Bevm

On the relative cost of living between Canada and England, we just ran some figures because we were curious about that. Our monthly spend for 2011 is about the same as it was in Canada in 2008. As Canada's cost of living must have gone up, it would seem we're living a bit cheaper here, and we're not deliberately economising.

However, we don't use the car much, and petrol's much more expensive. Cheese and wine are cheaper.

Bev

Moggiemiss

Interesting information. Thank you My Brit friends who have visited seem to think grocieries are cheaper here (apart from cheese and wine).

Whilst gas is more expensive in the UK, I find car insurance more expensive, even after 3 years of no claims discount.

My property tax here is more expensive as I don't get single person's discount, however my gas and electricity bills are definitely a lot cheaper than when I left England in 2008.

Overall, it probably all balances out to around the same and if you can live frugally in one country you can live frugally in another!

Cheers!

kateg60

Yes, I have a stable well paid job, cheap, good health insurance and great benefits (holidays, pension, etc.). I was going to move back in 2013, but because of the instability in Europe in general, and the fact the UK cannot locate my NIN, and I have to prove citizenship (which I have but they can't seem to find any record of me) I am delaying my return.

I am sad about this, but I am not willing to take the risk of giving up all I have worked hard for only to have major issues in the UK while there are no great prospects. Blah!

Moggiemiss

Sorry to hear your story .... friends tell me the job market is pretty dire at the moment in the UK.

I have just managed to find work here again which is a plus but no benefits and not really at my level at expertise - however being positive, it will enable me to put some savings away to fund a return to the UK.

Overall I think I am fortunate as in the long run, I should be able to get back to the UK if I want to go back. There are some people in worse circumstances.

chris955

My friends are telling us that there is still plenty of work if you want it and of course it depends on the area. In the SE and SW of the country the rate is only around 6%, I don't personally know anyone in the UK who is out of work.

Victor Meldrew

It has delayed our return by a couple of years. We had planned to return sometime 2010 - 2012. This was likely going to be our last year overseas.

However it looks like that will be extended to Summer 2013 just to ensure we have enough money as back up.

Job prospects have diminished both generally and because of my age/type of job I do. In addition my wife is non-EU so we have the whole game of ensuring she wont be a burden on the state (by paying off mortgage and having a lump of money to bring back). The joke is that of both of us she is the one more likely to get a job.

It's frustrating when you want to be home, but this situation prevents it being easy.

sallysimmons

My family and friends are all in the north and only one is currently unemployed. The rest seem to be doing as well as ever to be honest - lots of holidays and weekends away. Some of them work for local government, so there's a greater level of worry than there used to be, but on the whole they're not experiencing hard times.

Of course, the UK unemployment rate is lower than the US unemployment rate, so how we perceive this is all relative.

Bevm

I wonder if they're looking at sticker price not checkout price. A lot of food items get taxed in Canada and that can add a lot. It also depends a bit on where you shop. When I was over there last I went to Costco with my d-in-l and prices on some things were amazingly cheap. Not so much in the regular supermarkets.

Over here, I find big differences in fruits and veg. Apart from specials, supermarkets are often more expensive than small greengrocers -- and much less local produce --, and definitely more than a street market, if you have one.

Bev

Moggiemiss

Regarding unemployment, I have one friend who was made redundant in May from a large aeronautical company where he was an executive officer.

I have another who used to be an HR consultant who is now being hired rather than doing the hiring on short term contracts for various public sector organisations. She had to wind her business up due to lack of work.

I have another in local government who has just gone through reorganisation and has been under the threat of redundancy for almost 12 months. She did manage to secure a job but has to travel 20 miles each way daily from January.

They are all in the East Midlands. I think there is work around but not at the senior levels.

dunroving

Yes, I think a lot of places are hiring upper-level professionals in lower-level positions. At universities, for example, most of the positions advertised are at lecturer level, with some senior lecturer (same in the States - stacks of assistant professor positions). I just advertised a 0.10 FTE position (i.e., one day a week), for a research assistant, basic level. One of the applicants has a PhD and 6 years of international experience, and is working as a P-T research assistant elsewhere on campus. Hard times for getting a job at your appropriate level. I'm going up for promotion in the spring, before they pull up the drawbridge completely.

sallysimmons

Or rather, there is less work at the senior levels than there was during the boom times. It's not true to say there's no work at all.

My work brings me into close contact with UK executives who are searching for new jobs, and they are finding them. It is taking some of them longer than it once would have, but they are finding them.

I don't know about government and academia, but there are always companies doing well, even in a recession, and there are always people leaving, retiring or being fired. The secret is to be proactive and aggressive - it's no longer enough to send off some CVs and talk to a few agencies.

robin1234

In my field (academia in general, librarianship in particular) there does seem to be a marked preponderance of employees aged over 55. Probably to do with the baby boom generation, plus the expansion of colleges and universities in the late 60s and early seventies. So even in a period when a significant number of positions will be eliminated as they become vacant, there will be vacancies opening up.

Mummy in the foothills

That is how far my son drives to High school each day. Here the unemployment rate is closer to 20% our county is quite poor. Dh drives 45 miles each way to work, he'll be happy to cut it to 20 if he could.
None of our friends or family in UK (North Wales) are unemployed right now, one did lose his job when the owner of the small company retired and closed up shop, but he and another employee opened up the same business on their own, buying equipment from the retired owner and are back and busy as ever.

Moggiemiss

It is encouraging to hear positive stories - of course the media do focus on the negative aspects and there are probably regional differences. I think there is always work to be found, it depends on how flexible you are about job, location, etc and you probably do have to be more aggressive in seeking employment.

dunroving

Just the other day there was a documentary on the job situation (if I remember the name I'll paste the link). The number of job openings was quite astonishing (high), but people don't want them because they are in the "wrong" place, "wrong" type of job, or salary is less than they get on benefits. As you say, if you are motivated enough and flexible enough, there are jobs to be had.

[OK, this is it - I recall now that it was about welfare: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016ltsh - unfortunately, not viewable online any more]