I moved to the Netherlands at 47, with my wife and 2 teenage daughters; older son stayed in US to attend college, his choice. We moved from Los Angeles to just outside of Amsterdam. I don’t think our lives have been better. We don’t live in fear, our daughters feel like they have more freedom and rights. They travel regularly, alone; by bike and transit. They handle their own medical needs, with support from us. My work week is pretty standard at ~40 hours a week and my stress level is so much lower with factions, covered sick time and with just how things work. I am a white collar tech worker and I’m I have union rights and a guaranteed work contract. My wife is attending college to get a bachelors degree at a cost that is comparable to, if not lower than, most community colleges in the US. We don’t worry about our health care, as it’s affordable, available, and good.
We bike, walk, enjoy our neighbours and neighbourhood. We eat much more fresh food. And I’d say the cost of living is lower than the US. We take holidays to other countries and are surrounded by culture. And we bought a house within our first year here. We don’t intend to return the US, and my daughters certainly don’t want to.
I will say I am quite lucky, in work in the IT space, make a good salary and I like the company I work for. Politically, there is an actual LEFT (which I happen to be part of). Actual socialist parties, in power. It’s not perfect, and there are some of the same problems. Just not to the massive degree of the US.
Is it perfect? Hell no. But it’s better. I could say a lot. If you have specific questions I’ll try to answer them but now I feel like I’m rambling.
I guess I am technically in that group (1-5%) that you mention. I wanted a different lifestyle, different opportunities for my children. And to try and apply my talents to a society more in-line with my sociopolitical views.