It is sometimes said that the countryside offers a high quality of life, especially for families. What are the arguments for and against families choosing to live and work in the countryside, for example as farmers? What is your own view about this?

There can be few choices in

life

more important than where to settle as a family, and the question of an urban or rural location is complex. There are strong arguments for and against living in the

countryside

, as we will discuss now. On the one hand, it might be said that the

countryside

is rather a backwater, with fewer cultural amenities than a city in the form of museums, theatres and even sporting events.

This

may mean that families become isolated, especially as rural depopulation leaves fewer country dwellers in the area, as we see,

for example

, in central France. Added to

this

is the scarcity of schools and colleges, meaning that children may need to travel long distances for their education.

Finally

, career options may be more limited in the

countryside

for both parents and children, resulting in rural unemployment and long-term rural poverty in the worst cases.

Conversely

,

life

in the

countryside

has rewards which go beyond material considerations.

For example

, the abundance of natural resources

such

as land,

wildlife forestry

Accept comma addition

wildlife, forestry

and water bodies means that a comparatively simple

life

can be lived at a subsistence level. Many country residents are self-sufficient smallholders in

this

sense, safeguarding them from the changes in the wider economy which can afflict city dwellers. If the parents are farmers, children learn the importance of animal husbandry, methods of farming

such

as crop rotation and irrigation, and generally may become more in tune with the natural world

as a result

.

Finally

, as technology enables children to undertake distance learning or remote viewing of cultural attractions

such

as museums, they should be less isolated from their cultural heritage. Overall, it seems to me that

quality

Suggestion

the quality

of

life

in the

countryside

today is indeed quite high, with its advantages of resources, self-sufficiency and environmental awareness.

This

is especially true now that communications are reducing the risk of isolation in

such

far-flung communities