gelato

I'm an Australian who has lived in the US (New York City and Austin, TX) and I love the US and would move there apart from a few things (which to me are major things):

-health care. I had a major health problem last year and ended up off work for 3 months (in hospital for 2 months). I got paid my full salary here in italy and kept my job. The medical care was free. My friends in the US tell me that I might have gotten fired from my job in the US and would be thousands of dollars out of pocket for healthcare even if I had insurance. I'd also have huge problems changing health insurance since I have ongoing major health problems.
-college - the whole paying for college thing is a nightmare. As far as I can tell you either make lots of money so you can pay for it or your kid goes into debt for the rest of his/her life (although i will say that if you live in a state with a good public colleges like Texas you can get around this).
-unemployment - a lot of my friends back in the US have lost their jobs in the recession. It's very hard to find another job in this climate and eventually unemployment runs out so you're left destitute. Some people I know have been given 1 hour to leave the building after working somewhere for 10 years. It's brutal.

So basically I prefer Australia because of decent healthcare, less expensive good unis and other welfare state things. The US would be great if you are wealthy - otherwise it can be a bit difficult.

fish.01

I would add 2 weeks vacation to the list of deal breakers

fish.01

Australians a lot closer culturally to Brits...

fish.01

In US they don't call you poms....just call you a brit, a limey or an australian

fish.01

Australians don't hate you for the oil spill....we have other things

fish.01

Australia is roughly half british, half American. Though nationalistic Brits tend to only notice the american influence and vice versa.

fish.01

You can start with a clean slate in the US cause they don't know where your country is, anything about you and will never visit....you can make your whole past up

gelato

Oh yeah, that too. I don't know how anyone survives with less than 4 week vacation.

Bermudashorts

Ha yes very true. They always think I am Australian, I think because they are not familiar with a northern accent and think all English speak like the Queen.

VivDee

Thanks for all the input.
I suppose it all comes down to personal opinion. I was wondering being so far out,do you have any probs with illegas?
America is overun with such people,who put a strain on the schools,public servies,etc.

I have liked nearly all of the people from OZ who have appeared to me to be a combo of British/American. I must visit it some day.Though I know visiting a place and living there,isn't a true picture.
Also I think where you live and your financial standing in a country,make a big difference.There are some not so nice places here in the USA and some wondeful places.If you work hard here,you can gain success.Though times are tough right now due to unemployment..

We have done very well in the U.S, I think much better than we would have done in the UK.Yet I have met many Brits who have a home here in the U.S and also in the UK.
Lucky Ducks.Yet we are going to the UK in a few months and I must admit flying that long gives me the willies every time..

Good luck to Bermuda and her move.

Satch_Boogie

My wife is an American and doesn't want to move back there. Healthcare is a huge one for her. Plus it isn't the environment that she wants to raise the kids in. For us, Australia is the combination of the things we like best from both the UK and the US so we are going to give it a shot.

BadgeIsBack

An interesting observation.

Have to agree. Australia has adopted US trends and looks a bit American but for me in character Australians are far more like the Brits - much more cynical.

I always regale my US family with tales of when my mother played with the Princesses when she was a little girl - but now how we have since fallen out with the family and don't even rate a round robin Christmas card.. Maybe I could charge for the stories - a sort of slightly less offensive 'butler tells all'.

OzExpat

I have 5 weeks vacation and great healthcare - which is great for me, but most Americans don't have this. I can only really recommend the USA over Australia if you are a highly skilled professionals and can get these benefits.

It looks like a lot of British emigrants are blue collar workers, so they would be much better off in Australia than the USA. I would question whether or not they are better off there than in the UK though, but that's a whole other argument!

fish.01

Agreed. I could get them but would my family, friends and children....think it is a deal breaker for the long term family move IMO.

Same in Canada to a lesser degree I believe....some negotiate reasonable holidays but those with less bargaining power don't