Middle class Brits want out for better quality of life

A recent survey has revealed that a majority of British middle-class families want to emigrate in order to have a better quality of life.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Huddersfield, found that almost two in every three British families were desperate to emigrate overseas due to unpleasant locals, the UK’s poor weather and its celebrity-obsessed culture. The loss of community spirit in British society, the economic downturn and the expense of housing were also reasons to leave.

Many families responded that they would prefer their children to be bought up in a country whose nationals value the strong sense of community now missing in the UK. One in three families surveyed said Australia was their first choice, with others choosing the USA, Canada, New Zealand or other European countries such as Spain, France and Italy.

60 per cent of the 1,000 families polled gave the worsening British weather as their main reason, with others highlighting the cost of decent housing, the country’s creeping negativity and the lack of neighbourliness. 90 per cent insisted they children should be growing up in a more ‘can-do’, optimistic society than is now the norm in Britain.

According to Prof. Paul Ward, author of the study, the UK’s present-day lack of prosperity has eroded not only the country’s world position, but also its peoples’ sense of Britishness, leading them to consider emigrating. Many, he adds, are choosing former British colonies with remnants of core British values or similar cultures, combined with more economic success.

A warmer climate and improved work-life balance as well as a more suitable community environment for bringing up a family seems to be all-important, with old-fashioned British values also featuring significantly. The poll was commissioned by the Government of South Australia’s office and timed to coincide with the celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.