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I am Italian and all four of my grandparents are native Sicilians who migrated to the US back in the 1950's. Naturally, I wonder about if they made the right decision and if times have changed and maybe nowadays Italy is a better place to live than the United States. After all, practically no one migrates from Italy to the US anymore, so there must be a good reason for that. Therefore, is modern day Italy a better country to live in than the US?
I spent an enormous amount of time on Google looking at street views all over the country and am fascinated at how amazing the cities are and the scenery. It looks exactly like California, too. It looks like most people live in small apartments though and drive subcompact cars, if driving at all. Italy is also the #1 country in the world for health index and they have a longer life expectancy than Americans. They are also the 9th largest economy in the world. They also get 7 weeks of mandatory vacation time and have full healthcare coverage, which the US embarrassingly lacks. And the quality of healthcare in the US is subpar and super expensive (what a joke).
I am gay, however, and noticed that Italy does not have same sex marriage; only civil unions. So they're behind other EU countries and the US in that regard. But I can't imagine Italy is an anti-LGBT country in general.
I'm sure the food is amazing, too. I like space and love driving a car everywhere, but would be willing to adapt. I only speak English. I am 34, single and currently have a master's degree in accounting with 10 years of experience.
So...is Italy a better place to live? Why or why not?
It has become very difficult to immigrate to the United States in the past decades. Meanwhile, for Italians who seek to move to a more affluent country with better wage and quality of life, they can freely move to the richer part of Western Europe. European Union didn't exist back to 1950s.
Italy was my least favorite country on my European trip, but the gastronomy and healthcare are definitely superior. Whether Italy is a better place to live really depends on who you are. It seems that Italy or any other country in Western Europe is better for low income and lower-middle-class people, everyone has some dignity. Whereas the U.S is better for the upper middle class and upper class. There are more lucrative jobs and business opportunities for high achievers/lucky one in the U.S.
GoodHombre has good insight!
I'm both a European and U.S. citizen who has lived in both places.
The competition for jobs in Italy is pretty absurd. For anything government-related, you have to take state exams, wait forever, and hope a job placement comes up for you to move into. This could be years.
Not speaking Italian fluently is going to hold you back.
Your best option is to get a job in an American company that has business in Italy, move up in position, learn Italian, and then get a position over there.
So...is Italy a better place to live? Why or why not?
I'd say that depends on several factors.
Like who you are (Career wise for example) and where in Italy or US.
If you have a good job and at least middle class lifestyle in a spot like Florence or Rome (just examples) and there live in a good neighborhood, then I'd argue there are not that many places in the US that would be a clear upgrade giving similar parameters.
But what if you are somebody who prefers the open and space and perhaps a house with lots of land. Then the US most likely would be a more attractive choice, since it is easier attainable there (If one can make it work of course, with their job in the vicinity).
Or you are an avid hunter, again the US here would be a better choice IMHO.
If you like travel internationally, I'd consider Italy and Europe as a better hub in most cases.
It is my opinion that overall, the difference in QOL among the western (1st world) countries really is pretty marginal. It really comes down to preferences and what personal opportunities one has or can make for themselves.
I think it boils down to what you want out of life and of course money - anywhere in the First World can be a brilliant place to live if you have plenty of money to do it. I think there are certainly a LOT of worse places to live on this planet than either Italy or the US, I reckon I could live in either place quite happily
I'd say that depends on several factors.
Like who you are (Career wise for example) and where in Italy or US.
If you have a good job and at least middle class lifestyle in a spot like Florence or Rome (just examples) and there live in a good neighborhood, then I'd argue there are not that many places in the US that would be a clear upgrade giving similar parameters.
But what if you are somebody who prefers the open and space and perhaps a house with lots of land. Then the US most likely would be a more attractive choice, since it is easier attainable there (If one can make it work of course, with their job in the vicinity).
Or you are an avid hunter, again the US here would be a better choice IMHO.
If you like travel internationally, I'd consider Italy and Europe as a better hub in most cases.
It is my opinion that overall, the difference in QOL among the western (1st world) countries really is pretty marginal. It really comes down to preferences and what personal opportunities one has or can make for themselves.
QOL in Oklahoma is worse than Texas by a pretty significant margin, lol.
I am Italian and all four of my grandparents are native Sicilians who migrated to the US back in the 1950's. Naturally, I wonder about if they made the right decision and if times have changed and maybe nowadays Italy is a better place to live than the United States. After all, practically no one migrates from Italy to the US anymore, so there must be a good reason for that. Therefore, is modern day Italy a better country to live in than the US?
I spent an enormous amount of time on Google looking at street views all over the country and am fascinated at how amazing the cities are and the scenery. It looks exactly like California, too. It looks like most people live in small apartments though and drive subcompact cars, if driving at all. Italy is also the #1 country in the world for health index and they have a longer life expectancy than Americans. They are also the 9th largest economy in the world. They also get 7 weeks of mandatory vacation time and have full healthcare coverage, which the US embarrassingly lacks. And the quality of healthcare in the US is subpar and super expensive (what a joke).
I am gay, however, and noticed that Italy does not have same sex marriage; only civil unions. So they're behind other EU countries and the US in that regard. But I can't imagine Italy is an anti-LGBT country in general.
I'm sure the food is amazing, too. I like space and love driving a car everywhere, but would be willing to adapt. I only speak English. I am 34, single and currently have a master's degree in accounting with 10 years of experience.
So...is Italy a better place to live? Why or why not?
My wife is of Sicilian descent, her grandparents emigrated from Sicily to New Orleans. The community I grew up in was full of Sicilian emigrants so I'm familiar with the culture at least the part of the culture that crossed the Atlantic.
We have vacationed in Italy and owned an apartment in Marbella, Spain for a few years so we have plenty of exposure to Europe. As far which is better, wow, that's a tough question to answer. I can tell you my wife and no one in her family wants to go back to Europe. She has thought about getting an Italian passport which you can do if your grandparents emigrated from Italy and that would have helped us if she had it when we owned the apartment in Spain.
I would disagree that healthcare in the USA is not excellent because it is, it's just expensive. On the flip side, we make more and are taxed less so which is the better deal....debatable.
About time off, I get 2 weeks off every 8 weeks of work so to say the US doesn't have mandatory vacation time is true but if you have a good job, you get time off. Wife got 6 weeks vacation per year when she retired a few years ago.
To me Italy is beautiful, we just don't have the old architecture which I love so that's a negative for the USA.
At the end of the day, I don't think either is greatly better to live, just different.
As others have pointed out, it depends on what your current objectives and circumstances are, including where you have family and how important that is to you.
There have been stages of my life when Italy is a better place to live, and stages when the US is a better place to live.
In my case, the one criteria were historical study and intellectual growth, the other criteria economic and career opportunity.
That doesn't mean that one cannot find economic and career opportunity in Italy, or that one cannot find historical study and intellectual growth in the US, but chance are for most people that it works the way I experienced it too.
So...is Italy a better place to live? Why or why not?
I've been to Italy and it is a nice country to visit. One of the best, I'd say.
But the real question is - What would your salary be there? If it's a downgrade in your standard of living (smaller living space, etc.), then I wouldn't move there. That is my take on it.
I am American, living in Italy. To answer your question: NO! America is much better, by far. In America you have higher salaries, you don't have to put up with the crap bureaucracy system and healthcare, it can be an extremely stressful country to live in. There are upsides though: the beauty, the food, the art.
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