Would you leav your young family and go abroad to work?

Prothet_of_Doom

Man Part. Yes and No and maybe. It's not an easy answer.

I'd need to know that the money would change OUR life's signifcantly on my return.

The questions I'd be asking is : Are you sure that double the pay in the UK isn't actually achievable in the UK? Are you sure that double the pay isn't selling yourself cheap ? Why can't family come too ?

My son's girl friend's dad works in the oil industry in Africa, earning 10 times what I could in the UK. Plan is early retirement.

I was offered a 6 month contract in China, but decided the difference wasn't worth the hassle.

Dunroamin

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

Man Part. Yes and No and maybe. It's not an easy answer.

I'd need to know that the money would change OUR life's signifcantly on my return.

The questions I'd be asking is : Are you sure that double the pay in the UK isn't actually achievable in the UK? Are you sure that double the pay isn't selling yourself cheap ? Why can't family come too ?

My son's girl friend's dad works in the oil industry in Africa, earning 10 times what I could in the UK. Plan is early retirement.

I was offered a 6 month contract in China, but decided the difference wasn't worth the hassle.

A hassle perhaps, but what an opportunity!

patman99

One BIG thing he needs to remember is that as he will be working abroad & therefore paying Tax in the Country he is working in. Therefore he will be making no NI/Tax contributions in the UK which will severely affect his ability to claim benefits on his return & until he has completed 2 clear years working in the UK.

If there is little chance of a rapid return to work once the contract abroad is completed, he may well find that he has to live off of his earnings and thus, be no better off than he would have been if he had not taken the job.

Raggie

when my eldest was a baby, and before number 2 was on the way I had to make the choice between work and family... .


I chose work.. and paid the price of missing out on endless fun with the children as they were growing up..


would I do it again..


yes.. I would..




I was able to give my family stability, a home to live in, a place to sleep, they had their mum.. and me when I could.. but that income enabled me to set them up in life with all the things I did not have, and I know people will say family is more important than money.. well for them they are correct but as a child myself having no money in the house, going to school without the correct type of clothes, bags, toys, and being bullied for being the "poor" kid.. being able to be a "provider" for my children means so much to me..


Now they are older and we have the ability to have quality time together.. now the wife works.. now is my time with them.. and its time I would not have but for the sacrifice of a few years when they were babies.. and to be honest.. don't remember anyway..


Rags

Sinhanada

I already have done that and it meant the end of my marriage. Not that that was a bad thing :-)

I also worked away a lot in the UK during my second marriage and this almost killed it too. The pressure on the other half is immense.

My advice, if you can make it any other way - don't do it

Poppie68

My husband spent 25 years in the army, and obviously spent alot of time away from home for extended periods. Children adapt, i learnt to cope and we made the most of the time he was home. As your friend is only going to be away for a max of 9 months and coming home every 5-6 weeks i can't see anyone being affected short or longtime. Our children had a calender crossing of the days and wrote letters and drew pictures to send it helps to while the time away.

seven-day-weekend

New_and_Improved_Me wrote: »

Another question if i may

(I'm full of em today)

A friend of mine has been just offered an option to go work abroad for a period of 6-9 moths, he is very tempted.

However, he has a young family and would mean leaving them behind.

My question is two part:-

A (Man Part) - Would consider leaving your family to go work abroad, if you could make double what you make in the UK?

B (Woman Part) - Could you cope, if your man was away for 6-9 months with being a single parent of 3 kids?

(Female answer) Yes and Yes. Like Dunroamin I would respect him for doing that and not just going on the dole.

New_and_Improved_Me

patman99 wrote: »

One BIG thing he needs to remember is that as he will be working abroad & therefore paying Tax in the Country he is working in. Therefore he will be making no NI/Tax contributions in the UK which will severely affect his ability to claim benefits on his return & until he has completed 2 clear years working in the UK.

If there is little chance of a rapid return to work once the contract abroad is completed, he may well find that he has to live off of his earnings and thus, be no better off than he would have been if he had not taken the job.

He's not the claiming type

He'sIin his 40's now and has only ever claimed 2 months In all his life...so that's not an issue.

TBH...He will have no issue in finding a job back in the UK when he gets back, be it at a much lower salary then he might like.

arbroath_lass

New_and_Improved_Me wrote: »

TBH...He will have no issue in finding a job back in the UK when he gets back, be it at a much lower salary then he might like.

So why is he not working now?

New_and_Improved_Me

arbroath_lass wrote: »

So why is he not working now?

He's a contractor so he has odd periods where he is in between contract. His last one finisheda few weeks back. So hes unemployed currently.