article_snippet.sent: We also got low placings for lack of religious tolerance, crime rates that are only middling by world standards and for the speed at which we soak up water resources and destroy natural habitats.
article_snippet.sent: It broadly reflects the concerns of liberal and Left-wing thinkers – for example countries are marked up if girls do not marry young, if contraception is universally available, and for low greenhouse gas emissions, but there are no rankings that take into account factors such as family break-up or single parenthood.
article_snippet.sent: The table – which says Norway followed by Sweden and Switzerland are the best-off countries in the world –
article_snippet.sent: lists only four EU countries in the top ten.
article_snippet.sent: It says that Italy, at 31, is doing less well than Costa Rica, Chile or Uruguay.
article_snippet.sent: Israel is even further down the table, below Argentina and Mauritius.
article_snippet.sent: It also wins top spot for the number of globally-recognised universities, for low levels of women marrying at young ages, and for numbers of mobile phone users.
article_snippet.sent: There are also poor results for the proportion of water resources that are taken for human use, where we are placed at 82 in the world, and for destruction of wildlife habitat, where we are 53rd.