According to a recent survey conducted by the expat networking group InterNations, 46% of the world’s expatriates have children, but only 21% are currently raising their sprogs abroad.
3,000 families who work and live abroad were surveyed and the results revealed that some countries are much more friendly and welcoming than others. Wondering what the most unfriendly countries were? Those awards go to the nations of Switzerland, Russia and Austria as most expatriates stated that they were just plain horrible to newbies – well to the ones with offspring anyway.
If you’re thinking of moving to raise a family (good luck), here are the nine friendliest countries you and bae can choose from:
9. Turkey – Expat families say this country is incredibly welcoming to children.
8. Mexico – InterNations said: ‘Mexicans do not only welcome families with a friendly attitude, but expats in general.’ (And just look at that beach…)
7. Australia – The country ranks highly for friendliness and for the amount of leisure activities (shout-out to the surfers) available to children.
6. Greece – Ranks high for friendliness but expats noted that the country performs poorly in terms of educational needs.
5. Thailand – Expats said this wonderful country welcomes expat families with open arms and over 76% said they felt great about their children’s healthcare packages.
4. Costa Rica – 74% of respondents said they were ‘satisfied with the local leisure activities for their kids’ and over 91% speak highly of the friendliness towards their children.
3. Taiwan – The country excels in everything from quality of life to happiness and personal finance.
2. Israel – according to the peeps at InterNations, Israel is popular with families ‘with regards to education and health’.
1. Uganda – ‘Every single parent rates the friendliness of the local population towards children extremely positively.’
If safety is your aim, this country has just been voted the safest place to live in!