Living here vs USA, 2015

[omaghjoe]

Do they not work ridiculously long hours in the US?

Some do some don't. Alot of people are obsessed with  work here, its their life. Its part of their goals and aims in the life. What they do in work, for them, defines them as a person.

The Irish attitude is completely different, people that do that would be considered a bit mad, whereas here they would be considered a good hardworking person who is doing their very best and getting rewarded for it.

But as with most things in America there is a very wide tolerance for a wide range of attitudes and people and having a good work life balance is also considered very positive.

I work standard hours and if needed will do extra, wouldnt be for this BS of working 12hours days just cause you convince yourself that its required. Got a young family anyway and at the end of the day my job, as much as I enjoy it, is just there to support us.

BTW I should point out that this is the case for college educated professionals. For a non skilled worker you will get paid crappy and work desperately long hours to make ends meet.

[muppet]

I think young people with no ties should definitely go, even if only for a few years.

The US is a great place but it is so big, and different everywhere you go, that if possible you should move around. I have never stayed abroad for more than very short periods (e.g. 2 months in Florida, 2 in Oz, 3 in Ohio) except for 13 months in the UK so I can't really say I 'lived' abroad. But I do think the more places you see the better.

Everywhere has its pros and cons, when you come home you might be able to see the pros that everyone else takes for granted, although the cons will be even more visible to you.

[omaghjoe]

I think it depends on the kind of person you are. Some people are not supposed to leave home. Some people are supposed to never stay at home.
America is a great country if you want to earn a decent crust. You get paid more money the harder you work (unheard of in Ireland or anywhere else I've lived) and you can make a great life for yourself and your family. Education is great, you can live a very active and healthy lifestyle and be exposed to lots of different cultures and people and experiences. Because of the healthcare costs I would never retire here and have plans to be back in Ireland for a while after 2025 if my job works out and my plans.

There is a lack of community as has been pointed out - but I think that depends on where you live and who your friends are. I was always of the opinion that if I'm going to move to another country then I will really live there. Eat the food, listen to the music, embrace the culture (nor forgetting my own of course). I think if you need to have Irish friends, Irish food, Irish music and can't be immersed in something different - then you should live in Ireland.

The weather is great in certain parts of the country. I'm down in Florida with work at the minute and the weather is muggy but warm and sunny all the time. The West coast, especially California, is a great spot for year round good weather  -when the sun is shining it's hard not to be happy - unless you are a miserable baldy Lurgan man (ha come on Eamonn!) Seattle is a great area, good weather for the past few years. Not a place we could stay long term. Thankfully we live in a very rural area about 10 mins from any town.

Life is what you make it - wherever you land. I just find life easier here money wise.

Jesus I wouldn't have said that anymore. How long have you been away? I would say that attitude you talk about in the US has pierced through in the last 10-15 years in Ireland. Try speaking to anyone working for a professional private company in Ireland and they are certainly expected to work hard.

I'm very lucky where I'm at here at home I work for a local company but we operate European wide and you're expected to work for everything you get and everything these days is incentivised so you have to perform to make any decent money!!

I haven't been away that long screenexile and I gotta tell u the attitude here is completely different. We bought a house and when shopping for a mortgage people were calling us Sundays and everything to get our business, that would not happen in Ireland.

Don't get me wrong Irish people work hard maybe even harder than Americans per hour worked, but when you leave its for the most part left at the gate.

[gawa316]

Is the annual holiday allowance really 2 weeks until long term service?

I think it depends on the job. I get 20 days holiday plus 6 sick days and public holidays. I've only been with this company for 8 months and my previous company 7 years. In the other place I had 15 days plus 6 sick days and public holidays.

I get 14 days and not sure about the sick leave as never really take it.

As for moving here, like muppet said if its just you defo go for it.

I'm here nearly 3 years now. Moved out to central California with the yank wife and 2 cubs, since added a cuttie. It was definitely hard at the start but I got sorted with fulltime benefited employment after 3 months. Pay is good and cost of living ain't too bad. Just bought a house with a pool for not too much at all. Can't really comment on education as my oldest will be starting kindergarten next month.

Major thing I miss is family and friends. The oul pair have been over a couple of times but they aren't getting a younger and it's that feeling that what if something happens and I don't get to spend more time with them.

The community thing is awful. When we first moved not one of my wives friends invited us around for dinner or anything like that. If it was the other way around it would be the complete opposite.

We have a pretty good family support network which has also helped.

[Rois]

Major thing I miss is family and friends. The oul pair have been over a couple of times but they aren't getting a younger and it's that feeling that what if something happens and I don't get to spend more time with them.

That's really the main thing stopping us. Folks are nearly 70, though a very youthful 70.
The job offer I got would be about 170% of my NI salary, and that's before bonus. Holidays are 20 plus 10 public, and you often get the Friday before public holidays fans a goodwill gesture, plus you can buy 6 extra. My firm is no 79 or so in "best companies to work for" from Forbes so good enough by US standards. Even without husband working think we could have a good standard of living.
Downside: have to work pretty long hours (often do that here anyway) and travel around the states. 7 hours from home.

[JimStynes]

For lifestyle I would chose Australia over America. The Aussies have a great work life balance. Australia's so bloody far away though.

[bennydorano]

What's with the US sick days thing? Say you have 5 sick days, you get a bad flu and are off for a fortnight ill or even something serious and you're off for a month or two; just no pay??

[redzone]

Major thing I miss is family and friends. The oul pair have been over a couple of times but they aren't getting a younger and it's that feeling that what if something happens and I don't get to spend more time with them.

That's really the main thing stopping us. Folks are nearly 70, though a very youthful 70.
The job offer I got would be about 170% of my NI salary, and that's before bonus. Holidays are 20 plus 10 public, and you often get the Friday before public holidays fans a goodwill gesture, plus you can buy 6 extra. My firm is no 79 or so in "best companies to work for" from Forbes so good enough by US standards. Even without husband working think we could have a good standard of living.
Downside: have to work pretty long hours (often do that here anyway) and travel around the states. 7 hours from home.

Money is not everything. Besides its what u can safe not how much u earn

[Rois]

Money is not everything. Besides its what u can safe not how much u earn

100% correct that money isn't everything - that's my point in describing all the good things about an open job offer - while there are great opportunities for earning (and saving!) more in the US, there are significant downsides, none of which are related to money or savings or earnings or whatever. 

[J70]

What's with the US sick days thing? Say you have 5 sick days, you get a bad flu and are off for a fortnight ill or even something serious and you're off for a month or two; just no pay??

Usually you have to use up your holiday time or else take unpaid leave under the Family Medical Leave Act. It varies though. In my last job you got x weeks sick time, then it dropped to half pay for a while, and then it was unpaid. But I couldn't use sick time to stay home or go to the doctor/hospital with a sick family member, whereas in my current job I can. And there's plenty working who get no paid sick leave at all.

The US can be quite harsh when it comes to stuff like holiday and sick time allowance.

[gawa316]

What's with the US sick days thing? Say you have 5 sick days, you get a bad flu and are off for a fortnight ill or even something serious and you're off for a month or two; just no pay??

Usually you have to use up your holiday time or else take unpaid leave under the Family Medical Leave Act. It varies though. In my last job you got x weeks sick time, then it dropped to half pay for a while, and then it was unpaid. But I couldn't use sick time to stay home or go to the doctor/hospital with a sick family member, whereas in my current job I can. And there's plenty working who get no paid sick leave at all.

The US can be quite harsh when it comes to stuff like holiday and sick time allowance.

Add in paternity leave as well.

I was entities to no full pay but couldve taken 6 weeks on half pay. Sat in a meeting for over an hour with HR going through my options. Then at the end she said you can take sick leave on full pay if you want. I was like eh yes why didn't you tell me that at the start!

[Muck Savage]

I moved to CA in 2000, young free and single looking to travel before I settled back in Ireland, the Plan anyway. At the time I have a good job as an engineer with a very good Semiconductor company and was trying to break into the county team (was in the squad). First number of years were great, money, weather, sports, social life was good and all that. Never really felt home sick unless the local club were playing championship. Met my to be wife, got married and decided in 2007 to head back to Ireland to be closer to family - she was European so wanted to move back also. She settled in very well but I struggled at times and other times was glad to be back.

Then late 2009 I got a job offer from a different company in the valley to head back - at the time I had a good job in Ireland. We thought long and hard about it and decided to head back across the water. This time with a 1 year old and a 6 month pregnant wife. It was easier to settle back in here even though I started in a new company and new job. Now we have a 7 & a 5 year. Both are in school, friends and the young lad started soccer last year so I now find myself hearing a bunch of 5 year olds around a field. I really can't see myself going back in the next 15 years now that they have put down roots.

From an objective point of view comparing Ireland to California (as everything varies from state to state) there are lots of advantages with being here with kids. There are a huge amount of facilities for after school programs from art etc. for the more studious kid to 50M pools in most High schools for the more active kids. The health system as long as you are working and have insurance is great, school system is good depending on where you live, weather is great, and overall services are easy to access. Wages are definitely higher here but on the flip side you have higher living expenses, but overall I would say I have more spending power after bills are paid than when in Ireland, we are a single income family.

The negatives, expense of heading home, for a family of four you'll drop about $7k for go home during the summer. Community, I struggle with the fact that neighbors will walk past you into their house without even a nod, so you can't call the grand parents over to look after the kids for an evening. Everything has to be arranged, even kids "play dates".Maybe in other areas you have to worry about guns/kid grabbers etc. but not here. And last a pint of Guinness, I think every pub waters them down here. Hope this helps someone thinking about the move, PM me if you have questions.

[J70]

I'm interested to hear from the Irish in America, and indeed young people (and old who may have returned from U.S.) how they would compare the way of life.
I've visited the states many times on holiday, but always wondered what it's like to live there (legally), would the current Irish say if gauntlet was laid down, it's better? They're happier and earning more? Or is it a case of that they can't come home due to VISA issues etc. and to any Irish that have returned, did they enjoy it but now that they are back home and in employment, they feel that they're better off....

I have a degree to my name and considered it a few times but never took the plunge in case all went wrong 

I moved right after finishing grad school. Took me about a few months to get into a proper career (lots of temping and other stuff at first), but once I got in the door, I've been advancing nicely since. Will never move back, especially as the better half is from the western US.

Lifestyle depends utterly on where you live. I live in NYC, so traffic is insane (the standard of driving too!), its expensive as f**k, and we find it fairly tight even with two fairly decent salaries coming in (childcare is well upwards of $2K/month for two young children!). Everyone remaining healthy and so on, things will improve though. Great things about NYC are the food, the landmarks and the access to whatever element of culture interests you (in my case world famous museums and so on), and the beach and even mountains are fairly close by too. Most elsewhere in the country, you get less of the iconic cultural stuff, but your salary, while likely lower, goes much, much, further in terms of what you can buy with it.

Don't miss a whole pile about Ireland at this point, especially as drinking mates and so on are all married with families and own interests and we wouldn't be seeing a whole pile of each other anyway. That I've missed seeing the McGuinness-era Donegal live in the flesh is one big regret.

[J70]

What's with the US sick days thing? Say you have 5 sick days, you get a bad flu and are off for a fortnight ill or even something serious and you're off for a month or two; just no pay??

Usually you have to use up your holiday time or else take unpaid leave under the Family Medical Leave Act. It varies though. In my last job you got x weeks sick time, then it dropped to half pay for a while, and then it was unpaid. But I couldn't use sick time to stay home or go to the doctor/hospital with a sick family member, whereas in my current job I can. And there's plenty working who get no paid sick leave at all.

The US can be quite harsh when it comes to stuff like holiday and sick time allowance.

Add in paternity leave as well.

I was entities to no full pay but couldve taken 6 weeks on half pay. Sat in a meeting for over an hour with HR going through my options. Then at the end she said you can take sick leave on full pay if you want. I was like eh yes why didn't you tell me that at the start!

My first kid, I had to use holiday allowance. Second, I'd changed jobs and was allowed sick time.

[The Subbie]

What's the story with healthcare in the US?

we've all heard the horror stories of poor unfortunates getting hurt on holidays and ending up owing $500k.

But when you live there (legally) how much is your Bupa/VHI or equivalent?

Here in Australia we pay just under $500Aus per month for private healthcare and its not too bad.

For instance few weeks ago I had a bad back, in & out of casualty in 2 hours ( it happened on a Sat evening so GP not open) prescription issued, booked in for an MRI the following week and in the process of getting it sorted.

Dental work no problem, not too much to pay along with your healthcare plan, I paid $125 for two fillings.

Physio/chiropractor etc is approx $55/hour with your healthcare plan.

I always wondered how much this kind of thing was stateside.