East Dunbartonshire is back.

The tiny Scottish town with killer views of the Campsies and a location close to Glassgow first rose to name recognition a decade ago, when it was voted the best place in the UK to raise a family in a Reader’s Digest poll.

Now, it finds itself back in pole position once more — for gender equality.

East Dunbartonshire was selected as the best place to live in the UK if you’re a woman, according to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

Check out their findings in The Woman’s Hour Report, in a study conducted by The National Centre for Social Research.

The study looked at a wide range of factors like the gender pay gap, life expectancy, and safety across 380 local authorities in the UK. East Dunbartonshire scored higher than anywhere on wellbeing, while excelling in income, education, and environmental spaces too.

"I've not met one person in Bishopbriggs [a school in East Dunbartonshire] who said that you can't do something, or you cannot achieve what you want to achieve,” said Ellie, a 17-year-old local in an interview with the BBC. “I think we all know that we do live in a really nice place and it is a great place to live." 

Global Citizen campaigns on the Global Goals, including Goal Number 5, for gender equality. Help us call on world leaders to fight for women everywhere by signing a petition in support of She Decides — an initiative to provide funding for women’s health around the world.

Here are the top 10 places to live if you’re a woman in the UK.

1. East Dunbartonshire

2. East Renfrewshire

3. West Oxfordshire

4. West Berkshire

5. South Oxfordshire

6. Winchester

7. Mid Sussex

8. Wycombe

9. Stafford

10. Shropshire

And the worst? It’s Islington in North London — due to low levels of happiness and life satisfaction, high housing prices, and even higher anxiety. Four of the bottom 10 places to live are in London for similar reasons: women in Camden, Westminster, and the City of London all suffer from the effects of high property prices and low life satisfaction.

Without further ado, here are the bottom 10.

1. Islington

2. Blackpool

3. Corby

4. Boston

5. Kingston upon Hull

6. Burnley

7. City of London

8. Westminster

9. Wolverhampton

10. Camden

Scotland celebrating first and second place shouldn’t come as a surprise. In June’s election, the three biggest political parties in Scotland were led by women: the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon, the Conservative Ruth Davidson, and Labour’s Kezia Dugdale, who has since resigned. From tackling period poverty to supporting new mothers, Scotland has led by example on gender equality.

In July, Scotland became the first country in the world to launch a six-month pilot scheme to provide free sanitary pads to low-income women. Just a month later, Scottish Labour MP Monica Lennon pushed the agenda forward, suggesting a scheme to introduce free sanitary products in all schools across Scotland.

Meanwhile, Scotland has followed Finland in providing a “baby box” of essential items like clothes and books to all new mothers at birth — a popular scheme that has this week been adopted by Leeds.

Nowhere is progress more welcomed than in East Dunbartonshire. It’s a real-life Themyscira, an example to Britain, and proof that the surest bet for human happiness is ensuring gender equality is a priority at every level.

TopicsGender EqualityScotlandLondon

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Demand Equity

This Scottish City Has Just Been Declared the Best Place to Live as a Woman in the UK

By James Hitchings-Hales