Singapore is the best country in Asia to become a mother
Singapore (AsiaNews) - Singapore is the best country in Asia, and the 14th in the world, to become a mother in. This is according to the Mother's Index 2015, a special list compiled annually by the association Save the Children, which evaluates the quality of life of mothers in 179 countries worldwide. In Asia, Singapore stands out dramatically above South Korea and Japan (30 and 31 in the world ranking).
The ranking of the Mother's Index takes into account five indicators: the rate of maternal mortality during childbirth, the infant mortality rate, the average per capita income, level of education and political status of women.
In relation to the first three indicators, Singapore is in the top 10 countries in the world. Only one woman in 14 thousand risk dying during childbirth, the infant mortality rate is 2.8 per 1,000 and the average income amounts to 54 thousand dollars.
Since 2000, Singapore has made great strides, especially in reducing the risk of death for mothers. At the turn of the millennium a woman died in childbirth every 3500, 75% more than today.
The ranking, however, does not consider the education and political status of women. Young Singaporeans attend school on average 15.4 years (in Norway, state that leads the world rankings, is 17.5) and only a quarter of the government is made up of women (40% in Norway).
These numbers, though positive, are not considered by analysts as a complete success. Regarding the level of education and political representation of women, the figures are considered too low. According to Jolene Tan, the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), "to improve political participation the government should 'set the tone' for the entire country by appointing more women as ministers with a portfolio".
Moreover, according to Tan, the ranking of Save the Children "also doesn't consider security of employment. A mother who returns from maternity leave to find her position terminated has little recourse in Singapore, but she can invoke legal protection such as unfair dismissal claims in jurisdictions such as Canada, the UK and Ireland - all ranked less highly in this report".
Another problem of the city-state is no certainty for mothers to regain their jobs upon their return from maternity leave. "In Singapore the fertility rate remains low because some women want to avoid having to choose between a career and children," says Yeo Miu Ean, president of Women Empowered for Work of Mothering.
Singapore has long been attentive to policies on birth control, though intermittently. In the 50s and 60s, the government carried out an anti-birth propaganda, as a result of the baby boom after World War II. Since 1987 the government of Lee Kuan Yew was forced to stimulate the birth rate, since it had fallen below the "replacement level". In both phases, the position of the parent-owner of Singapore has had eugenicist undertones, encouraging members of the educated classes to marry each other to avoid "end up with a stupid society."
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