If you could give your child, born in 2013 a choice of where to be born, which country would it be and what would that choice be based on?

A recent study published by The Economist based on Economic opportunity, health standards and political freedoms; subjective “quality of life” surveys; and economic forecasts for 2030, when an infant born today would be entering adulthood placed Kenya at 79th position out of 80 countries sampled on the best and worst places to be born.

That makes it 2nd last on the list.

This does not sound good for Kenyans especially after the recent outburst on social media after Pesatalk ran the article Nairobi The 2nd Worst City To Live in Globally. However, an objective look at the data; current economic hardship, poor health service provision, high poverty levels, high insecurity and divisive tribal politics makes Kenya a bad place for your child born in 2013 17 years later (2030).

The study which also took into account gender equality, job security (as measured by unemployment data), violent crime rates and climate has Switzerland and Australia as the top 2 countries to be born in currently while Kenya and Nigeria are bottom of the list of 80.

[caption id="attachment_28278" align="alignnone" width="800"] Map from data by Economist Intelligence Unit (Image source: Washington Post)[/caption]

The report has been received with mixed reactions the world over based on facts, opinions and observations.

[caption id="attachment_28279" align="alignnone" width="293"] Where to be born in 2013 list (Source: The Economist)[/caption]

Read the report The lottery of life

Also read The Best and Worst Places to be born.