To not think the UK is as bad as everyone makes out?

I totally agree with this. In recent years it's become just so, so rubbish to be here.

Yes agree with you , everywhere has good and bad. I live in Spain and yes it’s cheaper, people are warm and friendly, lovely weather but there are lots of downsides as well ! The men are misogynistic, the plumbing is terrible and the government websites very confusing. You just have to make the most of wherever you are.

Mumsnet rants and moans about everything – most of which you will not find prolific in real life

Generally speaking I agree with you - I feel incredibly fortunate to live in England and I'm not a high earner by any means - neither is DH.

However saying that, I don't have children and I've never had to rely on any kind of government support just to pay the bills, or the NHS for any kind of life changing condition, and I do think that people's experiences can vary massively depending on their postcode, upbringing and education.

I don't think the answer is necessarily to move though - I know a lot of people who have tried the move abroad and regretted it - it can be a massive culture shock to start over in a new country, especially if you're also leaving behind friends and family.

Simply not the case where I live. I see a lot more dog shit in other countries. My foreign in laws are amazed how diligently people here pick up their dog's poo. It simply doesn't happen in their country. People where I live take great pride in their community. I'm not disagreeing with you but it's not fait to say this is the UK - it's some local areas that are like this.

I think quality of life is very variable. I live in a small coastal town in the South East and -leaving aside national issues which are very problematic eg NHS- the quality of life is very good here. Low crime, friendly people, pleasant environment, good schools, etc. I have always felt very safe here.
A few months ago I had to go and collect my teenage daughter from a bigger town about 20 miles away. It was Saturday night and I had to walk the length of the high street, trying to find her. I was shocked at the difference - drunks everywhere, groups of dodgy looking men hanging around fast food shops. I was worried for my safety and my daughter's. That's within the same county, about 20 miles and a world apart.

I love living here I feel like all troll posts about the UK recently are trying to cause unrest.

I really don't recognise how some people describe the country. I live in a nice but not overly affluent area between Manchester and Leeds and I go into both, they're clean and functional and I don't see anti social behaviour.

We live a nice life but do earn more than average and are blessed with pretty good health. I'm sure if you're on average or below average wage or are unwell life will be very difficult.

I've travelled a lot with work and there's nowhere I'd like to live - lots of America feels quite dangerous with very angry people, I couldn't live with the huge inequality in some Asian countries and the culture in many of them is unacceptable to me. There're some European countries I quite like but I don't think they are very different to here.

Where do people want to live?

I feel the issues with the UK should be resolvable but I only see tinkering round the edges.

The UK is generally fine. However, I find it depressing that social infrastructure and local amenities vary significantly between areas. I believe this disparity leads to unequal opportunities for children in education and employment.

I agree with this. When I was young I'm the 90's and early 2000's I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. London is still the best city in the world imo but to visit, not live in. But I don't think my children will have the same, either economically or quality of life terms if they stay here. It's also a gerentocracy where the young are held I contempt by so many older people.

Agree with everyone else, it really depends on your circumstances & where you live but there are definitely broad issues. The NHS is on it’s knees, housing prices are high, childcare costs are huge, lots of councils and schools are struggling despite people paying huge amounts of council tax which then leads to more unhappiness.

I’m similar to you OP in that I love where I live, I love our house, I love the area, we get a lot of time outdoors and live quite rurally so are lucky to have lots of beautiful places on our door step, our local schools are good, so in my standard day to day life I’m happy, but I’m conscious that if any of us were to need A&E, GP, hospital etc we’d quickly realise how bad things are. I’m also aware that even in our village things are changing, there’s a house recently sold round the corner from us that last sold in 2019 for 190k, that same house has just been sold for £353k, no extensions, no building work, new flooring/kitchen/bathroom but none of that justifies such a huge uplift, housing is just becoming unaffordable and it’s happening fast. We’re a young family, both in our 20’s with one child, and we simply got lucky in that we by chance managed to buy our house before the prices have shot up, lots of young families used to buy here but now it’s really out of budget for lots of people which is a shame.

We have friends who moved to the US and have recently bought a home there, it’s huge, 4 bed, lots of land, 3 car garage, swimming pool, for 350k dollars which is around 290k GBP- that price wouldn’t even get you a 3 bed semi where we live anymore.

The uk is very dirty compared to a lot of other countries. People littering, spitting and stuff on the floor. Dog shit. No pride and respect for communal areas and other people.

I think there's an absolute collective denial that so many of the problems people talk about are the result of an ageing population and the consequent much greater requirement for resources to be provided from a dwindling working population. People don't want to talk about it because it sounds like you're blaming people for getting old and not dying but this isn't a UK specific problem, nor is it something a government can easily fix. The essential maths of it means declining living standards because you're trying to support more people on less.

Thinking about it, no one I know in real life is actually complaining about uk life, I only ever see it online. People around me all seem happy here, no talks of moving abroad (even from my international friends!) other than child care costs, people do complain about that!

I disagree. My DH (who is an immigrant) is an academic in the UK and there are endless opportunities for him here. He's an advisor to the EU and his team of scientific advisors are nearly all from the UK. We have a wealth of knowledge and expertise here. He said as a student you can study any subject you can think of here. He feels as an academic the opportunities are endless.

^ Agree. Don't misunderstand me, I love the UK, wouldn't want to live anywhere else and feel people here don't always appreciate what they have compared to other people in the world.

But things do feel worse. For me there were a few phases to this:

2001 - a defining 'world before' and 'world after' moment
2012 - the Olympics amplified the 'London vs. rest of UK' divide
2016 - Brexit , the poor encouraged to make themselves poorer
2020 - Covid, another 'before' and 'after' moment

I'm not sure how much of this is UK only, but people have become unhappier, nastier, more selfish, and the divide between the South East and the rest of the UK has become even wider.

I don' t think this is the reality of a lot of people...
Loads of people can't find decent employment, housing, school places...
Food is expensive. Free healthcare is limited. Education is diabolical!

I think it depends on your circumstances

if you need NHS services regularly, then life is going to be difficult

if you have children at nursery, then cost of living is difficult for many

the list goes on

but for many this country has a lot going for living here

It depends what sector you want to work in. If you're a tradie, there's an abundance of work. If you're an academic, Oxbridge no longer has the international reputation of a few decades ago and US/Canada/Aus considered much better for research and cutting-edge, medicine, etc. There was a government committee addressing it a few months ago as they're worried about the decline of UK research and prestigious unis, especially as it means so many young people moving abroad.

Depends how you view 'better weather'. I think we have pretty good weather here in the UK relative to many countries.

We have reasonable summers, manageable winters, and are at much less risk of climate/ weather-related disasters than many countries. Pretty good in my books.

I'd disagree with lack of opportunities. The main reason we have so many immigrants is purely because of the wealth of opportunities and jobs available. My DH grew up in a beautiful southern European country. The kind of place us Brits ream of moving to. He had to leave it to go to university because they simply didn't have many courses available there. He's stayed in the UK because there are just no jobs available in his country. 25% of the young people in his country have left to find jobs elsewhere (many coming to the UK).