Would anyone recommend emigrating to France.?

Question

HI,

Would anyone recommend emigrating to France and if so what part would be suitable as i have two children ages 12 and 9. Also do you think it better for them to go to an international english school or put them into a state school and neither of them speak french.

Thankyou

Answer 1

That is a question only you can answer, but consider this. If you become a French citizen you and your children get free health care and their health care system is considered much better than the U.S. Also if you need time off for medical reasons you get it PAID and you have unlimited sick days.

Gosh government run health care sounds awful doesn't it

Answer 2

No. a big no.

I am sorry i am talking with experience since i am an expat in France. I came here already having a job and for a certain period. But if you don't have a job and if you hope finding a job in France this is really a difficult subject. Even French people are going to countries like US,UK , Canada,China,Australia...

There is high unemployment.(13-15%) Specially with today's politics regard to the foreigner is not really great. Not knowing French is a HUGE obstacle. Even if you know French they make comments about your accent etc...

Even15m2 flats cost at least 500 Euro in Paris depending on the location.

So i tell you with today's conditions i would never come to France.

About the health care previous answerer talked about: If you don't have a job you won't be having what they call mutuelle. And social security alone doesn't cover big part of the cost. So as i said before if you don't have a job you will have really very very hard time.

xiberotar: Health care system is not the best in the world. State hospitals is a mess. They forgot me at the urgency room with my appendicitis at a hospital in Paris.

I was even given a medicine that shouldn't be given for an illness like mine. I can tell a lot here. You go to the dentist. Social Security pays 135 Euro for an operation of 500 Euro.  If you don't have mutuelle you have to pay the rest from your pocket. How will you do it if you don't have a job? This person is coming with two kids.

Ok, i can understand that you are trying to show that your country is nice etc... but the truth is really not like this.

I have a lot of friends from Denmark,Italy,Spain,US who came to live for a year and then turned back to their countries because of a lot of things.

It may be nice for touristic visits but for a foreigner it is not kindergarten.

Answer 3

It depends on your personal preferences, your vision of your own future, and you individual possiblities. There are also certain long range concerns about which reasonable minds may disagree.

It appears you are simply a person looking to escape your current environment who has not made any partiuclar preparation for such a move.

You will not likely be able to get a job as you do not speak French. Unless you are an EU citizen (which you haven't suggested you are) you will not legally be able to work in any case. and even if these two problems are overlooked the fact is that unemployment has hovered between 9 and 10% for a  very long time now and is not likely to change anytime soon.

France does have a very workable system of government sponsored Health Insurance but then it also has the highest taxes in Western Europe. Whether it has "the best" medical care is a question that could be answered in many ways(Whether care is good has nothing at all to do with what it costs. If price is no object then care in the USA is almost certainly the best in the world.)

No one can doubt that France provides a far higher level of services to its citizens. The price is both those high taxes and the surrender of a certain degree of individual liberty. Clearly, many people have no trouble paying either of these prices. You may view it as you choose. Certainly the number of young French entrepreneurs who have left France to take up residence in the UK and Ireland suggests not even all Frenchmen are happy with the system.

The lifestyles of the French differ sharply. The American notion of devoting oneself to ones work, laboring long hours, and foregoing vacations is not well regarded in France.

Indeed, much French annoyance at all "Les Anglais" is the notion that it is somehow unfair for them to be working so hard. If only the Americans/ Brits/ Irish would get a bit lazier then maybe President Sarkozy would stop all that talk about working more than 35 hours a week.

Personally, that is why I usually vacation in France since it is a country in which many people seem to be perpetually on vacation and have perfected the art of just laying about.

If you are thinking about taking your children to live in France you ought to also consider the potential for serious social disruption in the future. France is wrestling with the problems of an intractable and violent Muslim minority whose recent actions have been described by a French police official as constituting "urban guerilla warfare."  This problem is not unique to France but is common in all of Western Europe. So far, I have not seen anything to convince me that this problem will not grow and that perpetual violent civil unrest become the norm. (This is THE reason I decided not to move to France when I retired 11 years ago.)

Finally, there are people who are happy as expatriates without regard to what foreign land they settle in.

There are others, myself included, who wonder if, even in the best of circumstances, and in the most pleasant of surroundings (and Paris certainly qualifies as one of the most pleasant places on Earth) whether we would be entirely comfortable in a land not our own.

Although I love Paris with its glorious architecture, rich culture, and sophistication I also love the woodlands and pastures on my ranch in East Texas.  I don't know what, if anything, will call to you from your homeland but be prepared to for it to whisper to you from afar. So before you make any irrevocable commitment be very sure of what you do.

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Answer 4

There is 7,8% unemployment not 15%!!!

The health care system is the best in the world.

Unemployement do not concern economic, financial, tourism sectors, no problem if ou are an ingineer for example.

Why not south-west? it's really the best for children