Expat mothers prefer life in Spain

Published:  29 Apr at 6 PM
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Nearly half of the expat mothers living in Spain never want to return to their home country because they feel they have a better quality of living in their adopted country.

MumAbroad.com conducted a survey that found that 49 per cent of expat mothers residing in Spain, Italy, Germany and France planned never to return home. Meanwhile, two-thirds are of the opinion that they have a better quality of life in their new country, despite the fact that they believe the education system is not of the same standard.

The survey quizzed 650 expat mothers in the four countries, most of whom had children below the age of 16.

Education in their adopted country was considered worse, with 32.23 per cent bemoaning the standard of schooling, while children’s activities and children’s services – 38 per cent and 35 per cent respectively – were also viewed as being of a lower standard.

Some 50 per cent of mothers revealed they gave birth in their new country, while 85 per cent described their experience of living abroad as positive.

However, another negative aspect about Spain was the lack of options when it came to natural birth as well as the fact there were not enough midwives.

The majority of children (61 per cent) went to a local school while just under a third (31 per cent) attended an international school. The remainder were either schooled at home or went to state-subsidised establishments.

MumAbroad co-founder Carrie Frais revealed that it was the first questionnaire of its kind in Europe, and admitted it was “significant” that so many mothers wanted to stay in their adopted country long-term even though they had issues with the local education systems. She added that the quality of life and health systems appear to be major factors in preventing people returning home.
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