Moms in Norway are the envy of mothers around the world.
A report released on Tuesday by the American organization Save the Children shows for the second year in a row that Norway is the best place in the world for mothers. Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland also rank alongside Norway in the top ten countries for mothers.
Russia languishes behind in 38th place, unchanged in its ranking from the year before.
American children twice as likely to die than Norwegians
The United States ranks only seven places ahead of Russia at 31st. The Save the Children report states a child in the U.S. is more than twice as likely to die before turning five when compared to a child in Norway.
Canada ranked 20th worldwide, still well behind the Scandinavians, but above the U.S.
The report assessed 164 countries worldwide on factors such as how likely a woman is to die during childbirth, the prevalence of modern contraception, maternity leave benefits and a comparison of female to male earned income.
The ratio of female to male income in Norway is the highest in the world. Norway also has the highest rate of contraception use and one of the most generous maternity leave policies among developed countries. Only one in 175 Norwegian mothers lose a child before the age of five.
Australia and Iceland tied for second rank, followed by Sweden and Denmark.
The worst place to be a mother
According to the index, the worst place to have a child is Afghanistan, where women have the greatest chance of dying during childbirth. The report states every Afghan mother is likely to experience the death of a young child, with one in five children dying before age five. Only 14 per cent of Afghan children are born with help from a skilled attendant and women and girls are unlikely to receive primary education.
The best place for kids
The Mother’s Index also included a closer look at the best countries for children to grow up in, ranking countries on how many children under die before age five or are severely underweight. Children’s access to clean water and the comparative school enrollment levels for boys and girls were also assessed.
In this category, Norway dropped to seventh place, while Sweden topped the list. Italy and Japan tied for third place, followed by Germany, Austria and France. Iceland tied Norway for seventh place, still well above Russia, which scored 39th.
Save the Children is an organization based in the U.S. that works to improve the lives of children in that country and around the world.
