Does anyone have experience of living both in the UK and the US?

Question

I am considering moving from the London to the Atlanta to start a family. Does anyone know the key differences(negative & positive) of living in the States to living in the UK.
Thanks

Answer 1

Yep, I currently live in London but grew up in the states. I think a lot of people in Britain have a very romantacised idea of what it would be like in America, well here's some info to help you see the real picture!

Good things-

There's much more value for money, cheaper housing and food, cheap restaurants and entertainment. IMHO, in your relaxing time, you can relax better in an American town than in London, because everything's so open and spacious and people are so nice.

It can be a lovely place to raise a family, you can shelter your kids a lot easier (whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you!). I grew up in a really nice suburban neighbourhood where none of us teenagers smoked, drank or got pregnant. (but you have to be rich to live somewhere like that, and then if you're tooo rich, the kids are spoiled it goes the other way!)

The bad things:

The health system in America is worrisome. Yes, they have great hospitals and great doctors, but it costs A LOT. You don't just have to have insurance, but you have to have good insurance because you often still have to pay a deductable! You can have usually get it through work, any decent job will offer it, but they don't always pay for it all, and they don't always cover your kids so that costs extra, it can really add up. You do pay less tax, but this can more than make up for it. Getting it outside work is massively expensive, and they can refuse to cover you if you've had health problems in the past. (then you are really screwed) So make sure you have something sorted there.

Job security- a lot of states have an "at will" policy which means companies can hire and fire at the drop of a hat. There is no such thing as a job contract. They can tell you you're no longer needed, you can be gone the next day, your pay stops right then, and they don't have to give you a penny in redundancy. It happens every day. So you'd need a nest egg that could cover you in case of emergency. Which is easier of course in the states where your money goes further, but this does require you to save carefully and it could all feel a bit insecure.

Holiday time- hope you like it in the states cuz you won't get to leave much. The most paid holiday you can expect is 10 days, often less, depending how good your job is. And they don't always let you take more than 5 days at once. However, they do tend to offer more flexi-time to accomodate, so days off here and there can be worked out like that. It's just longer holidays that can be difficult to negotiate.

Anyway, those are really the biggest factors I'd consider. Best of luck making your decision!!!

Answer 2

All i know is UK is more expensive that any place i know,so i would encourage you to go on and start a new life some were else.I just hate the fact that a person has to pay for parking and congestion charges.Have a look at other countries and evaluate living expenses couse i know for a fact that SA is a very beautiful and very much less expensive.Good luck.

Answer 3

I have experience living in the U.S. and Scandinavia But i moved back to Scandinavia (Denmark to be precise) only because of the work pressure in the U.S. 14 days of vacation a year! that is not good compared to the 35-40 that you get in Europe. and i always got pressured to not use them all at once apposed to here where you are encouraged to use them. besides this i liked the whole experience.

Answer 4

Well, one thing's for sure, people here in the USA are FAR friendlier than people in the UK.

I wanted to go to "Merry Old England" soooo bad I put it on my dream sheet when I was in the military. 4 minutes after I got there and found out that the hotel I'd reserved hadn't actually been reserved -- for my family of four -- for the past 6 months -- so I got to stay in a "hotel" which was actually someone's extended home and pay $1700 a week plus $50 a day in taxi expenses to drive 15 miles to work every day -- I never actually recouped the cash afterwards -- I discovered I didn't like England and it only went downhill from there. English enjoy putting the screws the Americans. They were nice enough to even go into my baggage and steal tools, books, and other amenities and think nothing at all of theft from an American service member.

People in England don't like Americans. And they REALLY hate American soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. They hate us very much. If I say, "Have a nice day" they almost always -- say "**** you !" in return. The one time I got a response (in front of my wife and children) a gentleman (I use that term sparingly in English, because most men are drunks) said "Have a nice day"...My wife, kids and myself were astonished !!! -- It was in Scotland, where they like saying that.

Oh, let's not forget the incident at the Boy Scout Jamboree where the English Scout Master offered my son of 8 years age ALCHOHOL !!! I was VERY pissed off. Apparently, as the saying goes in English, if you can reach the counter, you're old enough to drink. GRRRRRRRRRR....

Here's some news, if you do that in America, your chicken won't be playing the violin very long afterwards....

Several of the "chaps" I worked with in England deliberately and routinely verbally assaulted me and many others around me on a routine basis...In fact, when my car was bumped into by a really fast moving English lady, she sued me, despite the fact that my car wasn't even moving and was parked. The English courts were nice enough to hand the verdict over to her as they often do in MANY cases where it is English vs. an American. I can GAURANTEE that A-L-L the cases I ever heard about in England resulted in the American getting toasted on the stand...Bottom line ?

...England hates America. Simple as that. And they are NOT afraid of voicing it openly in public. This is despite all the glowing reviews Americans often give England and the cordial welcome Americans give British people. The English do NOT like us at all.

...Word to the wise, if you screw with an American in America and act like an *** at work, they'll screw you...in court. Just info...

Bottom line -- England sucks.

And by-the-way, my kids will tell you that first of all, so there's an impression the English left on them too. Americans are NOT welcome in Britain.

Best of luck and -- HAVE A NICE DAY !!!