East Midlands: Eight out of ten young people happy to stay in UK

The survey asked 16-to-21 year-olds from Nottingham, Leicester and Derby whether they saw their long term futures in the UK and whether they had considered a life abroad. 80% of those surveyed said they saw their futures in Great Britain, whilst only 60% said they had ever considered life abroad: the lowest percentage in the UK. Throughout the rest of the UK over 70% of 16-to-21 year-olds have considered moving abroad.

83% of East Midland young people thinking about a move said they were very happy with the quality of life in the East Midlands, much higher than the national average of 45%.

Out of those that wanted to leave warmer weather (58.3%), different cultures (41.7%) and less rain (33.3%) were voted as their main motivations.

The young people who took part in the survey by removal experts Robinsons were asked where they would rather live; both Canada and The United States were the two most popular destinations for young people from the East Midlands: each receiving 42% of votes.

In the last few months there has been an ever increasing focus in the media regarding the way young people feel about their futures, and these statistics highlight the younger generation’s opinion of life in the UK, particularly outside of London.

Ian Brown, Head of International Moving at Robinsons said: “Although young people seem happy in certain areas, It’s understandable that so many young people have thought about leaving the UK: many are struggling financially, have difficulty finding jobs and feel they have they have fewer opportunities in general. Conversely, there are a large number of countries across the world with great standards of living that are very welcoming to Brits. That means leaving our shores is a very tempting option for many young people.

Here at Robinsons, our data supports this and we’re seeing increasing numbers of younger people contacting us about relocating overseas, with locations such as America and Australia being particularly popular.”