Seriously thinking about leaving the UK - AIBU?

Exactly!

That's one thing that really grinds my gears...the let's go and live abroad when we retire...20/30 years of not doing anything for the British economy, not paying any taxes here...then they get old and ill and storm back to use the NHS!

@Barbadossunset No, its in Eastern Europe. But I imagine you could say the same about Vietnam, and many other places too. It's amazing the difference between one generation and anothers experience of the same place.

Our daughter has CP, my husband has a physical disability, we left the UK a little while ago, it was a huge decision. The care and support for both of their disabilities is far superior to what it was in the UK. In the UK we were given a sheet of paper and sent on our way, here our daughter has regular high quality supervised physio, just one little example. My husband hasn’t had to fight for any adaptations at work, or even worry that his disability might make it harder to find work.

You object to rising immigration into this country, and yet you are encouraging your children to be immigrants to another country?

Eight pages and OP hasn't been back to tell us their proposed destination!

Journalist?

My son lives in Finand. They have rising unemployment.

@Dontlletmedownbruce
By comparison, my friend is from a place that is booming economically and has become popular with tourists. But she grew up during a horrendous war and the poverty of the aftermath, it leaves her unsympathetic sometimes and drives her mad when people gush about how beautiful her homeland is, she says they deserve it don't they after what they endured

Is that Vietnam?

@drspouse I would go not because I hate the UK, but because it's something I've always wanted to do. Not sure why @Readingismyfirstlove would laugh at me having a child with a disability, though. She has DS and very complex needs. There's no way she would be able to move abroad with me.

And certainly wont pay the levels of benefits given in the uk

The problem with being an immigrant is that anti-immigrant feelings are growing all around the world.

I understand the mentality of wanting to leave the UK. I’ve lived in Canada for the past 4 years and never looked back. However, unless you have more than one nationality, it’s not a case of just deciding you want to live somewhere else. Most countries have strict immigration requirements (e.g. in Canada we have a points system) so, if you’re serious about moving, look into this further and see if it’s something you are actually able to do. Age, education and transferable skills are all factors. Good luck!

Yup.

Hit and run.

Just the one post from OP?

I would love to leave but have no transferable skills as my job is UK centric.

A bad choice on my part.

If I could I would consider one of them Scandinavian countries or Australia.

Are Denmark/Sweden/Norway/Finland having economic issues and now also have a dire healthcare service ?

In some countries they might not even get a visa if they have a disabled child.

Totally agree.

The number of people saying they would if they weren't disabled or had a disabled child.

What they really mean is they don't want to leave a country where they get great heath and social care and benefits for the disabled.

But they aren't grateful nor do they see the hypocrisy of refusing to move abroad cos they will lose their benefits and care.

Have wondered if elsewhere is better at times. The main problems seem to be worldwide. We all need to get a bit savvy and start sorting out our problems...specifically complacency and fear of the unknown, as well as people just playing games for power.

If you move make sure you speak the language, and have visited the place at least once.(Here's hoping you've got the money!)

There is a sense of entitlement here on this thread, some people in the UK feel it should be better than anywhere else and if it's not they feel they are entitled to a better life elsewhere. UK is going through a bad patch for sure but it's issues are common in most capitalist or Western cultures. Most places go through good and bad patches, that's life and it's tough on the generation caught up in the bad times.

By comparison, my friend is from a place that is booming economically and has become popular with tourists. But she grew up during a horrendous war and the poverty of the aftermath, it leaves her unsympathetic sometimes and drives her mad when people gush about how beautiful her homeland is, she says they deserve it don't they after what they endured. Recently I was saying how hard life is in the UK (neither of us live there) and she made a comment that made me think. She said its a country that built wealth on theft and exploitation for centuries, but now it's a normal place just like anywhere else, going through a normal bad patch, but at least finally it's honest.

As other pps have said there are pros and cons. I lived in a southern European country for quite a long time and had a lovely life there. I then had DD who has SEN. On enquiring when registering her for the local school what kind of SEN support they had I was told that if she couldn't cope then she would be kept back a year , not actually given any help.

I still have quite a few friends who live there and they are complaining about the difficulty their kids are having in finding jobs and housing. In the area we lived in you used to be able to buy a small basic house very cheaply. This is no longer the case and it is becoming incredibly difficult to find long term rentals there because of things like AirBnB.

I know things are not great here sometimes and I would say that if someone wants to move abroad then by all means try it. Living in another culture is great and I absolutely loved my time there. I was always a "foreigner" though even though I spoke the language and we lived in a very non-touristy area.

Even though the UK is shit sometimes I do feel I belong here and living in a lovely rural part of the country does help.

Well wages are shit & stuff is expensive so you aren't wrong to look elsewhere

But let's be honest, some cultures are much more desirable than others. Would you want your daughters to move to a place where they're legally not allowed to speak in public duento being female? It's no wonder people flock here, but mow the UK is changing forp the worse.

where are you wanting to go and what exactly is stopping you?

It won't be the same standard of living for the younger lot though, as housing is now totally unaffordable to the majority. It's the one big issue that's driving down the economy and people's quality of life.