Raising kids in the UK?

[kyleishere]

Do you think the UK is a good place to raise kids? Have any of you raised kids in the UK?

[Penguins_Pet_Pumpkin]

My husband raised all three of his girls here. But they're all English anyway.

I don't see that it would be any different fundamentally than anywhere else. If you have values the schools don't teach I guess you have to be pro-active, but that sort of goes without saying in any country.

[madmum]

Hi, i have four children and we are all English. England is not a bad place to bring up children its just like everywhere else it all depends on which area you choose to settle in, just like any country you have your good and bad on the whole schools do pretty well over here, ive not had any complaints, where was you thinking of moving?

[Penguins_Pet_Pumpkin]

True, Madmum. Might be tough if you don't know the areas though. I keep hearing that our area is a really bad place to raise children. But most of the children I've met in our neighbourhood are absolutely lovely. In fact, a couple of them aren't just well behaved, they're downright charming. Even my very proper (cough-cough) English husband said that.

So ask people who actually live in the neighbourhoods you're considering. Don't take the word of statistics.

[Stravinsky]

Englands a great place to bring up kids. Theres a lot of bad press this year about gun crime etc, but in reality that only touches a very very small minority of the population and mainly in inner city areas.

Theres a good education system, a good health system (FREE) and lots for kids to get involved in right from infants school to High school.

[anna_48]

Would you guys say that Essex is a nice place to raise kids, or would Buckinghamshire be better? Which has more family activities and a better public transportation.

[smcquie]

I would prefer to raise children back home in Australia - not because there is anything wrong with England, but because I think the weather is more condusive to outdoor activities. Not England's fault. I'd definitely have to bring them over here to learn all about the culture and where a lot of our history comes from - very important.