Expats children in tenerife have better quality of life. states survey
It has been revealed that expat children enjoy the good life and are likely to be benefiting from better education, higher safety levels and improved health and well-being as a result of their parents decision to live overseas. Expat parents report their children are more likely to be learning new languages (84%), playing more sports (47%) and spending more time with their family (53%) while on the whole, enjoying their new life abroad (85%). Living overseas appears to have a positive impact on the lifestyles of expat families; however, the UK fared less well among parents who had relocated. Overall the UK found itself bottom of the league table of the 14 countries that formed the survey sample of 30+ respondents at country-level. The UK is the worst performing country for both the childcare and the health and well-being categories when expat parents were asked to compare it to their home countries. In addition, it appears that the UK is also among the most expensive places to raise a child, ranking bottom (14th) for both the general costs of raising children and more specifically for the costs of childcare.
Expat children in the UK also appear to have the least active lifestyle since relocating. Only 24% of parents say their children spend more time outdoors since their move and expat parents in the UK are also least likely to say their children play more sport or spend less time watching TV, ranking last (14th) on each of these measures.
However, despite these relatively poor scores, 84% of parents reported that their children are enjoying their life in the UK, scoring the country 8th out of 14 in terms of how much children enjoy their life in their new country. This may relate to the fact that the UK scores top for expat entertainment in Expat Explorer’s Expat Experience 2010 report, which suggested that children can take advantage of many attractions and excursions which will help them settle in and enjoy life in their new country.
Belgium tops this year’s charts as the best location to raise children, thanks to the highly regarded childcare system and standard of education. 81% of expats based here agreed they had seen an improved standard of education in comparison to their home country while 68% thought the quality of childcare had improved. However, Belgium-based expat parents also benefit from some of the cheapest childcare, with (65%) now paying less for childcare than in their home country.
The rest of mainland Europe was not far behind Belgium’s lead, with Spain (2nd) France (3rd) and Germany (5th) all featuring within the top five of the Offshore Offspring league table. In contrast, the USA and UK hold the bottom spaces in the league table, ranking 13th and 14th respectively.
Safety of children improves with relocation. Of course the children who relocate to Tenerife have it all, sun, sea, British TV and Playstations!
