Where in the world to live where people are cared about?

[Feathersandothers]

That’s it really . If you live somewhere where people have access to good healthcare, affordable bills, access to good free education , low crime .. where is it? Nowhere is perfect but some places must be better.
I didn’t live in the UK for most of my adult life, but I am British.
I’ve lived here for the past few years and don’t think I can do it much longer .
But I’m aware that places that I lived that were good before COVID etc are probably feeling the ramifications of global issues as we are here.
So if you live in a place where it feels that the government have your back, where are you?

I think sometimes there’s a bit of a mythological idea about Finland. I spent a lot of time there and although It’s a beautiful country, probably not one I could live in. Sweden , Norway and Denmark definitely more so.

What makes you think you can't live in the UK for much longer, OP?
Where else did you live?

The UK is not one homogeneous group. There are still communities here whose motto is “it takes a village to raise a child”.

So many reasons…
Extortionate energy prices .
The extent that things that are perfectly normal and essential are becoming out of reach; Things like regular dental appointments, seeing a gp, expecting emergency services to respond to calls within a reasonable time frame.
The way that the infrastructure of the country is set up so as that cheap living is difficult … poor cycling routes for families, poor council run facilities because of budget cuts…
crime . Drugs. Knife crime.
food prices.
so much .

Quite a list! Where did you live before?

Not sure if you want my answer - but, the UK! I love it here. I've lived in luxembourg, France, Australia, South Africa and the Uk - and the Uk is my favourite by far.

@BuenoSucia true. I live in such a village. Most of the houses are now airbnbs, the Independent shops are closing like a card house collapsing, the semi rural location means if you need an ambulance urgently you’ll probably die waiting.

I think it really depends where you live. I have an excellent GP service, and no problems getting appointments. We have an NHS dentist for regular check ups. All other checks eg mammograms etc are done regularly and efficiently at the hospital, which is a centre of excellence.
The UK is very varied. Maybe look for somewhere better here first before you move? I would hate to live anywhere rural.

I hate to break this to you OP, but the UK’s free education, healthcare and crime rates are pretty good.

The cost of living crisis is international so bills flying up everywhere.

Not to say the NHS isn’t going to hell in a handcart, but it’s still a good deal better than, say, the Irish health system. It’s not as good as Germany, but then they pay for it. Schools remain pretty decent. I do think we aren’t brilliant at appreciating what we do have, I have spent some time in Denmark for example, and they are always banging on about their great education, now I know it better it is no better or worse than the UK.

The Scandinavians are good at looking after their own but you won’t get into Denmark anyway, dunno about the rest - but anyway who could do the winters? France is to full of red tape and staid for me. Australia or NZ maybe? Italy?? Actually Italy is an idea..

Gosh things must be bad if your semi-rural involves drugs and stabbings.

@arethereanyleftatall quite. I’ve lived all over the world and the grass is always greener…

If you are having a problem with this stuff plus drugs and knife crime, then can you just move?

I can easily get a GP appointment, cycling routes fine, low crime etc.

Actually unless it’s a bloody war-zone, then I think you’re over-looking the wonderful thing you have right on your doorstep - the caring community consisting of people you see every day.

do you want someone in “number 10” who “cares” (your mileage may vary) - or people who know your name, know your children and look out for you on a daily basis?

Luxembourg is pretty good on the things you listed.

Scandinavia is good but there is also a culture of fitting in and it can take a long time to make friends also things like tax returns are public in Sweden so you know exactly what your neighbour earns etc
French health care is good but french bureaucracy can be a nightmare, just dealing with mayors office the postal system banks etc very much just no that is not possible. They resent non French speakers if residents unless you live in an ex-pat bubble. Italy is also known for frustrating bureaucracy
the problems in UK are not unique, there is a lot of anger in France against Government see how close Marie le Pen got to president, the problem is this doesn't reach our news

I'm curious to know why. Here we seem to be very good at running the country down, only ever hearing about the bad stuff, we are bombarded with negativity constantly.
I know times are difficult but are they in different countries.

Switzerland. From an outside perspective it’s very expensive but the salaries are competitive and the lifestyle is all about health and well-being.

There was a whole thread on it recently if you search.

You can cross India off your list as there are no visas available for retirement in India, only tourist visas unless you are of Indian Origin. Like Tabbouleh said it was extremely prettified and a load of cobblers to be honest.

Denmark, Norway, Sweden. Maybe Luxembourg.

I'm in Finland.. Life is pretty good here although the long dark winter is looming 😄Energy costs are not too bad. It really depends on the way your house is heated. There are several cost-effective methods (ground heat etc. )Very few old houses have oil or electric heating, which is super expensive, but for example our heating is included in the fixed maintenance (terraced house) fee, and electricity is about 60€/month. Less if we don't use the electric sauna (but it's so nice)..
Healthcare is not free, but it's affordable. Schools are great and offer free lunches for all pupils.. I wouldn't say Finland and the finns are 'happy' people, but they are content and have trust in their society.

Denmark and Switzerland are difficult to migrate to - in fact in the top 10 of the most difficult countries to move to and settle in.

Ireland's health care system was voted better than UK's in most recent LPI healthcare ratings scale.

My husbands Swedish, he owns a property he rents out as an airbnb, the guests aren’t exactly frugal with their power use. The bills are looking to be quite a bit cheaper than ours in the UK this year. Usually the bills are more expensive over winter, but not by a significant amount.

We have been talking recently about possibly moving there, not right now, but in the future before my son is secondary school starting age.

The Netherlands is the place for you op.

But surely you’d need to balance this out with the long, dark winters and the impact that the lack of daylight for months on end has on people’s mental well-being: doesn’t one of those countries have the highest suicide rate per capita in the world?

I've lived in a few different countries and this is a massive generalisation, but the type of place you're talking about has fairly high taxes but a general sense that those taxes are used for the good of the society - be that subsidised childcare, extended maternity and paternity leave or a living pension. I think that would be really hard to achieve here because not enough people have faith that the U.K. government would use more of our money wisely.

Interestingly I remember when we had our conservative/liberal government and it was presented by the media as a disaster for the country whereas in many countries a coalition of some sorts is seen as the norm it means that a wider range of people feel that their interests are represented. I think centrism rather than division is the way forward.