Best Place To Be Born? America Doesn’t Crack Top Ten

There is an official list of best places to be born, in case you didn’t know, and this year’s list of the most advantageous countries in which to make your debut has arrived — with the notable exception of America from the top ten.

Yes, we’re number one, but not in best places to be born. That would be the far less attractive to chant “we’re number 16 and tied with Germany!”

The list of best places to be born is compiled by a quality-of-life index from the Economist Intelligence Unit, a company related to The Economist magazine.

Ranking countries on issues including trust in the government, access to health care (the US, unlike most of the top ten countries, lacks a single payer health care system) and family life (America notably offers nearly third-world level protections for workers and mothers, which is to say, basically none), the list deduces where babies receive the best shot at a good life.

Besting America’s number 16 ranking, the top ten places in promise of a decently-lived childhood and life are:

1. Switzerland
2. Australia
3. Norway
4. Sweden
5. Denmark
6. Singapore
7. New Zealand
8. Netherlands
9. Canada
10. Hong Kong

Since 1988, the quality of life rankings that determine the best place to be born have changed drastically for America — in that year, the US was indeed number one for infants’ prospects, trailed by Germany and France. In this year’s ranking, France came in at 26, with Britain trailing at 27.

An in-depth ranking of the factors used to determine the list of best places to be born can be found over at The Economist.