To not think the UK is as bad as everyone makes out?

[turkeypasty]

Sorry if this is an odd question but everywhere on mumsnet you see rants about how terrible everything is. I am European and could move abroad, but my son and husband (and myself) are super happy here in the UK, the primary school is lovely, we live in the North in the hills and get plenty of outdoor time... We earn ok but not massively and seem to live a good lifestyle- do you think that people just like to moan or have I got very low standards?! There seems to be issues in every country you live surely... It makes me genuinely think if I should move abroad whilst my son is still young, but then why should we if we are happy here? Just really interested in opinions!

Yes, I think we could live in much worse countries and I can think of some that are downright deadly for women and girls to live in. The UK is paradise compared to how half the population of these countries are forced to live.

The UK has its problems and downsides but I love the area I live in despite how much it gets moaned about at times. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

this problem could be foreseen back in the 1950s&2960d but the governments of those days were only concerning winning the next election. The Tory overran from 1979-1997 and had 18 years to set plans that were clearing going to affect the country by the 20s-30s with such an aging population and low birth rate

they didn’t make any policies in the 2 decades then or the decade in power in the last 14 years

immigration in the main is needed for the NHS and always has been since the 1950s. The majority of immigration is legal and positive to the rconomy

its the 20000 coming by boat that msm are obsessed with

Overran * ran

though an autocorrect, it’s probably correct

You live in an area you say is lovely so you don’t see any or much anti-social behaviour, you have two incomes coming in and my guess is that you’re on the property ladder, so understandably your perception of life here is going to be influenced by those things.

Personally this country is the worst I’ve seen it for years. The worst thing is that generally speaking it’s more financially beneficial to be on benefits than it is to work. The NHS is fucked, the private rental situation is frightening, you can forget ever buying a house until you have two incomes or an inheritance, and the weather is shite. Things are going to get even worse when AI gets more popular and the effects of climate change will be disastrous.

I see no rubbish dirt or pollution where I live (East mids).

I'm guessing if you're in poverty almost any country would be shit. But some countries don't have much of a safety net at all so perhaps we're a bit better in that regard as at least there's some help when ppl become sick, lose a job etc? And we're lucky to have the NHS even though there's issues with it. I'm not sure tbh if it's better or worse here than other countries in Europe as I haven't lived in those countries and as pp have said, you can't tell as a tourist. I personally like my life here and I earn a lot less than much of MN seems to think is normal/necessary😁

The UK is not a bad place to live by global standards but it does feel that the country has stagnated over the last decade and a half.

And despite a change in government it doesn't feel that the stagnation has stopped.

I always wanted to move to England from Canada.

Last time I was there though I felt increasingly uncomfortable as it seemed the racism was far more noticeable.

If I had to go by Mumsnet though I'd say no one is very happy, very few people socialize outside their " little family " , most people have depression and anxiety, but there is a decent amount of benefits for people who don't work.

Where I am I have an easy commute to work, can walk to school and local amenities, have good access to healthcare (GPs, NHS dentist, A&E and referred to hospitals) and can access a range of cultural activities at different price points. So for me I like the UK and feel criticisms aren't as universal as claimed. I don't think the UK is perfect (nowhere is), each place has different strengths and different challenges.

I do find it significant that the countries named as better don't have first past the post voting and think changing to more proportional representation would be the best way to improve the UK.

The cost of housing is a big problem, and no government of whatever colour has had the guts to do anything effective about it. We should copy Denmark, and ban any foreigner from buying property unless they’ve actually lived here for 5 years. London (for starters) is full of new build flats mostly left empty, having been bought by wealthy people from Malaysia/China, etc. as a safe place to park their money.

Having said that, the cost of housing is a similar problem elsewhere - a Swedish friend tells me how prices have rocketed, and it’s long been a problem in Australian cities, e.g. Melbourne, where a friend’s dd and her dh were unable to afford to buy any home even 10 years ago.

You can still buy a cheap (by U.K. standards) house in many parts of rural France, but that’ll be because local jobs are very scarce.

As for the US, of course some areas are cheap by U.K. standards, others are not. My sister used to live in Cambridge, Mass. where prices were not far off my area of SW London, and is now in Cape Cod, where they are sky high.

However having lived abroad for many years I still wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. As for weather, of course ours could be better, but at the same time we don’t often have the extremes of many other countries, not to mention several droughts (both times I’ve visited Oz there was severe drought) and truly terrifying wildfires.

I think nowhere is perfect these days. The world is terrifying in many ways. The UK is absolutely not perfect and actually for some people it might be worth moving abroad (if they can) to see if they can improve their lives. I will follow my kids wherever they decide to live if I can. I would prefer it however , if we can all stay living near each other. Speaking to Australian friends and others their lives are facing similar and different issues.

😂😂

No. I think it is that bad. I am very saddened by the rapid decline, and worse still I can't see it getting much better in the near future.

I agree with you OP. I am not in the UK and would very much like to be.

What always strikes me in the UK moaning threads is how many seem to have no clue that the places they plan to go are in the same situation. Divided politics. Infrastructure under pressure. Cost of living issues, etc

Sometimes people are really inconsistent with the things they are upset about too. I saw someone upset about the NHS possibly becoming privatised, and about people wanting to restrict immigration. who wanted to move to Bermuda. I was like, man, you know healthcare there is private and they don't allow immigration unless you marry a citizen, right?

People are oodd.

The main problem in the UK is the people who constantly moan about being in the UK.
I have lived abroad, and other countries do indeed have similar problems. What they don't have are the negative people, just people who appreciate what they do have.