To think leaving UK is the best Option now

This x 💯

Private healthcare doesn’t work for certain procedures, chronic ongoing conditions or emergencies - if you have a stroke in certain areas, for example, you better hope that it’s between 9 and 5 on a week day if you’d like the recommended time critical treatment. We need to stop pretending that the NHS works - it really doesn’t in an awful lot of cases.

If you earn enough, the US - some states more than others - is probably a good place to live. And you can always come back. Dubai - if white and well off - again probably a good quality of life, aside from the heat, but there’s a reason you’ll be able to secure staff at low cost and you need to think about the moral implications of that.

Indeed. Many people from very poor countries are available as cheap domestic labour.

Private health cover here isn't the same as in other countries. Many private hospitals throughout the country don't have accident and emergency apartments and some don't have ICU or high dependency wards. They work alongside the NHS and not in complete isolation. When I was due to have complicated gynae surgery I couldn't have it privately because the chance of being blue lighted to a NHS hospital was too high. The NHS being a shit show still impacts even those who have private health care in the UK.

It’s different, OP is white. She will be a much loved expat, living in an expat community… all the while moaning about immigrants not assimilating.

'I emigrated because there were too many immigrants'.

Lol, ok then.

This 100%. By all means leave for a better life but don't think either of those places are the answer

Many people move to the middle east for the lower taxes, higher standards of living and the low cost of labour. Full time nannies, cleaners, housekeepers - what's not to love?

Well there's quite a lot not to love but if the above are your priorities you'll probably fit right in.

The cost of health insurance in the USA is crazy.

I want a wider reaching nhs, safer streets, better public services, subsidised childcare and low taxes.

Lol.

Have you actually experienced problems with the NHS? I have very varied and extensive experience of the NHS and overall I find it brilliant. I live very near a big London teaching hospital, lucky me, but I have relatives and friends in other areas who also have varied and good experiences. I think a lot of the reports about the NHS are media nonsense. I understand that there are problems, nothing is perfect, but that’s all we ever hear about. As a PP said, why not get private healthcare here? Then you’ve got a proper comparison.

Dubai is much, much more expensive than people realise. Groceries are insanely expensive and the heat is unrelenting.

My DH worked there for a while and I have a cousin who lives there.

Every single item in your life will cost at least double, so even though people warn good wages, it gets eaten (literally) very quickly.

The US is quite turbulent right now politically.

The UK has its issues, sure. But as someone who has been an expat for the last 10 years, the grass isn't greener.

You can't make up for the security of being in your own country where you can get free healthcare if you need it.

Personally, I would do anything to be back in the UK right now and if I had kids I wouldn't dream of leaving.

The only two places I have lived that have a good quality of life other than the UK are NZ and AUS.

Being an expat used to be more glamorous but the world is a much smaller place now and having things like hired help for your home isn't as cheap as it used to be.

Dubai also has so many ethical issues for both the domestic workers and women.
I wouldn't ever visit there and DH stopped going because the things he saw were vile. Wealthy men with very young Russian girls on drugs, people being put in prison for pissing off the wrong people. Foreigners will never, ever be equal in any way.

Don’t blame you! Love to leave myself !

Yeah this sums it up. Tiny kids doing ‘active shooter’ drills. No thanks !

Hard agree on the slave labour in Dubai also

You think the career prospects in the USA will be good right now?! The stock market is tanking and people are being laid off left right and centre. Also, really not a good time to be an immigrant there!

But some of the things you mentioned - such as healthcare - cost a fortune in the USA. And you mentioned safety - you think the USA is BETTER for that?

And how do you feel about the slave labour, and the misogyny? Is that acceptable as you'll be able to afford a nanny?

I can understand the logic behind wanting to leave the UK, but hell would freeze over before I moved to Dubai or USA.

This.

are you well OP? 😂

We also don't feel safe now going out to city centre etc which have become a ghost town and so much of illegal immigrants loitering around and so much increase in crimes.

How do you know someone is an illegal immigrant by seeing them in the street?

Why do you think the solution would be to become an immigrant somewhere else?

Or do you think calling yourself an expat would make that different?

Is there any chance of us retrieving the UK? The overcrowding and underfunding and expense is terrible. I’d leave too if I thought the UK couldn’t recover from this seige.

I’d like to leave the uk too, but i can’t at the moment.
I don’t think Dubai would be a very pleasant place to live, but I suppose it depends on the individual.
You need health insurance in America otherwise you can get into big trouble with healthcare costs.
There must be better places than Dubai or USA.

I’m in the USA and I’m not sure the healthcare ideals you have are true - I had a fairly minor op last year and we are still paying off the bill and we have great insurance- also food prices are really high and then there’s trump for the next four years… if we were not already settled here I’m not sure I would choose to move during a trump administration