The World Citizenship Report 2026 identifies education as a major concern for affluent families, with 39.9% of HNWIs citing it among the areas where governments are falling short.
Education is emerging as an important consideration in global citizenship planning, as affluent families increasingly assess how nationality may influence their children’s access to educational opportunities, international careers and long-term security, according to the World Citizenship Report 2026 published by CS Global Partners.
The report found that 39.9% of surveyed mass-affluent individuals identified education as an area where their governments were falling short. Education ranked behind a competitive economy, cited by 45.4% of HNWIs, and healthcare, cited by 42.7%, highlighting concerns about the public services and opportunities available in their home countries.
The findings place education within a broader discussion about the value of citizenship, suggesting that families may consider more than academic qualifications when planning for the next generation. Access to international opportunities, the ability to pursue careers across borders and the wider conditions in which children grow up are also part of this assessment.
The report surveyed 546 mass-affluent individuals and evaluated 188 jurisdictions through its World Citizenship Index. The index measures citizenship value across five pillars: safety and security, quality of life, economic opportunity, global mobility and financial freedom.
Citizenship and access to global opportunities
The report examines how citizenship can influence access to opportunities beyond a person’s country of birth. While educational qualifications remain important, the report argues that nationality can also affect the ease with which individuals access international study, employment and lifestyle opportunities.
Its analysis highlights global mobility as one of the factors shaping these prospects. Singapore ranked first in the Global Mobility pillar with a score of 91.0, followed by Japan and South Korea, which tied at 89.6, and Denmark at 88.9.
According to the report, jurisdictions with stronger global mobility scores can offer their citizens greater international connectivity, helping them pursue education and career opportunities across different countries. The report contrasts this with the additional administrative barriers that people from more restricted mobility jurisdictions may encounter.
These findings do not suggest that citizenship guarantees admission to a university or access to a particular job. Rather, they underline how nationality can form part of the wider circumstances affecting a person’s ability to pursue opportunities internationally.
For families considering their children’s futures, this creates a broader planning question: how might the combination of education, mobility, economic opportunity and quality of life affect the options available to the next generation?
Family security ranks first in future planning
Family considerations are prominent throughout the report. It states that 73% of survey participants have children and 72% are married, making family-related priorities particularly relevant to the surveyed population.
When HNWIs assessed the strategic benefits of additional citizenship in future scenarios, family security and generational protection ranked first. Emergency and contingency planning followed, while access to education and healthcare for family members ranked fourth, ahead of pure business expansion.
The findings indicate that HNWIs view citizenship planning in terms of longer-term family outcomes, rather than only immediate personal or commercial advantages.
Education and healthcare are important to this wider picture because they influence the opportunities and support available to children as they grow up. However, the report does not establish that education alone is driving demand for additional citizenship. Instead, it presents education as one element within a broader set of considerations that includes family protection, stability and future flexibility.
This distinction is important when interpreting the findings. The report identifies concerns and priorities among HNWIs; it does not demonstrate that every family is seeking another citizenship or that obtaining one automatically improves educational outcomes.
Quality of life remains a leading priority
The importance of education also aligns with the report’s findings on quality of life. Some 27.3% of HNWIs identified quality of life as the most important feature of citizenship, making it the leading priority among the options measured.
Financial, business and career opportunities followed at 18.9%, while freedom of movement was cited by 18.7%.
The report’s Quality of Life pillar considers the broader conditions associated with living in a jurisdiction, including public services and environmental and healthcare-related measures. Germany ranked first in this pillar with a score of 90.6, followed by Norway at 90.2 and Switzerland at 89.7.
Finland and Sweden completed the top five, scoring 89.6 and 89.5 respectively.
These rankings provide context for the report’s emphasis on living standards and public services. For families, education is not an isolated consideration: it forms part of a wider assessment of the environment in which children may study, live and eventually work.
The findings also show that HNWIs’ concerns extend beyond education itself. With healthcare and a competitive economy ranking ahead of education among the areas where governments were perceived to be falling short, the report points to a combination of public-service and economic factors shaping views of citizenship.
Economic opportunity and long-term family decisions
Economic opportunity is another important element of the report’s analysis. Business and professional opportunities were the most frequently cited motivation for seeking additional citizenship, at 29.9%. Investment diversification followed at 24.5%, while tax efficiency accounted for 22.3%.
These motivations illustrate the range of factors that can influence citizenship decisions. For parents, the potential to access international education may be considered alongside the possibility of working in different markets, pursuing professional opportunities and preparing for future changes.
