Percentage of Americans planning to move abroad triples 14 November 2011 14:58
According to a new survey by America Wave SA, the percentage of US Citizens planning to move overseas has tripled “dramatically” to 2.4% from 0.8% in the previous 2009 survey … and more or less doubled on the 1.4% figure in 2007. Bob Adams, president and CEO of America Wave SA, has overseen all nine of the surveys on American relocation since their inception in 2005, and told OPP that the trend ins not surprising. “The simple fact is that it has never been easier or cheaper to relocate than it is today,” he says. “And the American middle class has taken a terrible hit in this period of financial crisis. Why should we be surprised that they are looking wherever they can for a better life?”
“In today’s highly polarised, sometimes poisonous, social, economic, and political atmosphere in the US, there is a clear tendency to see anything and everything new as either a huge step forward or a looming disaster, more often than not the latter. It is no different with trends in American relocation outside the US.” Many Americans view Adam’s research with disbelief. “One of the first things I noticed back in 2007 when I first wrote about our findings,” he told OPP, “were common reactions such as … How could this be true? Why haven’t we heard about it before? Why would they want to live anywhere else?” Calling the increase in numbers planning to move overseas as “dramatic,” Adams goes on to say it is young adults who are the most interested in leaving the country. “There’s no doubt about it in my mind, the lousy economy and lack of good jobs are the primary underlying factors in this growth. The 25-34 age group has always been a leader in relocation, with the 18-24 group very much partners. This is also no surprise. These are the adults most familiar with the Internet and far more likely to have travelled outside the US than their parents. We are all travelling to more places.” Adams says that the 2.4% wanting to move overseas “translates into nearly 3,000,000 households … or more than 6,000,000 Americans. And many of them are middle-class Americans have become very active in investment and speculation over the last few decades.”Of those who are in the planning stages for relocation, the statistics show two dramatic shifts when divided by age group, he adds:“The first is that all age groups, except those 18-24, whose numbers collapsed and were too small to appear in this sample as had been the case with those over 70 in 2009, have jumped above the comparable results in 2007 and 2009.”“The second, even more obvious, is that those 25-34 have risen to an astonishing level of 5.1%, roughly one in 20. That is an unprecedented upward shift from all our surveys for all age groups.”“I would suggest,” says Adams, “that those who are willingly to pack their bags and leave their home nation are also those who are the “risk-takers” and include many of the most creative people in US society. They may only be 5.1% of their age group, but their percentage of those in their age group with this sort of motivation and outlook is likely to be much, much higher. No nation is well-served if these are the people who choose to leave. They are among the most energetic and productive segments of any society, anywhere.”“However, this age group is also one of the most ‘globalised.’ They do not sit and reminisce about the “good old days”; they are looking and working to create their own “good new days” and that requires dealing with today’s reality and trends.”  For a full breakdown of all the America Wave results go to:http://www.americawave.com/2011/09/28/why-are-people-leaving/