The best (and worst) countries for raising a family

The US ranked as one of the worst countries to raise a family, per a new analysis of over 1,000 factors.Miguel Pereira/Getty Images

• The coronavirus pandemic has put a spotlight on the struggle of working parents who are juggling both their jobs and childcare duties.
• Lack of free or affordable childcare was an issue before the pandemic, and industry insiders project to only get worse in the coming months unless Congress passes an industry bailout.
• New research from parenting bloggers Asher & Lyric reveal the US is far from the best place to raise a family.
• The bloggers ranked 35 countries on about 1,000 data points, giving each country an overall score.
• The US ranked as one of worst countries to raise a family due to high childcare costs and the number of school shootings per capita.

The coronavirus has put a spotlight on how difficult it is to raise children and juggle a career in the US. Lack of free or affordable child care was a problem before the pandemic, and it's projected to only become worse if Congress doesn't pass a bailout for the industry.

As schools reopen with semi-virtual and half-day models, 73% of American parents plan to make major changes to their professional lives with 15% considering leaving the workplace altogether, one recent survey found.

According to new research compiled by parenting bloggers Asher & Lyric, the US is not the best place to raise a family, pandemic or not. In fact, it ranked as one of the worst countries to raise a family, particularly for the number of high school shootings per capita and the high cost of childcare.

The bloggers ranked 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries on about 1,000 weighted factors:

• Safety (homicide rate, number of school shootings per capita)
• Cost (% of net income that goes toward childcare costs, out of pocket healthcare costs)
• Happiness (World Happiness Report survey, inequality score in the GINI index ranked by the World Bank)
• Health (maternal mortality rate, share of population exposed to air pollution above WHO limits)
• Education (school enrollment rate, reading and mathematics performance of 15-year-olds)
• Time (average hours adults work per year as collected by the OECD, paid maternity and paternity leave)

Here's what they found, along with a snapshot of some information on each country. You can read the full report here.