Would You Be Better Off Living Abroad?

Taking a look at what makes people happiest when they move abroad, and whether you too would be better off as an expatriate living, working and loving life overseas


There was a strong increase in the numbers of people leaving British shores in 2008 compared to 2007; and as the recession continues to affect us all in very real terms, many of us are actively wondering if we wouldn’t be better off out of Britain altogether.

After all, a series of recent media offering shows us that everyone from children to adults taking a gap year are getting a great deal out of their time spent overseas…

So, would you be better off living abroad? In this report we’ll take a look at who seems to make a go of it overseas, what makes people happy abroad, how to find ‘happiness’ from your new life overseas and what are the real factors behind many people making the choice to exit UK and say hello to a whole new world of opportunity abroad.

In 2007 340,000 people exited UK according to the Office for National Statistics, but as the recession took a hold last year so this figure crept up to 395,000 at last count which was sometime in December last year. It seems that it’s ‘the economy, stupid’ that is having an effect in terms of increasing numbers of people vacating these shores! Whilst money may be harder to come by from a property sale, equity increase, savings account and job promotion in Britain, Brits are somehow finding the cash they need to get out at all and any cost.

And when you learn that 90% of parents living abroad with their children report that their children are positively benefitting from the very fact that they live overseas, you can quite understand that the demographic moving abroad is often largely made up of people of working age going in search of a better quality of life for them and their families.

Nations that are favourites are those where the weather’s better – however, there is also a stronger pull to countries where the economy is stronger too, where there are more jobs, lower taxes, a better quality of life and where more emphasis is based on family living and community support rather than in forcing parents out to work to afford to pay their mortgage and rising bills as there is in the UK!

New Zealand, Canada and Singapore are all favoured by working parents in terms of providing a good environment in which to raise children – according to the good old NatWest International Personal Banking Quality of Life Index – but surprisingly, Spain, a British favourite doesn’t do too well for education and school options for expat children.

Parents of course have to look at the schooling options available to their children before they move – they need to know whether there is a free education system in the country they move to, whether there is a new language to learn, what an international school education might cost and how well a child can be integrated into a given school system. The parents that do the most research and work with their child to help them settle in will of course get the best results more often than not.

In terms of adults finding happiness abroad however, this often goes hand in hand with employment prospects and then leisure time advantages – so often enhanced in a nation where the sun shines more! Australia tops the pole unsurprisingly – both as a favourite nation with Brits seeking work abroad, and those going in search of a better quality of life.

Of course, at the current time it is harder for any of us to make the break abroad in purely economic terms – and yet, this doesn’t seem to be crushing our desire to escape, if only for 6 months or more. According to the Halifax, increasing numbers of adult Britons want to get out of the UK for an extended period of time of at least 6 months. You see, the recession that the media has decreed is over (yeah right) is really bringing us down. However, it is also physically stopping many who would otherwise have left already.

Properties aren’t selling and they’re not rising in value either, this restricts what an individual has to spend to move abroad. At the same time, jobs markets overseas are not particularly healthy either – and so it can be harder than ever to leave Britain.

But, for those who are determined to make a break – and last year there were nearly 400,000 who were so determined that they made it happen for themselves – there are ways out. For example, rent out your property at home and rent abroad. Take unpaid leave from your job in the UK and use the time to actively hunt abroad for a new career. Start your own business, seriously downsize, move to a far more affordable country such as Turkey for example, or just bit the bullet, sell everything and fly!

Story from Shelter Abroad--- http://bit.ly/urHl4


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