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Tuesday 6 September 2016

Devon is only the 63rd best place to raise a family - out of 138 areas in the UK

Devon is a lovely place to visit - but a difficult place to actually live in for many:
Futures Forum: Devon now the 'seventh worst place to live in the UK' >>> few full-time jobs... low incomes... high living costs... unaffordable property prices... (2016)
Devon one of worst places to live for quality of life | East Devon Watch (2015)

From last week:

Devon among best areas to live for pensioners

By WMNAGreenwood | Posted: August 31, 2016 By Herald Reporter

Dorset offers the best quality of life for pensioners across England and Wales with Devon not far behind, a report suggests.

The Quality of Retirement Index from Prudential assessed counties against seven criteria to indicate the extent to which people could enjoy a happy and comfortable retirement. The seven indicators were access to healthcare, crime levels, pensioner incomes, the weather, life expectancy, how many pensioners already lived in a particular area and how many were moving into the county.

The counties were given a score and ranked accordingly. Prudential used data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) among other sources to make its findings. West Sussex and Herefordshire came in joint second place, with Devon in fourth position and the Isle of Wight and East Sussex ranked joint fifth.

Here are the top 10 counties across England and Wales which could offer pensioners the best quality of life, according to Prudential:

1. Dorset
=2. Herefordshire
=2. West Sussex
4. Devon
=5. Isle of Wight
=5. East Sussex
7. Rutland
8. Dyfed
9. Norfolk
10. Surrey


Devon among best areas to live for pensioners | Plymouth Herald

Torquay 'one of the worst places to raise a family'


By WMNAGreenwood | Posted: August 31, 2016


Torbay has been rated as one of the worst places in the country to raise a family. The uSwitch Better Family Life Index ranked 138 local authority areas based on 33 aspects important to family life including school results, employment, crime and council tax.

The results put Torbay 109th out of 138 council areas. The South West regional table was topped by Cornwall (45th), followed by Somerset (49th), Devon (63rd) and Plymouth (72nd).


Torquay 'one of the worst places to raise a family' according to uSwitch.com | Plymouth Herald

From this week:

Why Devon is only the 63rd best place to live in Britain - if you're bringing up children

By North Devon Journal | Posted: September 04, 2016
























Are we really only the 63rd best place to raise children?


Devon is only the 63rd best place to live in Britain if you've got children, according to new research.

Our fine county came almost exactly halfway down a list of 138 local authority areas in Britain, ranked in order of the best places to bring up children - and even finished lower than outer and inner London.

The research has been revealed in the first Better Family Life Index. Researchers used a wealth of Government statistics, other official sources and league tables to judge every single place in Britain on 33 different aspects of family life.

They looked at everything from how much crime is in the area to how affordable or good the childcare is. Included in the 33 different criteria is everything from how fast the broadband is to how likely your child will grow up to be a NEET – not in education, employment or training – when they leave school.

The study also looked at GCSE results, weather, council tax, employment rates, how much time people spend every day or week with their friends and even what the mobile phone signal is like.

"The Better Family Life Index shows that life is far from equal for families across the UK," said Tashema Jackson, from uSwitch.com, which commissioned the research.

"Although there is much to celebrate in many areas, it's not surprising that so many families are thinking about moving to a new region to improve their circumstances.

"For many consumers, the prospect of increased uncertainty in the run up to Brexit may be a turning point, leading us to re-evaluate both how we manage our household budgets and how we provide stability for our families in the future.

"Policymakers would do well to follow suit. With the new government yet to announce its budgetary priorities it is vital that positive changes are made to help give all families fair opportunities no matter where they live – whether it is access to a good education, childcare, housing, GPs or jobs. Quality of life should not be a postcode lottery.

"In the meantime households can take an honest look at their budgets to see if there are any savings they can make to improve their own standard of living. Even simple steps such as switching energy or your broadband provider could put hundreds of pounds back into the household kitty," she added.


Why Devon is only the 63rd best place to live in Britain - if you're bringing up children | North Devon Journal
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