Generation Rent is moving abroad

As a born-and-bred Londoner, the thought of living elsewhere has always repulsed me. And yet now I feel an ever-increasing desire to run for the hills.

Thankfully I’m not alone in feeling restless and dissatisfied. And while my reluctance to live a plane ride away from my parents is keeping me in the country (for now at least), it seems many have no such qualms about abandoning ship. According to research commissioned by immigration law firm Reiss Edwards, Google searches for ‘moving abroad’ were up 1,000 per cent in April, with my generation – the much maligned millennial – apparently leading the charge.

It’s hardly news that millennials – who are currently aged 26 to 41 – have not had the easiest ride. We began entering the workforce at the tail end of the Tony Blair years, just as things were about to get much, much worse. For many of us (myself included), the early part of our careers was marred by the 2007-2008 global financial crisis and the years of recession and instability that followed – which was all a bit of a shock, as we were a generation brought up to believe that we were very special and destined for great things.