What are the most shocking facts about the UK? Th..

2 yrs

What are the most shocking facts about the UK?
The UK is a poor country.

I grew up in South Africa. At age 28 (last year) I moved to the UK without ever having visited before.

In South Africa (and perhaps many other ‘third world’ countries) the UK has a reputation for being a ‘rich’ country and my assumption was that people live comfortably and in general wouldn’t have an issue affording everyday living costs.

However this is not the case. The UK is not a rich country. It’s a poor country with a strong currency.

When I left the airport, what struck me immediately was houses like this (I took these photos):

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I know what my response to this would have been if I’d read this post - Obviously there are poor neighbourhoods in any country. But the real surprise is not that these neighbourhoods exist, but that they make up the majority of UK neighbourhoods - At least 80% of the neighbourhoods in every city I’ve visited look similar to this. Especially in smaller towns/cities, to my eyes it seems even more than that.

If you don’t believe me I’d like to challenge you to use Google Maps, pick any UK city and drop a street view pin randomly anywhere in the suburbs. I can almost guarantee you’ll see:

Trash somewhere on the street/pavement
Weeds growing out of the pavement
Houses with paint peeling or a rotting roof
It doesn’t seem like typical traits of a wealthy region. Now do the same in Denmark or Netherlands and you’re almost guaranteed not to see any of these. (PS. It would be cool if you drop your google maps links in the comments and we can see how many times my theory holds true)

After a while in the UK, observing daily life, watching the news etc. I realised that people here really do struggle with cost of living. Electricity is extremely expensive - while the salaries in the UK are perhaps 50–100% higher than in South Africa (for skilled work), the electricity cost is 300–400% higher. It’s a similar story when it comes to food, petrol and other daily expenses, especially rent.

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I know what my response to this would have been if I’d read this post - Obviously there are poor neighbourhoods in any country. But the real surprise is not that these neighbourhoods exist, but that they make up the majority of UK neighbourhoods - At least 80% of the neighbourhoods in every city I’ve visited look similar to this. Especially in smaller towns/cities, to my eyes it seems even more than that. 
 
If you don’t believe me I’d like to challenge you to use Google Maps, pick any UK city and drop a street view pin randomly anywhere in the suburbs. I can almost guarantee you’ll see: 
 
Trash somewhere on the street/pavement 
Weeds growing out of the pavement 
Houses with paint peeling or a rotting roof 
It doesn’t seem like typical traits of a wealthy region. Now do the same in Denmark or Netherlands and you’re almost guaranteed not to see any of these. (PS. It would be cool if you drop your google maps links in the comments and we can see how many times my theory holds true) 
 
After a while in the UK, observing daily life, watching the news etc. I realised that people here really do struggle with cost of living. Electricity is extremely expensive - while the salaries in the UK are perhaps 50–100% higher than in South Africa (for skilled work), the electricity cost is 300–400% higher. It’s a similar story when it comes to food, petrol and other daily expenses, especially rent.

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