts | 1.09 |
|---|
| Teaching unselfishness | 1.06 |
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| Strategies | 1.02 |
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| Q | 1.06 |
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The two halves of the preference gradient
| Given directly, % of own income | 0.3 |
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| S | 0.54 |
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| Q | 1.06 |
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| PR | 0.80 |
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Respect value
| Preference gradient | 0.80 |
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| Worth level (share of the set point) | 0.99 |
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| Respect value | 0.79 |
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| All individuals | 0.87 |
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· Egypt came first in 77% of the runs, in the first two places in 94%, and above the United States in 99%.
· Russia came last in 76% of the runs and in the last three places in 98%; the United States and Brazil were each in the last three in 70%.
How much of each need rests on resources failing the green check
| Food: factory nitrogen and wild fish | 41% |
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| Food: farm work by machines | 100% |
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| Food, both together | 100% |
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| Cooking and heating | 100% |
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| Electricity | 74% |
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| Transport | 95% |
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VIL depth, and what if those resources vanished
| VIL depth (range) | 92% (92–92%) |
|---|
| Production adequacy now → if they vanished (with pumping) | 1.00 → 0.81 (0.68) |
|---|
| Set point, hours needed a week per capable adult: now → if they vanished (food and electricity cut + farm machine work by hand = together, range) (with pumping) | 33.0 → 40.8 + 134.3 = 175.1 (144.3–207.8) (182.5) |
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| Worth level, hours given a week | 32.6 |
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The ratio beside the needs reaching the people
| Ratio, paid work (Part 1) | 0.30 |
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| Share of the basic needs reaching the people (Part 3) | 0.96 |
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· The respect value runs from 0.65 to 1.37; the middle three (1.03, 0.93, 0.92) are not firmly ordered, nor are Brazil and the United States (both 0.79) (see Part 4).
