British children experience a better life overseas

7th September 2009 | Expat community | 0 comments

The latest NatWest International Personal Banking (NatWest IPB) Quality of Life Index undertaken in collaboration with think tank, Centre for Future Studies, has recently revealed research findings that suggest that the education expat children received overseas was of a higher quality than that provided in their home country. The poll, which surveyed 2043 expat parents living in Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, UAE and US, asked respondents key questions about the quality of life they experienced in their overseas homes. The findings revealed that 93% of expats living overseas were of the opinion that their children experienced a better life abroad than they did in the United Kingdom. Such findings were based upon the fact that 67% of those surveyed believed that their children enjoyed a better education overseas. A staggering 82% of expat parents also were of the opinion that their children were more self-reliant as a result of living abroad.

A representative from Natwest Bank, Dave Isley commented on the findings: "What we know from this latest report is that most UK expats are experiencing far-reaching benefits, such as an improved quality of life. However, it seems that the children of expat parents are also benefiting in many ways. Parents are reporting that their children are learning to be more independent and learning from the different cultures they are being exposed to."

The survey findings also ranked overseas expat destinations according to their education provisions and New Zealand came out on top, closely followed by Canada and Singapore. Dave Isley commented: "New Zealand is the country that has scored the highest in the school and education ranking for expats. UK parents abroad clearly value and rate the experiences that their children have gained in this country in particular."

A further key finding of the research was that children appear to find the acquisition of a new language easier when living abroad than they do at home with 55% of the UK expats surveyed in non-English speaking countries stating that their children found learning a new language “much easier” when placed in the environment within which it was spoken.

The research was carried out for NatWest International Personal Banking by the Centre for Future Studies between August and October 2008, with additional polling conducted in November 2008 and repeated in April 2009.

Read the full article: http://www.international-adviser.com/lwm/article/706