Would you advise your kids to emigrate?

GDB2222

lostinrates wrote: »

GDB2222, if I were advising a child I'd ask the wher they want to be/to go, not where they want to get away from, and what they want to do and why.

All very, very good points. However, it is terribly easy to get trapped. My son is mid-20's with no ties here apart from family and friends. He is skilled and very much in demand in his chosen work. His partner has just finished her uni course, so they are free to move if they want to, and they are never likely to be freer.

Couple that with immigration requirements for other countries, which become more stringent as you get older, and now is the time for them to act if they are ever going to do so.

lostinrates

GDB2222 wrote: »

All very, very good points. However, it is terribly easy to get trapped. My son is mid-20's with no ties here apart from family and friends. He is skilled and very much in demand in his chosen work. His partner has just finished her uni course, so they are free to move if they want to, and they are never likely to be freer.

Couple that with immigration requirements for other countries, which become more stringent as you get older, and now is the time for them to act if they are ever going to do so.

Is his partner as likely to get work abroad, in the same place? Does his employer offer overseas placements? There is nothing saying you can't go and come back, even more than once.

michaels

Thanks for this

I guess what I really want to compare is how much of the tax I pay each year goes on the NHS compared to what it would cost me in the US to buy health insurance.

I wonder how much you have to earn before the tax bill is higher than the insurance premium...

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Average spend per person in USA on health - US$ 6103 (source http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs319/en/index.html)

Average spend per person of NHS - (2004) - £1449 (source: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bUkvTFLcdHQC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=annual+spend++NHS+per+person&source=bl&ots=OP3FNnP48X&sig=xdXX9BLoXKauRa28KPdvxcHQ4j4&hl=en&ei=joBoSt35NJewtgfcsejDCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1)

I don't even need to convert currencies to show that healthcare in the USA is far more expensive than the UK

[Deleted User]

michaels wrote: »

Thanks for this

I guess what I really want to compare is how much of the tax I pay each year goes on the NHS compared to what it would cost me in the US to buy health insurance.

I wonder how much you have to earn before the tax bill is higher than the insurance premium...

I like the 'social justice' that the NHS provides - no one is denied medical treatment just because they can't afford it. I hate that my (american) firm has to run a charity for poor American kids to pay for treatment that the NHS would have provided them if they lived here.

Really2

GDB2222 wrote: »

My son is mid-20's with no ties here apart from family and friends. He is skilled and very much in demand in his chosen work.

So what do you belive will change the fact he is demand in this country, also what will stop him not being in demand in another country.

The good things about friends and family they are there for you when it does go wrong.

So going wrong in another country could be very difficult.

By all means give your children the equipement and belife to fly on there own, but don't throw them off the building because of what you fear.
Let them decided when and where to fly too.

Perhaps a year out travelling may help them decide?

But in the end of the day you are the parent so always go with what you think is best.

wolvoman

What we have going for us:

1. Language - English is the most powerful language in the world.
2. Weather - you may laugh but we have proper seasons and we have stable weather. No one here dies in hurricanes, tornados or droughts.
3. Political stability - we have one of the oldest and most stable democracies in the world. Makes us a very attractive trade prospect.
4. Law - our laws are amongst the fairest in the world. And despite recent government attempts we are still among the most free nations in the world.
5. Trading - We are a trading nation, it is in our history.
6. Warfare - We tend to be on the winning side of wars.
7. Access - No-one cares what religion or race you are here.
8. Travel - No other passport allows such global access to the world than the UK.

kabayiri

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Things that Britain does really well (off the top of my head):

BBC

I would absolutely agree with this one. The BBC is a gem, and we shouldn't even remotely consider starving it of resources.

You only have to look at the fanatical following of programs like Top Gear and Dr Who over in places like the States. These are genuinely world class in my view.

Here's another oddball 'thing Britain is good at' :-
- down the years, we have been remarkably good at coming up with new ideas, only to give them away cheaply

The invention of LCD displays is one such example.

I don't believe the solution lies in the patent process either. It's expensive, and locks in ideas, strangling innovation.

I personally do believe in the 'Open Source' model, promoted in some spheres of computing. The philosophy here is of genuinely sharing ideas, but respecting the title of the originator. It can lead to a much faster sharing of ideas than closed world commercial lock-downs can achieve.

Hmm, where did that wine glass appear from? :beer:

GDB2222

Really2 wrote: »

So what do you belive will change the fact he is demand in this country, also what will stop him not being in demand in another country.

I can see him being equally in demand in another country. In the longer term, the work he does (web database programming) can be done equally well by people from low wage countries. So, he's fine for say 10 years, but beyond that I'm not so sure. Still, he's quite resourceful, so I think he'll be okay wherever he goes.

Really2 wrote: »

The good things about friends and family they are there for you when it does go wrong.
So going wrong in another country could be very difficult.

This is certainly a major issue for them. However, my parents were immigrants here in the 1930's, and they made a new life for themselves here quite successfully.

Really2 wrote: »

By all means give your children the equipement and belife to fly on there own, but don't throw them off the building because of what you fear.

It would only be advice, and I am quite sure that they will make their own minds up.

wigglebeena

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Average spend per person in USA on health - US$ 6103 (source http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs319/en/index.html)

Average spend per person of NHS - (2004) - £1449 (source: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bUkvTFLcdHQC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=annual+spend++NHS+per+person&source=bl&ots=OP3FNnP48X&sig=xdXX9BLoXKauRa28KPdvxcHQ4j4&hl=en&ei=joBoSt35NJewtgfcsejDCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1)

I don't even need to convert currencies to show that healthcare in the USA is far more expensive than the UK

But if you have a major accident or chronic illness in the U.S. it can surely be much, much more. People go bankrupt from it.

wigglebeena

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I've worked abroad and travelled in a fair few countries, which all have their good and bad points. As does Britain.

There is nothing more boring than a resident Brit moaning incessantly about how rubbish this country is. Except perhaps an Aussie working here and whining about how it's not as warm as back in Oz.

Things that Britain does really well (off the top of my head):

NHS
BBC
National parks
World class museums and galleries (the major ones in London are all free, unlike many capital cities)
University education
Music
Modern art (especially public art)
Daily press (many countries just have one or two dailies)

I would encourage my kids to travel, but I wouldn't raise them to be serial whingers, no.

How about adding on 'scepticism and dissent'? No happy smiley enforced positive thinking fakery. Thank God.