Is moving to the UK for a better life still worth it?

The UK has always been seen by many immigrants as the place of hopes and dreams, the place you come to finally make a worthwhile living, but is that still the case? Although many immigrants are still entering the UK from all over the world, many of those already here are choosing to leave. 

Over the last decade, we have seen the economy crumble, quality of life deteriorate and opportunities for career growth decline. As a result, many immigrants are choosing other countries to fulfil their dreams. Not to mention the already acclimated immigrants going back to their home countries, which previously would have been considered worse of in comparison to the UK. 

Take Poland, for example, in the 2000s millions of Polish people immigrated to the UK in hopes of finding a better life but now thousands are returning home to Poland where the economy is flourishing. In 2022, net migration in the UK was at a record high with 764,000 but at the end of 2024 this number severely dropped to 431,000 as revealed by the Office for National Statistics.

The UK used to be one of the fastest growers for working-age incomes among developed countries, leading up to 2007, but eventually it became one of the slowest. The UK’s growth from 2007 to 2019 was at a mere 6%, ranking it below the US (12%) and Germany (16%). 

In 2022, the economy started declining even more, with the GDP per capita dropping by 4.2% in just 2 years. This, combined with rising inflation, has resulted in the average working person earning less in 2022 than they did back in 2008. So it seems as though the hopes of a better life that people are chasing in the UK are becoming further and further out of reach. 

With a deteriorating economy comes the cost of living crisis - since late 2021, UK households have experienced a drastic fall in living standards. This was as a result of several factors, including a rise in unemployment, inflation, and a drop in household disposable income.

According to Loughborough’s Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) in 2022-23, 24 million people were below the Minimum Income Standard. 

While people are making less or have less money to spare, the cost of literally everything is going up - from food to gas and electricity - and at a much faster rate than ever before. The Bank of England found that between 1990 and 2020 the price for a pint of milk went up by 17p, meanwhile “the Office for National Statistics found that in September 2021 a pint of milk was 43p - but a year and a half later, in March 2023 the average price of a pint of milk was 70p.”

All these things considered have resulted in many people choosing to leave the UK, even Brits born and bred here. “ In the year ending June 2022, around 471,000 British people emigrated to other countries, while up to June 2023, this number rose to 508,000 Brits leaving the UK.”

Essentially, people are looking for a better quality of life, higher paying wages, a thriving economy and let’s be honest, better weather. For many European immigrants, Brexit also played a big role once travelling to and from Europe became more of a hassle than before. 

In reality, it seems as though moving to the UK ‘for a better life’ just doesn’t have the same appeal as it used to, for many staying in their home country holds more chance for opportunity than crossing the border to be met with high taxes, low wages, rising inflation and hostile environments.