Denmark is the best country in the world to raise a family, research suggests.

The Scandinavian country is followed by Finland, Norway and Switzerland, according to a study into inequality in child well-being published by Unicef.

Unicef's Fairness for Children report compared inequalities in income, education, health and life satisfaction between children from rich and poor families.

The report found the UK lags behind other rich countries in reducing inequality in child well-being, coming in at joint 14th place - alongside Germany, Greece and Hungary.

The 20 best countries to raise a family Show all 20 1 /20 The 20 best countries to raise a family The 20 best countries to raise a family 20. Iceland These are the 20 best countries to raise children according to a Unicef report into child inequality, which measured inequality across income, education, health and life satisfaction in rich countries (Pic: Blue Lagoon, Reykjavik) Getty Images The 20 best countries to raise a family 19. Portugal (Pic: The Douro Valley vineyards) Getty The 20 best countries to raise a family 18. United States (Pic: New York) The 20 best countries to raise a family 14= United Kingdom (Pic: London) The 20 best countries to raise a family 14= Hungary (Pic: Budapest) The 20 best countries to raise a family 14= Greece (Pic: Athens) The 20 best countries to raise a family 14. Germany (Pic: Berlin) The 20 best countries to raise a family 13. Australia (Pic: Sydney) The 20 best countries to raise a family 12. Croatia (Pic: Dubrovnik on Croatia's Adriatic coast) The 20 best countries to raise a family 11. Czech Republic (Pic: Olomouc) The 20 best countries to raise a family 10. Latvia (Pic: Riga) The 20 best countries to raise a family 9. Slovenia (Pic: Ljubljana) The 20 best countries to raise a family 8. Estonia (Pic: Tallinn) The 20 best countries to raise a family 7. Ireland (Pic: Dublin) The 20 best countries to raise a family 6. Netherlands (Pic: Amsterdam) The 20 best countries to raise a family 5. Austria (Pic: Vienna) AFP/Getty Images The 20 best countries to raise a family 2= Switzerland (Pic: Rheinau) The 20 best countries to raise a family 2= Norway (Pic: Saebo) The 20 best countries to raise a family 2. Finland (Pic: Helsinki) The 20 best countries to raise a family 1. Denmark (Pic: Copenhagen)

Although the UK performs well on the measure of income equality, it ranked lower than other countries for inequality in education, health and life satisfaction.

A major area of concern is inequality in education, where the UK was ranked 25th out of 37 countries in reading, maths and science.

Britain also had a large gap between rich and poor children in the levels of fruit and vegetable consumption and the levels of physical activity.

The 20 most powerful passports in the world

Lily Caprani, Unicef UK's Deputy Executive Director, said: “We must be more ambitious for our children. Britain can and must do better. Inequality between children is damaging their lives and aspirations.

“Taking children’s rights seriously means acting with urgency to make sure no child is left behind. The UK Government should adopt, as a matter of urgency, a childhood obesity strategy that promotes and supports healthy lifestyles for low-income children.

"It must also act to further reduce income inequality, which includes protecting social transfers.”