For ages I've wanted to leave the UK. We already have 65 million on this small island, and quality of life seems to keep going down. We graduate university with tens of thousands of debt, secure a low-paid graduate job (if we're lucky) and seem to earn only enough to live on. If we are ever able to afford a mortgage or pay off student debts then it probably won't be until mid-30s at least. Most people seem happy to just spend their time in these jobs they don't care about, cramped up in shit accommodation, and living for the football/partying on the weekends. There are still lots of things I like about the UK, but I can't see myself having anything other than a very average future here.
I've always wanted to move to Canada. The country is 41 times the size of the UK, and still has almost half our population. Last summer I spent 2-3 months out there, and loved it. Landscapes were beautiful, people were friendly, and the future actually seemed hopeful. I think I'd like to move there, but I'm not sure if I'm ready. I've had depression for the last few years, but my family have been one of the things that I can still take comfort from and I don't know if it's a good idea to put an ocean between us. Plus I'm working towards qualifications in the UK, but would pretty much have to start from scratch in a low-paid job over there. I'm worried that I've just got 'grass is greener' syndrome and I'd be just as unhappy over there when I see the reality.
So what does anyone think? Move now while I have no commitments, or wait to see what the future holds? Was anyone here in a similar position and has some advice? Thanks
Fuck - title should read 'Want to leave the UK....'
irc you either have to marry a canadian woman or have some sort of skill they are in short supply of to immigrate to canada.
>>17118478
I currently have a psychology degree and am in the process of getting a Master's, so I think I could get to Canada on a PhD scholarship at least, although that would only be useful for a career in academia and I don't really want that.
>>17118478
>>17118667
You can drive a truck in Canada.
>>17118691
Yeah I had a cousin who did that in northern Alberta and BC, but when the oil companies crashed they had to let go of all the new workers and his visa expired. With no disrespect intended to what I am sure is a noble profession, I'd like to be able to get a more specialised job with a more stable future (and a bigger paycheck).
>>17118478
I believe it was a points system last I checked.
If you're highly educated, but not that in demand, you might still qualify.
>>17118698
>specialized
>stable
That's not how the world works. Specialization is a death sentence.
>>17119307
Why's that? The sort of jobs I'm potentially looking at at the moment (clinical psychologist or health psychologist) are pretty stable. There's always going to be people with health problems, especially with an aging population.
>>17118454
wait I tought euros didn't have to pay for college
>>17120353
I think most mainland Europeans don't, but in the UK we pay £9000 per year tuition and take out a further loan of about £4000 for accommodation. It's not quite as bad as USA, but it's still a very shitty system and many people will never earn enough in their lifetime to pay it back.
I moved to Japan. Gone well so far. Much cheaper to live here than London. Wages are also less but at least I can enjoy otaku hobbies a lot more.
> afford a mortgage
You don't need to buy a house. I have no interest in ever buying.
Anglos and their obsession with property perplexes me. It's just fighting over pieces of land
>>17120453
I dunno, for me it's always come down to freedom. For as long as I have a landlord, I have to subscribe to his/her rules, to always live with the reality that I could be moved out at any minute, to have one of the most important aspects of my existence literally owned by someone else. I think this might be quite a North American attitude, but the freedom to own my own property, which could in the future benefit my children, is important to me.
>>17120477
>For as long as I have a landlord, I have to subscribe to his/her rules, to always live with the reality that I could be moved out at any minute, to have one of the most important aspects of my existence literally owned by someone else
I never experienced this. Barring the apartment becoming old to the point that the landlord wants to rebuild or demolish and sell the land (which won't happen for decades), I can stay here indefinitely. Although its owned by an individual all the business is dealt with through a property management company. I've never had any contact with the landlord ever. It's in everyone's interest to maintain harmony and a steady cash flow from tenant to landlord long term so there's no drama.
If I owned a house it could just as easily be destroyed in an earthquake or a fire at any time.
> which could in the future benefit my children
My parents were thinking the same thing but I left the country altogether so that didn't work out. I have no interest in living in the town I grew up in and I don't want my kids to feel bound to the place I chose to live either.
>>17120609
Also the first 3 years of tenancy are guaranteed and after that the landlord needs to give us 6 months notice if he wants to cancel the contract.
>>17120609
>>17120619
Yeah I'm not saying it's the worst situation in the world, but your happiness about your living situation there depends on a lot of factors beyond your control, such as whether your landlord is an asshole or whether he/she plans to sell up in the future, or change your rent. I don't think I could ever really call a place 'home' unless I owned it, or had a mortgage so that I was on my way to owning it.
>>17118454
Yeah mate, me too. I just can't see myself staying here until my late 20s or 30s and let the unforunate circumstances of the country get the best of me. Canada is good, Australia seems even better because of the weather. That's just my preference, Canada seems depressive and the cold weather bothers me.
I've visited a lot of places and the so called Western civilization isn't really that much different in London, Toronto, Sydney or Santa Monica. It's just opportunities and landscapes that are different. I know people who went to Canada to flip burgers or work similar low-wage jobs and ended up being 20x happier and content with their life than they'd be in the UK or even Germany. It's not a bad thing to want easier and more prosperous life, but if you're after money primarly, then you should go to the US. It's the only place to earn more and become more.
>>17118454
>If we are ever able to afford a mortgage or pay off student debts then it probably won't be until mid-30s at least.
I think you're being overly pessimistic there mate. You're implying it takes fifteen years to pay off student debt and save a deposit for a mortgage. If that was actually the case, no one would go to uni, because it would mean vocational qualifications were worth orders of magnitude more than vocational ones. I started working full time just before I turned 16, and got my first mortgage at 28. Bear in mind that of that twelve years, I spent six doing two different apprenticeships, one of which paid £45 a week and the other £52.50.
>Most people seem happy to just spend their time in these jobs they don't care about, cramped up in shit accommodation, and living for the football/partying on the weekends
From experience, that's only younger people that do that. At 21 everyone lives that way, by 26 maybe a third of people do it and by 30 it's about as acceptable as my dad going to a nightclub full of teenagers (which he did with alarming regularity, bless him).
>>17120365
>in the UK we pay £9000 per year tuition and take out a further loan of about £4000 for accommodation. It's not quite as bad as USA, but it's still a very shitty system and many people will never earn enough in their lifetime to pay it back.
Behave yourself mate. That's £39,000. A good tradseman with no other responsibilites than "show up at 8:00 and if you're going to piss off home before 4:00 try not to get caught" earns that in less than a year. My car cost less than that, and I don't have a degree (I do have a degree level vocational qualification, but only since 2009, 17 years after I started working). If getting a degree doesn't put you in to a job where you'll earn £40k more than your cost of living over your entire working life then you're a fool for doing the course in the first place.
>>17121763
>>17121763
>you're implying it takes fifteen years to pay off student debt and save a deposit for a mortgage
That's the reality, if not longer. I can't remember the exact calculations, but I'm pretty sure that someone on a salary of £25,000 will never earn enough to actually pay back their entire loan, based on the repayment schedule. My sister (who had the lower rate of £3000 tuition per year) only earns about £22,000, and her student loan repayments only pay off the interest, and not the actual loan itself.
>That's £39,000. A good tradesman with no other responsibilities than "show up at 8:00 and if you're going to piss off home before 4:00 try not to get caught" earns that in less than a year
... yeah but there's such a thing as expenses. Accommodation, groceries, social life, tax. If you have a girlfriend/wife or any family then that's added expenditure too. Besides, how many people are on that salary? The mean salary in the UK is £26,500, and most graduates start with a job between £18k-22k (if they get a proper job at all), and won't advance much further than £30k all their life.
Realistically, even if you were on a salary of £39,000 you could only save about £10,000 per year, and that's only if you were being really thrifty and living a pretty shit life. So that's four years of scrimping and saving before you can pay it off. For most people on their salary of £25k, you probably wouldn't be able to save half of that. That's why lots of people my age don't bother saving anything at all, because there's nothing realistic to save for. The only exception to this in my experience is young couples where both have a stable job - I think I know two examples of couples in their 20s who have got a mortgage for a small house.
With no disrespect intended, I think you're out of touch with the difficulties of my generation. You obviously did well for yourself following a vocational route, but that was in a time when property prices were cheaper.
>>17121695
>Australia seems even better
Don't move to Australia, move to Canada
>>17121839
Why not Australia?
