On May 13, the second Sunday of the month, many countries
throughout the world - Cuba, United States, Australia, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, the Netherlands, Zambia, Honduras and Greece - paid tribute to mothers
and their role in society by celebrating Mothers Day.
Despite the diversity of these countries in terms of their
culture, languages spoken, history and economic wealth, one common element
present within them and the world over is the importance of the role of mothers
in children’s development. As documented in the Save the Children report ‘Nutritionin the First 1,000 Days, State of the World’s Mothers 2012’ the quality of
children’s lives is dependent on the health, security and well-being of
mothers. Providing mothers with access to education, income earning
opportunities, maternal and child health care gives them and their children the
best chance of survival and quality development.
The report applies a ‘Mother’s Index’ and ranks countries
based on results. The index is constituted of a composite of separate objective
indices for women’s and children’s well-being - which grouped into the broader
areas of women’s health status; educational, economic and political status;
children’s well-being - include female life expectancy, under 5 mortality rates,
primary and secondary school enrolment, maternity leave benefits and ratios of
male to female income earned.
Applied to 165 countries (43 developed nations, 122 in the
developing world) the index revealed stark differences between the situation
for mothers in developed countries and those in the developing world with
Norway ranked as the best place to be a mother and Niger the worst. The index
reveals the severe inequality between countries and the degree to which mothers
and their children, can and do, survive and thrive throughout the world.
The results of these objective indices are vital for
revealing existing gaps and dangers, specifically related to child nutrition, and
effectively focus on women as actors for change. In terms of the other aspects
of children’s integral development (cognitive, socio emotional, spiritual and
physical), the role of mothers is equally important and subjective as well as
objective indicators of well-being are an effective way of measuring this and the
situation for mothers and children beyond their mere survival.
Throughout the world mothers are the primary family caregivers
and from Manhattan to Kinshasa, their emotional well-being, as well as their
physical health, is highly important to the creation of a positive environment
for children’s growth and development and therefore their long term well-being.
Scientific studies show that children who grow up in a positive environment
tend to have greater mental and emotional health throughout the course of their
lives. Additionally, the maintenance of positive emotions during early
childhood has an effect on self esteem and behaviour (Reynolds, 2007 & Stark
2002).
The application of subjective indicators such as those employed in
the Canadian Index of Well-being - living
standards, time use, community vitality, democratic engagement, and leisure and
culture – would help to better ascertain how they feel about themselves, their
lives, responsibilities as caregivers and their capacity to fulfil them. Such
an approach would allow for insight into barriers that may hinder women’s
well-being and the development of their children, for example the burden of
caregiver responsibility that they carry and how without support opportunities
for income generation, furthering education and free time for mothers are
impeded affecting their economic, emotional and physical well-being and, their
ability to breastfeed and the societal and cultural attitudes towards breast
feeding.
Such detail can help to identify
where greater supports are required for the benefit of mothers and in turn that
of their children.
Reynolds, A., J. Temple, S. Ou, D. Robertson, J. Mersky, J. Topitzes y M.
Niles (2007). Effects
of a Preschool and School-Age Intervention on Adult Health and Well Being:
Evidence from the Chicago Boston ,
MA
Stark, I. (2002). Engaging and Supporting Parents and
Providers throughout A Continuum of Children´s Mental Health Services. Child
Care Bulletin, spring (25),
p. 7.
