To want to emigrate?

[YaddaYaddaYadda]

I realise I'm going to sound like Victor Meldrew here, but I'm really questioning whether I want to bring my dd up in Britain. Quality of life isn't that great, everything's so expensive especailly childcare, house prices are ridiculous and I can't face the thought of trying to negotiate the system to get my dd into a half decent state school...

[nickytwotimes]

I doubt it's much better anywhere else Victor Yadda.
Stop your moaning woman!

[Molesworth]

Yeah but there's no radio 4 abroad

I know it's shit here, but it's shit everywhere. It's less shit here than it is in a lot of other places. I feel rather lucky to live in Britain, frankly.

[misshardbroom]

No, I know where you're coming from.

There are two things that keep us here, one being that I'm really close to my family and I'd miss them so much. The other is that DD is so settled at school, we're really happy with it, and she feels as though she has a whole little world there.

But as for lifestyle, social attitudes, property prices, how we care for our children & our old people, work-life balance.... we're so outta here.

[nickytwotimes]

Molesworth - I do too, and I am not in the least bit patriotic.
I am grateful to live in a country where we have clean running water, sanitaton and free-at-the-point-of-wotsit healthcare.
Sure, it's far from perfect, but it ain't bad.

[Molesworth]

OK, name a country that is better, people.

[Lemontart]

you sound like my DH
He is constantly harping on about exactly that. Whenever we hear doom and gloom economy news, G Brown on the telly, etc etc he starts on the same speech in a loud voice: "why oh why are we allowing ourselves to stay in this dismal, small minded, limiting country blah blah blah"
Driving me nuts. He keeps printing out incredible homes from the overseas section of rightmove - fabulous mansions in acres of land for 50p type stuff.. Aaaaaargh.
I love this bloody dismal country. It is where my family are, my kids and all my stuff.

Perhaps you could consider a DH swap

[Molesworth]

Blimey, does your mr lemontart really imagine that the economic situation is better elsewhere? Two words for him: global capitalism

[madwomanintheattic]

we've been trying to get to canada for years.

unfortunately dd2 is a little bit broken and they don't like that much...

space, people who respect the countryside and don't fly tip and litter, children who act like children... teens that are polite...

[brimfull]

nowt wrong with UK

I grew up in Canada,family all still there.

GB is great,the grass is not greener and all that.

ps teens are the same everywhere

[mm22bys]

I don't know where you're thinking of going, but I know when I look at Australian news websites, they have exactly the same issues as here. I guess the only difference is that at least most of the time there is sun, but even sun every day can be a bit boring after a while!

YANBU, but grass is always greener, and there are pros and cons...

[nametaken]

rising house prices are a global problem. If you think you're gonna buy a farmhouse with 5 acres in Canada or Australia I've got news for you you've already missed that opportunity.

British education system the best in the world. Ask any of the europeans on here.

[nametaken]

the cheap houses that you're dh keeps showing you are in isolated rural areas. If you have to work, this won't be any good to you.

[lalalonglegs]

Friend just moved to Australia - no free childcare pre-school (and they don't start until five), very expensive private care, commodoties generally higher because haven't same economies as scale as Europe (although fuel cheaper), house prices as expensive (in Sydney) and they are faced with serious water shortages in much of the country.

It is really easy to get wistful about other countries and cultures but that is generally because we know so little about them (don't get me on my hobbyhorse about non-Italian speakers going on about how marvellously friendly Italians are when they have only been on holiday there for two weeks and not spoken to anyone beyond the bartender and hotel receptionist).

[lalalonglegs]

Generally (not right at the moment, obviously) employment opportunities far better in UK than most other countries in Europe and English-speaking world.

(House prices in Sydney as expensive as London, where I am and where friend moved from, I meant to say.)

[OrmIrian]

I'm happy here. We might not have a great lifestyle, but we have a pretty good life. Ie we're all healthy, safe, have friends and family around, enough to eat, roof over our heads, and I have seen very few of these scary disrespectful teens and horrible people.

I do sometimes dream about a different life but I suspect that has more to do with money than geography.

[DyingForAFag]

We thought exactly the same a few years ago before we emigrated to Canada. Came back a year later as we realised the grass was not greener and it's a lot less bloody cold over here . Summers were so hot that we could'nt stay outside either - you cannot beat the cool English breeze on a summers day (when we actually get summers that is ).

Missed family and wanted our kids to know their grandparents and the ectasy of going round Tesco's and M&S was unreal (missed them sooo much)!!

What makes me mad is that this country would be great if Labour had not f*ed it up.

[cory]

I had a chance to emigrate recently. One thing that put me off was reading the estate agents' pages for my prospective new home town. Talk about prices! And I believe schools aren't all that good over there either.

Incidentally (in response to Dying), I am old enough to remember the Tory years and I don't remember them being all that great either.

[DyingForAFag]

Oh and we had a gorgeous house (5 beds, basement and humungus garden) all the material things really but with the cost of living, i.e food (bloody expensive), dental costs, opticians, shoes and clothes we still struggled financially especially as kids don't start fulltime school until they are 7 and I could not work as nursery places were like gold dust (they also did not seem to have heard of after school care as that was non existent). We actually have a tiny house here in the UK but much more cash left over!!

The Canadians were complaining about exactly the same things as we do as well!

[madwomanintheattic]

it's horses for courses though, we spent a few years in canada and loved it, which is why we're trying to go back. we love the snow and the heat - it's just too temperate here lol...
nothing wrong with the uk - if we have to stay here we will, and it'll be fine, but i'd still like the chance to find out... at least you had your chance DyingForAFag...

[Molesworth]

It was Thatcher that fucked the country up (and 'new labour' kept up the good work)

[madwomanintheattic]

i had a childminder and a part time job (until i had dc2 that is). i guess it's a big place with the same differences in facilities as here.

[alexpolismum]

Well, I have emigrated. I have spent the last ten years living abroad, and as far as I'm concerned, it's no better and no worse than the UK. Everywhere has its problems and its advantages, you just have to get on with it and make the best of what you've got. (I didn't actually plan to emigrate, it happened because I met dh who is from the country where I now live). The weather is nicer here, though!

[DyingForAFag]

Er Labour have had 11 years to make a difference and have not got very far so would not blame the Tories for the current mess of things really .

[madwomanintheattic]

dd2 is 5 and would be in kindergarten... admittedly 2 hours short of a full day until next september (when she will still be 5 lol) when she starts grade 1. a slight exaggeration to say they don't start school until 7 lol.

[Molesworth]

It was the tories that got the ball rolling. What we now laughingly call labour only continued what they started. The really profound change happened with Thatch.