Have people had enough now?

 I have just had a conversation with a family regarding the state of things back in the UK,we have just got their kids into school here and they have a great income from the ability to work from Home.

I was intrigued by some of their comments so i have googled afew things,i think you will be suprised.

The worst country to bring a child up in the industrialised world, statistics by UNICEF.

1. Netherlands
2. Sweden
3. Denmark
4. Finland
5. Spain
6. Switzerland
7. Norway
8. Italy
9. Republic of Ireland
10. Belgium
11. Germany
12. Canada
13. Greece
14. Poland
15. Czech Republic
16. France
17. Portugal
18. Austria
19. Hungary
20. United States
21. United Kingdom 

followed by the worst place to live in Europe.

Has it really got that bad?

Yeah, it's a great place to bring up kids, but what do the kids do when they leave school with 45% youth unemployment at the moment  (it was still over 20% during the boom days).  If they've got any sense they'll leave Spain to get themselves proper jobs and proper careers.

 its not stating how good spain is,more how bad the UK is.....................

I've never been much of a fan of these types of statistics.  Having a bit of a (geeky) soft spot for statistics, data can be interpreted in so many ways and the way that statistics are represented often can make things look worse than they really are.

Statistics are also dependent and how the data is gathered, the quality of the data and obiously quantity too.

I really don't think the UK is that bad at all, and it's probably not a worse place to be than Greece at the moment

Justin

83% of all statistics are just made up.

Shame that consumer protection (security) was not included in that quality of life index.....

Lies, damned lies and statistics... all politicians love them... !

 110% of footballers give the maximum effort.

I don´t know which parameters are analysed in that statistics. UK it is not that bad for living.

The only bad thing that i saw when i lived in Derby with british students is that there are many young people acting like gangs looking for troubles, looking for fights without reason, i don´t know if is the same in schools or just in university.

Re statistics.  I saw a wonderful placade (on the news) at a Nurses strike in the UK about 20 or so years ago. 

The placade read: 'Whats 5% of nothing! We want 10%!'.     

Dear All,

quotes, miss-quotes and fixed ideas abound, but what do real people say without spin?

Ralph who came to fix the LNB on our gite, not his main trade but sent by the owner, explained that as an ex-pat he loves rural France but after 13 years of struggling with the admin will soon return to his native Gillingham, Kent where he recently spent a holiday, felt he had never left, enjoyed a £3.69 meal in his local pub with too much to eat.

As a small business man he believed abused by the system, claimed that all employees are on minimum wage because the gov' demands 100% contribution for every employee, plus levy to meet gov' deficit every year.

Further said that Gov' training scheme for business start-ups spends first day instructing all that accounts must be set up to pay one third direct into the pocket (black economy) since the system assumes that you will do it anyway and bases taxes on that fact.

Also claims that the French cannot afford vegtables and must grow their own - essential, cannot afford to heat their homes in winter so move their beds into the kitchen with curtains and one fire - shut off the rest of the house.

No longer cheap - costs have risen 400% in his experience - that is basic costs such as wood for the fire.

Was it all a story????

Regards

Norman

 I grew up in the UK and am bringing up a child in Madrid. From my experience Madrid is a better place for young children as they can spend more time outdoors, and with other children, and they are placed at the centre of society with lots of facilities laid on. Certainly in Madrid a child is able to pursue practically any hobby or sport they like, at a very reasonable price, and many state schools offer a bilingual education.

However as they get older the pendulum starts to swing the other way, as the UK tends to offer more opportunities for young people to try different things in life. In the UK there is far greater scope for kids to leave home, find work, meet different people, travel around, etc. This might no longer be the case so much now the UK has introduced large university fees, but still the typical Spanish graduate can only aspire to getting a permanent contract doing a the same boring job for years on end with a large and faceless company, and maybe leave home when they are in their 30s. If they are lucky. This is why so many graduates are leaving Spain to work in places like the UK, and not the other way round.

 I DO PR WORK INHOTEL IN MARBELLA GET EXPENSES TO GO TO HAPPY HOUR

FREE PAD NO BILLS

ITS RUN BY BASIL FAWLTY MANUEL RUNS RESTAURANT WHERE NO ONE EATS LIFE IN SPAIN IS FUN

 What an interesting post Chopera - my son, in his twenties only ever talks of going to live in Madrid.  I do try to say that a lot of young Spaniards are leaving Spain for the developing south American countries, and I am certain that you have put your finger on the reason for that.  At the moment, I am failing to divert him towards the more opportunity laden but still Spanish speaking world of south America, but I suppose, he will find out for himself if there are opportunities in law, in Madrid.  The really good thing is that young people are experiencing different cultures, and learning different languages.  That in itself has been a huge advantage for my son in a fiercely competative  law environment.  

 Hi Bri

I know an English law graduate who after spending a few years teaching English managed to get a job with a law firm here in Madrid, so it can be done. However a young Spanish lawyer can typically expect to start off working as a trainee at a law firm for little or no pay for a couple of years, and with no guarantee of being offered a properly paid permanent post at the end. Many Spanish law graduates just don't bother and go and work for banks instead.

Madrid is a great place to live and if you're young it's a great place to spend a couple of years say teaching English. But if you are looking to build a professional career with lots of varied experience then it's very difficult. A better route for your son would be to get a job with an international law firm in the UK and after a couple of years get transfered over to Madrid or wherever. I know a few people here who have been transfered here on full expenses while maintaining their UK salary. They live like kings here. As for Latin America I really couldn't comment except to say that Chile seems to be the place many companies are focusing on right now.

Quizzing an Australian doctor working in a London hospital on why he was here...........

it may have been something of an exageration........

but he claimed that he gets more experience in a day here than he would get back home in a year...

early training needs intense and varied experience to better equip one in professional life...

financial improvement is often sacrificed for better experience and "job satisfaction" I have found

Regards

Norman

 Hi Chopera - thanks, good advice and exactly what he is trying to do.  He wants to work for one of the big European law firms, taking advantage of being bilingual.   Sadly, in law, what you describe in Spain is exactly how it is in England now, with far too many law graduates chasing a handful of training contracts.  A large percentage will never progress to be partners.   And astonishingly, huge numbers of extremely bright graduates continue to pay  between £10,000 and £12000 for a Legal Training Course without the promise or even prospect of a job.  It is a very sad situation.  I think that my son would say that at least in Madrid you have the sun and the football!! 

I can relate to much that has been said in this thread. As a young man (born and raised in Australia) I left on a scholorship to Oxford, having completed my degree (in Maths) I returned to Oz to be sent by the government to South East Asia (it was the 70's) for some 18-months (on and off) of hell on earth. On return to a nore normal life I found it impossible to find suitable employment in Oz and went to the UK.

I found almost unlimited opportunities in the UK and spent some very happy and rewarding years working in The City of London. During this time we had 2 daughters who after graduating one from Oxford the other from UCL London worked for a while in the city one in a law firm the other a accountancy firm. In recent years both have found it difficult to get the interesting work they wanted and have left the UK - the Accountant to Switzerland and the Lawer to Dubai. Both are doing well and I have also relocated to Dubai to get away from the uncertainty of the UK.

My point is that the yound have to make the most of their investment in study. It takes a lot of effort to achieve a good degree form a good Univercity and I can only  say take the opportunities the world is now a small place and I wish your son well in his search for a rewarding future.

David

 Thank you David.  And I might add that from Oct 2012 it is also going to  take £9000 a year just to study for a degree - something which our kids thankfully missed!!!     I do though think that a degree is still worth it for a lot of young people, and I am sure that we would have forked out the necessary funds if we had had to.   (BTW - Australia is the only other country my son would contemplate going to after Spain and the UK - as a huge Australian cricket  and Ricky Ponting fan..............................)  

I like all overseas students have always had to pay fees to attend UK Uni, but as you say a good education is a fantastic investment in the future.

South America, India and China are all areas of outstanding opportunities for anyone with the skills and drive to make it their future.

I'm not so sure about Oz. It still is a small country (population wise) is isolated. With a population of 20ish million opportunities for the professional are limited.

As a cricket fan - Oz is going through a rebuild and we may have seen the last of Ricky! One of the reasons for moving to the UAE is the cricket - Parkistans new home and it is for Freddie Flintoff (lives 2 doors away from me). Not sure the locals get the game.

Roll on next week and the GP.

David