What would you do?

[adelaidenow]

As I always say, both places have their pros and cons, if you live in a bad part of Adelaide you will see guns, drugs and crime etc, just the same as the UK. (I didn't come across any problems whilst there last March, and I was all over the place, London, Manchester, Cardiff, Bath Liverpool to name just a few cities)

The only guaranteed advantage of being here is the weather, but then again many people get sick of the heat after a while.

There is NOTHING wrong with the UK to live in, if you think there is and come here to get away from all these 'bad' things I doubt you will be happy here either, as the same issues are around.

[PeterM]

I lived in Adelaide for over 40 years (I was born in Manchester) and have been back in the UK for over 12 years and I think both places have advantages and disadvantages. I would suggest that you weigh up the things that are very important to you and the things that are important to you and compare for each country. I don't think the UK has deteriorated all that much in the past 4 years.

I do believe that things will get worse in the coming few years because there is a huge pressure to reduce the public sector now an election has been called and the public sector will probably shrink no matter who wins the election. So there will be more people looking for scarce jobs.

I think it may be a case that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

At least Adelaide has better weather - it was not that much fun in the UK this winter just gone.

If your husband can't find work in his specialist field, I suggest he looks at re-training for something that is in demand. 4 years of him being unemployed would strain anyone.

I know you mentioned the difference in wages but also look at costs - the price of petrol and diesel in the UK is 120 pence per litre at the moment - that's over AUD $2.00 per litre. factor that in.

[spongebob]

The message I sent was a reply to someone Else's questions but then maybe that is the way I see the UK at the moment, not sure really. I do know I feel rather despondent with things.
My husband is not unemployed YET but is due to be made redundant soon which is why we have been looking at work opportunities. He has looked at re-training but as an engineer he likes his job.
I didn't want to discuss personal reasons but feel you may understand why I am torn two ways.
My main reason for moving is due to the health needs of our youngest daughter. She has growing pains which results is very painful knees as her knee caps are in the wrong place and are twisted. This is very bad in winter or when the weather drops below a certain temperature making it impossible to walk and falls over continuously. Hearing her cry in pain is awful and getting teased or picked on for falling over at school is not nice. She needs to do lots of swimming, bike riding, using swings etc all things easier to do when its warmer and weather is nice so can play outside.
It is hoped that the warmer weather will cause her less pain, she will then be able to gradually increase her exercises, be able to swim every day, ride a bike etc to strengthen the knee muscles and by the time she is a teen then the problem may be significantly less than it would be here in the UK whereby she is unable to do anything whilst it is cold as its too painful.
Not sure whether I would want to move if my daughter was pain free and my husbands job was secure. but feel it may be the best thing in the long term for us as a family and the children.