The best places for young families to move to have been revealed
New research based on data from some of the most popular expat destinations in Europe has revealed the best places to move to depending on your age and lifestyle – and for young families, Germany, Sweden and Luxembourg take the top spots.
The overseas property experts from PropertyGuides.com have looked at data that covers lifestyle (as measured by everything from the amount of green space), work efficiency (via average Wi-Fi download speeds), healthcare (the number of available hospital beds) and earning potential (via annual salaries), to determine the best places to live depending on your age and lifestyle.
The 19 countries were chosen based on their general popularity with British expats, according to Property Guide’s experience and expertise. In order to ensure standardisation across the chosen data points, analysis was carried out on each country’s capital cities.
A range of sources were used, which can be found listed on the campaign page here. These data points were then split and assigned to one or more of the age and lifestyle brackets, depending on their relevance. For example, nursery fees and the number of jobs available will not be applicable to retirees in most instances.
For those in the young families bracket, the following data points were used:
The amount of green space (square metres per capita)
Green space is so important for young families, let alone everyone else. Young families will use green space for not only sport and recreation, but also as a place for children to socialise and meet with friends.
Average monthly nursery fees
The average monthly nursery fees are extremely important for young families to take into consideration. Whether or not families are looking to put their children into full-time nursery care, these costs allow young families to judge how expensive, or inexpensive, it may be.
The number of hospital beds (per 1,000 people)
Hospital beds, and more so, the availability of them is ever so important for a number of age groups, however, it’s especially important to those planning to grow their family.
Government education funding
The percentage of government spending that goes into education is extremely important for young families, especially as they’re likely to enrol their children into full-time education once they’ve moved. On top of this, many young adults may want to further their education to improve their job prospects.
Maternity leave allowance
The amount of time women get as part of maternity leave varies from country to country, and it’s very important for future parents to make sure that they’re aware of their maternity leave allowance when they’re emigrating. Many prospective parents will want to ensure that their finances and childcare plans are in place, and understanding maternity leave helps with this.
Average cost of living per month
The cost of living is a critical factor for anyone choosing a new place to live, but particularly for young families as they’ll need to not only factor in the costs for adults in the home, but also for children too.
Average annual salary
Average annual salary is a strong indicator of how much each worker will be able to earn in the country they move to. If the country has a high cost of living, young families will want to ensure that they’re able to secure a high salary.
Once arranged into Property Guides’ unique ranking system, the top 10 places for young families to live or move to are:
Germany
Sweden
Luxembourg
Malta
Belgium
Norway
Italy
Austria
Finland
Denmark
Coming in first place for young families is Germany, offering plenty of green space to enjoy, as well as cheap nursery fees. In fact, all children in Germany now have a legal right to a childcare place from the age of 12 months, which is partially subsidised by the state.
German cities are also well known for their cleanliness, safety and abundance of family-friendly amenities, such as parks and museums. Its central location in Europe also makes it easy to travel around.
In second place is Sweden – one of the happiest nations on earth. Sweden is well known for its fantastic social care. This is reflected in the fact that it ranks in first place for the most affordable nursery fees as well as the amount of mandatory maternity leave granted out of all the countries analysed. It also ranks first for education in Property Guide’s research.
And at the heart of Europe is Luxembourg, which ranks in third place. Despite being a small country, there’s a surprising amount of green space here, and the number of hospital beds per capita and government spend on education are above average.
