by Adam McCulloch
High divorce rate, high birth rate, a large proportion of single mothers... I must be writing about a place beset with crime, poverty, delinquency and misery. But no, this is a description of Iceland, apparently the happiest place on earth, according to a rather gushing Observer article (May 18).
Iceland also boasts fantastic education (no need for private schools), a booming economy (well, it helps if all your heating needs are met through the enormous volcano you happen to be sitting on) and pioneering technology.
The article put a lot of this success down to strong women's rights and a tradition of 'strong' women stretching back to the age of the Vikings.
There was so much good news about Iceland that I began to feel a bit peeved about not living there. Everything is perfect it seems; it's even remarkably multicultural given its proximity to the Arctic Circle. The often appalling weather and long hours of darkness have utterly failed to dim its inhabitants' optimism and cheerfulness. So next time a politician or churchleader announces that fractured families are the course of all our ills think of little Iceland and its army of single mothers - many of whom have their children while still in their early 20s - a country where there is no taboo about having children by different partners and no taboo about admitting when relationships have run their course and moving on.
I must admit to being somewhat sceptical about the article, I mean do Icelandic people have no feelings? Do they never act irrationally or out of jealousy or fear? How do they cope with the work/life balance so well?
But at least the country appears to show that broken homes, unstable relationships need not damage children's upbringing. Doesn't it?
Picture: Midnight sun at Hafnarfjordhur, Iceland from www.morguefile.com