Austria comes in best country, followed by Finland, Sweden, and then Israel according to the Family Life Index, carried out by the Inter Nations institute surveying 41 countries.

By i24news

Austria has been ranked as the best place in the world for expat families to bring up their children, according to the Family Life Index carried out by the Inter Nations institute.

Finland and Sweden came second and third respectively, with Israel finding itself in a very respectable fourth place after scoring highly in categories such as availability of childcare and education as well as family well-being.

“Swedish with Baby” was started in 2012 by two mothers on parental leave who wanted to help break young parents’ isolation in the home – Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/File

New Zealand came in fifth, with the US taking the 25th spot and Saudi Arabia coming in last at 41.

According to the Inter Nations website, “the Family Life Index ranks countries according to their results in subcategories such as availability of childcare and education, costs of childcare and education, quality of education, family well-being, as well as childcare and education options.”

A total of 41 countries were included in the index. In each country, over 30 survey respondents raising children abroad rated the aforementioned factors on a scale of one to seven.

Austria climbed up from fourth place in last year’s index to top of the Family Life Index, scoring best results for the availability of childcare and education, with 74 percent and 76 percent positive ratings, respectively.

Finland, coming second in the overall list, received the best ratings for its quality of education, with 92 percent of expat parents giving it a positive rating.

According to Inter Nations, Finland has one of the highest scores in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and one of the leading education systems in the world.

Sweden came in third place and the country still ranks first for the cost of childcare and education and second for the availability of childcare and education. However, it dropped from 14th to 21st place for the quality of education and from 3rd to 10th place for family well-being. All in all, 71% of parents are still satisfied with the quality of education, while 16% give it a negative rating.

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http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/83338-150825-israel-ranked-fourth-best-place-to-raise-children-in-global-index