Best countries for raising kids- US NEWS and world reports
Best Countries for Raising Kids
Nordic nations may be the best place to raise children, according to survey respondents.
SUMMARY
1/10
The Top 5 Countries for Raising Kids
The strength of a country’s social safety net is often viewed as a telling indicator of quality of life.
Nordic nations like Sweden and Norway – countries perceived to be great for raising children – each spend more than 1% of their total gross domestic product on early childhood education and care, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The U.S., in contrast, spends less than 0.5% of GDP on early childhood care and education.
A companion to the overall 2023 Best Countries rankings from U.S. News, the 2023 Best Countries for Raising Kids rankings are drawn from a global survey of more than 17,000 people. The rankings are based on how respondents perceived countries in relation to eight specific attributes: cares about human rights, family-friendly, gender equality, happy, income equality, safe, and having well-developed public education and public health systems.
These are the top five countries for raising kids, based on the perceptions of those surveyed.
No. 5: Netherlands
Parents with an employment contract in the Netherlands who give birth to a child are entitled to up to 26 weeks of parental leave, which includes nine weeks of paid leave at 70% of their average daily income, according to the Dutch government’s Employee Insurance Agency (UWV). Additionally, partners of parents giving birth can receive up to six weeks of paid parental leave that must be taken within six months of a baby being born.
Individuals planning to adopt or foster a child can qualify to receive up to six weeks of paid leave, according to UWV.
Learn more about the Netherlands.
NEXT:
No. 4: Denmark
Ranking No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022, Denmark drops to the No. 4 country in 2023 for raising children.
The Danish parental leave system provides 24 weeks of paid parental leave after the birth of a child for each parent if they live together and an additional four weeks for mothers before the expected due date, according to the Nordic Cooperation website. Salaried employees also can transfer up to 13 weeks of leave to their partner.
Children between the ages of 8 months and 2 years are eligible to receive child care in a nursery where parents pay up to 30% of the cost of those services.
Learn more about Denmark.
NEXT: No. 3: Finland
Finland moves up one place from 2022, when the country was seen as the fourth-best country for raising kids.
Finland’s family leave program includes up to 40 working days of allowance for mothers during pregnancy and approximately 160 working days of leave per parent that must be taken before the child reaches the age of 2, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland.
Learn more about Finland.
NEXT:
No. 2: Norway
Parents in Norway are eligible for 49 weeks of parental leave at full pay or 59 weeks at 80% of pay, according to information from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. Parents who adopt are entitled to the same leave benefits as parents who give birth, with the exception of the adoption of a stepchild or a child over the age of 15, according to information from the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Adoptive parents and foster parents have equal rights to leave, from the date on which the care of the child was transferred. The right to leave does not apply to adoption of a stepchild or if the child is over 15 years old.
NEXT: No. 1: Sweden
No. 1: Sweden
Sweden’s parental leave policies are among the most generous, offering parents 480 days of paid leave when a child is born or adopted, or 240 days for each in a two-parent household, according to sweden.se.
Beginning at the age 1, children in Sweden are entitled to a place within a preschool run by municipalities, which they attend until they start compulsory school at age 6.
NEXT:The 5 Best Countries for Raising Kids
Sweden
Norway
Finland
Denmark
Netherlands
The 2023 Best Countries rankings, formed in partnership with global marketing and communications services company WPP and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, are based on a study that surveyed more than 17,000 global citizens to assess perceptions of 87 countries using 73 different attributes. Learn more here.
Sweden
#1 in Raising Children Rankings
#3 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
The Kingdom of Sweden, flanked by Norway to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east, expands across much of the Scandinavian Peninsula and is one of the largest countries in the European Union by land mass. Capital city Stockholm was claimed in the 16th century, and border disputes through the Middle Ages established the modern-day nation.
GDP
$586 billion
POPULATION
10.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$64,578
Norway
#2 in Raising Children Rankings
No Change in Rank from 2022
READ MORE
The Kingdom of Norway is the westernmost country in the Scandinavian peninsula, made up mostly of mountainous terrain. Nearly all of its population lives in the south, surrounding the capital, Oslo. Norway’s coastline is made up of thousands of miles of fjords, bays and island shores. The Norwegians developed a maritime culture, and were active throughout the Viking era, establishing settlements in Iceland and Greenland.
GDP
$579 billion
POPULATION
5.46 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$114,899
Finland
#3 in Raising Children Rankings
#4 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
Geography defines the history and culture of Nordic Finland, one of the most northern-reaching countries in the world. Bordered by Scandinavia, Russia, the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia, Finland and its vast stretches of heavily forested open land acts as a northern gate between West and East.
GDP
$281 billion
POPULATION
5.56 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$59,027
Denmark
#4 in Raising Children Rankings
#1 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
The Kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 10th century and includes two North Atlantic island nations, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Along with Sweden and Norway, it forms Scandinavia, a cultural region in Northern Europe.
GDP
$395 billion
POPULATION
5.90 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$74,005
Netherlands
#5 in Raising Children Rankings
#7 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
Situated along the fringes of Western Europe, the Netherlands is a coastal lowland freckled with windmills characteristic of its development around the water. Three major European rivers - the Rhine, Meuse and Schelde - run through neighbors Germany and Belgium into the nation’s busy ports.
GDP
$991 billion
POPULATION
17.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$69,577
Switzerland
#6 in Raising Children Rankings
No Change in Rank from 2022
READ MORE
Switzerland, officially called the Swiss Confederation, is a small country in Central Europe made up of 16,000 square miles of glacier-carved Alps, lakes and valleys. It is one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and has been well-known for centuries for its neutrality.
GDP
$808 billion
POPULATION
8.77 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$83,598
Canada
#7 in Raising Children Rankings
#5 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
Canada takes up about two-fifths of the North American continent, making it the second-largest country in the world after Russia. The country is sparsely populated, with most of its 35.5 million residents living within 125 miles of the U.S. border. Canada’s expansive wilderness to the north plays a large role in Canadian identity, as does the country’s reputation of welcoming immigrants.
GDP
$2.14 trillion
POPULATION
38.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$58,400
Australia
#8 in Raising Children Rankings
#9 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
The Commonwealth of Australia occupies the Australian continent. The country also includes some islands, most notably Tasmania. Indigenous people occupied the land for at least 40,000 years before the first British settlements of the 18th century.
GDP
$1.68 trillion
POPULATION
26.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$62,625
New Zealand
#9 in Raising Children Rankings
#8 out of 85 in 2022
. Early Maori settlers ceded sovereignty to British invaders with the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and European settlers flooded in. Today, 70 percent of Kiwis, a common term for the people of New Zealand after a native flightless bird, are of European descent. A sense of pride has surged among the Maori, the country’s first settlers who now account for about 14 percent, as homeland grievances become more openly addressed.
GDP
$247 billion
POPULATION
5.12 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$51,967
Austria
#10 in Raising Children Rankings
#11 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
Austria a culturally rich, high-income parliamentary democracy that hosts several key international organizations. Located in the heart of Central Europe, the modern Austrian state was shaped by the two world wars of the 20th century.
GDP
$471 billion
POPULATION
9.04 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$67,936
Load More
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Nordic nations may be the best place to raise children, according to survey respondents.
SUMMARY
1/10
The Top 5 Countries for Raising Kids
The strength of a country’s social safety net is often viewed as a telling indicator of quality of life.
Nordic nations like Sweden and Norway – countries perceived to be great for raising children – each spend more than 1% of their total gross domestic product on early childhood education and care, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The U.S., in contrast, spends less than 0.5% of GDP on early childhood care and education.
A companion to the overall 2023 Best Countries rankings from U.S. News, the 2023 Best Countries for Raising Kids rankings are drawn from a global survey of more than 17,000 people. The rankings are based on how respondents perceived countries in relation to eight specific attributes: cares about human rights, family-friendly, gender equality, happy, income equality, safe, and having well-developed public education and public health systems.
These are the top five countries for raising kids, based on the perceptions of those surveyed.
No. 5: Netherlands
Parents with an employment contract in the Netherlands who give birth to a child are entitled to up to 26 weeks of parental leave, which includes nine weeks of paid leave at 70% of their average daily income, according to the Dutch government’s Employee Insurance Agency (UWV). Additionally, partners of parents giving birth can receive up to six weeks of paid parental leave that must be taken within six months of a baby being born.
Individuals planning to adopt or foster a child can qualify to receive up to six weeks of paid leave, according to UWV.
Learn more about the Netherlands.
NEXT:
No. 4: Denmark
Ranking No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022, Denmark drops to the No. 4 country in 2023 for raising children.
The Danish parental leave system provides 24 weeks of paid parental leave after the birth of a child for each parent if they live together and an additional four weeks for mothers before the expected due date, according to the Nordic Cooperation website. Salaried employees also can transfer up to 13 weeks of leave to their partner.
Children between the ages of 8 months and 2 years are eligible to receive child care in a nursery where parents pay up to 30% of the cost of those services.
Learn more about Denmark.
NEXT: No. 3: Finland
Finland moves up one place from 2022, when the country was seen as the fourth-best country for raising kids.
Finland’s family leave program includes up to 40 working days of allowance for mothers during pregnancy and approximately 160 working days of leave per parent that must be taken before the child reaches the age of 2, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland.
Learn more about Finland.
NEXT:
No. 2: Norway
Parents in Norway are eligible for 49 weeks of parental leave at full pay or 59 weeks at 80% of pay, according to information from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. Parents who adopt are entitled to the same leave benefits as parents who give birth, with the exception of the adoption of a stepchild or a child over the age of 15, according to information from the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Adoptive parents and foster parents have equal rights to leave, from the date on which the care of the child was transferred. The right to leave does not apply to adoption of a stepchild or if the child is over 15 years old.
NEXT: No. 1: Sweden
No. 1: Sweden
Sweden’s parental leave policies are among the most generous, offering parents 480 days of paid leave when a child is born or adopted, or 240 days for each in a two-parent household, according to sweden.se.
Beginning at the age 1, children in Sweden are entitled to a place within a preschool run by municipalities, which they attend until they start compulsory school at age 6.
NEXT:The 5 Best Countries for Raising Kids
Sweden
Norway
Finland
Denmark
Netherlands
The 2023 Best Countries rankings, formed in partnership with global marketing and communications services company WPP and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, are based on a study that surveyed more than 17,000 global citizens to assess perceptions of 87 countries using 73 different attributes. Learn more here.
Sweden
#1 in Raising Children Rankings
#3 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
The Kingdom of Sweden, flanked by Norway to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east, expands across much of the Scandinavian Peninsula and is one of the largest countries in the European Union by land mass. Capital city Stockholm was claimed in the 16th century, and border disputes through the Middle Ages established the modern-day nation.
GDP
$586 billion
POPULATION
10.5 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$64,578
Norway
#2 in Raising Children Rankings
No Change in Rank from 2022
READ MORE
The Kingdom of Norway is the westernmost country in the Scandinavian peninsula, made up mostly of mountainous terrain. Nearly all of its population lives in the south, surrounding the capital, Oslo. Norway’s coastline is made up of thousands of miles of fjords, bays and island shores. The Norwegians developed a maritime culture, and were active throughout the Viking era, establishing settlements in Iceland and Greenland.
GDP
$579 billion
POPULATION
5.46 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$114,899
Finland
#3 in Raising Children Rankings
#4 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
Geography defines the history and culture of Nordic Finland, one of the most northern-reaching countries in the world. Bordered by Scandinavia, Russia, the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia, Finland and its vast stretches of heavily forested open land acts as a northern gate between West and East.
GDP
$281 billion
POPULATION
5.56 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$59,027
Denmark
#4 in Raising Children Rankings
#1 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
The Kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 10th century and includes two North Atlantic island nations, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Along with Sweden and Norway, it forms Scandinavia, a cultural region in Northern Europe.
GDP
$395 billion
POPULATION
5.90 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$74,005
Netherlands
#5 in Raising Children Rankings
#7 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
Situated along the fringes of Western Europe, the Netherlands is a coastal lowland freckled with windmills characteristic of its development around the water. Three major European rivers - the Rhine, Meuse and Schelde - run through neighbors Germany and Belgium into the nation’s busy ports.
GDP
$991 billion
POPULATION
17.7 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$69,577
Switzerland
#6 in Raising Children Rankings
No Change in Rank from 2022
READ MORE
Switzerland, officially called the Swiss Confederation, is a small country in Central Europe made up of 16,000 square miles of glacier-carved Alps, lakes and valleys. It is one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and has been well-known for centuries for its neutrality.
GDP
$808 billion
POPULATION
8.77 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$83,598
Canada
#7 in Raising Children Rankings
#5 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
Canada takes up about two-fifths of the North American continent, making it the second-largest country in the world after Russia. The country is sparsely populated, with most of its 35.5 million residents living within 125 miles of the U.S. border. Canada’s expansive wilderness to the north plays a large role in Canadian identity, as does the country’s reputation of welcoming immigrants.
GDP
$2.14 trillion
POPULATION
38.9 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$58,400
Australia
#8 in Raising Children Rankings
#9 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
The Commonwealth of Australia occupies the Australian continent. The country also includes some islands, most notably Tasmania. Indigenous people occupied the land for at least 40,000 years before the first British settlements of the 18th century.
GDP
$1.68 trillion
POPULATION
26.0 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$62,625
New Zealand
#9 in Raising Children Rankings
#8 out of 85 in 2022
. Early Maori settlers ceded sovereignty to British invaders with the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and European settlers flooded in. Today, 70 percent of Kiwis, a common term for the people of New Zealand after a native flightless bird, are of European descent. A sense of pride has surged among the Maori, the country’s first settlers who now account for about 14 percent, as homeland grievances become more openly addressed.
GDP
$247 billion
POPULATION
5.12 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$51,967
Austria
#10 in Raising Children Rankings
#11 out of 85 in 2022
READ MORE
Austria a culturally rich, high-income parliamentary democracy that hosts several key international organizations. Located in the heart of Central Europe, the modern Austrian state was shaped by the two world wars of the 20th century.
GDP
$471 billion
POPULATION
9.04 million
GDP PER CAPITA, PPP
$67,936
Load More
Previous: Racial Equi
