You are all about the expat life and have always wanted to move abroad, but now that you have children, you have a lot more to consider before making the leap of faith. You cannot just leave it to chance. If you are looking for countries where your children will benefit from quality education and childcare at a reasonable price, HSBC Expat Explorer has put together just the list you need.
Sweden
Expats who have taken part in HSBC's survey have largely ranked Sweden as the country with the best education for your children. Sweden ranks first overall but also ranks first in cost of children as well as the quality of childcare. However, the country only comes in 8th in terms of quality of education. Sweden also ranks 7th on the scale of best countries for expatriates.
France
Second is France. The country of croissants and baguettes also provides for free public education and still ranks 4th and 5th for childcare and school quality respectively. Coming to the cost of having children, France ranks 8th. At the time of the survey, it was estimated that around 24% of expatriates living in France have children.
Germany
In Germany too, education is free, even though the country only ranks 11th in the world on the scale for the cost of having children. Germany also bags the 5th place for its childcare quality and 6th for the quality of its schools.
Russia
Russia comes in at the 4th place for raising children. Indeed, despite the relatively high cost of having children in Russia, the country earns the second place for the quality of schools and the 6th place for the quality of its childcare. The country comes in at the 20th place in the HSBC survey on the overall best destinations for expatriates.
Poland
It comes in 25th for the overall best places for expatriates, but on the children's education scale, Poland bags itself the 5th place. The country's cost of having children is relatively low coming in at the 3rd place on this scale. It is the quality of its child-care and schooling that's consequently lower than Russia. Indeed, Poland only comes in at the 24th place for child-care quality, and 15th for the quality of its schools.
Singapore
Quality of education and child-care in Singapore is undisputed, which is why the country comes in at the 6th place. Indeed, it is ranked 1st in school-quality in the world and 2nd in terms of child-care quality. However, this top-quality education and child-care have a price. Singapore comes in at the 29th place for the cost of having children worldwide. However, overall, Singapore is very much sought after by expats placing itself at the 5th place of the HSBC's list of best places for expatriates.
Spain
At the 7th place, comes Spain. The Mediterranean country is also the 4th favourite place for expats worldwide according to HSBC's survey. Spain is only the 4th least expensive place in the world to raise a child. However, the cost of child-care and schooling is relatively low, compared to countries featured higher in this list. Indeed, Spain ranks 11th on its child-care quality and only 22nd on schooling quality.
Malaysia
Malaysia is the 8th most child-friendly country and also the 12th best country overall for expatriates. The cost of raising children and the quality of child-care and schooling are fairly reasonable in this country. Malaysia is the 12th best country both for the overall cost of children as well as childcare quality. On the schooling quality, however, Malaysia only comes in at the 16th place.
India
India is both 9th on the child-friendly countries scale and the overall best countries for expatriates scale. The peninsula ranks high in terms of quality of both child-care and schooling quality- coming in at the 7th and 14th place respectively. However, India is only the 19th least expensive country for childcare.
Mexico
Mexico is the 5th least expensive country on the ‘cost of children' scale. However, the country ranks quite low for childcare quality and quality of schooling. Mexico comes in at the 26th place for the former and the 20th place for the latter. Mexico is, however, the 13th best country overall for expatriates.
