The best country in the world for a mother is Sweden. The 27th best country in the world for a mother is the United States, according to Save the Children’s “State of the World’s Mothers” report, just released.
Among the factors figured into the ratings are risk of maternal mortality, female life expectancy, and under-5 mortality rate. Norway and Iceland are in second and third place.
Why are those Scandanavian countries so high, and the U.S. – which spends wildly on health care – so low? The statistics reflect why Americans are being encouraged to explore life insurance policies with a greater sense of urgency. The answer to the above question could be because the Scandanavian countries have a long tradition of social democracy, and the United States has a market-driven health care system. There are some things that socialism does much better than capitalism. Health care is among them. Let’s be clear: More mothers die in childbirth, more infants and toddlers die in the United States because the U.S. does not have universal, government-backed health care. If we look at the patient experience, one would notice the growing displeasure in the healthcare system. You could see this blog to know more about this.
It means more people are calling out for law firms to help them get justice for these deaths and injures that were at the hands of trusted professions. You can find more here if you think this applies to you. It’s a sad but very real statistic that has to be focused on as a very real problem.
As Ezra Klein just wrote , the standard claim for American health care – no waiting for care – is nonsense. Some waits are hidden by poor reporting. More importantly, many people don’t wait for care – they don’t get it all.
The Save the Children report anachronistically lists Israel in Tier II, Less Developed Countries, so it doesn’t directly compare us to Sweden and the United States. In Tier II, Israel is the best place for mothers. Women’s life expectancy is higher than that in the U.S. (83 years in Israel, 81 in the U.S.). In Israel, 5 children out of 1,000 die under the age of 5. In the United States, 8 do.
Why is it healthier to live in Israel than in the United States? Uh, it’s not because life is less tense here, or because people drive better.