More and more young Brits are moving to traditional pensioners’ paradises. Working from home and low real estate prices attract them to coastal cities and attractive landscapes.
The British daily newspaper “The Telegraph” reports on a remarkable development in Great Britain: more and more people under 40 are choosing to live in areas that are traditionally considered retreats for retirees. Young people are increasingly moving into these places, which have so far been dominated by senior citizens.
According to the “Telegraph”, coastal towns and regions with attractive landscapes are the main destinations for this migratory movement. The “hybrid work” that allows working from almost any location and the search for good value for money would attract these young people. Instead of the hustle and bustle of the city, they are looking for the peace and attractiveness of these supposed “pensioners’ paradises”.
Figures from the British Office for Statistics (ONS) support these trends. In 2022, almost a quarter of the newcomers to North Somerset were in their twenties, and another third were between 30 and 40 years old.
The Telegraph cites the town of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset as an example. After ten years in Bristol, 25-year-old Emily Weeden bought an apartment here for the equivalent of around 142,000 euros. There are similar developments in other cities along the Bristol Channel.
The young newcomers would change the cityscape. New bars, cafés and restaurants are opening, co-working spaces are establishing themselves in city centers and renovation plans for historic buildings are being initiated.
According to The Telegraph, this development can also be seen in other parts of the UK, such as Ulverston in Cumbria, Buxton in Derbyshire, Dartmouth in Devon and Folkestone
And the pensioners? Theoretically they could emigrate to Costa Rica. The Central American country is the ultimate retirement paradise, according to International Living’s Global Retirement Index. The climate, nature and also the health system are cited as reasons for this. Portugal follows in second place.
Since the introduction of citizens’ money, there has been the assertion that social assistance is more worthwhile than working. Instead of cutting aid, a significant increase in the minimum wage would make full-time jobs more worthwhile again, at least the SPD is convinced.
How should we deal with the people from Ukraine who end up with us as war refugees? Should they continue to receive immediate citizenship benefits like they do now, or should they initially be treated like asylum seekers? Here the father of a Ukrainian family who has been living in a large northern German city for a year and a half has his say.