UK & Ireland Ranked Worst Places To Live

According to a new study, the UK and Ireland are the worst places to live in Europe.

They hit the bottom of the uSwitch.com list due to lower than average government spending on health and education, high living costs, late retirement and short holidays.

For the second year running, France holds the title as the best place to live, despite a lower family annual income of only £32,766, £4,406 less than that of the UK.

The UK has now fallen behind Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark in regards to net household income in Europe.

Last year net household income in the UK was £10,000 above the European average, this year it is just £2,314 above average.

16 factors were considered in the study, including net income, VAT and the cost of essential goods, such as fuel, food and energy bills.

Lifestyle factors were also taken into account, such as hours of sunshine, holiday entitlement, working hours and life expectancy.

Brits encounter longer working hours, less sunshine and receive less annual leave than most of their European counterparts. They retire later and can expect to die two years younger than their French counterparts, the study reports.

Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, Ann Robinson said: "Last year compared with our European neighbours we were miserable but rich, this year we're miserable and poor.

"Whereas some countries work to live, UK consumers live to work. In fact we work harder, take less holiday and retire later than most of our European counterparts - but the high cost of living makes this a necessity rather than a choice.

"With salaries failing to keep up with inflation, it's likely that we're a long way from achieving the quality of life that people in other countries enjoy."

(BMcN)