[davidw]

100% of European couples probably also want to be around the child's grandparents, ensure the child learns their own language, and so on. My wife would find it tough to leave Italy for this reason, for instance. Also, as a parent, I think you want to feel somewhere that feels like 'home' - or maybe that's just me. Without kids, I would feel pretty comfortable in a lot of places, but now that we have them, I think I would be less comfortable going somewhere completely new.

The educational system isn't that bad in the US if you're in the right place. It varies a lot from state to state and between towns or even areas in a town.

[comrade1]

So I'm only talking about 3 couples. Education was one of the main factors for all 3. One of the couples didn't even move close to relatives - they moved to Switzerland even though one parent is Finnish and the other Spanish. They still may move to Finland but not to be by relatives but instead to be in the country with the best education system in the world - for now Switzerland is 'good enough'.

Their complaints about the u.s. - poor quality teachers, poor funding even in wealthy areas, and a generally poor culture/attitude toward learning. Their complaint/worry about Europe is making sure that their child gets into the University track of education which isn't guaranteed here.

[gcp]

100% of European couples probably also want to be around the child's grandparents, ensure the child learns their own language, and so on.

We're both arguing without hard data here, but I'll just give an outright "nope" to the above.

[davidw]

These rankings are a bit dubious, but in this one, for instance, the US does not do great, but does do better than Belgium, where the poster wants to move away from:

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27314075

I want my own kids to have a good education, and would feel comfortable moving back to the US from that point of view. My biggest doubt from that point of view is that I want them to be bilingual in Italian and English, and there is no Italian language education in the US, so it'd be up to my wife and I.

[gcp]

I was arguing against the "grandparents and language" argument, not the general education argument. It's easy to argue against because I'm a counterexample myself. (...and my Italian still sucks after 30 years)