To wonder why anyone would want to live in America?

The US is wealthier, but its not all sunshine and rainbows

I imagine it's a bit like living in the UAE - great if you're rich. You'll enjoy low taxes and a high standard of living, as long as you can avoid debt and legal trouble and are comfortable with not having a safety net.

On the other hand, if you're very poor, your quality of life is likely to be dire and your employment rights will be limited.

The comparisons with Japan, do you mean the work life balance as how is the U.S. culturally like Japan?

I assume that she could earn 5x her wage there and pay a small percentage of that on healthcare, or even have it included in her work package as well as paying less in tax than she currently does in the uk?

I have enjoyed my trips to the US and would certainly travel there again for holidays (although not while Trump is president).

But I couldn’t live there because:

guns
food
women’s rights
lack of annual leave
evangelical Christians

“I find all these threads weird, why don’t people understand that some people have different preferences to them.“

Mumsnet has become extremely parochial, just like the rest of Britain.

You’re more likely to be a victim of knife crime in the US than you are in the UK. Look at the stats.

Very jealous! What great memories to have.

I'm all ears too.

Yes I don’t think Brits realise how badly off we are compared to Americans these days in some ways.

I find all these threads weird, why don’t people understand that some people have different preferences to them.

Cheaper than the NHS?! Sorry but no, I think that's highly unlikely.

If you have good insurance its possible to have excellent, cheap healthcare in the US.

How is that possible?!

I've only every visited as a tourist, been to 10 states and have always loved visiting but wouldn't live there.

A nursing friend, about 10 years ago, moved there as a nurse. Whilst out there had 3 babies and even though was fully insured with the hospital she works at, and gave birth at said hospital, still cost them In the 000's. Was also disappointed at the amount of material and annual leave. They moved back to the UK about 5 years ago now mainly for schooling and try to get on the housing ladder.

Another couple I know, not as well, moved to Florida running their own Franchise. Lasted a few years and they're now also back in the UK.

When I've been, California especially, not sure I could afford the likes of there. Dining out was not cheap, 25% tips expected on top of that and generally everything felt a lot more expensive, compared up where I live, north of the Midlands. So I probably couldn't afford it.

I’d pay far less for healthcare costs in the US than I do in the UK.

I have family in the US and was considering moving there at one point. I love visiting, but tbh I'm glad I didnt. I still love the country, its beautiful and massively diverse, but there are too many things I dislike - these main ones, in no particular order:

• Guns, everyday shootings, shooter drills at schools seen as normal everyday stuff.
• Education is very US centred and I have a suspicion is not very good (judging by the number of very poorly educated people there who know fuck all about the world).
• No employment laws - you can get sacked on the day with no explanation or notice. Every benefit you get through work is up to your employer - so you might get it, or you might not.
• Health insurance is fine if you have it but you still have to pay shit load on top of it as it often does not cover all of the meds and expenses. Sometimes you have to wait for appointments, and sometimes getting treatment involves a lot of too-ing and fro-ing with your insurance provider who can decide you dont need it.
• Wealthy white people are weirdly class obsessed, even though there is no real classes there historically. Its hard to explain but there I think this divide is much more severe than even in the UK. In addition to this the US is still hugely, massively, disgustingly racist.
• On the subject of people, I find Americans on the whole friendly and cheerful but also very childlike and naive, sometimes infuriatingly so, and very badly mannered. Mostly its funny but sometimes is quite grating.
• Trump supporters, cultists, all the weird political, religious and conspiracy theorists stuff that goes on in the US.

The States has a lot going for it and many things better than they are here, but for me the downsides outweigh the good:
Health care costs
Poor food standards (I'm not sure many people realise this)
Guns/school shootings
Political landscape (by that i mean how polarised it is, but we're getting the same sadly)
Abortion rights
Lack of employment rights and holiday
Driving culture
Rubbish bread and cheese!

I'd also would really miss British humour.

The short answer is its a far, far wealthier country. Far more work and money. There are plenty of other wonderful things about the US but I don’t think people are fully cognisant of what a poor country we are now compared to them.

We have a US parent company and they basically use our UK staff today the way British companies used Chinese and Indian companies 20 years ago. Its an arbitrage on very cheap labour because we are paid about a third of what the staff at the parent earn and they know our labour market is fucked so none of us can leave. The UK has basically become a sweatshop country for white collar industries.

There a lot to dislike about the US obviously but also some wonderful things. If I were 20 years younger I would be pushing to move there.

I have travelled a lot in the USA, have American family on my husband’s side and UK family who lived there but moved back. I think I know it pretty well. It’s stunning, I love it but would I live there? No.

I’ve visited/worked in very many parts of the USA.

Perhaps I’m naive (I’m a Londoner, I don’t think I am) however I can’t help but feel your travel experience is maybe somewhat limited or your opinion being informed by your relatives?

I’ve been in plenty of parts of the USA that are walkable. And plenty of parts of Europe/Asia which aren’t.

Sure I’ve felt a little uneasy at some points in some places (worst though actually are Paris, Morocco and Toronto for me) but nothing bad.

And actually last trip I made I had to stop at a couple of gas stations during a longer work drive and was a little apprehensive going in alone. Such polite, helpful, pleasant staff. Way better than over here. I feel silly now that I was a little edgy to start with.

I can see why some want to live there. There are nice areas no matter what type of climate or environment you prefer, and if you're an adult in a good profession that offers a lot, there are a lot of options.

Having lived in the US, I wouldn't again. It's little to do with the weaker safety net and nothing to do with the inequality of income or even guns. I'm just happier since I left and I wouldn't want my kids to experience what I did there. We all have our own preferences.

Sure, you see in the news the horrific cases of school shootings but we have an abundance of knife crime here in the UK… which sometimes I wonder might be preventable if guns were legal.

The US has a higher knife homicide rate per capita compared to the UK.

The UK has more laws against carrying bladed articles, so if only comparing 'knife crimes', the UK has more, but when comparing like for like, the US still has significantly more knife crime per capita.

Also, many types of guns are legal in the UK for those willing and to go through the checks.

People who have lived there be honest do people "go out at night on their own"

I used to walk for hours at night in the US. I do the same in the UK. I come across more people walking and biking in the UK than I did in the US, but it happens.

Work. My job took me there and after a few years I was asked to move to London.

It maybe helped that I was there in my twenties, well-paid and without any responsibilities outside work but it genuinely was magical.

All of it. Macey’s, Central Park, TriBeCa and Soho, fifth avenue, the Staten Island Ferry, the Rockefeller Christmas tree, the delis, the taxis, the skyscrapers…

My brother and his wife moved to NYC for work last year. Its very well paid at a large international company and yet he is finding it very expensive to live in the city and the reduction in holidays from what he's used to is awful and the corporate culture is more demanding i.e. expectation to stay late, not take full holidays and so on.

He is enjoying living in Manhattan and experiencing that lifestyle but at the moment they don't see it as a long term thing more something to distinguish their CV and an experience before they come back home to start a family in a few years. Perhaps that will change but after almost a year there they are more attuned to the downsides to life there than they were initially.

If it wasn’t for guns I would live there! With two primary age kids I know I wouldn’t cope with the risk.
the countryside of beautiful, the cities are cool. The people are generally friendly and it’s a positive proud place to live unlike UK.
we are moving abroad and honestly would consider US if kids were older. The houses, the money, the space, the scenary. I completely get it!

I know people who work in banking who are now living there - they make millions a year tho so they like the lifestyle 😂