What's the best country in the world to raise a child? If a well developed public education system tops your list, you'd likely consider the United States -- it took the top spot in education in this year's Best Countries Report, done annually¹ since 2016 by US News & World Report and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

世界上哪个国家最适合养娃呢？如果你优先考虑的是高度发达的公共教育体制，你可能会考虑美国——在今年的全球最棒国家排行榜中，美国的教育高居榜首。自从2016年以来，《美国新闻和世界报道》与宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院每年都会发布这一排行榜。

 

But if you factor in such qualities as safety, gender² equality, green living, family friendly laws and human rights, you'd look elsewhere. The US came in at number 18 for best country to raise a child, beaten by many countries in Europe, Canada and Australia. Child raising is just one of several categories listed in the survey.

 

Top marks went to Denmark, Sweden and Norway, a typical trend.

 

"These countries tend to have generous paternal³ leave and maternal⁴ leave, offer free preschool and have good overall public education systems," said Deidre McPhillips, senior data editor at US News & World Report.

 

"One area where the US falls behind quite a bit is in the safety metric," she said. "In that attribute, the US actually ranks 32, pretty far down the list. So that really impacts its ratings for raising kids, of course."

 

Canada came in fourth for raising kids, followed by the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia and Austria. The UK came in at number 11.

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