2021’s Best & Worst Places to Raise a Family

People move for numerous reasons. Young adults may move back home with their parents to be around family and save money on rent. Others follow their dreams to live in a distant location for a healthier lifestyle and lower cost of living.

A study by Pew Research Center found 33% of people who moved during the pandemic did so for financial reasons. Young adults ages 18 to 29 were more likely than any other age group in both surveys to have moved due to the outbreak.

With 27% of people who moved last year citing being closer to family as the main reason, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2021's Best & Worst Places to Raise a Family.

To determine the most family-friendly places in America, they compared more than 180 cities across 48 key metrics. The data set ranges from housing affordability to school-system quality to COVID-19 cases.

Best vs. Worst

• New York has the most playgrounds (per square root of the population), 0.629307, which is 12.7 times more than in Hialeah, Florida, the city with the fewest at 0.049557.
• Irvine, California, has the fewest violent crimes (per 1,000 residents), 0.64, which is 30.7 times fewer than in Detroit, the city with the most at 19.65.
• Overland Park, Kansas, has the highest median family annual income (adjusted for cost of living), $119,957, which is 3.5 times higher than in Newark, New Jersey, the city with the lowest at $34,753.
• Overland Park, Kansas, has the lowest share of families receiving food stamps, 2.42 percent, which is 18.2 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 44.11 percent.
• Fremont, California, has the lowest share of families living in poverty, 2.70 percent, which is 11.1 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 30.00 percent.

WalletHub Q & A

To what degree is child development and a family’s quality of life influenced by the city in which they live? How?

“Decades of research have shown us the importance of the environment on the developing child and the functioning (or dysfunction) of the family unit,” said Jes Fyall Cardenas, PhD, IMH-E®, University of North Carolina Wilmington. “Considerations such as accessibility of health services, schools, transportation, cost of living, and pollution are just a few of the factors that impact daily life that families have to evaluate.”

“A family’s quality of life depends largely on whether their unique needs are being met and aligning your environment (i.e. your city) with your family’s priorities will play a large role in overall satisfaction.”

“The city that a family lives in impacts a child’s development,” said Melodi Faris, PhD, Texas Christian University. “If you look at the factors that influence a child’s development as concentric circles with the child being the center, the family being the next circle, and the community being the outer circle, the city that the family lives in will affect the child’s development. The community (schools, childcare, work opportunities, churches, green spaces/parks, health care) will impact the family and consequently, the family’s quality of life will impact the child’s development. Based on what the community has to offer the family, this will determine if the child will have optimal opportunities regarding health, academic growth, and social/emotional development. “

Despite the online learning challenges, has there been any positive value for families in this year at home?

“This really depends,” said Daniel j. Puhlman, PhD, LMFT, University of Maine. “For financially stable families, this time has provided a great opportunity to be together and get reconnected positively. There are still stresses, but at least these families do not need to worry about paying the bills and getting food on the table. This can be great for relationship building, spending quality time as a family, and getting to know each other in a whole new way. For families that may not have financial stability, this brings up a much bigger challenge and those positives decrease fairly quickly. The capacity for families to use the home time as a support for their relationship goes away when they are stressed about food and bills.”

“Families have gotten to spend more time together, which has a lot of positive value,” said Alison Hooper, PhD, The University of Alabama. “Children who were previously busy with a lot of organized activities have had slower schedules, which may have translated into more time to play independently or with siblings.”

Given the current pandemic context, what are the most important steps parents can take to help their children grow up healthy?

“Families need to get reacclimated with their communities and environments,” said Theresa J. Russo, PhD, CFLE, State University of New York College at Oneonta. “Socialization and activities for their children are important – but so is balance. Balance of work-life for parents and balance of home/school and community for children.”

“The same as ever: Involvement, communication, warmth and support, high expectations, consistent discipline, family routines and organization, future focus, said Susan M. McHale, Pennsylvania State University.

“Parents should explicitly coach their children and also set good examples on research-documented, effective health practices around the pandemic (masking, social distancing getting vaccinated) and beyond, including daily diet, exercise, sleep and brushing/flossing teeth.”

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-for-families/4435

Courtesy: WalletHub