_{Friday 12th March 2010}

Australia has been named as the best place to bring up children as an expat, according to the third report in HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey.

The Offshore Offspring Report is formed from the wider Expat Explorer survey which questioned more than 3,100 expats on the challenges and opportunities they face living away from their home country. This report focuses on expat experiences when bringing up children overseas.

Australia ranked highest in the integration score, wealth and wellbeing score and third in the childcare score. In comparison, the UK scored bottom in each category.

Of the expats questioned in Australia, 83% had found it easier to make new friends and integrate within the country, while 75% said the safety of their children had increased since moving to the country. It was also found that expat children in Australia are more likely to lead a healthier lifestyle and 68% more likely to play sports compared to watching TV.

The report found that the US and the UK are the least child friendly places for expats to live. In these countries children are 43% more likely to be watching TV in their spare time and 27% more likely to play computer games. Parents also see the two countries as unhealthy with a noticeable increase in the consumption of junk food.

Singapore was second overall in the survey but ranked top in terms of safety, education and child care. Over 93% of survey participants believed Singapore to be safer than where they used to live. In contrast, parents in the UK found their child’s safety to have decreased.

However, Singapore was ranked the most expensive for raising children especially in child care. Hong Kong was ranked best value of child care and the UK was ranked last.

Due to a lower proportion of respondents having children, the report looked at just six countries which are ranked in order below:

Australia
Singapore
Hong Kong
UAE
United States
United Kingdom

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