Since this is Mother’s Day in the US, let’s note that the NGO Save the Children has created an index of the best and worst places to be a mother. Also check out their great multimedia presentation. It’s a great resource. Save the Children based their index on the following criteria:
- Lifetime risk of maternal mortality
- Percentage of women using modern contraception
- Skilled attendant at delivery
- Female life expectancy
- Expected number of years of formal schooling for females
- Ratio of estimated female-to-male earned income
- Maternity leave benefits
- Participation of women in national government
- Under-5 mortality rate
- Percentage of children under age 5 moderately or severely underweight
- School enrollment ratios
- Ratio of girls to boys enrolled in primary school
- Percentage of population with access to safe water
It is pretty comprehensive and, of course, it reflects the fact that market-based policies (translation: do-nothing policy stances) do not provide the benefits necessary for healthy motherhood. The index also assumes, rightfully so, that gender equality is also a condition for healthy motherhood.
Top 10 Best places to be a mother
- 1 Sweden
- 2 Norway
- 3 Iceland
- 4 New Zealand
- 5 Denmark
- 6 Australia
- 7 Finland
- 8 Ireland
- 9 Germany
- 10 France
In case you’re wondering, the United States ranks 27th, down one slot from last year (must be these great family values-based social policies Bush implemented). Unsurprisingly, the Scandinavian social democracies fare the best, what with all the social programs, and vacations and health services. And all that with the general public policies designed to reduce inequalities, create safer societies.
Bottom 10 Worst places to be a mother
- 137 Ethiopia
- 138 Mali
- 139 Djibouti
- 140 Eritrea
- 141 Guinea-Bissau
- 142 Angola
- 143 Sierra Leone
- 144 Yemen
- 145 Chad
- 146 Niger
These are not surprising either. Sub-Saharan Africa is plagued with poverty and other problems that completely gendered, that is, these problems affect women the first and the worst (bad sentence / bad grammar… hey, at least France makes it to the top 10!).
As StC CEO Charles MacCormack states,
“To close the gap and improve conditions for mothers and children, especially among the poorest, the global community needs to do a better job of providing mothers with access to education, income-earning opportunities, and basic health care – for mothers and their children.”
And here I thought all we had to do was to encourage abstinence and marriage. </snark>
Feminism has never been more relevant.
Front page
Remember hearing about how Obama would present a new face
to the world? Andrew Sullivan, I believe, waxed poetic about that and so did a “friend” of mine.
Has anyone thought about what a face the US would present to the world with a WOMAN president? Esp. one who has helped started a micro-bank for women, helped change adoption laws, etc. etc.????
Remember how Yoko Ono said that “woman is nigger of the world?” Well, isn’t it a WOMAN’S time, too? Never hear that anywhere…
I agree
I can already see HRC going to Muslim countries and having the leaders of these countries having to treat her as not just as an equal but as the President of the US. Wouldn’t that be grand? What a role model.
Who else would challenge, just by her very presence (but also through her great understanding of the issues), the enormous problem that is discrimination against women?
It is a woman’s time. It is OUR time.