A new study has ranked 35 countries, using six different categories, to discern which are the best for raising a family. Germany ranks seventh overall, behind the Scandinavian countries and Luxembourg.

Where is the best place to raise a family?

A new study by the travel and family journalism company Asher & Lyric has ranked 35 OECD countries on how good they are to raise families in. Their “Raising a Family Index” is based on six different categories: Safety, Happiness, Cost, Health, Education and Time. Each category is made up of five different criteria, with data taken from several internationally renowned sources. 

Germany ranks seventh overall, garnering high scores across all five categories. It ranked particularly highly for happiness and time, entering the top five in these two areas. While happiness scores were based off Cato's Human Freedom Index, the World Happiness Index and suicide rates, the time category looked at working hours, sick, holiday and maternity leaves, and parental allowances.

Germany also logged respectable scores for safety, cost and education. The cost index took into account factors such as average household income, cost of childcare and social security benefits, and the education index look at average school performances and enrolment rates in primary and secondary education. 

However, Germany's performance dipped when it came to health - which is examined in relation to giving birth, life expectancy and child mortality rates.

Raising a Family Index: Top 7 countries 

The top seven countries in the 2020 Raising a Family Index were as follows:

• 1, Iceland
• 2. Norway
• 3. Sweden
• 4. Finland
• 5. Luxembourg
• 6. Denmark
• 7. Germany

For more information, including links to the sources used for the Index, a breakdown of the methodology and weighting as well as the complete ranking, you can check out the Raising a Family Index on the Asher & Lyric website.