Some young American workers are moving to Europe in hopes of a healthier and happier life.
As an American who has been abroad for many years, can confirm! I’m visiting the states at the moment and its crazy to hear a family member talking about trying to convince their boss that the employees should get five paid sick days a year instead of only three. Three! A year! Insane.
sick days even
What are you supposed to do?
Turn up, shit yourself, keep helping customers?
Or do you turn up, shit yourself, then get fired?
Ok, but what matters is your turned up /s
Last year was super shitty, I had COVID twice and Shingles with nerve pains, I’ve been on sick leave for more than a month over the year, it would have been a disaster without socialized healthcare and workers’ insurance
America becoming a third world country.
If only they would leave their political affiliations and a few bad bits of their culture in the US too, that’d be great. They’re otherwise very welcome here, as is anybody else who wants to embrace the European lifestyle and integrate, Iranian, Afghan, Australian, Kenyan, Brazilian, Turkish, whatever.
If you understand that the high salary is to meet the high cost of living in the United States then you’ll understand that it isn’t a pay cut. Take that one step further and consider the fact that the higher cost of living does NOT come with a higher quality of life in the US.
Muss gerade an diesen Bericht von kürzlich denken, ebenfalls vom glorreichen Business Insider:
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-germany-relocation-american-move-disappointing-2023-6
Lustiger Kontrast.
Generell lustiger Artikel, danke.
“We live in a small German town called Otterberg” had me laughing out loud.
I was wondering where she could be living - maybe Munich or some other city in Bavaria, where people are not exactly known for warming up easily on foreigners (read: people from more than 20 minutes away). But no - she’s living in Otterberg. Hilarious.
Was für ein dämlicher Artikel. Wäh, wäh, ich wohne in einem kleinen Dorf und habe nicht Zugang zu allen Modern conveniences wie in einer grossen Stadt. Wäääh… Echt, jetzt?
Haha genau das habe ich beim lesen gedacht. “Warum hilft mir denn keiner? Ich vermisse Walmart!” lol
Mein Highlight war dass sie einen schlechten job hat bei dem sie in einer schwachen Währung Geld verdient aber Deutschland ist teuer.
Moving abroad is always challenging and not for everyone, some people can’t adapt to a different way of life.
I’d do it if I could afford it or was younger. Honestly wish I had. The sacrifice now, with family and kids, is too massive.
You can get a new family and kids! Or bring em I guess
IDK, does the salary deficit makes up for it?
look at it this way, necessities in USA are largely out of reach (health care, education, housing, funded retirement) and luxaries are easy to come by (phones, sneakers, branded clothing, streaming etc).
Whereas in Europe, the necessities are much more attainable for the population at any income bracket. Do you have much more “free cash”? No. Do you need it? No, you have a social safety net.
Even vacas in Europe are cheaper bc for an American to travel to Europe is very expensive by means of airplane. In Europe you can take a high speed train and be in any climate.
On the topic of trains, Public transit is more efficient there than it is to drive cars in the states. Imagine not having to buy a ~$30k car every 10 years? Not to mention fuel and maintain it.
Without an atom of doubt. I’ve experienced both, and I will make the choice of paycut again a hundred times if I had to choose again.
Those damn lazy immigrants only want to exploit us! We can’t accomodate them all!
(I hope it’s clear that this is a joke)
/s is easier to point out it is a joke
I vacationed in Germany recently. Something about it just felt right… But it would be hard to be so far from my family, and probably harder to make friends or find a church. :(
In Germany you can make your own!
Just attach some Theses on a church’s doors and see what happens.
This gave me a good chuckle…
Church? Easy. Catholic in the South, EKD in the North, take it or be a weirdo cultist. Orthodox is acceptable.
There’s plenty of churches. If you live in a city there are usually many churches to choose from.
We have tons of churches in the States, too, it’s a matter of finding one that’s not weird politically, promoting nationalism or the equivalent of US far-right crazy.
I’m not sure I’d want to go to Europe right now as a means of improving my mental health. Look at what is unfolding in France, or the far-right leaders popping up elsewhere. The US is rough but I’m hopeful we’ve already weathered that storm. With Russia on your doorstep too, I’d just prefer to travel elsewhere.
Yeah it’s very attractive but not the easiest to obtain citizenship.
That depends a lot of the country. In some EU countries is rather easy and cheap.
As a former EU citizen (UK, thanks Brexit) which countries do you think it is easy? I don’t think it is, I believe there is Malta where you can literally buy a passport and Portugal that has some lax visa laws. But gaining citizenship isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do.
You are correct with Portugal, I found this on some website:
Portugal is, overall, the easiest country to get citizenship of the EU.
That’s due to the following factors:
Short residency period of just five years before applying for citizenship One of the world’s most powerful passports Range of flexible visa options to suit remote workers, retirees and investors Dual citizenship OK – keep your original passport Easy language requirements – A2 elementary level Access generous tax benefits while counting up the years to citizenship Reasonable minimum stay requirements What’s more, Portugal has one of Western Europe’s lowest costs of livingCitizenship is easy to get once you already live in the country, not just Portugal, Luxembourg is probably easier even, the language requirement is a low level of Luxembourgish. Of course for that you first need residency. In Portugal is again easy, as long as you have a job contract, Portugal has probably the most liberal migration laws in the EU right now (yeah, wages are low).
Portugal nationality for non-residents is easy as long as you can prove a family connection, that can be a Portuguese granparent or Portuguese Jewish roots (they can be 5 centuries old, is a compensation for inquisition, but you must be able to prove it, a Portuguese Jewish surname helps).
Portugal’s population is getting smaller each year as natives relocate to other parts of Europe where they can earn a living wage. It’s got it’s own problems, one of them being real estate is too expensive for people born in the country (thanks in part to wealthy immigrants). Regardless, their policies welcome immigration, unlike most countries.
Yeah, I believe they are tax friendly to remote workers and you can get a visa to remain if you’ve got assets that generate €7k income a year.
I’d say it’s still not an easy task to get an EU passport. I’d definitely takes quite a commitment at least.
I heard it’s easy for both Ireland and Italy, if you have some sort of ancestry from there. But that’s a big if.
Do you have any examples? I thought even the more lenient ones require you to study there for 5+ years or work in some highly sought after sector.
Yeah they weren’t looking for people like me last I checked
Wish I had the money to afford moving out there alone. Jealous.
If only Europe wanted us there! If moving there were easy, I’d have done it years ago. Unfortunately, I probably need to wait until I retire.
just a heads up, retiring to europe is only possible in very few places and a few more if you’re loaded.
Yep. Focused on a Portuguese passive income visa. Portugal is beautiful
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