The OECD

The term "rich nations" as used in this report is defined by membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Founded in 1960, the OECD is the international organization of the industrialized market-economy countries. As comparable statistics are available for most OECD countries, and as most have achieved near-universal basic health care and education for children, its membership constitutes a convenient group for the analysis of problems facing the children of economically developed societies.

As of 2005, the following 30 countries are …