Brits and Romanians looking to live in Spain and Tenerife
You may wonder what Brits and Romanians have in common – according to new research, these two nationalities are the most likely to leave home behind and begin a new life elsewhere. Despite the UK being a popular end destination with migrants from all over the world, one in three of us would love to emigrate abroad permanently, new research has revealed.
Research firm Gallup has found that British people share the top slot with Romanians in terms of being the keenest to move away from their homeland and set up a new life elsewhere. The poll questioned people living in EU countries about their contentment with their home countries and their desire to try living somewhere else.
Despite beliefs to the contrary, the economic downturn has not had a big impact on people’s desire to move away from Blighty – the same level – 33 per cent – say that they were just as keen to begin a new life elsewhere before the credit crunch set in.
This trend is similar to what Gallup observes worldwide. With some exceptions, people’s expressed desire to migrate did not decrease meaningfully in the downturn. Instead, the main reasons people gave for wanting a new life away from their home turf were being dissatisfied with conditions in local communities. Many reported feeling discontent with the local infrastructure such as the quality of the local schools and their roads and highways. Disappointment in the government and police force were also named as factors.
The type of person looking to emigrate has not changed much over the last few years. The vast majority of people looking to emigrate were young professionals with relatively high levels of education, all of whom were dreaming of better career prospects and a better quality of life elsewhere.
Thirty-three per cent of those with secondary educations were keen to try life elsewhere, whilst 36 per cent of those with a degree say they would like to move if they had the chance. In terms of location, British people were most keen on Australia, the USA, Canada Spain and its islands.
But the research also found that us Brits appear to be all mouth and no trousers – despite the high levels of desire to want to move abroad, a tiny two per cent of us were actually considering doing so over the next year – a far lower proportion than in many other EU countries. If all of the people who expressed an interest in emigrating actually did so, the UK would be left with a severe skills shortage as its youngest, brightest and best educated hopes flew the nest to take their skills elsewhere.
Gallup’s findings show that the government needs to do more to improve the communities within the UK in order to make them a more appealing place to live and work over the coming years.
