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[quote=Anonymous]I moved to the UK for  a few years when my kid was in elementary school.  There are some wonderful things about living in the UK: public transit, theater, more equal society,  so many things to see and do. English Heritage and the National Trust maintain a lot of properties beautifully. Work life balance is better. The arts are better taught in school.

There are also some tough things: you have to send your kids to schools that have places for them, whether they are the closest schools or not. That is, you have much less control over which school your kids attend if you use the state schools. If you are going private, then you have more choices. The school environments that my child experienced were not pleasant. Many children were not nice. There was a lot of racism, anti-Semitism  and homophobia in the schools. He met nice kids too, but their voices were often drowned out. British schools are stricter, and uniforms are just another battleground between students and teachers. Services for students with learning differences are not as good as, say,  a well served district here in the DMV or in NJ.

Sixth graders take 16 subjects, which they narrow down to three by 11th grade. The 6th graders don't get enough English and math, and the 11th graders would not be ready for a US university, with distribution requirements.

Women with kids are more likely to work part time, so they tend to have less power in the workplace. Salaries are lower for the same job. The standard of living is also lower.

Politics are pretty closed in the UK as are some professions. Healthcare professionals are looking to leave. This may improve under Labour.

There are a lot of tradeoffs. If you are getting an expat package from an employer,  that will smooth some of the rough spots. If you need visas, those costs and fees add up quickly.[/quote]

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