Netherlands or Germany

[Netherlands78]

Good afternoon, I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice please, in living in either country.

I am a single parent with a daughter in year 7 and considering either country for better job opportunities and quality of life.

Can anyone share their experiences of living in either country. The pros and cons. Education, housing etc

Thanks very much

Sorry, Damn, I probably made Rotterdam sound terrible (which it's not) but I do think for the OP it would be a more challenging environment to settle into as they're more international business minded rather than expat families minded the way the The Hague area is.

I think as an expat a lot of Rotterdam's issues wouldn't be overtly obvious initially but could become wearing overtime considering the types of neighborhood I'd expect OP to be able to live in on solely a teacher's assistant salary.

That's true. There are ways of making Rotterdam work, but it's much easier with more money. OP - I've struggled here to find English-speaking work which fits in with family life. Botemp is definitely right that it would be easier further north in the Randstad. The only TA jobs available to you will be in the private international schools - the American School in the Hague, American International School of Rotterdam, British School in the Hague and the ones in Amsterdam (which I know less about...).

Have you looked at luxembourg? The quality of life is amazing here and there are free English speaking school.

We moved to Germany last year, kids 7 and 4. They have settled in well now but I'm German and they spoke a bit of German before, still have some grammar niggles. I imagine it would be very hard to start from zero at a later age. There isn't really the differentiation for different abilities here that I have seen in DD's school in the UK. As far as I know there are some schools here that have classes for kids with no German. She would have to start in one of those and then move to a school in your catchment later. They also have a system here, starting at secondary level, were you have grammar schools that lead to an a level type exam, or Realschulen und Hauptschulen, these finish at GCSE level. I dont know if you can switch between them once you have startet on one path.

DD's school is an integration school and one child in her class has a one to one TA, no idea what qulifications she has. There are also Special schools, integration is really not as common yet as in the UK. There is a shortage in schools and Nurseries though, maybe look at Erzieher as a job, they work in lots of different settings, nurseries, after school, youth work. Many places offer 'berufsbegleitende Ausbilding' so you study while you work.

If you are on a low income you may be able to get Wohngeld to help with rent and Kinderzuschlag on top of Kindergeld( child benefit, about 195Euro per child).

I think you need to be really honest with yourself about why you want to go abroad and what you think will be better.

It is very easy to think life is shit here it will be better in Germany/ the Netherlands/ New Zealand etc.

But you are in big danger of finding all the same problems and being stuck with trying to navigate an unfamiliar system in a foreigner language with no friends or family as support. I say this as someone who has lived in several countries, be really clear about your expectations.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I have been thinking of moving mainly to the Netherlands because of the high proportion of residents speaking English. Although I still would have learnt the language.

I will look into the Dutch international schools and check the job situation Botemp and damncommandments.

I will probably do another job until I understand how the Netherlands work. Ideally I want to work with cluster 4 children and parents. Hopefully in time my education degree can be used to train in NL. Nonetheless, my decision to relocate is due visiting Netherlands regularly and the safety aspect for my daughter and self with the current gun and knife crime epidemic in london.

In saying that with Brexit looming I’d rather not have to return when getting established.

Germany I have only been once. Thank you all for sharing. I appreciate it. Will have a lot to think about !