MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Almost 60% of Chilean moms during 2005 were single

Almost 60% of Chilean women who had children during 2005 were single moms, the Chilean Institute of Statistics, INE reported this week. INE noted that most of the single mothers were between 20 and 24 years old.

The study also found that the average fertility rate for Chilean women now stands at two children per mother, down from five in the 1960s. Meanwhile, the U.S.-based Save the Children humanitarian organization released its annual "Mothers'-Index," ranking 146 countries in terms of their friendliness for mothers and children. Sweden, Norway and Iceland top the ranking, while countries like Niger and Angola placed last. Chile, occupied the 52nd spot, finishing just after the Bahamas and Costa Rica. The study evaluates the wellbeing of mother and child, maternal mortality rate, skilled care at delivery, percentage of women using modern contraception, feminine participation in national government, access to safe water, and years of education. A typical woman in Sweden, for example, receives an average of 17 years of education and will live 83 years. A woman in Angola or Niger receives less than four years of school enrolment and will live only 45 years. The ranking also attempts to measure the wellbeing of children around the world. ''Most children die because of birth complications, diarrhoea and malnutrition," said Save the Children campaign director William Frist, "even though we have the tools and know-how to prevent these deaths.'' Among Latin-American nations, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru show the largest gap between the poor and the rich. In Peru, a poor child's risk of dying before reaching the age of five is 7.4 times greater than that of a rich child. In Brazil and Bolivia poor children are three times more likely to die than rich children. In Chile one child in 111 does not reach his fifth birthday. The Santiago Times