Adamsiddle

Hi I'm new to the site I came here for help as I'm struggling to find answers!

I'm 22 engaged and have a daughter and we are sick of life here in the UK. I work for a large retail chain and the wages are minimal and the hours are terrible ( I have a 12 hour contract but work between 15 and 20 per week) its just not enough and seems to be getting worse here. I have worked in retail since leaving school so 6 years now for various company's so apart from some construction labouring and spare time web design the only job experience I have is in retail and sales.

We both want a new life in a new place and I'm struggling to find somewhere suitable and wanted to know se options. I know as a citizen of the uk we have the right to work and live anywhere in the EU? So maybe relocating to somewhere in the EU would be a better option? If so what kind areas are the best for employment, employment is key as you can't live without a job.

Any help is appreciated sorry if I sound silly. Thank you.

Adam

bakedbean

Hi Adam and welcome to the forum.

I can understand your discontent. It's tough for workers everywhere these days, and so much unemployment.

I don't know how difficult it would be for you to get work in Europe. Which languages do you speak? That might determine your start-off point. I think there is high unemployment all over Europe though, isn't there? You can check out the Europe section on here, and ask some questions to those in mainland Europe. Just follow the link below.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=55

How about looking in other areas in the UK?

All the best with your plans and hope you find something better

dmu

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!
Please cross France off your potential EU list. Unemployment is much higher here than in the UK, companies are closing down, the outlook for 2013 is still bleak. Not to mention the language. Not to mention that you wouldn't be entitled to any benefits.
Without a European language, you might try the Netherlands or Scandinavian forums where most natives speak English, but you have a child to bring up, and you might consider moving to somewhere else in the UK, keeping any UK benefits that you receive, and your child would see her family more easily...
Come onto the Europe forum, but I fear other members will say the same... Sorry to be a wet blanket, but I'm being realistic.
Fore-warned is fore-armed!

mikelincs

I would also cross Spain off your list, and, I'm afraid, most of the EU countries. Unemployment is rife across the EU with local native language speakers unable to find work, so unless you are fluent in the local language you will find it almost impossible to find a job. Many of the EU countries are. also bringing in rules about what you need to settle there and become a resident, which you would need to work there. They require a minimum income level, and healthcare provisions in place, remember that there is nothing like the NHS anywhere else. Also there is no benefit system in place like in the UK.
Given the information in your original post, I would very much doubt that you would be able to get a visa to work in any of the countries like Canada, Australia or New Zealand, and the USA is much harder then any of those.

Adamsiddle

Thanks for all your response, I have done some research and looked around and got pretty much the same response with what I found such as Spain and France and many places in Europe being bad for employment I think I found 1 or 2 places that said employment was rather good but without fluent language very hard to get. I appreciate the fact that speaking wherever you go language is probably a necessity, is there any English speaking country's that would be a possibility?

I was also curious to know with working holiday visas are they up to 6 months? For example would it be possible to get a working holiday visa for say that 6 months and If for example I found an employer willing to let me work on a 6 month visa come back to Britain for say 2 weeks then go back for another 6 months would that be allowed? Or when working on a holiday visa apply to live in whichever country? I understand different country's different rules I'm talking along the lines of Canada, Australia, nz, America etc etc.

Relocating in the uk would be a possibility but as a last resort, many thanks again!!

Sherlock Holmes

If you google for each country's immigration site, you can read about the rules governing WHVs. They are each a bit different.

Whilst you can make the transition from WHV to something more long term, it is by no means guaranteed that you will succeed. Prepare to do some reading!

Adamsiddle

Haha fortunately I like reading, I only found out what whv meant from here so its something new for me to google anyway. Thank you!

Pom_Chch

Hi Adam,

You would not be allowed to bring in kids on a working holiday visa or any other dependants. Most countries (NZ for sure) only allow you to apply and use and working hol visa once. For example you would not be allowed to go to NZ on a one year WHV and then come back to the UK for 2 weeks and then go back to NZ on another WHV.

Adamsiddle

I looked at going on a whv and bringing mum and child over on a tourist visa but apparently its very unlikely this would happen also. Thanks for shedding light on that I think it's going to have to be the eu just finding somewhere, greece was an option as a place to go but employment all over eu seems the to be in the same situation.

BritandDutchie

Holland's economy isn't doing well either.

Which country has a good economy and jobs avail may be a starting point. Staying in the UK may work out best esp with child benefit and tax credits

Pom_Chch

Technically you could do that but it's not a good idea. As you would be the only one working you may struggle to support your partner and child. There's also no guarantee that you'll get a more permanent visa at the end so you may end up having to go back to the UK when your WHV runs out anyway. Plus you wouldn't have the support of benefits, tax credits etc that you have in the UK. If you are on a WHV you will likely not be entitled to health care so you will have to take out a health insurance policy or pay for your own care, which can also be costly.

Good luck with it all, I hope you find somewhere to live that suits you!

christmasoompa

Canada's different though, kids/dependents can also go, and also two 1 year visas are allowed.

Although, as with pretty much everywhere else in the world, Canada's not long come out of recession, so I don't see it being much better for the OP there either, and with no benefits and the tens of thousands it would cost to emigrate there, it wouldn't help financially.

OP, what qualificiations do you have? Is it worth getting some further education so that you can get better paid jobs?

JAJ

Perhaps this isn't what you want to hear but it sounds to me like your real problem is that you don't have the skills (academic, trade, entrepreneurial, etc.) to compete for anything other than low wage jobs.

All that means you have little or no chance of qualifying for a visa to live in the major immigration destinations (mainly Australia, Canada, NZ, USA). And if by some chance you were able to go there anyhow, if you happened to have dual citizenship, you would have the same problem there. Perhaps worse, at least in the United Kingdom you have the NHS and social benefits.

In the rest of the EU, Ireland excepted, you'd be at an additional disadvantage of not knowing the local language.

Hotscot

I'm sorry to hear of your plight but you're probably in the best country as is. Moving elsewhere would just make it worse.

If you could get a better retail job with more hours it might not seem so bad.

Rosemary

Hello and a big welcome to BE.

Excellent information can be found in the BE Wiki, not forgetting the Living and Moving Abroad forum that will help you, another set of great help is the permanent threads at the TOP of each forum, they are very pertinent to that particular forum and makes sensible reading.

Moderators deal with any problems that arise such as inappropriate posts, spammers etc, you will find their names at the bottom right hand side of each forum's index in bold font.

Please contact me if I can give you any further help.

Rosemary