To be depressed about how expensive but shyt the UK is

I know it’s affecting local businesses and other recreational things like the arts it’s very expensive now to even see a regional company show £200 for a family of 4 for example for a Christmas show this year.

I do think people's expectations have changed though. As a middle class child in the 80s/90s, hardly anyone i knew went to shows etc. Often if you did it was to something like a local am dram where the people putting it on weren't expecting to be paid & the ticket prices were only covering costs, the am dram club were often reusing sets & costumes or making them. Family members sang in large choirs & played in local orchestras for free/for pleasure (eg see things like the birmingham symphony chorus). Now a lot of people partaking in these sorts of occupations expects to be a paid professional, everyone expects expensive costumes and fancy sets, there has to be insurance for health & safety

People expect a lifestyle now that is far more extravagant than 30 years ago. Kids have expensive bikes, tech, loads of toys. Every season has expensive ticketed events people clamour to pay to attend, from pumpkin picking to santa grottos.

That’s interesting g what you say about the drug problems in Canada. A colleague was saying the same thing to me a couple of weeks back. I had no idea.

I agree with lack of optimism. I think people had high hopes for the labour government, that they were going to turn round our economy, schools, nhs. I appreciate these thing's dont happen quickly, but there doesnt even seem to be clear concrete plans for improvement, or even a sense of optimism amingst them that they believe they can make significant change anytime soon, just super gloomy 'so much debt, need to make cutbacks, it's a mess, put up taxes so we have even less money'.

I don't know, we live a comfortable, happy and safe life here...which isn't unaffordable for us. Likewise, we have had exceptionally good care from the NHS recently...that experience is as valid as those who have had negative experiences.

For sure many things needs work, but the same could be said for most countries. If there was truly a utopia somewhere we would all know about it, but for many, that is the UK (judging by the regular threads on immigration.)

You've clearly never bought food in Switzerland OP. I bought a filled baguette in Geneva that was so expensive I nearly shit a kidney in shock.

Problem is say in Spain you can go to the beach, play in your garden or the park etc... where as apart from the 1 week of nice weather most of the time you have to pay to do indoor activities which is extortionate for most of the year.

Especially when like us you have disabilities and very young children plus live in a small town up a mountain in the north... long walks/hike/bike rides in the gale force ice cold rain/hale (doesn't have to be a tornado to ruin things, we quite regularly get red warnings and told to avoid travel outside of emergencies due to wind, rain, snow) just isn't an option no matter how much mumsnet love to pretend that then a hot chocolate and book is the perfect day.

Instead you have to take kids to the soft play (warm and safe) because the park is flooded muddy bog again and half the stuff has been removed from rusting but they are going stir crazy at home and 2 kids in the play zone is £20.

I would much rather have sunshine and just nip to the park. People underestimate how much difference even mild weather over shit weather makes.

This. If you can go then go. My SIL is Australian. DIL is American. Neither would ever return to their birth countries. They've both been here for years and absolutely love it. SIL has British citizenship now.

They won't fit an orthodontic brace near us until all the milk teeth have come out - has that usually happened by 8? Both grandchildren were put on the list as soon as they only had a couple left and started free treatment within 6 months - couldn't fault the service.

😂😂😂.

sadly we have elderly parents keeping us here. Once they go we will be gone. Eldest DD already has a job lined up in Canada when she graduates.

but it’s definitely a lot more difficult to move and work elsewhere than pre Brexit. Thankfully my kids have both UK and EU passports.

we’re in a spiral of shite and shorttermism that neither of the main parties seem to want to sort and the current government has back themselves into a corner over tax where we need big rises and they can’t do them without hitting it wrong.

it is what it is, and we are where we are

Yes, what mistakes?

Brexit, covid, lack of decent investment in infrastructure, failings from both left and right to tackle benefit overspend. There's loads of reasons why the UK is a little stagnant. And it's tiresome to point at refugees in hotels.

But despite everything the NHS keeps going. We have a much better safety net for the elderly, the disabled etc. our Social care system and provision for the more vulnerable is hugely superior to comparable economies.

Stuff in general is cheaper in the UK. Not just food but household stuff. There is still a sense of community in many areas.

We're battered but no where near broken. Everyone's experiences be itbof education, health service. Etc is valid and authentic

I too get decent and timely NHS care. It is very unfortunate that it is area specific! My recent self catering trip to Italy highlighted the cost of food over there (higher than here!!) I lived in Oslo some years ago and food there was HUGELY more than the UK and a recent trip there showed that remains the same.

The UK isn't perfect but it isn't blanket worse than anywhere else in the EU.

And be grateful you don’t live in Afghanistan.

Are you this moany and negative in real life or are you just having an anonymous rant to let off steam? To actually be considering living in a different country from your husband and no family or friends around.. what is so bad about your personal situation to warrant that?

Food in France might be just as expensive but the quality is far, far better. I lived there for several years and coming back to the U.K. was an unpleasant shock when I ate out and went to the supermarket.

I was chatting to a colleague in Germany the other day and he was saying full time nursery fees for his daughter are so high. He didn’t understand my hollow laugh when he told me it costs 500 euros a month. He then followed up with “..but luckily I don’t pay because all fees are covered by (the company we work for) and the state” I’ve heard similar costs from colleagues in other EU countries.

The UK is astonishingly expensive. Other countries are as well but the aggravating factor here is that the expense doesn’t = good quality of life. The COL in Nordic countries is extraordinary high but they are well run with excellent health care, affordable childcare provision and a generally high quality of life. A child from a ‘poor’ family in Stockholm will likely have a much better outcome than a child from a low income family in Blackpool.

It is shyte indeed OP but the race to the bottom mentality here means people will tell you to just shush, be grateful you have a roof over your head and a hot meal every day.

Not if you’re going to many places in the UK. Especially coastal towns.

There are, of course, other countries with healthcare systems closer to the NHS that do it much better.

This is very true .'

We haven’t got free healthcare. My dc are on 10 horrendous waiting lists. Currently paying £1000 a month for the most pressing issues , but also paid £650 for another child and looking at another £260 appointment and £2500 op, a £3k diagnosis and potentially paying £300 a month on meds if not covered by NHS. This is on top of paying for uni(just over threshold) and cost of living hikes. We’re not on a huge household income. The more people get ill due to waitlists the more people are going to be having to payout £££££ for healthcare. It’s not sustainable. Thanks Brexit and Tories!

In America health care isn’t free at the point of delivery. If you’ve no health insurance/can’t afford it then you go without more or less. So think private healthcare only, no NHS.

That sounds like it might be a bit shit if not being wealthy is the issue 🤷‍♀️

14 years of the last Tory Government has meant this country has been completely run down, no proper investment in infrastructure, NHS, schools etc. and of course Brexit has reduced our growth by 4% per annum.

So if you voted for the Tory’s and for Brexit, congrats for bringing the country to the state it is today!

Yeah, the UK has declined badly.

I've just been told to put my 8yr old ds on the waiting list for a brace as where we are, there is a 4 YEAR WAIT.

Where is "over the channel" ?
France & Belgium have the most taxed populations in Europe, if calc'd as tax as % of GDP. Is that "over the channel" ? (source = EU) France, Ireland & Norway have more expensive groceries. Are those "over the channel"?

Spain has cheaper food but copayment systems for health care. .. Spanish friends told me 20-25 years ago that they had no charity shops, no busy 2nd hand goods trading economy. When they had babies they had to buy all items new because their friends & family all had grown up kids by then & there was no other way to get slightly used (cheaper cost) goods. Charity shops were rare & farbetween. Is that still true, I wonder.

I live in the Netherlands where food, alcohol and petrol have consistently been more expensive than in the UK over the 20 years I've been here.

We have the same issues with cost of eating out/activities that the UK has.

I do think our health system is better (waiting lists are much shorter, though still way too long for mental health referrals) but then I have to pay for health insurance every month whereas the NHS is free.

Childcare is expensive but there is a subsidy - not as high as it used to be but it helps. Wraparound care is very well organised and widely available.

And when my DC broke a bone this week and my DH too them straight to A&E he was told to first go to our GP and get referred even though it was obviously broken (he refused to cart a kid in pain across town and back and they backed down). However annoying the policy is, it means that A&E is serene and people only end up there for things that need to be dealt with there rather than stuff that should be dealt with by a GP.

I have never not been able to get a GP appointment within 2 weeks (and it's usually the same week, sometimes the same day). They will actually let you book non-urgent appointments in advance instead of making you call at 8am every day only to find all appointments are gone.

Finding housing/accommodation is very very difficult here everywhere, even a room in a shared house. As a uni student there are not very many halls of residence so most students stay ay home and commute. Last year they told international students who hadn't secured housing not to bother coming. House prices are astronomical. It used to just be the Randstad (areas round Amsterdam/Hague/Utrecht) but now it's stretching further and further out.

Public transport is definitely better here than in the UK (cost of trains is affordable, generally good buses or trams available) and brilliant cycling infrastructure.

I like the primary school system here but I hate elements of the secondary education system (for my own DC) here. Listening to my friends and family who teach in the UK, behaviour is so appalling I don't think I would teach in the UK again.

I think it depends what your situation is and what your priorities are. I'm glad I live here and not in the UK anymore but it's definitely not perfect. Swings and roundabouts.