Gen Z Are Giving Up On The UK And Moving Abroad

A new report by The TEFL Academy suggests Gen Z and young Millennials are no longer waiting around for life in Britain to improve.

There is a growing feeling among young people in the UK that the maths simply is not mathing.

You work hard, everything costs too much, rent eats your income alive, and even doing all the “right” things no longer guarantees a decent quality of life. So instead of waiting patiently for things to get better, many young Britons are looking elsewhere.

Leaving the UK is no longer a dramatic life decision reserved for the especially brave or restless. It is becoming a rational career move.

According to the findings, 76% of British citizens emigrating are now under 35. That is a remarkable number, but emotionally, it makes complete sense. Less tax, less onerous laws and far better prospects.

Young people are leaving the UK younger

For years, moving abroad had a certain image. You did it in your thirties after becoming disillusioned, or after a breakup, or because you wanted to “find yourself” in Australia. Now people are going much earlier.

The report says departures among 20 to 29-year-olds reached around 130,000 to 140,000 by June 2025, well above pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, emigration among people in their early thirties has dropped.

That suggests something quite specific. Young people are not waiting around anymore. They are making the move earlier, before they get too stuck, too tired, too financially trapped, or too emotionally attached to the idea that Britain might eventually reward their effort.

The UK is starting to feel like a bad deal

This is the bit that will surprise absolutely nobody under 35.

The survey found that:

• 86% said UK wages do not reflect the cost of living
• 79% said they feel constant financial pressure living in the UK
• 54% agreed that staying in the UK could hold back their long-term potential

This is the real story. People are not leaving because they are flaky, entitled, or romanticising life abroad. They are leaving because the UK increasingly feels like a place where you can do everything right and still feel behind.

There is something especially bleak about being ambitious in a country where your ambition mostly goes towards surviving.

This is not about “escaping”

For many people, moving abroad is not an emotional impulse. It is strategy.

That is what stood out to me in this research. The people surveyed are not fantasising about eating mangoes on a beach and never working again. They are thinking practically.

They want a better quality of life. They want stronger earning potential. They want work that leads somewhere. They want to feel that being young still comes with possibility, not just constant low-grade panic.

Apparently, the most common reason people gave for moving abroad was improving their overall quality of life. Better work-life balance ranked highly too.

That says a lot.

Young people are not asking for luxury. They are asking for a life that feels livable.

Asia is at the top of the list

Among those considering relocating, 47% said Asia was their preferred destination.

That makes sense when you think about it. In many parts of Asia, the cost of living is lower, there is strong demand for English teachers, and your money can stretch further than it does in London, Manchester, or basically anywhere with an overpriced flat and a Pret nearby.

Europe came in second at 26%, followed by Australia and New Zealand at 17%.

So no, it is not just a vague fantasy of “moving abroad”. People have actual destinations in mind. Places where life looks more spacious, more affordable, and potentially more fun.

Teaching abroad is becoming the gateway

One of the more interesting parts of the report is how teaching English abroad is being framed.

For graduates and young professionals, TEFL is presented as one of the most accessible ways to build an international life. You can qualify online, find work in multiple countries, earn an income, and get global experience without needing endless savings or a highly specialised career.

In other words, it offers something that Britain increasingly does not: a way in.

Not necessarily to your forever life, but to a different chapter. And sometimes that is all people need.

Britain has a serious vibe problem

There is also something harder to measure, but very real, which is that Britain has become spiritually draining.

The country feels tired. Defensive. Overpriced. Weirdly resigned.

It keeps asking young people to lower their expectations while offering almost nothing that feels expansive or exciting in return.

And once people realise they do not actually have to stay and put up with it, something shifts.

You start to see leaving not as failure, but as self-respect.

Not as betrayal, but as discernment.

I think this report captures something a lot of people have been feeling for a while but have not yet said out loud:

Britain is losing its appeal to its own young people.

If 76% of emigrating Britons are under 35, that is not a personal problem. That is a national one.

It means the country is no longer convincing its young that staying is worth it.

And really, why should they stay?

To rent forever?
To work constantly?
To call survival a career?

No thanks.

If I were 24 again, looking at the state of things now, I would probably leave too.