To think life in England must be much easier

[Heatethelastwaffle]

I’m British but live abroad.
We are struggling a lot financially at the moment, life is hard, although the sun shines.
Where we are, if you fall into a hole, you’re pretty much screwed. Benefits exist, but you have to be very much on the breadline and even then it’s not enough to survive. There is a national health service, but it’s not great, so I’m having to pay out of my own money for private consultations. I have a chronic illness but no benefits whatsoever exist, my Dd is potentially suffering from Pans/pandas, they haven’t heard of it where we are, I’ve been to three separate Drs who had no idea what I’m talking about, There’s no help with rent, with housing, with bills and so on if you fall on hard times.

I want to go home, it may be depressing in some ways in England but you’re secure.

Correct.

Me neither.
I think it's pretty screwed up everywhere, unless you can throw money at problems...

Fucking hell. Get a grip.

Or jump on a dingy going the other way

Are you saying it doesn't happen?

• poverty not policy.

That’s a 1/3 of children who not have adequate food, clothing or housing.

Remember if you do choose to return you won’t be able to access the NHS without charge for a certain amount of time. Do you have active travel insurance? That could potentiallt cover some costs.

We’ve recently moved abroad, we’re much more financially secure here, support for lower earners, the disabled, people with longterm ill health etc is much better. Childcare is incredibly cheap so everyone can afford it. We would never be able to afford the standard of living we have here in the UK.

The number of homeless families in the UK suggests that many people are far from secure.

You seem to strangely want sympathy for choosing to live abroad?

Ignore the idiots. Not everyone in the UK is on benefits although you wouldn’t know it from MN.

There is a reason so many immigrants want to come to the UK

The Spanish give immigrants about €60 a month.

@Countingcactus To want sympathy? No I was just comparing places and saying how more secure England is when you need help, that is all, I wasn’t saying I wanted a handout or anything else, why are there so many needlessly nasty people, what is the point.

if you do choose to return you won’t be able to access the NHS without charge for a certain amount of time

When was this change enacted?

It used to be the case - and I think it still is - that a British citizen who returns permanently to the UK can access the NHS free of charge more or less from day one. Proof needed includes passport and proof of address (utility bill, council tax or electoral roll).

It's non-citizens on visas that have to pay an NHS surcharge until they get ILR.

However, I believe it takes 6 months to be able to claim UC or other benefits.

🤷🏻‍♀️ I would leave the UK in a heartbeat if I could figure out how to do it with my work. But it would be a bit weird if I then went on a forum to complain about it. Unless you were coerced?

@Countingcactus What? Have you ever had plans in your life that went wrong, for a multitude of reasons? Things can go wrong wherever you are, you can move to a place and not really understand how everything works if young and naive or life might not turn out as you expected, you do understand this, right?

You can use the nhs when tou come back! I don’t know where people are getting the information that you can’t?

I moved to the uk from Ireland a few years ago - I’m an Irish citizen and I was able to register with a gp right after I got my national insurance number and I saw a gp within a month of being here 🤷‍♀️

so surely it’s the same if you are British?

also the thing about returning to the uk from Australia @Lovesgreen i really don’t see how that’s possible if your friend is a British citizen why can’t she come back? Does she have a British passport or no?

Yeh this. The land of milk and honey.

I am think the U.K. is great and feel very lucky to live here. Most people haven’t experienced living somewhere where there are no safety nets, no benefit system, no support groups, no nhs etc so have no idea how difficult it is. We are very lucky here but all you’ll hear on MN is how awful it is. And my friends child has pans, they have help and support and a very sympathetic GP. and school. I’m

@Ijustneedtogrowapear Read my posts

@Trixiefirecracker That would be the main reason to return, we are lost here with no help for her. it’s horrific

Where are you, OP?

OP has the citizenship of this “land of milk and honey”, so she’s perfectly entitled to return.
Plus, she didn’t say she was planning to claim benefits.

I’ve been to three separate Drs who had no idea what I’m talking about

You'd have a job even getting three appointments with a Dr where I am.

@inamarina Thank you 🙏

@DancingPhantomsOnTheTerrace Waiting over 6 weeks for a normal Dr in the system, Jane paid privately out of desperation, those appointments you can get sooner

I feel similarly sometimes OP. I also live abroad and while I have a far better quality of life here than I would in the UK I do wonder what I'd do if I had to rely on benefits for any reason (like you I don't want to, obviously) or if I had a major health problem. I'm pregnant and have found the health service here pretty poor. Anyone who can afford to go private, does. Although I appreciate the NHS is also struggling so things might not necessarily be better at home, I do think healthcare and other systems in the UK are easier to access and navigate, which helps...