A new study has ranked 35 countries, using six different categories, to discern which are the best for raising a family. The Netherlands ranks eleventh overall, behind the Scandinavian countries and Germany, being beaten by the Czech Republic for a spot in the top ten.

Where is the best place to raise a family?

A new study by the travel and family journalism company Asher & Lyric has ranked 35 OECD countries on how good they are to raise families in. Their “Raising a Family Index” is based on six different categories: Safety, Happiness, Cost, Health, Education and Time. Each category is made up of five different criteria, with data taken from several internationally renowned sources. 

The Netherlands ranks eleventh overall, performing particularly poorly in the cost category. It ranked highly for safety and education, entering the top five in these two areas, and logged respectable scores for happiness.

While happiness scores were based on Cato's Human Freedom Index, the World Happiness Index and suicide rates, the cost index took into account factors such as average household income, cost of childcare and social security benefits, and the education index looked at average school performances and enrolment rates in primary and secondary education. 

However, the Netherlands' performance also dipped when it came to health - which is examined in relation to giving birth, life expectancy and child mortality rates - and time - which looked at working hours, sick, holiday and maternity leaves, and child benefits.

Raising a Family Index: Top 15 countries 

The top 15 countries in the 2020 Raising a Family Index were as follows:

1. Iceland
2. Norway
3. Sweden
4. Finland
5. Luxembourg
6. Denmark
7. Germany
8. Austria
9. Belgium
10. Czech Republic
11. The Netherlands
12. Portugal 
13. France
14. Australia
15. Slovenia

For more information, including links to the sources used for the Index, a breakdown of the methodology and weighting as well as the complete ranking, you can check out the Raising a Family Index on the Asher & Lyric website.