Think of a great British novelist, living or dead. Now think of a great Dutch novelist, living or dead. It might be a while before a name such as, say, Willem Frederik Hermans or Louis Couperus pops into your head. The Dutch are a nation with a mighty culture, but they have different priorities than Britons do. Novels are not one of them; childcare apparently is. In a study published this week by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), rating the world's rich countries according to child well-being, the Netherlands topped the list, followed by three Scandinavian countries. The United Kingdom finished bottom, just behind the United States. The report caused only a few rolled eyes in the US.

In the UK it led to such anguished headlines as The Guardian's "UK Worst Place to Be a Child". But what makes a place a good place to be a child? It is only in light of a country's cultural priorities that we can determine whether it is raising its children correctly. Parents who wanted their child to become a novelist might be better served by a British upbringing than a Dutch one.