I’m an American seriously considering moving to Europe and trying to get citizenship there. From my research, the quality of life is a lot better. Free healthcare, free college, less emphasis on work, more focus on family and friends, more support from* government, etc.
So just curious. What’s stopping my fellow Americans from moving to Europe?
32 comments
Well, European immigration laws, for one.
Plus I like it here.
This is my home. For all the bad things you hear on the news, there are a hundred other good things. Besides, if this country truly is sinking (personally don’t believe it is, we will get through this) then I’m happy staying behind and helping right the ship.
My family, my job, football, and I just straight up don’t want to live in Europe
Don’t want to uproot my life to learn a new culture, new language, new laws, and spend a fortune to move there. Already graduated college, have healthcare given to me by my job, and have very little family. I personally would only leave the USA if I am forced.
I don’t want to make shit money. Ill pay a little extra for the healthcare in exchange for a significantly higher wage(at least in my profession)
I lived in Europe for several years when I was just out of college. I liked it, for sure. But without doubt, the longer I lived there, the more I realized that there were both good things and bad things about Europe compared to the USA. No, I don’t want to get into them here. My advice is simply to make sure you’re not looking at Europe through rose-colored glasses or suffering from the-grass-is-always-greener syndrome.
My health care is great, my friends and family are great, I’m already in my career I don’t need college, I have good work life balance, and my pay is better.
Why would I even consider moving? You have nothing I don’t already have.
There is absolutely nothing Europe has to offer me that I can’t already get here, and better
I’d rather live in the US.
They don’t want you unless you have a skill they need or a shit ton of money.
I have the money to go but that also means I have the money to buy everything you said here.
>Free healthcare
Taxes are higher, I’m happy to decide more of what I pay for and don’t pay for
>free college
I had a merit based scholarship in undergrad so that wasn’t an issue, and a part time job, graduated without debt
>less emphasis on work
I like my work
>more focus on family and friends
That’s a you problem, not a national problem
>more support for government, etc.
Maybe I fucking hate the government
Aside from immigration, the job opportunities and the pay.
Family is here and they are getting old, someome needs to take care of them.
It’s too expensive.
Paranoid of outside of my home country
Europe isn’t a homogenous place. Work/life balance is different in different countries and different parts and industries in different countries. Some European countries work more hours than we do.
https://data.oecd.org/emp/hours-worked.htm
Healthcare is also not free across Europe. Different countries have different systems.
Americans generally are paid more, to the extent that increased higher education costs are more than offset. US household disposable income is among the highest in the world. This remains true even accounting for social spending.
https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-disposable-income.htm
My friends and family live in the US, not Europe.
My forefathers left there and came here….15% of the current US population was born somewhere else, which is more than any other country – sounds like this is the place to be
Europe isn’t better, just different. I like visiting countries in Europe, but I’m always really happy to be home. Because I grew up in America, I find that culturally America is the best fit for me personally in terms of communication, how things get done, social expectations, etc.
WLB is not better for me or my partner’s industries in Europe, and pay definitely isn’t. We get healthcare via work and always have. I don’t think moving across an ocean from my family and friends would improve my focus on family and friends.
Having absolutely no desire to do that.
My work is here. My friends and family are here. Mexican food is here.
And Europeans are there.
All that is stopping me from moving to Europe.
Well personally this is what would be stopping me:
* Happy with my QoL
* All my friends and family are here
* I like my state
* Currently have great healthcare through my work and my industry as a whole
* Kids are currently in a great school system
* Happy with my work life balance (work from home, rarely ever go over 40 hours a week, pretty strict Monday-Friday, a ton of PTO time, etc)
* An equivalent home to the one I currently own in Western Europe is likely to be significantly more expensive than what I’m paying now
* My salary would be cut by about 30-40%
* I wouldn’t qualify anyway for most government support programs so that’s not really a benefit
* Moving across the pond is expensive and there isn’t any benefit of me doing so
All in all I wouldn’t be gaining anything, if anything things would be worse.
>more focus on family and friends, more support for government
It’s amazing how many people are unhappy in the US and would be happier just living in a different part of it.
I think you are going to be disappointed.
Uhhhh…because it’s not as simple as just deciding to move to another state. You need a job or an educational reason to be there and they don’t just walk up to you in the street and hand those to you.
It’s not as simple as wanting to go and just buying a one-way ticket…
What do you need to be legally able to work in Europe, and to land a job there (especially if you don’t speak the language)?
What do you need to do to gain access to the social benefits like healthcare and college? Do you need to be a citizen? Residency for a specific period of time?
Personally, I’d love to move to Europe if there were easy answers to the above, and if it weren’t so far from family.
To start you off, on average Europeans make about 2/3 of what their US counterparts do, and that’s before taxes, which are a lot higher in Europe.
Unless you have some super special/rare health condition or have no health insurance whatsoever, the difference in healthcare you receive will be minimal, or even worse. I have many friends in the UK who use private health insurance and doctors because they don’t want to wait 2+ years for a doctors appointment.
Free college will be totally dependent on which country you’re in as not all countries do this, and most make foreign students pay in those cases anyway.
A better work/life balance will be entirely dependent on what you are referring to there. I know there are some European cultures that expect employees to be more loyal/willing to help the company than in the US. A guy I worked with last year set his retirement back 2 years because he wanted the company to be able to find a suitable replacement.
So yeah, I’m only living here now because I’m young, single, and getting paid my US salary and it’s only for a few years. I wouldn’t want to live here permanently.
Does your research also show that your career is in demand there and that immigration laws for the country you favor to live in make it reasonably easy for you to apply for and gain citizenship? Last time I thought it was a real smart idea to just up and leave for the bounties of Europe I learned PDQ that it’s really expensive and I wasn’t exactly the type of immigrant any country was seeking.
None of that stuff is free.
Moving to Europe might actually make sense for Americans trying to live on minimum wage, if Europe would even allow them to immigrate in the first place, but I would end up paying significantly more than I am now and arguably for worse stuff.
I mean the French hit the 31% tax bracket at €26K, 41% at €75K, and 45% at €160K but Americans hit 32% (no 31%) at $176K and 35% at $215K. That “free” healthcare is awfully expensive for people who aren’t making minimum wage.
I’m having a hard time understanding how leaving the country would somehow bring you closer to your friends and family. Wouldn’t you be leaving them all behind?
This actually sounds a lot like those who decide to move to another state to leave their problems behind. Only to realize their problems come along with them.
I lived in Europe for a total of 3.5 years. I probably could have stayed and I probably can go back if I really wanted to.
Universal health care is pretty nice for day-to-day health maintenance . If you have a very specific problem, then you’re waiting for a long time. America also has the best doctors in the world by a wide margin. Failing that, it’s easier to sue your doctor if they mess up big time.
College is not free. There are upfront cost and you pay through your sizable taxes.
Not sure who told you there is less emphasis on work. You work just as hard and get paid considerably less than you would at the same job in America, on top of having higher taxes. Longer vacations and more sick days are nice, but it’s not like you’re just working a part-time job with no effort or stress.
More focus on family and friends? I don’t know. That’s down to the individual I think. Anyone can make time for family and friends if they want to.
More support for government? What does this even mean? Europeans complain endlessly about their government, I can tell you that. Whenever I needed to go to a government office, I had to book an appointment like a month in advance and that entire office was only open for like one day for three hours. Even with an appointment, you wait forever and if they don’t get to you before their shift ends at like 11 AM then they go home and you have to try again next week or next month.
Too many people in Europe. Plus taxes are too high to pay for all that “free” stuff so my business income serves me a lot better here in the US.
Go ahead. You’ll see what you’re missing pretty soon. You may like it, but your post is pretty naive.
It’s not ‘free”–you pay for healthcare with your ample taxes. And the healthcare is overall subpar to the US, which is why so many rich people come to the US for care. College is not ‘free’ in the UK, and in other countries, you get what you pay for. For instance, in Italy, you have to provide your own hospital sheets and pay for a nurse out of pocket. A lot of care has excessive waits too.
It’s not all bad, of course. It has pluses. But it’s not idyllic like you seem to think it is.
Your taxes are far far higher in Europe and economic standard of living is lower. YOu also have fewer freedoms. It depends on a lot on which country in Europe. but seriously, go ahead and move for a year and see how you like it. Living there is not the same as vacationing.
lol the assumptions in this post.
I make more money here *now* than I will ever make in 99% of European nations even if I was at 40 years’ salary level.
I have absurdly cheap healthcare, and I have no college debt.
My WLB I guarantee you, is also better.
So what benefits would I have except to deal with (shudder) Yuros? I *like* America. I find it fun. Quality of Life is great here for me. It has provided me with ample opportunities for upward economic mobility. Why would I leave?
Here I am treated as an American. I have never had that in Europe(I’ve lived in Germany/France for a couple of years during my teenage years). I will always be “Indian/Arab x.”
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>more support for government
Blindly licking the boots of the government is a con, not a pro.
Serbia is also Europe. Why don’t you move to Serbia, OP? Granted Serbia even wants you that is. What, you think most people can just blindly pack up and move and everyone will welcome them with open arms?
Fuck literally everything OP wants. Nothing you mentioned is free. Someone pays for it somewhere.