2011 Mothers' Index Rankings: Which Countries Are Best For Raising Children? (PHOTOS)

"Boooorn in the U.S.A ... I was ...," The Boss made his case for patriotism, but it turns out Springsteen's mother may have preferred he be born in Norway. Or maybe England.

Save the Children has released its 2011 Mothers' Index Rankings, shedding light on which of the world's countries are best for women and their children -- and which are subpar. Out of the 43 developed countries (rankings were separated into "more developed," "less developed" and "least developed"), the U.S. came in at 31, while Norway came out on top.

Since the Nordic countries always seem to rank best when it comes to women's and kids' wellness, it might be more surprising that we deviated significantly from our cultural counterparts -- the United Kingdom and Canada. The U.K. was named the 13th best country for mothers, while Canada squeezed in at number 20.

So why did we rank so poorly, bested by countries including Poland, Latvia and Slovakia?

The scores were determined by measuring seven indicators for women in each developed country: risk of maternal death, how many women use modern contraception, life expectancy, years of schooling, maternity leave benefits, how much women earn as compared to men and the percentage of women in government. The study also measured three indicators for children: primary and secondary school enrollment numbers and childhood mortality rates in each country.

There are several areas where the U.S. does particularly poorly -- explaining why American moms might not quite be living the American Dream:

-- We have one of the highest maternal mortality rates of any industrialized country -- 1 in 1,200 to be exact. Only three "more developed" countries ranked worse on this indicator.

-- The under-five child mortality rate in the U.S. is eight in 1,000 births, meaning that an American baby is more than twice as likely to die before reaching five than in Finland, Norway, Slovenia, Greece, Sweden, Luxembourg, Japan, Singapore and Iceland.

-- Forty-two percent of American children aren't enrolled in preschool, making us the developed nation with the fifth-lowest rates of enrollment.

Perhaps the most "Wait, did I read that right?" stat -- the United States is the only nation in the developed world that doesn't have federally-required maternity leave. Couple that with findings that the average leave American women get is shorter and less likely to be covered by her employer than in any other "wealthy" nation, and it becomes clear how much work we have to do on behalf of mothers.

Click through below to see the developed nations that made the top and bottom of the rankings. Then, tell us what you think we should be changing to get the U.S. out of the 30s.

Comments

[LizLemonsbrother]

12:15 AM on 11/16/2011

//Socialist countries always rank higher in terms of healthcare, happiness and education. However, the US won't modify it's outdated industrialist capitalism structure, so corporations control our lives. I am in my 50's but was asked if I was pregnant during a job interview 30 years ago because they didn't want any "pregnant ladies."

Our country pays lip service to supporting mothers, marriage, children and families but they don't really take action on this American value. The stress level American women deal with to raise their children has gone through the roof.

[nsnas]

07:26 AM on 11/17/2011

American values??? The only American value is money.

[dbrett480]

12:28 PM on 11/11/2011

I don't think the issue is with the US government, but with the incredibly high number of immigrants in this country. Most of the other countries mentioned don't have nearly as many immigrants as we do, and that will drive our statistics lower.

[ArjenBoatsma]

08:18 AM on 11/12/2011

Oh please, blame the immigrants....

The issue with the US is that is has by far the most regressive and inhumane social policies of the industrialized nations, and this ranking is another confirmation of that.

[dbrett480]

11:28 AM on 11/12/2011

The fact remains that this country has a high number of illegal immigrants. Since illegal immigrants don't have the same access to social services, their level of child welfare will not be as high.

[Marc NL]

10:19 AM on 11/15/2011

You are wrong. The Netherlands (my home country) the immigration rate is 10% vs the U.S with 12%

Also more people immigrate to Europe 33% the the U.S 20%
Let me know if I need to link the source.

[MegaMomSC]

01:37 PM on 11/10/2011

Everything about the Norwegian courtries is different. From the way employees are treated, to government services, to crime rates . . . you name it, it's better there. We need to look to their standards for more than just where it's better to raise children. What about where it's better to work? Where it's better to get sick? Where it's better to etc., etc., etc.? The U.S. is NOT the greatest country on earth, and it hasn't been for a long time. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! We need to change our way of thinking and our way of governing rapidly! It's not 1776 anymore.

[ArjenBoatsma]

08:21 AM on 11/12/2011

There is only one "Norwegian country": Norway. I suppose you meant to say "Scandinavian countries".

For the rest, I very much agree with everything you say, and I'll attribute your slip to the quality (or lack thereof) of the public education system in the US.

[MegaMomSC]

10:26 AM on 11/14/2011

It was an accident. I have a masters and have completed most of the work required for a Ph.D. in English. Yes, the education system is bad, but I have always been a top student -- high school, college, and grad school. Excuse the error. I didn't have but a few seconds to respond.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

10:46 PM on 11/14/2011

You ignore a lot about "Norwegian" countries.  Everything from trade surpluses to fertility rates to effects of nationalism.

And a lot of this works for all of Europe.  Not just the "Norwegian countries" (which I believe would include Norway and Norge and... well.. that's it.)

There is greater funding to social services partly because they can.  But it is not going to last.  That is a huge problem for the west.  The EU has structural problems, but social views are likely to be more damaging.  European states are not fans of other European states and peoples.  there is no real unity.

Anywise, the future is not the present.  Neither for a nation that is spending more than it can raise in revenue nor nations that have total fertility rates that are unable to maintain their population.

[empress trudy]

12:10 PM on 11/10/2011

Since this is a liberal blog clearly the US is worse than the worst day in Somalia during a plague addled tornado of fire.

[MegaMomSC]

01:42 PM on 11/10/2011

Yep. It probably is.

[LastAngryWoman]

11:11 PM on 11/15/2011

This IS a liberal blog...and they say gravity exists. Doesn't make gravity NOT exist, just cause they said so.

[Marc NL]

10:24 AM on 11/10/2011

On top of the normal 16 weeks of paid maternity leave woman get in The Netherlands most man also have the option to stay home 1 day a week unpaid to take care of the baby. This is for a period of 4 years. Most moms also have options to work part time so in case two parents are working there is a parent present all day for one or two days. after 4 years the kid normally goes to some form of daycare or school.

Here in the U.S I couldn't believe 9 month pregnant woman still working when clearly they should be home.
Sad thing is nobody thinks anything of it because people just don't know any better.

[MegaMomSC]

01:54 PM on 11/10/2011

When I was 8 1/2 months pregnant I was in grad school and clerking part time at a local state agency. I had to type a lot of letters and do a lot of filing. There was another clerk with the same duties I had. She volunteered to do all of the filing if I would do all of the letters. (The filing was becoming ridiculous. I had to sit all the way down on the floor to file anything in the bottom drawers, and most of the people I did the filing for wouldn't even let me do it anymore.) Our "big boss" found out about the trade and made us stop. I had to resume filing. It was petty bureaucratic nonsense, and I went ahead and resigned a few days later. But that goes to show you how our pregant employees are treated, whereas in other countries they are given very special treatment if they even work at all. It's crazy.

[Ginger Naylor]

09:56 AM on 11/10/2011

Take note that the USA has it's own "politics" regarding children which the parents have no control over unless they want to be under investigation or have their children taken away from them . To say no to anything through the school, including trips to health centers and such will cause the child to fail that class. If parents had more control without threat, then the children would be just fine

[MegaMomSC]

01:41 PM on 11/10/2011

I was once one of those investigated parents. I had to keep my son out of school frequently because of a chronic stomach condition that they were still investigating. They never determined the cause of the bleeding, but it would get worse when he got stressed out, and he would have to miss school. Even though I had a note from his doctor saying he may miss days off and on, but that he didn't need to see him every time, they called out the forces on me. I had the truancy officer and Child Protective Services all over me. They almost drove me nuts. Once I showed THEM the note from the doctor, they were okay with it. The school admins were the ones with the problem. And he maintained an A/B average in honors classes!

[teachyourself]

07:19 AM on 11/10/2011

Actually the song was a case for anti-patriotism...but fitting nonetheless...."Born in the U.S.A." is a 1984 song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen....Lyrically, the song deals with the effects of the Vietnam War on Americans, although it is often misinterpreted as a patriotic or nationalistic anthem (wikipedia.org).

[trissh1]

02:02 AM on 11/10/2011

This is a country where being a parent is not valued so, this is not a surprise. There is nothing in place to support parenthood and finding yourself in the position of being a working single parent is terrifying. You are expected to tend to the needs of your company 100% but, punished for attending to the needs of your family like a sick child. You are told to leave your children home alone and forbidden any contact with them except on your break so, you can't call and check a sick child for hours on end.
All these companies know that happier, calmer employees are more productive yet, they force us to choose to forget the ones we love while on their clock. This goes for anyone who is in a care taking position with a sick family member.I was caring for my dying Aunt a couple years ago...there was one day that I knew she was getting really bad. I could not ask to leave early because she was an Aunt and not considered to be an important family member. I got out of work that day and raced to her house to find everyone crying outside on the porch.I knew at that moment she has died before I got there. After all that we had been through I missed her last breath. I missed telling her I loved her one last time and that will follow me for the rest of my life.

[ArjenBoatsma]

08:28 AM on 11/12/2011

"This is a country where being a parent is not valued ..."

In this country, being human, a human life is not valued (except, of course when it is still unborn!). The only value in this country is the value of capital, the value of a dollar. Everything else is secondary, and it shows in every aspect of this society, be it in Washington, Wall Street, even in Main Street.

[Cascadienne]

01:56 PM on 11/09/2011

Does it not absolutely terrify Americans to see their country race to the lower middles of the heap? In almost every international poll (education, healthcare, childhood poverty, etc. etc. etc.)? I mean, how could it not keep you up at night and FIGHTING for the great country that once was?

I'm highly disappointed with Canada's ranking - we could do so much better given our small democracy and 'socialist' bent.

[hawaiianstile]

03:12 PM on 11/10/2011

america was never high in any of those categories. lol its not like they were the top and fell, they were never anywhere near the top for any of these important categories. these findings dont surprise me at all.

[sunnybunny]

01:53 PM on 11/09/2011

Wow, we sure rank badly there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_leave

[Cascadienne]

06:39 PM on 11/09/2011

:O The US is in good (?) standing with (drumroll) Swaziland! Papua New Guinea! Liberia!

...seriously?

[sunnybunny]

11:29 AM on 11/10/2011

You managed to find the ONLY ones that are as bad as US about it. Even Pakistan & Somalia are more on board than we are. That's pretty pathetic.

[Afran Hirsch]

12:18 PM on 11/09/2011

Answer: Just to what the other countries did right. Question: Will we do it? Answer: Of course not.

[peachpage01]

09:26 AM on 11/09/2011

Canada at #20? Clearly the people taking the poll know little about our fine country.

[NOSarahFailin2012]

01:36 PM on 11/10/2011

we know you live in a socialist hellhole. That's all we need to know.

[anneisanne]

07:21 AM on 11/09/2011

To all the people who are uninformed enough to be shocked that largely the list consists of European countries who are by extension um.....white, it's not the LISTMAKERS who are doing that on purpose, it's 500 years of European domination and power that are doing that. Are you seriously going to expect that after centuries of having their countries stripped of resources, Angola or the Congo or Boliva or wherever are going to have an awesome maternal leave plan? Of course it's going to be dominated by Scandinavian countries because, well, those societies have made a serious effort in the last 100 years to use resources to invest in their children. Not that I'm sweethearting this survey, but a lot of incredulous people here seem to not understand what the hell the survey is asking.

[ray christl]

06:43 AM on 11/09/2011

You think they have a WHITE bias--just a wee bit !!! Demographics indeed.

[Silverfern]

10:05 AM on 11/09/2011

Ray, Please explain wht these countries rank highly because they are predominantly white. Please explain the bias in the study. You cant, so stop calling out the survey with statements you cant back up. And "I dont like the results" is not enough.

[Dr of psychology]

11:30 AM on 11/09/2011

~ There is no such thing as a non-biased study. Cultural perspective also influences how scientists interpret their data. Furthermore, no single study, no matter how representative or large the sample, establishes "truth" ~

[Marc NL]

10:54 AM on 11/09/2011

Even, Even if you are right and you are not... what does it matter in terms of Healthcare?
Europe is not as "white" as you think it is.

[ray christl]

06:10 AM on 11/10/2011

The topic is "Raising Children" & then it comes down to healthcare that is advanced in wealthy caucasian countries & the EU countries mentioned are very lightly integrated with many educated immigrants recently (20-30 years). Makes the result seem like cultural elitism.

[atomicrob]

04:07 AM on 11/09/2011

No surprise with the shocking stats on poverty in the USA.