Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

UK or UAE?

11 replies

SneakyLilNameChange · 16/02/2025 17:39

DH been offered a job in dubai. Salary is decent but from research won’t go that far in UAE (55k AED/month). We have a decent life here and I have a good job I enjoy whereas I’d be a SAHP in dubai however my algorithm is now very ‘dubai is amazing you need to move’ and feeling low as possibly it not working out. What would you do? Give it a go for a few years for a change? Stick it out in UK? The news and weather is reallly dragging me down and family in UAE keep saying how safe and perfect life is there!

OP posts:
coxesorangepippin · 16/02/2025 17:45

I'd stay in UK

Can't he job search in Canada, Australia, NZ etc

irts · 16/02/2025 17:52

Hey OP

55k AED PCM is a good salary (10k GBP)

But you must also factor in school fees if circa. 20k GBP per child per year and my friends currently pay 40k GBP rent (2 bed, Marina)

If you hop on some expat groups, there are as many desperately trying to come back to the uk as wanting to exit.

The job market can leave you very exposed eg being dropped like a stone etc.

Also, May-Oct is awfully hard there (winter in reverse!!) it's so hot you cannot do very much at all!)

We lived there as singles 10y ago. My salary then was higher than I can command there now as it's so popular. The old contracts have all but disappeared (schooling/housing/cars etc)

mindutopia · 16/02/2025 18:08

What else is included in the package?

Do you feel like you want a career break and could you jump back in when you came back? What would happen to your house?

Truetoself · 16/02/2025 18:16

Why would you be a SAHP?

55K a month is OK but as pp said - a lot depends on what needs to come out of it

SneakyLilNameChange · 16/02/2025 18:56

We’d rent the house out. My job over there is generally filled by expats from other places and very poorly paid (talking £10-15k a year for 40 hour weeks!!) while I’m paid WTE £55k here (I’m part time). I wouldn’t mind but having to pay ££ wraparound or have a nanny/maid (don’t fancy that really!) would wipe out my salary.
It would need to covers visas and medical insurance for DC and me, housing, school fees x 2 and food living etc. everyone talks about packages but in reality in his sector those aren’t really done any more.

OP posts:
irts · 16/02/2025 20:30

Didn't want to read and run.

Please factor that rent is paid, in advance, in 2/3 cheques a year so you do have 'start up' costs.

Also please consider, if renting out your family home, what you can do June-Sept when there's no school, lots of things closed and it's a ghost town incase everyone is escaping the heat! If you'd like to return to the UK for the summer, just think about where you'd stay etc,

There's some good relocation insta/FB groups that it might be worth looking at.

If your partner has secured a job, could you secure one in a school? This would give you fee reduction and summers off

SneakyLilNameChange · 16/02/2025 21:03

@irts I have considered stuff in schools but my background doesn’t seem to fit very well… yes the upfront rent costs are wild! It’s hard I’ve looked on forums but peoples decent salary vary sooo wildly it’s hard to work out what’s good or not!

OP posts:
irts · 17/02/2025 12:19

@SneakyLilNameChange
Are you able to say what you do? It may be better thank you think (financially)

Looks like you're taking a measured approach, just think about school fees and paying for accommodation upfront.
This could mean you are starting in a 20/30k (GBP) deficit.

The life out there is delicious! But it's not quite as easy as it once was for expats and the 'old contracts' Will accommodation have all but ceased

SneakyLilNameChange · 17/02/2025 13:41

@irts i work in a HIV/sexual health walk in clinic as a senior nurse. It’s difficult as I’ve done this for 15 years now so my skills aren’t hugely transferable and my understanding is nurses are often employed cheaply from Asia and it’s very doctor led in UAE as it’s all private. I also worry I wouldn’t pass the DHA exam as it’s about all areas of medicine, mental health and maternity and I’ve been working for so long in a niche area I’d be hopeless!

OP posts:
DecafDodger · 17/02/2025 13:54

Personally I'm not so sure this salary is sufficient for decent housing and schools x2, plus a reasonable standard of living. You'd spend 2 monthly salaries just on school fees. And yes there are many fun things to do in Dubai, but I can't think of anything that doesn't also cost a ton - especially during hotter months, when you basically can't go outside. Not to be all doom and gloom, but do add your numbers up carefully, before you decide anything.

BreastedMongoose · 17/02/2025 15:30

Things I loved: family oriented, safer especially for women our daughter could go out by herself with a friend with little worries, law abiding - makes London/UK look like a circus, cheesecake factory, luxurious fancy places, glamorous though a bit gauche, very clean, more disposable income, nice 2 experience Islam in a positive way Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is very beautiful, 24hr city, no income tax, people are happy to see children & don't find them a nuisance, English language, swearing is frowned upon, even with a very strong male majority, the sense of security is high enough that women go out solo at night, as did I, & was never once harassed.

Things I didn't love: Not walkable, very car centric, despite Dubai > London for safety there is a lot of reckless driving, heavy traffic & going over the speed limit, you will not get citizenship and know Dubai is a temporary stop, v touristy, your visa is tied to your labor contract if you are let go you don't have long to find another job, hard to secure a job, very humid and dusty, no unions, huge social class disparity, can't just go out and grab a coffee anywhere like in Britain & Europe, very little nature and greenery.

We had fun made some money, the kids had a fun experience abroad, got very homesick for Britain, returned, left London and moved to the countryside. Aus was also on the cards, v close to movin there cus sis was a nurse there but she got homesick too. & now both of us are in British countryside and I don't want to leave.

IMO, if u can get a job & a place, treat it as temp & have fun! But make plans to get bk or go somewhere else for more stability later

New posts on this thread. Refresh page