Would you consider emigrating if the recession gets really bad here in the UK?

Kez100

Phirefly wrote: »

Thats the underlying mood down here on Tha Wharf too. This country is getting us down... Mr P would go in a flash but I'm very close to my family and it would be a wrench.

I dont know where we'd go either - as other have stated its a global situation and despite Peter Andre's assumptions to the contrary, everywhere is going to be affected to some extent.

I'd love to live somewhere hot where people sit out on verandas all night eating cheese and drinking wine with their extended families, but then my extended family would still be in the UK so its a pipe dream. That or Scandinavia. They've got it sorted with their cleanliness and order and volvos...

Like Greece....sit out and dodge the hand thrown missiles? Or Scandinavia - highest suicide rates? I have a friend who has lived everywhere and Finland was, she said, the most depressing due to the lack of light and weather.

My daughter wants to live in Northern Norway when she grows up, so she isn't taking any notice of me, obviously!

lynzpower

We definately will go abroad for a while come the apolocolypse. Weve been toying with the idea already, and have plumped in the "stay " category right now, but the minute things get worse ( think either of us not working or taxes being prohibitive/ inflation eroding savings) we'll be offski.

I expect that the route will be long term volunteering - most likely somewhere in Africa where there is great need for our skills, nice weather and a slower pace of life. Preferably english speaking, but would be more than happy to learn another language. We toyed with Sierra Leone earlier in the year when we saw some good voluntary options- but ghana, nigeria, kenya, malawi all appeal.

We have over 40k in the "pot" so could live on that for quite a long time Id imagine.

SGE1

100% sure I won't be leaving.

michaels

I think we would go - not sure where tho as I burn terribly in the sun and don't like the heat.

Honestly, it is the lack of freedom / nanny state that would probably decide it for me rather than the economy.

Cloudane

Emigrating is not something that I'd rule out, but given my extreme like of comfort zones it's unlikely.

There are things which would tempt me if I was a "get up and go" kind of person, like the dictatorship-like government, "Ripoff Britain" (why is everything more expensive than other countries?), rapid erosion of privacy via the media-driven paranoia over terrorism/paedophilia (both of which will happen with or without stupid things like ID cards, but let's not get started on that tangent) and last but not least the economy which is probably going to be worse than others.

Up until recently there was the prospect (lack of) of owning a house, too. But that's turning around.

On the other hand, things keeping me here: good ale (lol), the glorious area in which I live (Lake District, is there anywhere more peaceful and beautiful in the world?) and good old British solidarity. We have a knack for actually enjoying bad weather and hard times, or at least making the best of them. Better than the collective crying in other countries.

Oh, and not to mention the relative lack of dangerous animals, poisonous snakes, diseases etc.

I'd say the things keeping me here are probably outweighing the temptations to emigrate.

ad9898 wrote: »

if the Gulf Stream stopped, we would have winter permanently

So that's what happened.

There wasn't anything that I would call "summer" during 2007 or 2008.... I think this effect is well underway.

giruzz

Not sure why lot of people complain about Britain...

I just moved here (I'm Italian) and I really like the possibilities that this country can offer....

I lived in Australia for about 3.5yrs and I did not like it much...I really don't understand why some many Brits and Irish want to live there....

What I like about UK:

- Easy to get a good job (!!!)
- HomeOffice sucks but not as much as Italian Immigration (OH is non EU)
- Society is not racist as in Italy
- Easy to get things done
- Universities

What I dislike:
- Weather
- Flash Gordon & his fiscal policies
- Tube prices going up 6% without seeing any improvements
- NHS. Hospitals in (northern) Italy and Australia are much better
- Public Schools (but I haven't tried directly).

So far is not bad as some you think. I am sure there is room for improvement but really...try to leave in Italy and then we can discuss...

Anyway..I doubt I will settle here...I will probably stay 5/7 years and the move on...

giruzz

Cloudane

How could I forget about the weather!! Yeah, that's a good driving-away factor, especially given that we don't have a summer any more (see discussion about gulf stream cooling and all that). Summery weather is quite important for happiness - it's got some actual chemical reason (was it Vitamin B or endorphins or something, I can't remember) which is probably why us Brits are always such grumpy b***ards.

fc123

I wouldn't mainly due to family. We are not in each others pockets at all but knowing everyone is only an hour away (or in London, 10 mins away) is nice.

We had dreams of gap years post age 50 (last kid will be 20 then)....but the crunch keeps swiping things from out of my hands and, so is keeping me at the grindstone for now.

We both left school @ 16, though I worked in Italy for a while and went to college from 20 -23. The past 29 years have just been hard work.......so a gap year or 3 seemed a good idea.

Saw an ad for vollie work in Vietnam in Textile industry once...something like that would suit me down to the ground.

Looks like no gap year for ''Hard working families'' then....not allowed....got a national debt to sort out soon.

lostinrates

giruzz wrote: »

Not sure why lot of people complain about Britain...

I just moved here (I'm Italian) and I really like the possibilities that this country can offer....

I lived in Australia for about 3.5yrs and I did not like it much...I really don't understand why some many Brits and Irish want to live there....

What I like about UK:

- Easy to get a good job (!!!)
- HomeOffice sucks but not as much as Italian Immigration (OH is non EU)
- Society is not racist as in Italy
- Easy to get things done
- Universities

What I dislike:
- Weather
- Flash Gordon & his fiscal policies
- Tube prices going up 6% without seeing any improvements
- NHS. Hospitals in (northern) Italy and Australia are much better
- Public Schools (but I haven't tried directly).

So far is not bad as some you think. I am sure there is room for improvement but really...try to leave in Italy and then we can discuss...

Anyway..I doubt I will settle here...I will probably stay 5/7 years and the move on...

giruzz

Ciao! May I ask where abouts in Italy? (my DH is on a plan to Italy now and I am stuck here ) Will moving on from here take you home?

I agree, IME Italy is vry much more racist, and there ar other good and bad differences. Trains in Italy are superb, and the metro (In Milan) is, IMO, more comfortable, if less extensive. Society is still actively aware of its rsponsibility towards youth in a practical way...if not in the way pensions will cripple the next generation! Universities, and schools in Italy are good (ma no il imbrogliando, eh? ). My husband went to a scuola classica and received, IMO, a wonderful education- parts of which I frankly envy, which allowed him to go to a good university here. Education is also rvered for its own right, knowing things is good in Italy, not just the qualification at the end. The public transport in Milano and Roma is good, clean, efficient, if less extensive perhaps, but also one can afford a taxi when one couldn't in London for a similar trip, and intercity trains are good. Tenants rights are better. The Italian emergency health care, is indeed excellent...and compassionate.

sometimes things are easier to get done in Italy, and I was surprised how oftn these routes ar offered to us but we have not taken them, and this has also brought us respect IMO. Society values its posessions, not all the time buying new and latest, and things, pocessions are valued.

My greatest fear however would be to be old and unmarried alone in Italy. state nursing homes are bleak: the downside of when family fails.

GDB2222

I have urged my kids to emigrate - specifically to New Zealand. I'm a bit old to go there, and the kids complain that it's too boring, so they don't want to go. The UK has been on a downward trend for decades, and I really can't see what's going to reverse that. NZ has lots of land per capita, and a great climate. Being paranoid for a moment, it is also a long way away from anywhere else, so it's unlikely to be invaded. I think it would be a great place for the GDB2222 clan to set up shop.