Expat Study Reveals Best Locations To Raise Children

by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

10 October 2008

HSBC Bank International today revealed that Spain, France and Germany are perceived to be the best locations for expats to raise their children, according to the findings of the second report of three in the Expat Explorer survey, Offshore Offspring.

Expat parents were asked to rate their host country in five areas:

• Time their children spent outdoors
• Time their children spent studying
• Cost of raising children
• Number of languages spoken by their children
• Whether their children would remain in the country

Spain, India and China are the cheapest countries in which to raise children, with half (55%, 50% and 50% respectively) of expats living in these countries reporting they experienced reduced costs for their children compared to their country of origin. The survey also revealed that finance capitals are the most expensive countries in which to raise children.

Almost half (44%) of expats reported that their children spent more time outdoors in their adopted countries. The Mediterranean and countries with wide open spaces scored highly in this category – Australia came top of the table, where more than three-quarters (80%) of parents reported that their children spent more time outdoors, followed by Spain (59%) and France (57%).

A third of parents overall said that their children study more since becoming expats, with more than half (56%) reporting that it remained about the same. Expatriate children in India topped the table, with two-thirds (67%) studying more now than before, followed by children in France (57%) and Singapore (42%).

Children living in European countries learn the greatest number of languages. Spain had the highest percentages of expat children speaking languages, with almost all (94%) speaking two or more languages.

The full report by HSBC Bank International gives the primary expat countries the following overall rankings:

1. Spain
2. France
3. Germany
4. Canada
5. Singapore
6. US
7. Australia
8. India
9. China
10. Belgium
11. Hong Kong
12. Netherlands
13. UK
14. UAE

The survey questioned 2,155 expatriates living in over 48 countries, however only countries with at least 30 respondents were analysed in the league tables.

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