Infant MortalityThis week we continue our focus on the domestic issues at the heart of the American Empire, examining the causes, effects and dangers of this societal decay, illustrated this week with an examination into the rate of Infant mortality. Infant mortality, another useful gauge of societal health (or sickness), is higher in the US than in most other developed countries, with the US recording similar levels to Serbia and Malaysia. A staggering 50 per cent of pregnancies are unplanned in the US, and some of these involve women who do not realize they are pregnant in time to receive proper prenatal care, resulting in more premature births and postnatal difficulties. The cultural, religious and societal issues surrounding abortion further exacerbate the problem; women become less likely, or even unable, to receive assistance with their unplanned pregnancies, thus carrying more babies to term. For the most part, the number of children dying in the US before one month of age is at a similar level to other developed countries, but it is after this point that socio-economic factors influence the figures and the gap widens. Unsurprisingly, children of wealthier and better-educated Americans have a similar chance of survival as their equivalents in developed European countries. It is within the less educated and less wealthy populations, however, that the figures change, with children born in these circumstances having less chance of survival than those born into similarly disadvantaged groups in equivalent developed European nations. A large cause of these deaths is sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which is more prevalent among ethnic minorities. This is unsurprising as ethnic minorities are more likely to fall within the less educated and less wealthy sections of society than their white counterparts. Many of the factors that are believed to contribute to the incidence of SIDS can be linked to economic constraints endured by less wealthy families, such as the need for bed sharing and the inability to access costly home nurse visits. Another major factor is the absence in the US of any paid maternity and paternity leave, a unique position within OECD countries. Sixty per cent of employed mothers are able to take 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, but for the remaining 40 per cent who are ineligible and for many of the 60 per cent for whom it is not a realistic economic proposition, this is not possible. In the UK, by comparison, mothers are given a mandatory two weeks of paid maternity leave, with a possible total of 52 weeks (six of which are on 90 per cent of full pay, the following 33 are also on 90 per cent or a maximum of £172.48 per week (whichever is lower), and the remaining 13 are unpaid). In other European nations the gap is even wider, with Swedish mothers receiving ten weeks of fully paid leave and 480 days of shared parental leave after this point. In Estonia, mothers can take fully paid leave for the first 18 months of their child’s life. If mothers cannot afford home visits from nurses and are afforded no time away from work to help with the first important stages of their child’s life, it is no wonder that the US figures for child mortality after one month are higher than their OECD peers. For many Americans whose wealth ensures they will not suffer these hardships, abortion rights are a bête noire to be attacked and rolled back at all costs for cultural, religious or opportunistic political reasons. The second a baby is born, however, their pro-life support comes to an end. The notion that all children are born equal, with the same chance of success, is a fallacy. Too many infants are born with the odds stacked against them. Addressing and exposing this injustice is no simple task, as it is deeply rooted in and perpetuated by the toxic lie that individual agency is responsible for all success. This uniquely American mantra is hard-wired into the national psyche: “I never had any help growing up and I did just fine – people just don’t want to work hard enough.” Admitting that a privileged position at birth provides an advantage does not have to be viewed as a denial of the hard work that followed; it is simply a recognition that not all are born with the same opportunity for success. All in all, these issues surrounding pregnancy, birth and infancy in the US are highly significant in the present day, and they have the potential to contribute to the decline of the American Empire in the decades to come. Children are the future of the nation, and if parents cannot care for their children in their formative years, these future American adults will have an impeded start to life. This will hinder their chances for educational and professional success in the long term. In neglecting its youngest and most vulnerable members in the here and now, the US may be sowing the seeds of its own demise. Make sure to pay close attention to Chapter 3: Society … Decay from within to learn more!
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