samwel

I have been thinking for a while about staying on in NZ or heading to Australia (I am a Brit).

The thing that concerns me most about NZ is why so many of the educated Kiwis leave for Europe or Australia.

Does this not ring alarm bells with potential well educated migrants to NZ?

The only clever Kiwis left behind appear to be business owners who employ the masses on low wages.

The wages are shocking here, an absolute joke!

I wonder how long the kids of British migrants will hang about NZ once their old enough. In fact I would not bring up kids here. I would ensure they had the opportunity to live somewhere with more outlook.

I think NZ is wonderful for the rich and retired.

Look at the stats to see how many clever Kiwis leave and ask yourself what you are doing here.

If this does not strike a chord with you then I guess you have different expectations of life here.

happynz

First post and after a good old whinge you finish by insulting others. Great start!

samwel

Not insulting others. Just stating my opinion!

Nice welcome to the forum. Thank you.

happynz

Hello and welcome.

Patrick2007

Fair and valid point Samwel,dont quite know the answer to the exodus of educated Kiwis. As for bringing up kids there i would say definately inner city life in the U.K.is grim and the outlook poor.

CharlesMacLeod

Absolutely. I would say (from what I have seen and what my family out in NZ have said) that bringing my son up in a relatively nice suburb near Wellington will beat the heck out of bringing him up in the sort of *&^&&* area I could afford to live in near London.

We had thought to move within the UK, but my getting the right sort of work for both my wife and I away from a very big city would be problematic. Anyway, my son will still have his UK citizenship, so going back to the UK for some OE will be easy enough.

luvwelly

I think it's the 'Overseas Experience' thing which contributes because understandably not all return to NZ at the end of it.
I'm sure the Trans-tasman thing is to do with better weather and higher wages and the fact that they have the automatic right to go there.

I was in the Settler's Museum in Petone yesterday and there was a poster from the 1840s to encourage Brits on to one of the first ships.....it stressed 'higher wages and cheaper land!'

I'm sure newly-arriving Brits do consider how quickly their kids may head off back to Europe/Oz and factor it into their decision-making before coming here.

samwel

Not for everyone.

Also there are plenty of other places to live in the UK / Europe / World than inner city Britain!

People always seem to compare UK / NZ but going to extremes that both have to offer (usually the best of NZ against the grimmest of UK)

Try comparing living somehwere like Harrogate or the Cotswolds to living in redneck Dargaville or Ashburton or many other small NZ service towns that have no character and look the same! Not fair is it?

I think there is no doubt that moving to NZ is not a career move unless you start a business here. Don't kid yourself that things are going to change anytime soon here.

If I had children I would consider their future before moving to NZ.

RobClubley

The way I see it, our kids will have the best of both worlds - entitled to British and Kiwi passports giving them the freedom to work in Europe, NZ or Aussie as they see fit, but they will be able to grow up somewhere beautiful and hopefully safer.
(Tawa is certainly safer than South Leeds!!)

CharlesMacLeod

You have a valid point. If I could afford to live in the Cotswolds or had a job that would allow me to relocate to Harrogate, I would probably not be moving to NZ. Also, if I was going to end up in Dargaville or Ashburton, I might have second thoughts.

However, I am moving from one of the *&^^&*est bits of the UK (the bits of the Medway I can afford to live in aren't that nice and the "door to door" commute is about 1 hour 30 minutes on a good day) to what is , to my mind, one of the better bits of NZ, in that if our budget can stretch to it we will be moving up to Pouirua.

There will always be a few who might make the leap to NZ without really understanding what they have let themselves in for. However, I have been impressed with the level of realism expressed on these forums, and I would heartily recommend that anyone who wants to move out to NZ should look at the "Expats Exposed" website on the grounds that if they can look at what is said on there and still want to go they have the right stuff to succeed!!!

There are things wrong in both the UK and NZ, and I personally do not think I will find perfection in NZ. But at the mo, given the jobs I have been offered its worth a shot at least for a few years.

happynz

Why is Ashburton getting dissed here? Believe it or not that place is booming. More than a few rich ol' boys down in Mid-Canterbury making a killing in the dairy game as well as it being a centre for high quality seed production.

Dargaville - I dunno and can't say as I have never been there.

Kiwiprincess

Ashburton pleasantly surprised me the first time i went there a few years ago. Also, it is a great location to access the high country and Mt Hutt from

Nerine

I'm sure that a lot of educated kiwis are leaving because of the burden of student debt. The OE isn't such a bad thing if they bring their skills back with them, but if the loans are mountaining up whilst they're abroad where's the incentive to return?

ex_exile

'cuse me but my last elections "tax cut" went on bribing ex student layabouts to vote labour!

The worrying thing for New Zealand is that the previous spikes in OZ emmigration have been in times when the NZ economy was bad, when the ecomony turns as its about to the outrush is only going to accelerate.

lapsed kiwi

As someone who emigrated (first time) aged 8 from the edge of the Cotswolds to Ashburton, I'd just like to say that I really enjoyed my upbringing in mid Canterbury! Ashburton is a friendly town, with some really good people who made us feel totally at home within weeks of arriving. I consider myself to have had a privileged upbringing living on the edge of town with fishing, boating, sports, shooting, skiing all within easy reach. If I had to choose between there, Harrogate or the Cotswolds to bring up my kids, it would be there. I must say I now prefer the Auckland area for its coastline, job opportunities and climate, but don't regret my parents' move to hicksville one iota. I can't comment on Dargaville though.