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Well, when I was in Britain, the TV and print media always had blue sunny skies and beaches with turquoise water in your face constantly. Plus the same media goes to different countries showing off bigger houses and land, and that drives the initial quest to emigrate, IMO. So, it plants a seed in their minds that they want more bang for their.....quid? Another reason I found, is a lot of Brits there are fed up with the chavery, poor school system, and immigrants (ironic). Well, that's just in the opinion of an outsider looking in. That's basically 6 months of in country observation on my part, overall.
Lets start by saying that Britain is a great country with much to love, admire and miss when you leave permanently. For me, it was the high cost of living above all else. The weather doesn't help (although that's not everything), or does the chav culture and I think there seems a limit on opportunity there: there is much wealth but most opportunity lives in or around London which is grossly expensive if you ever want to raise a family.
The most emigrated countries too, for Brits, seem to have a few things in common: more attractive climates, space and the opportunity to own a home that isn't going to mortgage you to the eyeballs. There is no utopia but I think Britain has its lifestyle limitations.. if you know what I mean
My own reason for leaving was entirely based on work - I did not leave for any kind of lifestyle/climate/tax/quality of life reason. At any rate Paris is probably even more crowded and expensive as London is, taxes are even higher, and the weather's just a sh*t! Also I don't really consider it to be abroad, it's 2hrs20mins back to London by train, I pop back the whole time both for work and personal reasons. I really don't feel like I've actually "left" the UK.
At any rate I think the article highlights an interesting phenominum that isn't talked about enough.
Why does the UK, a developed, wealthy country with a high average income have the emigration rate more akin to a second-world, developing country?
Some ideas:
- Taxes too high? (but other countries eg France, Sweden, Belgium have even higher rates and no emigration problem..)
- Cost of living a problem? (in London, but other cities are actually some of Western Europe's cheapest)
- Unemployment? (actually, at ~8%, our rate is lower than both the US and the European average)
- Lousy dreary climate (But the Netherlands? N. Germany? Denmark? Belgium... all very similar)
- English language - it's easier to find work in the US/Australia etc than for a Frenchman?
- Culture - British people have long emigrated in search of a better life... it's deeply engrained...
- Crime? Housing?
I'm not British but I did live in the UK for a while.
I left because I couldn't take the anti-Americanism, the impossibly high cost of living, and the knowledge that I would probably never be able to advance my career there. I reckon a lot of Brits leave for the latter two reasons. Being educated, native English speakers, and EU passport holders...there's a lot of opportunities for them in former Commonwealth countries and across the EU. I don't blame them for leaving.
My own reason for leaving was entirely based on work - I did not leave for any kind of lifestyle/climate/tax/quality of life reason. At any rate Paris is probably even more crowded and expensive as London is, taxes are even higher, and the weather's just a sh*t! Also I don't really consider it to be abroad, it's 2hrs20mins back to London by train, I pop back the whole time both for work and personal reasons. I really don't feel like I've actually "left" the UK.
At any rate I think the article highlights an interesting phenominum that isn't talked about enough.
Why does the UK, a developed, wealthy country with a high average income have the emigration rate more akin to a second-world, developing country?
Some ideas:
- Taxes too high? (but other countries eg France, Sweden, Belgium have even higher rates and no emigration problem..)
- Cost of living a problem? (in London, but other cities are actually some of Western Europe's cheapest)
- Unemployment? (actually, at ~8%, our rate is lower than both the US and the European average)
- Lousy dreary climate (But the Netherlands? N. Germany? Denmark? Belgium... all very similar)
- English language - it's easier to find work in the US/Australia etc than for a Frenchman?
- Culture - British people have long emigrated in search of a better life... it's deeply engrained...
- Crime? Housing?
I actually don't really have a straight answer.
That's what I'm thinking too. It can't be taxes, Britain's taxes are middle of the road compared to the rest of Europe. Climate? It can't be that, not only the countries you listed, but you don't hear the Nordics moving out of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland do you? And their climate is "worse" than the UK's. Britain has lower unemployment than most other countries in the EU. I think it's down to culture, crime, housing, and career advancement. Besides the climate, when I read British expat forums, crime, cost and size of housing, schools, and careers seem to be at the top of the list.
That's what I'm thinking too. It can't be taxes, Britain's taxes are middle of the road compared to the rest of Europe. Climate? It can't be that, not only the countries you listed, but you don't hear the Nordics moving out of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland do you? And their climate is "worse" than the UK's. Britain has lower unemployment than most other countries in the EU. I think it's down to culture, crime, housing, and career advancement. Besides the climate, when I read British expat forums, crime, cost and size of housing, schools, and careers seem to be at the top of the list.
Does anybody actually know what the 'figures' are in 'other' modern industrialised nations!?? Or are we all just 'assuming' that the figures for the UK are actually vastly different from anywhere else??
According to this, only New Zealand, Ireland and Luxembourg have a higher percentage of their highly-skilled citizens living abroad than the U.K.
At any rate, the rate in the U.K. is much much higher than our main competitors - France and Germany - and vastly more than the U.S.
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Another reason I found, is a lot of Brits there are fed up with the chavery, poor school system, and immigrants (ironic). Well, that's just in the opinion of an outsider looking in. That's basically 6 months of in country observation on my part, overall.
