Women in
Mongolia fare better as women than they do as mothers, while children are worse
off than both, according to the 11th annual Save The Children index, which
ranks the best and worst places to be a mother, looks at the well-being of
women and children in 160 countries which includes access to education,
economic opportunities, and health care.

The countries
surveyed are divided into three tiers. The first included 43 “more developed”
nations, the second, which includes Mongolia, 77 “less developed”, and
the last 40 “least developed” countries.

Women in Mongolia
are ranked 4th in their group, while mothers are at the 10th place and children
come 53rd. The countries ahead of Mongolia
in the Mother”s Index ranking in its group are Cuba,
Israel, Argentina, Barbados,
South Korea, Cyprus, Uruguay,
Kazakhstan, and the Bahamas.
China is at 18th place, and India
at 73rd.

The United States
came 28th in the list, down from 27 last year, largely as its rate for maternal
mortality — 1 in 4,800 — is one of the highest in the developed world. The USA
also offers less maternity leave than other wealthy nations.

The 2010 list
of 43 developed nations and 117 in the developing world highlighted the fact
that nearly 350,000 women die during pregnancy or childbirth every year and
nearly 9 million children die before their fifth birthday.

In Afghanistan, Jordan,
Lebanon, Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan,
Syria and Yemen, women earn 25 cents or less
for every dollar men earn. In Mongolia,
women earn 87 cents for every dollar men earn and in Mozambique they earn 90 cents.