drhewitt

I'm married, in my 30s with two young kids, wife is a USC and so am I.

We tried to get a mortgage here but our options are limited due to my self employed status.

We have some savings, wife works p/t. For a long time we've thought about moving back to the UK.

I was born and raised in West Sussex.

I'm worried that I won't be able to find a good job in the UK to support my family and then there's the child care issue.

All I hear about the UK is negative stuff, riots, high unemployment, stagnant wages and high cost of living.

What to do...

dunroving

Should you go where?

Englishman43

The stuff you hear about the UK could be applied to any country right now.

I know several couples here that one of them quit their job to look after kids because child care is so costly.

West Sussex is lovely.

Go home on an extended visit, check out jobs etc then see how you feel

alicat26

You say your wife is a USC - is she also from the UK or not. If not she would have to get a spouse visa to order to move to the UK (and the kids UK passports?!) Would your wife want to move also?

There are bad headlines here in the states as well as the UK. I read newspapers from the US and the UK and both paint a sorry picture - illegal immigration, joblessness, falling wages, high cost of living, housing slow down, foreclosures, political corruption, crime and just general "the county's going to hell" kind of sentiments etc etc. But then good news doesn't sell papers!!

We cannot change these issues but what we can do is look at our own wants and needs and make changes to make ourselves happy.

Do you have a place to stay in the UK if you were to return?

drhewitt

My wife was born in the States and I applied for citizenship. Both my kids have dual citizenship through me.

drhewitt

My wife would need a spousal visa.

drhewitt

Back to the UK

dunroving

Duh, sorry, for some reason I assumed you were in the UK.

For someone in your situation (married, etc.) the UK has a better safety net if jobs and money are hard to come by.

Debbie2NZ

Have a look on the government jobs website I think it's something like govt.direct.co.uk There are lots of job vacancies there. You could peruse this just for comparison. See what major employers there are in the local towns and see if there's a vacancy board on their website. The sooner you go, the sooner you can start to settle.

citizenmarie

I think it's best to stop taking the so-called news quite so seriously? I mean, I've done it too at times, but this is how they sell newspapers and TV time slots, you know! As others have said, it is the same news in every country. Yet when you actually go there, in real life, things look and feel more than OK.

Yes, crappy things are happening, to real people. But if you look at the overall picture things are good. Portugal: still beautiful, still bustling with healthy, car-driving, dog-walking, food-shopping, people. Same in Spain. Same in San Francisco. Same in Paris. Same in Brighton. Same in Wexford. That's my observation. And like all countries, your quality of life depends on what area you live in.

It's good to take a break from watching/reading/listening to the news. My dad (when he was alive) called this "living in a bubble". But I just preferred my happy bubble to his miserable one! (God bless him though! )

citizenmarie

BTW, I'm from West Sussex too, and would move there if I was moving back! Hoping to do an extended stay in the next year or two... since I think I would miss San Francisco.

Good1

We will have moved back to East Sussex 1 year ago on Sept 3, 2011. As Much as I love being here, both my husband and I made a mistake. We left behind good jobs, and good friends. My 2 children have re-settled my eldest not really impressed with the way kids behave here, although he seems tobe very popular himself. My husband is struggling to find any long term or permanent employment, he is a tradesman, he is willing to travel however so many guys fighting for the same jobs. He is also willing to do other jobs, Tesco etc but there is nothing! I was lucky enough to find a 1 year fixed term. My work colleague also on a fixed term contract is looking for more longterm employment and has not even been able to get to interview stage on 5 jobs. Because there is benefit network here we get tax credits and child benefit. My wages pay the high rent and the council tax answer live off the tax credit for now. Think before you leap to dream of family get-togethers and cheap holidays over to Spain is one thing, but the reality is something else. Everything has moved on since we left including some people. We do not seem much more of family than we did when we were in Canada. We ran outof savings before we could find employment for both of us, had to get a car, rent a property, 6 months rent in advance is the norm, we got awAy with three, I gave them CVs and every piece of referee history we have. As I said we love being back but we have sacrificed a lot and our stuff is still in Canada as wenow cannot afford to ship it. Please do not read this post and make comments that are negative to us, this is a real life experience for us, I am not down or depressed about it nor are we feeling sorry for our selves we have dual nationality we can go back. Just make sure if you are moving you have plenty on savings and a Plan B! LOL! We are just ordinary bods office worker and tradesman starting to build a successful life that in Canada that is just nit open to us here in the UK. Watch this space though, I always have a PlanB!!!!!!

Gabgoeshome

So will you return to Canada then? ...for your plan B?

Good1

Very possibly, easiest option in the long run but things will have changed there too since we left. The company my husband works for still has lots of work and and as far as I know they would be happy to take him back. Unfortunately for me I recruited my replacement well so I cannot go back to mine however we are all in touch so who knows? For now we shall continue on, my eldest who is just about to start secondary school was the most traumitised by the move, he still calls, emails his friends, bless him! We have promised no more moving at themoment but the intention is to get us in the best position possible and if things do not pick up then atleast we can move on. We do hope things here turnaround, I love being next tothe sea, being able to walk toeverything and only be hoursaway if visitingfamily. But we have noticed a difference in people's attitudes , even inthe workplace, and eventhough it's annoying at first, I do prefer the Canadians cheery optimism! I do think there is something tobe said for each Country, alot of our British friends thought we were totally crazy to comeback others felt the way we did, we needed to do it, the difference again between alot of those friends were that they came out with money in their pocket(sold their homes) and what I call professional jobs, oftenwith a company assisting them. We didn't but I do know that could do it againif we have too.! May be we will winthe lottery. I live inhope! LOL!

chris955

The problem is you only tend to hear the negative stuff, positive news is hardly news really. The riots were extremely isolated and involved thugs and scumbags in a tiny area. Unemployment really isnt that high and lower than the US and many other places. High cost of living, try living here. I was in the UK recently to do a reccie and visit friends and saw none of the doom and gloom, all our friends are employed, they all take holidays, they all go out for meals etc etc.