Reading. LIVING A GOOD LIFE (Pre-Int)

LIVING A GOOD LIFE

What makes a country the best or worst to live in?

The best and the worst places to live in the world are calculated according to the quality of life that people have in different countries. By comparing people’s quality of life, you can see which countries are the best to live in – which have better education systems, healthier people and better food. Quality of life can also be compared between people in the same country. For example, people who live in the countryside may have a better quality of life than people in a city, because they have fresh air and more places to exercise. But a person in a city may have a better chance of finding a job, and a higher income could mean a higher quality of life. It all depends on how you live and where you live: working too much can lower your quality of life, wherever you live. A recent report looked at areas such as health, family income and children’s education, to assess the quality of life in each county.

Several features of a high quality of life are suggested: the most important include lots of parks and green spaces, play areas for children and little pressure in daily life. In Japan, 11% of the population are retired and there are 36,000 people aged 100 years or older. This suggests that the quality of life in Japan is higher than in other countries. Their long life-span is due to a healthy lifestyle: the Japanese eat lots of fresh food and keep fit. Poor diet and lack of exercise can reduce the quality of life.

The report also showed that the best place to be young was in the Netherlands – the study showed that people enjoy life more, feel less pressure and have fewer arguments. Great Britain, however, is at the bottom of the quality of life scale due to the long working hours and fewer holidays than other European countries.

The quality of life is poorer in Britain despite an average salary of £35,000 a year: £10,000 more than the European average. However, most British people would say that this money isn’t enough to improve their quality of life, as it spent on the home, food and household bills. France and Spain came top in the quality of life report, having on average 41 days of holiday per year, compared to only 28 days in Britain.