The most family-friendly cities in the UK have been revealed and it’s a Somerset location topping the list.
Taking into account several factors which can make a big difference when raising a family, doll’s pram experts, Play Like Mum, have ranked the cities they think offer the most for people with children.
While you might already have your own ideas of where might make a good, or not so good, place to bring up a family, Play Like Mum compiled their list by comparing the cost of childcare, safety, number of child-friendly attractions and restaurants and the number of children in the area.
The UK’s most baby-friendly city
Securing the top spot was Bath after it scored highly in all categories.
The average cost of childcare per month came in at £850, much lower than the £936 national average, making a big difference to working families.
And there’s no shortage of things to do in the city – with the most child-friendly attractions per 10,000 people in the UK. From the annual Children’s Literature Festival to museum events during the summer holidays, there’s an abundance of activities for the family to enjoy.
But that’s not all, Bath is also the third safest city in the UK and came in fourth place when it comes to child-friendly restaurants too.
The UK’s least baby-friendly city
If there is a winner then, of course there must be a loser too and coming out at the bottom of the family-friendly cities list is Coventry.
The West Midlands’ city has one of the lowest safety ratings across the country at just 39 and also boasts limited family attractions and dining out options too.
The Top 10 baby-friendly cities
Of course, Bath isn’t the only place offering parents a great place to live. Here are the ten cities which came out on top according to the research.
- Bath, Somerset – Score: 7.09
- Wakefield, West Yorkshire – Score: 6.64
- Canterbury, southeast England – Score: 6.03
- Brighton & Hove, East Sussex – Score: 5.86
- Lichfield, Staffordshire – Score: 5.76
- Winchester, Hampshire – Score: 5.46
- York, North Yorkshire – Score: 5.35
- St Albans, London – Score: 5.19
- Lancaster, Lancashire – Score: 5.15
- Lincoln, Lincolnshire – Score: 5.00
Giving cities a family-friendly rating
The cost of childcare and safety rating of 42 UK cities came from Numbeo.
From Tripadvisor, they collated the number of restaurants and attractions listed as “good for children” in each city, then divided per 10,000 residents.
Using Office of National Statistics figures they determined the number of households in each city with children.
The website AccessAble provided information on the number of ramp-accessible parks, shops and children’s play areas in each city. The number of public toilets with baby-changing was also included to provide an overall accessibility score for each city.
These figures were used to calculate each city’s total score.
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