Best living standards in Europe?

[FairyLightPups]

So obviously at the moment the UK is going up in flames a bit. Crappy government, broken healthcare, education system not great, everything is super expensive...

So what country actually does tick every box, in Western Europe? Great education, great standard of living, a functioning healthcare system, a government that cares? Or are we wishing after something that doesn't currently exist?

@Justanotherlurker

That's not true at all. We've had restrictions and home working and social distancing and shutdowns just like everywhere else. The only difference is that much of it has been recommendations rather than law. But that is because Swedes are exceptionally compliant and health conscious and will follow the recommendations because they trust those making them.

I think you are living in a bubble in what has actually happend, I know you have done an AMA and think you are some authoritive source on the subject but from a UK perspective of the UK not locking down hard enough Sweden had no restrictions and was actually letting it rip, I am going to ignore the 'trust in those making them' comment as that is a very recent immigrant perspective into the internal issues going on over there and is glossing over a multitude of internal issues that are bubbling up at the minute.

Clearly a more authoritive source than you are.

I spent nearly 2 decades living in the aforementioned countries - the grass is NOT greener. Being on holiday or being a highly paid expat on secondment is a world away from regular life.

Isn’t Finland supposed to be almost perfect (caveat I’ve never been, this is based on vague readings around their socialist government headed up by women) except everyone is apparently introverted and it’s very very cold

Iceland js amazing but also very cold and very expensive and a pain to get to anywhere else

No, not Switzerland! It's terribly conservative. I used to live in France and I felt like there were a lot of racial divisions and society wasn't as integrated as the UK. The schools were also quite old fashioned. I don't think the UK is that bad at all.

I guess it depends where in the UK you live. Wealthy middle class enclave in the cotswolds probably lovely, likewise Hampstead, Chelsea or Harrogate, council estate in Burnley or Barnsley not so much.

I loved visiting Finland. It was great. A really calm place. So expensive though!

Similarly, Iceland was so lovely. But so very expensive.

The thing is, life would be very different. It’s not a switch place and live your uk lifestyle for less money thing. And that makes it hard to compare.

No where is perfect but France has good cheap childcare, in our experience very good healthcare and if not in one of the major cities then very affordable housing too. Our quality of life here is far far better then what we would get where we came from (south east England) and there is no way we would move back with young children. There are plenty of downsides of course like anywhere but something about the lifestyle and pace have really grown to suit us.

Maybe better quality but the houses in Germany are so incredibly expensive. Someone was posting the other day on our local group that they were looking with a budget of half a million euros and struggling they've shot up just in the last couple of years. And it doesn't matter if you buy a wreck or a perfectly livable house. They cost the same because you're paying for the plot and the location.

It's brilliant for children though. So much freedom, playgrounds everywhere. Loads of activities. Affordable subsidised childcare of high quality.

And although you'll wait weeks to months for non urgent healthcare you can always see an actual doctor, usually the same day. No telehealth.

Somewhere where people aren't triggered by the thought of health insurance creating a more sustainable universal healthcare system.

Let's not fool ourselves, I doubt anyone in Western Europe would want to swap with us at the present moment. If Brexit hadn't destroyed our chances of moving to Europe I'd have retired there in a heartbeat, I'd take Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Austria...of those places I spent a total of 17 years working in them on different long term contracts and 100% the quality of life is so much better than here for reasons too numerous to weite, but they include weather, scenery, nature, pace of life, respect for health, work life balance, older people being way more valued, on and on.

And before anyone says well just bugger off there then....I did try. Thanks to Brexit I now cannot.