[skissane]

My brother has lived in all three of the US, UK and Australia, doing non-professional jobs (construction, agriculture, gardening, cellar hand in the wine industry).

He didn't last long in London – he was working as an unskilled labourer in the construction industry, the pay was terrible, and the basic necessities of life were so expensive, he could hardly afford to eat. He'd worked similar jobs in Australia and got paid a lot more, and found life more bearable.

Some countries pay high because everything is expensive. Some countries pay low because everything is cheap. The UK seems to be a place where people get paid low because everything is expensive.

[fnordpiglet]

Absolutely true. But saying UK doctors are underpaid because they’re paid half of a US doctor while ignoring everyone is paid half of a US person for everything is disingenuous. Everyone in the UK is inexplicably underpaid, and everything is expensive.

What was your brothers take on the US?

[skissane]

> What was your brothers take on the US?

He lived in a small town in Oregon with his first wife. While they weren’t paid a lot, life wasn’t expensive either. I think he would have stayed except the marriage didn’t work out. Obviously that isn’t an entirely fair comparison to London, but I still think the pay-to-expenses ratio would be more favourable in small-town US than small-town UK

[fnordpiglet]

Yeah skilled labor in construction fields in the US can be very well paid, and there’s a massive demand and short supply.