geeandtee

My US job gave me 4 weeks' notice and no redundancy.

A pound to a penny your friends, at least, get some kind of pay-off. The US is brutal when you lose your job.

dunroving

- or pop back now and then for free NHS treatment.

HumphreyC

Its kinda hard to tell because both the UK and US unemployment figures are fudged to leave a lot of people off the books. In the U.S the fudge is that if someone gives up looking for a job they aren't counted in the figures - ( according to some analysts adding them back on and adding the underemployed makes the total 16.6%).

In the UK the fudge is that there are 8 million 'economically inactive' people of which approximately 1.96 million will be students - so in both cases there is a significant amount of unemployment which isn't factored in. Say 3 million of the 5 million who aren't students are really unemployed add that to the existing unemployed numbers and you get 5.5 million out of work. Working age population is 37.4 million and you get about 14.7% unemployment as a guide.

Thats a back of a fag packet calculation and I haven't included underemployment in the UK figures - but based on that I would say things in the US are slightly worse. Not as bad as Spain though - the headline rate of unemployment there is an unbelievable 20%.

Bluegrass Lass

I went in to work one day, just a another normal day, and was told on the spot that "I was no longer needed as the dept. was being restructured and my position no longer required". No other notice, no severance except for unpaid vacation - and I am a professional engineer. Here we are 10mo. later, and I still have no job. We have to file bankruptcy to get rid of a house we can no longer afford (among other reasons). So at least in the UK, I wouldn't be afraid of not being able to afford a doctor's visit, or keeping my fingers crossed neither my OH or I get sick and wind up in the hospital or something.

And btw, I'm the native USC and my OH is the UKC. So I have first hand knowledge that the US can chew people up and spit them out quite easily.

celticgrid

It is this aspect of life here that seems to dwell on my subconsciousness the most. I can live with less vacation than in the UK (though the firm I work for has a relatively generous scheme), and other workplace constraints, but the 'hire at will' position means you are continually standing on a precipice with no idea when you will be pushed.

Jerseygirl

One day you may be very happy to be able to go back and live there again. As others have said healthcare here is a huge issue. You have the luxury of always being able to go back and live in the UK and have access to free at the point of service healthcare...Americans do not have that luxury.

Jerseygirl

I bet many people living here wished they were given 90 days notice and only had to worry about not been able to vacation in Europe.

It's nice to see you're so positive about your new life here...but I think you have a lot to learn.

Giantaxe

You were using the fact that friends had been made redundant in the UK to do your normal job of painting the UK black. So it's perfectly legitimate to point out that well, actually, unemployment is lower in the UK than the US (and lower than many EU countries too...). Ergo, maybe the UK is not quite as black as you try to paint it?

Bob

Most here still have friends/family and visit frequently though.

Sure there are parts of the UK that are crap, but that's not the whole country, just like there are shit parts of the US and good areas...

I think a few years of long hours of work and no able to enjoy the lack of time off and knowing someone who gets sick does take the shine off things about the US.

I don't think it's a better or worse country, but it is different.

Bob

90 days is something of a luxury, when most likely over here, when you get laid off, you'll get walked out the door right then and there and get no severance.

Things can and do change very quickly here for people, the slide is a lot quicker than what happens to folks in the UK, or the rest of the EU...or most places even.

Bob

The cheeky thing over here, you're also not counted as unemployed if you work one hour a week for minimum wage.

It's all very fudgy...but it's irrelevant really, it all depends on what sector of work you're in, some countries are better than others for certain jobs.

ldyinlv

I wish you well in the US, there are many wonderful things here. I truley hope that no one gets any serious health issues in your family. Always make sure you have a great savings account, and retirement account, and you should be ok...

Hubcaps

Ok last try as you all seem to be thinking I'm saying things that I'm not.

1. I like it here. Me and my family are better off right now than anywhere we have lived and worked in the UK.

2. I totally understand how the insurance stuff works. Bloody hell we'd only been here a week when we were faced with a dentist bill before we could even get our insurance started. Ok, it was only a $1000 but at the time we didn't have the money. I am not blind to what it can be like here.

3. I haven't commented on how things work (or don't) over here in my posts - unemployment, no/crap insurance - apart from one post saying how aware I am for the need to have a fall back plan incase something happens and how I hope to put that in place. Why would I compare the two countries when I haven't any real personal experience of any of the pitfalls here? Yes things can be worse over here but I was asked and replied only about why I don't like the UK not why here is better. I was not comparing the two countries although everyone who has jumped in has done and also presumes I am. Bloody hell it would be like me trying to compare apples to some other fruit I'd only read about in a book. For the last time all my responses are about my own personal feelings and situations about the UK ONLY. I do not have anything to compare them to in the US and I am not trying to do so.
4. The 90 notice days is a luxury here too, it's only while the parent company tries to find a buyer and decides which staff it may like to move to other parts of the company (although this is crap, they're not looking for a buyer just trying to divert some of the bad press this has caused in the UK). I know they are lucky, every other company HO has shut down this year have all been told to clear their desks and leave the building immediately. Again I was not comparing employment law in the US to the UK. This was a response to someone saying everything in the UK was fine and dandy, everyone they knew had well paid jobs and lots of holidays when (again ONLY answering the question of what I don't like in the UK) for my family and friends things were not so wonderful. Comparing like for like in the UK and again answering a follow up question on why I do not like the UK and not "why don't I like the UK and why is the US better?". If we'd have stayed in the UK then this 90 days would apply to us as that's where my husband worked too (and I did on occasion). The relief at having left there just before this happened coupled with the guilt at feeling that relief is terrible These people are my friends and this company closing is personal to me and again influences my opinion of the UK.

Yes, I really hope I never have to go back to the UK (not to be confused with "I hope I never have to leave the US"). I am hoping my green card will be done within a year which will give me some breathing space, if the worst should happen and my husband lose his job currently we would have to leave the US almost immediately. A GC means the chance to look here or elsewhere for another job (sometimes a specialist skill set can be a blessing and then again a hindrance).
I sympathise totally with those of you out of work and the shit you are facing, these are my fears too along with not having the right insurance etc. despite what some of you have assumed.

I hope this makes much more sense now and some of you can at least realise what I was saying as opposed to what you thought I was. And lastly, I really hope this "good thing" I have here in my little bit of WA lasts. Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to come back after 1-3 years with a big "**** YOU" and my tail firmly up

Ldyinlv - thank you very very much. That means a lot, thank you.

meauxna

It's my measured opinion that there are a lot of people in the US in the same situation as you, Hubs, and I'm sorry I didn't contribute to the thread earlier but it cheesed me off and I had to walk away.

My husband, you, the long list of other happily transplanted folk.. they don't post about it all the time. There are a few of you on this site who do, but I know it's just human nature to like to gripe and that will always be the majority. I don't know why I let it get to me sometimes, but it shouldn't bother you. You certainly sound like you know yourself and what works for you.

My husband has lived here going on ten years now, is not an idiot and loves it. For any of you to assume any happy transplant is naive, ignorant or a newbie is just not right.
Some people simply prefer life in the US vs the UK.

Bob

I don't think that was what the majority were getting at though.