Seriously thinking about leaving the UK

"there’s this growing mindset that the government should step in and fix every personal problem"

OP as someone who is on benefits due to ill health (brought on by the pandemic), I take reall exception to your above comment.

First of all, the UK's spending on social welfare is relatively low, whether you look at it per capital or by GDP. See this for the details:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listoffcountriesbyysocialwelfaree_spending

Secondly, various governments, have absolutely decimated spending on the NHS, education and other services, all of which could have helped to prevent the increase of people going on benefits.

Thirdly, the pandemic. Apart from the vaccination role out, the government handled it very badly. Many people, like me, have never recovered and the NHS is doing nothing to help. I mean literally nothing.

Fourthly, PIP and the ill-health/disability element of Universal Credit are incredibly super hard to get. As my GP said " if you get awarded these benefits it means you really deserve them." The whole system is inhumane. In fact, I think my local Job Centre is breaking the law - they keep making me travel to them to show them my bank statements, even though I have told them numerous times that traveling to them causes me to spend the rest of the day in bed.

Fiffly, I think the right-wing media has whipped up the sentiment that too many lazy scroungers are cheating the system and preying on people like you.

That’s a good point.

Which country has deep thinkers? Not many I would think so. Even then most countries are a mix of deep thinkers ( usually elite) and those who are dealing with day to day life struggles and don’t have capacity to cause the change.

UK has problem of resources. It’s a very small country with not so much natural and land resources. It is pretty densely populated. It is bound to have problems of people fighting for those resources. When there are too many people, it causes increase in apathy and corruption. Everyone out for themselves, which is the case with politicians. And poor, desperate people are willing to vote anyone who tells them what they want to hear.

Switzerland on the other hand is a small country with low population and very strict criteria to allow people to immigrate there.

Their taxes are lower than in UK. Education is free for citizens, everyone is legally required to have health insurance. Everything is expensive but salaries are high, crime is very low.

DD just finished her 1st year at Uni and DS just finished GCSE's so we are looking at a 5 year plan to leave The UK
We plan to have a small flat here and then travel in Europe, possibly in a camper van some of the time but also do house/pet sits too.
DH has EU citizenship so its easier for us

OP: Artificial Intelligence is decimating entry-level opportunities for university graduates. I advise waiting until kids have properly launched as they may need more help due to the shifting employment environment.

You can use the remaining time to research your destination for your eventual move if that is still what you want.

I feel a bit sorry for your kids, you'd stay for GC who might come along but not for your own.

We are thinking the same OP.

Where are you thinking of going in Europe? I'd be curious to hear. Canada is not for us. Too far away and too much of a cultural shift for us.

AND you and or your family can get killed by a random with a firearm any day or hour of the week! Result.

Canada is facing same problems UK is facing. I have family in Canada.

Move to America!

Its great 2 weeks holiday a year, 3 months maternity

You can't drink until 21 (how can you go to college/Uni and not legally be allowed to drink!) but if you get a DUI the penalty is DUI driving course.

Then you have junkies or well any sort of idiot legally allowed to carry a gun up to a sub machine gun. Murder rate about 6x that of the uk you will be golden

Move to Florida you can get fired and the company does not even have to give a reason

Its GREAT

Denmark is nice otherwise....

We have relatives in Canada and their healthcare system is at capacity too.
However, I think that the difference here is that it just feels as though hard working responsible people in this country are being disrespected and shafted. I have 2 friends, both of whom have kids with Long Covid (supposedly) and ADHD. The kids in both families receive PIP for their conditions. The kids are in school. What on earth do they, as dependents, need money for when there are no additional outlays. Both spend the money on holidays. Both have a full time family member at home all day. There's no financial impact upon the family. It's utterly mad. ADHD disabilities payments have risen 41,000% in the last 10 years!
I also know someone signed off sick for the last 6 years due to anxiety. His anxiety has got worse, not better, because he stays up all night gaming and smoking weed. I also suffer from pretty bad anxiety and low mood. However, I have always taken all the help offered to try to keep afloat. The NHS have a wonderful app, which is fairly cost effective. In my view, if you are signed off through stress, it should be a requirement to do a CBT course online. I also think that people should attend group volunteering sessions for a few hours a week to lift their mood and help gain confidence in order to get better. I fully accept that some people would be unable to hold down a full time job, but surely if you are unwell or unemployed, you should be required to do something to contribute towards society. I would like to see a local list of chores whereby people in receipt of benefits have to tick off a few hours a week (litter picking, parks and footpath maintenance, food bank volunteering, graffiti removal, phone calls/welfare checks for the elderly, sorting recycling etc.

We have a ridiculous system in this country that does no one any favours.

Not true.
It's net takers who want Scandi services.
Net contributors don't even ask about Dubai level of tax, but about some end of continuing increases and actually being entitled to the services they pay for.

Yes. Mumsnet tends to be very anti-British, but most 'first world' countries have a variation on the same problems as here.

Rising cost of living, housing crisis, tensions over immigration, declining public services. Various combinations of these issues and more can be found just about everywhere. Of course the problems will be balanced out by positives too, but that is also true for the UK, even if you'd never think it to read this forum.

If you have a good opportunity and have researched your destination well, then go. But if you're thinking some 'other country' is going to be some sort of paradise, then you're going to be disappointed.

Basically this. No idea how it gets fixed - they’ll just hop from one tax haven to the next sadly.

Me too! Can we pool ideas of where to move to?

So if you have worked hard your whole life and are comfortable enough to be able to go where you like, how bad can it be in the U.K?

I am not denying there are problems, economically and socially, but if you are stable and secure how much does it affect you? In a way that is bad enough to see your kids once a year… ditto close friends and other family…and ageing parents.

I am all I. Favour of grabbing life by the lapels and taking opportunities to see the world, try life in a different way.

But I am not sure that I would give up so much in a mindset of retreat and avoid.

Do your sums. Cost of health insurance . The fact that a pension for expats doesn’t increase with inflation. Etc.

Do you have French citizenship? Or a 10-year withdrawal agreement carte de sejour?

If you are less well off, your colleagues are being made redundant and it takes 4weeks to get a gp appointment, it doesn’t really matter what the MSM are saying or not saying.

I've lived in another European country. The health care was very good. One relative was glad to leave the States after 30+ years of living there and moved to Spain to join my brother. Both love it. Health service is brilliant there. But I've just read this from Govuk....
'The current broken asylum system currently costs the UK some £3 billion a year and rising, including nearly £6 million a day on hotel accommodation.'
6 million a day!!
This money could be spent on our health service, our schools etc.
I have many friends here from different countries. All came legally. I have sympathy with those fleeing war and oppression - Christians are targeted in a number of countries . But we can't accept an unlimited number of illegal immigrants. Not at 6 million pounds a day.

YES! I haven't properly been on Mumsnet for months and there are suddenly so many of them. I don't think it's too far fetched to suggest someone is trying to push a narrative and stir up dissatisfaction. And everyone's piling in and adding to it

We are just back from 3 weeks in Australia, and all I can say, is that it was like Utopia compared to the UK. Beautiful sunny weather, gorgeous scenery, every town was coastal and gorgeous (we did a road trip). Our daughter and her husband moved there a few years ago. They aren't coming back (no plans at the mo anyway). Our plan is to keep our home here, but go out to Australia for the winters. Best of both worlds I think. Technically even though we are older than 35 (the top age to emigrate there), we would like get in, as they are looking for overseas police officers up to age 55 (DH is 52), but housing over there is much more expensive than the UK. Swings and roundabouts!

Does it take into account the British complaining character? The sun's out it's too hot, it's winter it's too cold, the garden's dry we need rain, it's raining I can't get out. We love a good moan about everything and anything as you can clearly see on MM. A sunny attitude is positively frowned upon here, if you ask how anyone is the pretty universal answer is not so bad followed by a good old moan. Even when people have been on holiday to those happy countries they come back moaning about the hotel, the food, that people didn't speak English, didn't have good beer, the cost of everything, the crowds, you name it we can complain about it.

Where would you say the best pockets are, generally? I lived in the Lakes for a while and loved it, but would have preferred a bit more activity. Would love to know other areas where my husband and I would enjoy living.

I’ve heard property in Canada has sky rocketed.

How are you planning on getting permission to live in another country, do you have skills they want, do you have a lot of money if you’re not going to be working? Will you have to take out expensive private health insurance? If you’re worried about the NHS you can take out private insurance here.

If I had the money I would go back to Switzerland, it suits me.

Sounds great we could do with them in this country. The UK now is a shit tip. Crap and litter wherever you go.