Other countries/islands that have a better lifestyle than the U.K.

[nellytheelephant1980]

Do these places exist?
I'm genuinely really unhappy in this country and we are looking to go elsewhere. We work to pay the bills and hardly get by. We are both professionals with no debt. Our professions could move elsewhere easily.

Is there anywhere in the world with lower costs of living and just a happier way of life? Is any country escaping these energy bills and petrol prices for example?

Wonder why so many people are risking their lives crossing the channel to get here when there’s so many better places in the world to live.

No. the global financial reset will affect every corner of the earth. We will move to blockchain linked to the internet of bodies and every transaction will be tracked and linked to your digital identify via your body activity data.

So don't be moving about for costs related to finances. It's all over. What you should be looking for at the moment is freedom.

@riapia absolutely nobody is suggesting that the OP look at Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Sudan etc as new home, are they?

It's 'better' (safer) here for refugees but that doesn't mean it's a he best place in the world.

What a silly comment.

New Zealand and Australia for SURE!!! Better work life balance, better social care, hospitals, and safety net of the state.
The schools are really good there too.

@gotelltheoldmandowntheroad where would you suggest ? It all seems gloomy

@absolutehush they are desperate to get away from France.

Yes, but also low wages and a massively overinflated housing market.

Op wants good health care

Wonder why so many people are risking their lives crossing the channel to get here when there’s so many better places in the world to live.

Because many other countries wouldn’t tolerate hundreds of undocumented young males rocking up illegally on boats every day and would send them back immediately. They come here because we do nothing about it.

Might sound weird but I love living at the north west coast of Northern Ireland beautiful beaches and the whole of Ireland with its fabulous landscapes to explore! Oh houses are very very cheap too

A friend's son in law moved from Scotland to Luxembourg as a teacher in an international school about 10 years ago. Might be worth looking at those adverts.

Not a silly comment at all. They already crossed many of the countries that are suggested here as better. So why do you think they choose to risk their lives to come here?

I always think the nice little farmhouses on Cheap Nordic Houses look like the life, things like this: www.instagram.com/p/CgxcUO9IL76/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

So many are like “Northern Lights, a lake, four bedrooms, detached, miles from any amenities but $99,000”.

We have the house equity to sell up here, buy one outright, live off the savings for a bit. It’s just pesky immigration rules and working remotely from somewhere else rules that stop us. And also not speaking Norwegian or Swedish and DP being horrified at the thought and prioritising internet, Amazon deliveries, and human contact. But apart from that.

The UK, where we can still make our own decisions and live how we want. We are going to be squeezed while cash is phased out, but there are ways around it. You have to find the ones that suit you. We're not rich, but we're fine, happy, living a good life that we all greatly enjoy.

Not a silly comment at all. They already crossed many of the countries that are suggested here as better. So why do you think they choose to risk their lives to come here?

I mean, it seems quite obvious that the things a refugee might be looking for in a place to settle would be different to what those who are not fleeing their country want. Of course there is no objectively 'better' country, it just depends what you're looking for, your priorities, etc.

I can imagine that the language and family/contacts already being there are big reasons that a small proportion of refugees choose to make the trip to the UK as opposed to staying in France or Germany. But Germany and France each take more refugees than the UK anyway so I'm not sure the point even makes sense.

@VeniVidiWeeWee except large swathes of people do settle in Europe. Not everyone comes to the UK you know! Maybe they. Come because they have a loose family connection (an aunt of an aunt, a friend of a friend) and that's better than no one, maybe because in my (limited) experience huge parts of Europe are extremely racist towards some races, maybe because their entry point (Greece, Spain) are economically hostile to immigrants. Maybe because the UK is perceived as more peaceful and tolerant. Lots of reasons.

I'm not saying the UK is shite, completely. These people are fleeing France, they're fleeing persecution, poverty, war, preventable childhood illness which decimated their families.

Sorry this was in response to @VeniVidiWeeWee

*they're not fleeing France! Sorry, on mobile.

My experience of living in New Zealand is that healthcare is beyond dire. It obviously depends what job you do and how much you earn but work life balance was very much the same for us in both of those countries versus the UK. Earning potential was a lot lower for those in employment versus self employed in our field.

If I can just mention with regards to those trying to come to the Uk under refugee status- they often have gangs (who take cash off them) telling them it's 'easier' here and there's more work 'under the radar' - and they often have loose family connections. Some of this is quite clearly poppycock and it certainly isn't easier but desparate people do believe it.

I think with a child with chronic illness, UK is one of the best country to live. You may save some money in other costs, but medical fee might be more and you may end up worse off if you are not careful.

We live in Sweden and love it. The standard of living is much higher than in the UK but more importantly the work life balance is so much better, especially if you have kids. It just feels like a calmer, more chilled place.

Yet I onow a few New Zealand families who have applied for citizenship here as they don't want to go back.

I also have friends in America who are moving back here.

Each to their own I guess.

(Unless you live in an apartment and don't empty the lint out of the shared dryer in the laundry. Then Sweden will unleash hell on you.)

@IHateHeatWaves

Happy to stand corrected, but I don’t get the “can’t work in Europe” because of Brexit argument

Some still can, but it's not as easy as it once was.

Brexit certainly has changed the situation for Brits verses that which was in place prior to the end of transition, and I do wonder, but don't know for certain, if the existence of Schengen and other measures that have been put in place over the last few decades make it more difficult than it was prior to the UK being in the EU.

Brits with the right qualifications (including maybe equivalency with local qualifications), requisite language skills and with an employer willing to sponsor a visa which allows residency will still probably be able to move to and work within the EU despite Brexit.

What is now pretty much ruled out (at least formally) is speculatively hopping on a boat or plane with arriving in the EU using the short stay Schengen Visa for an open ended period and trying to find work or setting up some form of self employment....