The United States is undoubtedly one of the world’s loveliest countries considering its strong influence to other nations and its great economic contributions to third world countries. However, it took an unsurprising 32nd rank in the recent global report about the best country in the world for girls.
Sweden, a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe took the much-coveted #1 spot followed by Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Per The Local, the report used its so-called Girls' Opportunity Index to determine the livable countries in the world mainly for the benefits of women. The five indicators considered were child marriage, adolescent fertility, maternal mortality (as an indicator to access to good-quality health care), women MPs and lower-secondary school completion.
According to Babble, the main factor that put Sweden and other top countries on the upper ranking is the percentage of female lawmakers.
“By empowering girls from an early age to pursue positions of leadership, we bridge the large gap between the number of male and female lawmakers. Girls are often marginalized in the household and public decision-making and their needs are under-represented in government. Girls may be uncomfortable expressing themselves, and when they do, they often aren’t heard or valued.”
The same site noted that working with girls to strengthen their voices and rights are highly crucial during those pivotal teen years when changing and bigger responsibilities are often unaccompanied by more opportunities to take place in a relevant decision-making from home to school.
The Telegraph mentioned that The Every Last Girl report revealed that globally, one girl under 15 is married every seven seconds with Afghanistan, Yemen, India and Somalia as main offenders. In total, 15 million girls are married off every year before they reach the age of 18. Consequently, this alarming reality has a deep impact mentally, physically and emotionally on younger women as unwanted teen pregnancy, maternal deaths and increase in girls’ drop - out of school are inevitable.
Sweden not only boasts of its historic and stunning landmarks but is hailed as the most generous country to offer maternity leave. Its local government not only gives the massive benefits to the mother, but also the father reaps the killer parental leave.
NPR noted that “Parents are allocated a total of 480 days per child, which they can take any time until the child is 8 years old. They can share these days, although 60 are allocated specifically to the father. And they are entitled to receive 80 percent of their wages, although this is capped at a certain level.”
Who wouldn’t refuse this thrilling deal? Aside from spending longer quality time with the family especially in nurturing the newborn child, the parents are able to receive their professional fees without getting fired due to a long break.
Another big advantage to women of all ages to live in Sweden is its impressive health care benefits. Sweden Sverige is proud to share that “the responsibility for health and medical care in Sweden is shared by the central government, county councils and municipalities and that costs for health and medical care as a percentage of Sweden’s gross domestic product (GDP) is fairly stable and on par with most other European countries.
Indeed, Sweden makes the cut for the best land for girls and women.
