While the United States endlessly debates the notion of women having it all, Iceland has simply made it a reality. That’s the conclusion, at least, of the annual Global Gender Gap Report, released by the World Economic Forum this week. Iceland tops the list of 136 countries ranked in terms of gender equality for the fifth year in a row — followed by fellow Nordic countries Finland, Norway, and Sweden — and a big part of the reason is the attainable work-life balance that exists there. Unlike in the United States, which came in at No. 23. ...

Rounding out the ranking's top 10 are the Philippines, Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, Switzerland and Nicaragua.

Meanwhile, the United States is behind Cuba, Canada, and the African country of Burundi. That’s partly because of not being able to close wage gaps and participation gaps when it comes to senior and leadership positions, as well as a lack of laws mandating maternity leave, although the United States has, thank goodness, “fully closed its gender gap in education and health,” the report notes.

America has some serious work to do for women—and not only according to this particular ranking. Earlier this year, the annual Save the World’s Mothers report ranked 176 countries based on five indicators of a mother’s well-being: the risk of maternal mortality, mortality rate of children under 5, educational status, economic status and political participation. The Nordic countries swept here, as well, followed by Spain, Belgium, and Germany. The United States came in at a barely respectable No. 30 due to poor scores in mortality rates (both child and mother), as well as political status, as compared with other highly developed nations.