Translation of publicist’s post (RUS)

The attitude towards women as mothers is an important measure of development in any modern society. The Save the Children organization has published the results of a study done on the status of women and children in 173 countries around the world. Kazakhstan ranked an unenviable 51st among all countries and 8th among “less developed countries.”

Ranking Our Neighbors

Researchers from Save the Children compiled a Mothers’ Index. In the process of working on it, they developed two other indices, the Women’s Index and the Children’s Index.

The countries where it’s best to be a mom are Norway, Australia, Iceland and Sweden (the last two were tied for third place). Belarus ranked 33rd among developed countries, which made it the highest-ranked country among CIS nations (Russia is 38th and the Ukraine is 39th). Among former Soviet states, Belarus was surpassed only by Estonia (17), Lithuania (22) and Latvia (25). Afghanistan had the lowest ranking.

Motherhood and Childhood in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan was listed as one of the “less developed countries.” In this category, it was surpassed by Cuba (1st in the Mothers’ Index, 10th in the Children’s Index), Israel (2) and Argentina (3rd in the Mothers’ Index, 13th in the Children’s Index).

Just below Kazakhstan are the Bahamas (9th in the Mothers’ Index, 21st in the Children’s Index), Mongolia (10th in the Mothers’ Index, 53rd in the Children’s Index) and Thailand (11th in the Mothers’ Index and 19th in the Children’s Index).

In compiling the rankings, various factors that influence the status of women and children were taken into account. The Women’s index was based on the following criteria:

• Health (life expectancy, maternal mortality rate, percentage of women using modern contraceptive methods)
• Education (number of years a woman spends on education)
• Economic factors (length of maternity leave, percentage of wage paid to a woman during this period, wage difference between men and women)
• Political factors (number of women in branches of government)

For the Children’s Index, researchers looked at the mortality rate for children under 5, as well as the percentage of those who complete basic and higher education.

Care for Women in Kazakhstan

One of the indicators of a government’s “care” for its population is welfare payment. Fortunately, there is plenty in Kazakhstan, but the quality and amount does not always meet expectations.

In 2009, over 350 000 mothers received childbirth benefits and 140 000 families received childcare benefits, according to President Nursultan Nazarbaev.

“Last year, over 350 000 mothers received one-time childbirth benefits. 140 000 families were paid childcare benefits. For our country, these are very large numbers,” Nazarbaev said during a meeting with prominent Kazakh women. The President specified that the benefits totaled 300 billion tenge.

Additionally, children under 18 years of age received 8.5 billion tenge in benefits. “Of course, we have other sectors we could direct this money – development and industry – but we also believe that [supporting families] is important.”

“The government doesn’t just take care of women, it takes care of the future, because the future of our country is dependent on the welfare of its people, and its level of development is measured by its attitude towards women,” the President emphasized.

How much do women earn in different professions? Do men and women earn different wages in your field? Fill out this Job Survey and find out.