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Denmark among best countries in the world to be a mother

Christian Wenande
May 6th, 2015


This article is more than 9 years old.

Denmark jumps up two places into fourth

Denmark has been ranked as the fourth best country in the world when it comes to being a mother, according to the Save the Children’s 2015 Mothers’ Index Ranking (here in English).

Denmark jumped two spots from its sixth place ranking last year thanks to improvements in under-5 mortality rates, maternal deaths and an increase in its gross national income per capita.

Women in Denmark face a 1 in 12,000 lifetime risk of maternal death, up considerably from 4,500 last year. Furthermore, the mortality rate of children under the age of five also dropped from 3.7 per 1,000 births to 3.5 per 1,000 births.

Meanwhile, gross national income per capita rose from 391,273 kroner to 410,089 kroner compared to the year before.

READ MORE: Denmark one of the best nations in the world for mothers

Nordics dominate
Other trends included a drop in the average number years spent in formal education from 18.7 to 16.9, while the participation of women in national government (percentage of seats held by women) decreased from 39.1 to 38.9.

The Nordic countries led the way in the rankings making up the top five with Norway topping the list, followed by Finland and Iceland, Denmark and Sweden.

Other notables included Germany (8), Australia (9), Canada (20), UK (24), USA (33), Russia (56), China (61), South Africa (72), Brazil (77) and India (140).

In terms of regions, Sub Saharan Africa fared the poorest, with an average ranking of 151st.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”