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Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Old Mar 7th 2011, 12:48 pm
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by Bevm
Oh, yes. Most Americans think it's wonderland. Stately homes, castles, fabulous gardens, medieval streets, perfect pubs. They're not wrong, of course, but they forget that here, people have to make a living just like them, and that often means living in a crowded town or a modern suburb, not in a thatched-cottage village.

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yes but in the UK and in Canada we have something called Universal health care!
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Old Mar 7th 2011, 10:01 pm
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by Guinness
yes but in the UK and in Canada we have something called Universal health care!
Indeed, and the countryside, history, and pubs are real, too, and generally not that far away.

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Old Mar 7th 2011, 10:17 pm
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Exclamation Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by Mummy in the foothills
I don't think they get how brutal the US can be, no job, no home, no health insurance, no money, you can live in a tent and in your car (if it wasn't repo'd) and no one really care that much the police just move you along.
No one in the UK seems to believe this stuff. If I'm going to live poor, I'd rather do it where I can see family once in awhile and see a doc when needed.
Maybe we should all send this link to the people in the UK who are negative about returnees from the USA:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...in;cbsCarousel (there are 4 pages. Not sure if the video will work outside the US though?).

I was crying when I saw the video earlier today....hard to believe that this can happen in the USA It is also shocking where it states "it is estimated that the poverty rate for kids in this country will soon hit 25%"

I think I'm also shocked because there were so many white children and from proud decent families (ie. no alcoholic or drug-taking parents - just parents whom had lost their jobs and hitting skid row quickly). There just is no safety net for America's poor - but I'd bet that they'd still still you that America is the greatest country on Earth.

I'm so glad that we have the UK to go back to if anything untoward happened - at least we would never be living in a bloody car in a supermarket car park.

Last edited by Englishmum; Mar 7th 2011 at 10:20 pm.
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Old Mar 7th 2011, 10:18 pm
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by Guinness
yes but in the UK and in Canada we have something called Universal health care!
And how I envy the people of both these countries with Universal Health Care. I have heard some of the most dumbest reasons spoken against Universal health care in America, by Americans. I was so hoping that at long last we would have a National health care system here, but alas insurance companies, big pharma, and the antis won out.
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Old Mar 7th 2011, 10:25 pm
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by Englishmum
Maybe we should all send this link to the people in the UK who are negative about returnees from the USA:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...in;cbsCarousel (there are 4 pages. Not sure if the video will work outside the US though?).

I was crying when I saw the video earlier today....hard to believe that this can happen in the USA It is also shocking where it states "it is estimated that the poverty rate for kids in this country will soon hit 25%"

I think I'm also shocked because there were so many white children and from proud decent families (ie. no alcoholic or drug-taking parents - just parents whom had lost their jobs and hitting skid row quickly). There just is no safety net for America's poor - but I'd bet that they'd still still you that America is the greatest country on Earth.

I'm so glad that we have the UK to go back to if anything untoward happened - at least we would never be living in a bloody car in a supermarket car park.
Watched that last night on 60 Minutes....how horrible and sad that here in America that families with children are having to live, no...correction, have to exist this way. Supposedly in the Land of Plenty. But I will say this, I know far too many people personally that will blame the individual rather than looking outside the box, and see the bigger picture for what it really is. That 'bigger picture' is not very pretty, but more truthful. And of course, the truth is always painful to hear, see and accept. Just sad, sad, sad.
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Old Mar 8th 2011, 7:48 am
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by Englishmum
Maybe we should all send this link to the people in the UK who are negative about returnees from the USA:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...in;cbsCarousel (there are 4 pages. Not sure if the video will work outside the US though?).

I was crying when I saw the video earlier today....hard to believe that this can happen in the USA It is also shocking where it states "it is estimated that the poverty rate for kids in this country will soon hit 25%"

I think I'm also shocked because there were so many white children and from proud decent families (ie. no alcoholic or drug-taking parents - just parents whom had lost their jobs and hitting skid row quickly). There just is no safety net for America's poor - but I'd bet that they'd still still you that America is the greatest country on Earth.

I'm so glad that we have the UK to go back to if anything untoward happened - at least we would never be living in a bloody car in a supermarket car park.
The video works fine in the UK - thanks so much for sharing.

Wow is all I can say, it is utterly shocking that children are hungry and homeless in 2011.

Should be required viewing for all those negative families who ask why people want to go back to the UK from the USA, because there but for the grace of God..........
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Old Mar 8th 2011, 8:11 am
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Hi
We moved back to uk 3 yrs ago after 7 yrs western Australia, I was bombarded with negative views on the uk both from friends and family in the uk and our Aussie friends.
I personally enjoy England .. The people the countryside the humour and culture but I have to say the last 3 years over here have been very hard, we managed to get a mortgage and have a house we like but things aren't going good for us and many others mostly because my job is affected badly by the recession but as with anywhere if you have work and money left over you will probably enjoy the uk, it's just getting extremely hard to get yourself in that position

Like they say in the boy scouts ... " be prepared!"
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Old Mar 8th 2011, 8:14 am
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by chrrissss
Hi
We moved back to uk 3 yrs ago after 7 yrs western Australia, I was bombarded with negative views on the uk both from friends and family in the uk and our Aussie friends.
I personally enjoy England .. The people the countryside the humour and culture but I have to say the last 3 years over here have been very hard, we managed to get a mortgage and have a house we like but things aren't going good for us and many others mostly because my job is affected badly by the recession but as with anywhere if you have work and money left over you will probably enjoy the uk, it's just getting extremely hard to get yourself in that position

Like they say in the boy scouts ... " be prepared!"
Not to dismiss what you are saying as I know it can be hard, but if you watch the video you will see kids in the USA who are hungry AND homeless, as much as Broken Britain gets a bad rap from the Daily Mail, I can't see this ever happening in the UK.
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Old Mar 8th 2011, 11:22 am
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by Beedubya
Not to dismiss what you are saying as I know it can be hard, but if you watch the video you will see kids in the USA who are hungry AND homeless, as much as Broken Britain gets a bad rap from the Daily Mail, I can't see this ever happening in the UK.
A UK relative of mine hit hard times recently because he lost his job, which was already too low-paying, and had some debts. He had to leave his flat because he couldn't afford the rent anymore. I had visions of him homeless, but then found out that doesn't happen over there. The council told him they'd put him on a (long) list for housing but in the meantime, they would put him in a B&B. Luckily he found a less expensive flat and the rent was covered by the housing allowance he gets until he can find another job.

They told me this as if it was all perfectly normal but it completely blew my mind!! Here if you lose your job you get a little bit of unemployment for 99 weeks and maybe some food stamps. You have no health care coverage of course and zero help with your housing, and once the 99 weeks is up, you're on your own - no matter how hard you are trying to look for work. It's a harsh country.

Last edited by sallysimmons; Mar 8th 2011 at 11:25 am.
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Old Mar 8th 2011, 1:52 pm
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

I saw that on 60 minutes also, and it was heart breaking.

But, when people say there is no safety net, that isn't quite true.

Families that are below the poverty level can apploy for Medicaid. This is completely free health coverage, with free prescriptions.

Families below the poverty line can apply for food stamps (or a card now), not stamps. (Remember Rodney got food stamps in Nevada).

They can get free top-up food from large food pantries.

All school children under the poverty level can get free breakfast and lunch at school.

All babies, and mothers with babies,are entitled to WIC. This provides free formula, healthy food, juice, eggs,etc.

People who lose their jobs get unemployment. If that runs out, and a family is poor and under the poverty line, they can apply for welfare payments.

Housing allowances are given by the states for families under the poverty level. They can also apply for social housing.

The state pays for the hotel rooms, because of a shortage of social housing. People in dire straights in the UK are also housed in hostels, or whatever is available, until something else can be found.

The benefits are better in the UK, but when they say there is nothing available for poor families in the US, it really isn't true. I didn't see them mention any of these benefits on 60 minutes.
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Old Mar 8th 2011, 2:22 pm
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

The problem is that the poverty line is so ridiculously low that most poor people don't qualify, so there may as well not be a safety net. Also those benefits are very low in most cases and nowhere near enough to live on.

For example, to qualify for Medicaid, you have to have no assets. So a person who loses his job and then has the misfortune to get sick has to spend all his own money and sell his home, car etc. before he is poor enough to get that help.

I didn't see the 60 Minutes piece so I don't know the individual people involved, but there are people living in tents just outside many of our cities. To me that says it all no matter what claims we might make about having a safety net.

Did you know that in America the richest 400 people own more of the wealth than the bottom 50% (155M people) combined? I'm not making that up.

Last edited by sallysimmons; Mar 8th 2011 at 2:27 pm.
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Old Mar 8th 2011, 3:13 pm
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by sallysimmons
Did you know that in America the richest 400 people own more of the wealth than the bottom 50% (155M people) combined? I'm not making that up.
Yeah I believe that. In Europe for example the top 1% of the adult population in France Germany and the UK own 70% of all liquid assets in the three countries. Distill that down further and compare it to the bottom 50% and you'll likely get a similar statistic. You need money to make money and when you do gain mega-riches you can usually afford complex tax avoidance measures.
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Old Mar 8th 2011, 4:35 pm
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by sallysimmons
The problem is that the poverty line is so ridiculously low that most poor people don't qualify, so there may as well not be a safety net. Also those benefits are very low in most cases and nowhere near enough to live on.

For example, to qualify for Medicaid, you have to have no assets. So a person who loses his job and then has the misfortune to get sick has to spend all his own money and sell his home, car etc. before he is poor enough to get that help.

I didn't see the 60 Minutes piece so I don't know the individual people involved, but there are people living in tents just outside many of our cities. To me that says it all no matter what claims we might make about having a safety net.

Did you know that in America the richest 400 people own more of the wealth than the bottom 50% (155M people) combined? I'm not making that up.
I agree 110%.....to get anything from the us Government you must be Rock, rock bottom...
They tip you upside down and give you a big old shake up-side down, to make sure you don't own anything before they even think of helping you out..

But yet they us/uk will spend billions on a war, which nobody wants..while there citizens of this once great country's baths in its own crap, they have made..

The us media show 3rd world country's poverty all the time...but not showing much of what is really happening under there greedy noses, or right on there doorsteps..

IMHO there should be not people homeless begging for food in this day and age....but it's been like this far as i can remember, and have'nt got any better...
Greed Greed Greed..

shameful
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Old Mar 8th 2011, 5:20 pm
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by Mallory
I saw that on 60 minutes also, and it was heart breaking.

But, when people say there is no safety net, that isn't quite true.

Families that are below the poverty level can apploy for Medicaid. This is completely free health coverage, with free prescriptions.

Families below the poverty line can apply for food stamps (or a card now), not stamps. (Remember Rodney got food stamps in Nevada).

They can get free top-up food from large food pantries.

All school children under the poverty level can get free breakfast and lunch at school.

All babies, and mothers with babies,are entitled to WIC. This provides free formula, healthy food, juice, eggs,etc.

People who lose their jobs get unemployment. If that runs out, and a family is poor and under the poverty line, they can apply for welfare payments.

Housing allowances are given by the states for families under the poverty level. They can also apply for social housing.

The state pays for the hotel rooms, because of a shortage of social housing. People in dire straights in the UK are also housed in hostels, or whatever is available, until something else can be found.

The benefits are better in the UK, but when they say there is nothing available for poor families in the US, it really isn't true. I didn't see them mention any of these benefits on 60 minutes.
Very true .

The problem here is that there is no one place to get info and help .

There are many schemes and assistance , getting it, seems to another matter.

We boarder Michigan ,unemployment in these parts is dire ...we have true poverty on our door-step here also .

In the UK assistance is faceless in many respects ,nobody really has to know you have it ~ waiting at the food-bank and living in a motel shouts poverty .

It is so sad to see those poor children living that life.
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Old Mar 8th 2011, 7:59 pm
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Default Re: Is my family's negativity about returning to UK warranted?

Originally Posted by Gabgoeshome
Very true .

The problem here is that there is no one place to get info and help .

There are many schemes and assistance , getting it, seems to another matter.

We boarder Michigan ,unemployment in these parts is dire ...we have true poverty on our door-step here also .

In the UK assistance is faceless in many respects ,nobody really has to know you have it ~ waiting at the food-bank and living in a motel shouts poverty .

It is so sad to see those poor children living that life.
I think child poverty exists everywhere. It exists in US and UK. It's very sad wherever it is.

http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/wh...erty/key-facts
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