Hello!
I’ve seen a few posts praising the US and I can’t deny that I’ve also had a very concrete goal of moving permanently to the US eventually. I’m from the EU so the “reality” that I have of the US comes mainly from the media. With this being said, I’d like the brutally honest opinions of those that experienced the US first-hand, whether you’re American, have always lived in the US and absolutely hate it, or if you moved from the EU to the US and are loving the experience.
- As expats, I think we’re all running from something from our home country (work conditions, family situations, etc). What made you move to/out of the US?
- Do you feel your QoL (quality of life) has improved with your move to/out of the US?
- If so, would you attribute this to working conditions/salary? Or living conditions such as more free time, good pension/retirement, etc
- Do you plan on going back to your home country? If so, what is the main driver of that decision?
Last, but not least, for those living in the US, do you believe that the pros of having more/better career opportunities (at least for skilled labor/PhD level) in the US outweigh the cons of living there, namely:
- poor/expensive healthcare
- extremely high tuition fees for colleges
- high crime rates (naturally highly dependent on the place you live)
- small amount of time for maternity leave (I don’t mind the small amount for paternity leave, but in Scandinavian countries mothers can have up to a year of maternity leave which I believe is very beneficial for the kids. I do value countries that value and protect the family structure)
- … and a general low work-life balance? (This last bullet point is not as important to me as I do like and appreciate the hustle culture of the US which makes effort/skills be more appreciated and compensated)
Thank you all! Apologies in advance if this has been asked multiple times before, but I’d like to condensate different perspectives in a single thread if possible as it might be helpful for others as well! :)
I think you are seeing this in the incorrect way.
People dithering about moving to the US on Reddit (while realistically being able to do so), will never experience many of the downsides you mention about living in the US, because they are going to be highly qualified.
Highly qualified people in the US earn a lot of money (much more than they would in most European countries), and enjoy a very high quality of life.
They do not experience high crime, because they live in neighborhoods with single family homes, outside of the city, boring but completely insulated from the crime of poor neighborhoods.
High college fees do not matter if your salary is 200k dollars or more per year, and your wife earns the same.
Small amount of LEGAL maternity leave, sure, but employers are free to give you as much as they want, and they will, if you are important enough to them.
The US, is, by essence, a country for rich people. It’s probably the only place on earth where poor people end up subsidizing rich people on a massive and institutional scale.
The only actual reasons as for why not to move to the US are:
Work-life balance
Fraying society and constant cultural and political warfare
I know the next redditor will tell me about how little they work and how they have every Friday free while working in the US, but that is often the internet effect.
Working in the US means that you can be fired at any point in time, for absolutely 0 reason. People are apprehensive about taking long vacations, because if the company can function without them, well, then why are they even there? They have fewer vacation days, and often end up not even using all of them.
As for a fraying society and constant political warfare. I am sure, again redditors will tell me it’s not actually that bad, but the polarization has gone to absurd levels. The “I got it, fuck you” mentality in the US is also, for me, quite dismal. Many people seem to think of taxation as theft, and there is a reason why the US has a libertarian party. I’d rather live in a society, pay my taxes, and not think that poor people somehow “deserve it”.
Really? So all of us, poor migrants from less developed countries who migrated to USA are too poor to use Reddit?
Migration to USA includes people of all income levels. And social media is also available for everyone to use
As an immigrant who was raised in this backwards hellhole called the U.S., I always tell people, if you’re coming from a third-world developing country with little economic prospects, then North America will feel like a leg-up. However, if you’re coming from an advanced developed economy??? Then it’s an overwhelming downgrade!
THIS RIGHT HERE !!!