The Worst Places To Be An Expat

  • by XpatAthens
  • Monday, 25 January 2016
The Worst Places To Be An Expat
Being an expat can bring all sorts of highs, and challenges.  Not least of all because of a change in culture, bringing about culture shock.  What about job opportunities?  Making new friends? Childcare?  Take a look at some of the worse places considered to be an expat.

1) The United States
Being an expat in the U.S, especially if you're coming from Canada, can be a seamless yet difficult transition.  With so many things similar - ranging from culture to lifestyle, there are also a lot of aspects of daily life that are difficult to adjust to.  One major aspect that ranks the U.S. lower on the list is the health care situation, along with the focus on politics. For Canadians, it's just not different enough to feel like you're moving to a new country.

2) Greece
While Greece offers a beautiful landscape for any relocating Expat, the working life in this country make it a poor choice for career-minded Expats. Currently fighting to recover from a massive economic downturn, Greece has more low-paid jobs than high-paid ones, and poor job security. If you are looking for temporary work however, this may be the country to move to.

3) Ireland
Ireland is again another beautiful background for the Expatl lifestyle, and provides adventure-minded explorers or history buffs with a great locale.  However, the economy and low wages do not leave a lot of pocket or spending money in the Expat's pocket.  For the Expat family, there are also not a lot of childcare options, and the ones available leave much to be desired.

4) Italy
Who doesn’t love Italians? Unfortunately for Expats, love might not be enough in this beautiful country. Expats typically find their paycheques are lower than they were at home, and that jobs don’t offer as much in the way of a rewarding career. Italy also has higher taxes than many other countries, so that already lower paycheque is being dinged by more taxes.

5) United Kingdom
Surprisingly, the Queen’s country has a low overall quality of life. Across the board, from settling in and making friends, to finding stable employment, much seems to be missing from life in the UK. If you are not part of the royal family (or obsessed with the adorable royal babies) you may want to look elsewhere as an Expat.

To read more, please visit: The Canadian Expat