Nursery World - The UK is 'one of the worst places to be a mother' in Europe

The United Kingdom has been ranked in 23rd place for the best country in the world to be a mother.

The index, which assesses mothers’ well-being using indicators of mental health, under-five mortality rates, levels of women’s education, income and political status, ranks the Nordic countries - Finland, Norway and Iceland in the top five, while the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia take the bottom spots.

According to the statistics, the UK now has a higher death rate for the under-fives than 21 other European counties, including those with lower GDPs such as Cyprus, Portugal and Czech Republic. In 2011, the under-five mortality rate in the UK was 5.2 per 1,000 live births, whereas in Cyprus it was 3.1 and Portugal 3.4.

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