It just really pi***s me off that some people put benefits and money before their childrens health needs. They are also the first ones to kick off at you when 'little johnny isn't getting better' and tel you how useless you are/the NHS is and request a tablet to help johnny get out and meet friends. Unfortunatley this seems to be increasing.

I dread people asking if I can help them claim DLA for their kids as to me it just signals a decline in what you can offer the child as the child is then viewed as a financial asset and any improvement in their health is viewed as negative as they loose out on money.

I would like to point out that this is my opinion based on my experiences, I'm not against people claiming benefits when there is a need, but I have found that in some circumstances going down the benefit route can have detromental effects on the treatment I can provide.

My point is that this is not particularly a feature of England but of benefit systems; the same happens here.

Probably But to me it comes more across as like they want reassurance, and as soon someone gives them the opposite they get all on their heigh horses because that's not what they want to hear. Going back to UK has to be perfect and worth it for leaving sun, beach, barbies, relaxed lifestyle etc behind.

I am always amazed when I hear these claims that the U.K would grind to a halt without the thousand upon thousand of endless immigrants.

Before immigration was the issue that it is now, I do not recall hearing stories that tons of fruit & veg were rotting in the ground because the British did not want to do the work.......Indeed I as a student was very grateful for the "vacation" jobs either harvesting fruit or working in a hotel.

I have it on good authority that students in the U.K find it extremely difficult to get holiday work now because of the imported labour, and, this ultimately means they will leave University without the experience of work and also with an even bigger student debt.

The Labour party introduced the minimum wage and heralded it as social justice, however, many Employers are happy to pay this wage and recoup the money in the form of extortianate rent to their foreign workers who may have no choice but live in the accomodation provide by ther employer.

I don't think anything is perfect..when I first moved to this area I thought life was going to be perfect from that day on...how wrong could I be....LOL!

I still have family in the UK...my mother in law reads the papers...and she moans all the time...my parents don't and they would not move anywhere else if you paid them....they spend time with us both in New England and in FL..but they can't wait to get back home...they travel all over the UK...they are never in...they are the last I think of a dying breed of retired people...

They sound very much like my parents. Perhaps they're typical of people who don't post on the interweby thing.

Having a brother in law in the harvesting field for a good few years now...I have to agree with you...the imported labour are undercutting...the price of the food is not going down because of it...its going into the owners pocket...he has nothing against the labour coming in...just the undercutting because its not like its a living wage as it is...

I think we go online and to a forum because we have a problem...or are lonely...or some such...so maybe there are a lot of very happy people out there..I know we are forever reading about retired people and healthcare in the USA...how it can take away everything...but I live in an area of retired Americans...yes a few have to downsize and move nearer a hospital...but they don't end up on the streets...a few take part time work...but they seem all the fitter for it...my neighbour who did that is always out snow boarding...or on the river...and he is in his 70s...

Sure, nothing is perfect, but try to tell them that I believe everyone has to do what they want and I respect their decision, it won't effect me if someone wants to move back to the UK, but to respect someone's opinion who thinks UK is not all that and don't like living here also has to be respected. I couldn't believe they nearly ripped my head off

..I would of done the same a little while ago...its a stage you go through I think even if deep down you are happy with your move...problems seem a lot bigger here...its not like I'm that close to my family...but not having my dad on tap around the corner to chat too can be hard when your world is falling down around your ears...glad I picked him to be my dad when I was 5...

I have left my family behind loads of times, have been moving in and out of different country's for years. It never bothered me, but now my two oldest sons are still living in the Caribbean (where we lived before UK) and that breaks my heart
And sure you can be down while living in a different country and need support but to idealise a country that might have changed while being away is a bit naive I think.
I have a good dad too, but he picked me

I still love the UK...but it was rarely a rosey places for me when I was growing up...it was hard when I first married too...but the UK give me a good start...my kids had the best childhoods ever there...I owe it a lot...but for me I think I miss a time more than the place...if you can understand that...I can't go back because I can't turn back the clock...yes my old friends are still there...they still met up...they have not changed...but I have...I don't think I could go back to my old life for more than a few months...

"The same thing happens here"??? You mean abuse of the benefits system? Hardly, there is very little abuse because there is very little benefits. I raised a severely handicapped child (now 35), there's very little to claim or abuse. Unless you raise someone else's severely handicapped child, then there is help. In other words, foster. On the other hand, I have a relative in the UK with a mildly autistic child, going to mainstream school, and the relative has not worked for years because he claims a "Care-givers allowance" to take care of this child. His own child. The stories go on and on. And although we've thrashed this one out before - I also personally know someone in the UK with a "bad back" (goes golfing and on holidays, no prob) who gets a free car every couple of years, on the social system. This person can well afford his own car, but obviously knows his way around the system.

Don't get me on this subject it makes my blood start bubbling :curse:

I suppose it depends what you consider "very little". The parents of a handicapped person in Ontario can claim a government pension of $1100 a month (tax free) once that person is 21 and leaves full time education. Before that it's $800 or $850, I forget. They can also have 31 days of respite care per year funded; that is the government will pay someone to look after the person for a month a year so the parent can have a break. I don't know how this compares with the UK but I'd have thought it better than "very little".

There is also public housing and mobility allowances but I have no direct experience of them.