The report, published on Thursday, placed Luxembourg ninth in terms of family-friendly policies. Sweden came at the top of the list, followed by Norway and Iceland.
Aside from Luxembourg, the top ten was also populated by Germany, Estonia, Portugal, Denmark, Slovenia, and France. In contrast, Switzerland, Greece, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, and Ireland were put at the bottom of UNICEF’s Europe ranking, which examined 31 countries.
UNICEF examined factors including maternity and paternity leave alongside the amount of young children enrolled in childcare. UNICEF believes that each country should offer at least six months paid parental leave as well as sufficient affordable childcare for young children.
On a global scale, UNICEF examined the 41 wealthiest countries on how family friendly their policies are. The United States was ranked in the bottom position, as it is the only OECD country to not have a country-wide parental leave guaranteed by legislation. Australia and New Zealand were ranked just above the USA.
