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35 Best and Worst Countries to Raise a Family
If you’re one of those parents/caregivers who read through parenting magazines and blogs for helpful tips to raise healthy and happy kids, the answer may lie abroad. According to a study from Asher and Lyric Fergusson, the United States is the second-worst place in the world to raise a family out of the 35 countries studied. Are you as shocked as we are?!
Conversely, at the top of the list are countries Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
“This study has been eye-opening for me. Even as a well educated, thoughtful individual, I had become so numb to the country’s inadequacies that I must have simply disregarded my personal experience for the rhetoric of the nation,” Los Angeles-based journalist Lyric Fergusson tells Forbes.
Lyric and her husband Asher created the Raising a Family Index to rank the 35 countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Fergussons say they only used OECD countries due to the reliable data available in a wide range of key topics that were useful for the study.
In ranking the most and least family-friendly countries, the journalists paid attention to 30 critical statistics from trusted international sources broken down into six categories that identify complimentary conditions for raising a family, which include safety, happiness, cost, health, education and time.
The Fergussons labeled Iceland as the best country to raise a family, as it is the safest country in the world and came in fourth in cost. “Iceland achieved top-10 rankings in all categories and was number one in safety,” Lyric tells Forbes, noting that Iceland is also a world leader in human rights. “No matter the origins of a child or who they turn out to be, Iceland’s constitution ensures they will be treated unequivocally as an equal.”.
Mexico was marked as the worst country to raise a family due to its safety, health, education and happiness statistics. America didn’t do much better, being number 34 out of 35! Lyric was surprised by the results and couldn’t believe what she saw when reviewing the data. “I went one-by-one into each of the six categories,” she says. “What I discovered, in many instances, was quite shocking.”
Safety impacted America’s ranking: “The US has 6.12 reported homicides per 100,000 (bested only by Mexico), whereas most countries on our list are around one or less,” Lyric tells Forbes. Human rights concerns also impacted America’s ranking: “Our systemic racism is just one example, which has been recently exposed during the Black Lives Matter protests,” she continues. “It has become strikingly clear that people of color do not feel safe in America.”
Lyric’s study led her to believe that America is a deeply challenged and troubled country—but she continues to have hope. “My aspiration is that something will substantially change in my children’s lifetime.”
For more details about America’s low grade, please visit Forbes.
Best and Worst Countries for Raising a Family, provided by the Raising a Family Index:
- Iceland
- Norway
- Sweden
- Finland
- Luxembourg
- Denmark
- Germany
- Austria
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- France
- Australia
- Slovenia
- Ireland
- Spain
- New Zealand
- Canada
- Poland
- Hungary
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- Italy
- Japan
- Israel
- Slovak Republic
- Korea
- Greece
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Turkey
- Chile
- United States
- Mexico
A nice list.
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