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Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Raters of the Lost Womb

A rating of motherhood puts us low on the list among world countries:

The United States has scored poorly on a campaign group's list of the best countries in which to be a mother, managing only 28th place, and bettered by many smaller and poorer countries.

Norway topped the latest Save the Children "Mothers Index", followed by a string of other developed nations, while Afghanistan came in at the bottom of the table, below several African states.

But the US showing put it behind countries such as the Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; and eastern and central European states such as Croatia and Slovenia.

Even debt-plagued Greece came in four places higher at 24.

Ah, another reaons for countries to bash us. But I must protest.

One, like other ratings that global organizations peddle, the rankings are really a measure of state intervention in whatever they are rating, whether motherhood or health care. Have government programs--get a higher rating.
 
More importantly, why are nations with birth rates far lower than ours rated higher on "motherhood?"