Where is the best place in the world to be a mother ?- some academic research!

Just for mother's day

some useful links to key statistical data on motherhood

Where is the best place in the world to be a mother ?

find out in the State of the World's Mothers report from Save the Children USA. It complied data on maternal and child health and prospects (economic/ educational/ political) and ranks 170 nations. In 2015 Norway came top. Download the full report to find out why

Health Data

Number of children - use the fertility data from the World Bank to find out in which countries mothers have the most children.

For information and data on maternal health, pregnancy and childbirth see the WHO website


Data indicates that a woman's education is a key factor in determining a child's survival.

from the Education Counts (EFA Global Monitoring Report, UNESCO, 2011)A child born to a mother who can read is 50% more likely to survive past age 5. Working mothers.

Working mothers

The ILO produce women at work reports on trends. The 2016 report includes a section on the motherhood wage gap which is the decline in salary often experienced by mothers who return to work. This is further explored in this 2015 working paper.
Women spend 4.1 times more time in Asia and the Pacific in unpaid care work than men. According to the ILO report on Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work many of those are working mothers