The thing about the US that I find a lot of people gloss over/don’t realize is the sheer amount of choice available here. It’s insanely attractive when moving from Europe. The EU has choice but it’s across different countries which has logistical issues. The US, for better or worse, is 50 countries in 1 (51 countries including Puerto Rico) and somewhere like California is itself a whole world unto itself.
I am child free so that has a big impact on my perspective. I am also middle class. But I love the freedom I have here to carve out a life more to my liking and if in 5 years I want to try out a different kind of life I can do that too. As for healthcare, I have received better care here than I ever did in Ireland where I am from. I have good health insurance from my job (always have even when my jobs weren’t the best) but I have paid out of pocket for some of my care so I could get the choice I wanted: that wouldn’t even have been an option for me at home. But there’s no glossing over how sadistic it is to have so many people be able to be bankrupted by medical bills. That is a hard pill to swallow, so to speak.
It IS harder to get ahead here than it was. I earn a salary I never dreamed possible and it’s kind of scary how far it DOESN’T get you. But the middle classes are getting squeezed in most western countries so this is not totally unique. It is easy to get caught up in the consumerist culture here too - to be honest, I could probably cut back and I’d see that my salary is plenty.
Finally, I never had work life balance in Ireland so I think it’s a me problem. I have plenty of friends here who do have it but I think you have to make more of a concerted effort.
Oh and I will not return to Europe while I’m of working age. I do hope to be able to split my time between here and there when I retire though because I feel lucky to have access to both places and it’d be ridiculous not to make the most of it.
The thing about the US that I find a lot of people gloss over/don’t realize is the sheer amount of choice available here. It’s insanely attractive when moving from Europe. The EU has choice but it’s across different countries which has logistical issues. The US, for better or worse, is 50 countries in 1 (51 countries including Puerto Rico) and somewhere like California is itself a whole world unto itself.
I am child free so that has a big impact on my perspective. I am also middle class. But I love the freedom I have here to carve out a life more to my liking and if in 5 years I want to try out a different kind of life I can do that too. As for healthcare, I have received better care here than I ever did in Ireland where I am from. I have good health insurance from my job (always have even when my jobs weren’t the best) but I have paid out of pocket for some of my care so I could get the choice I wanted: that wouldn’t even have been an option for me at home. But there’s no glossing over how sadistic it is to have so many people be able to be bankrupted by medical bills. That is a hard pill to swallow, so to speak.
It IS harder to get ahead here than it was. I earn a salary I never dreamed possible and it’s kind of scary how far it DOESN’T get you. But the middle classes are getting squeezed in most western countries so this is not totally unique. It is easy to get caught up in the consumerist culture here too - to be honest, I could probably cut back and I’d see that my salary is plenty.
Finally, I never had work life balance in Ireland so I think it’s a me problem. I have plenty of friends here who do have it but I think you have to make more of a concerted effort.
Oh and I will not return to Europe while I’m of working age. I do hope to be able to split my time between here and there when I retire though because I feel lucky to have access to both places and it’d be ridiculous not to make the most of it.