The 12 most common expat problems

The 12 most common expat problems

We list the 12 most common expat problems. The problems fall into three main areas: relationships, money and culture shock

In the course of last year we used our expat survey to collect advice for expats and your loved ones, the most popular 8 tips that you should know before you go, and 6 things you shouldn't tell an expat.

Here we list the 12 most common expat problems to Internations' Wider Expat insider survey.

The respondents- 14,000 out of 1.9 million international members worldwide-named problems that roughly fall into three main problem areas: relationships, money and cultural shock. We discuss these topics below before we see the 12 problems ourselves.

The 12 most common expat problems

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relationships

The biggest problem for expats is the loss of your personal support networks. Over half of the respondents (52 %) stated that this was the biggest problem that she had met and called it one of the greatest challenges to find new friends in a new country. Romantic relationships also suffer from this, since 38 % of the single respondents say that expat life makes a romantic relationship more difficult.

The internal internal and free of charge mentioned above has global membership and organizes over 4,000 events all year round. It is a great place to find new friends or meet people in a similar situation.

If you move with a spouse, face your own problems. Some fear that your partner or family does not seem to be happy with the decision. A traveling spouse can have given a career and have suffered income losses, which can affect the relationship dynamics.

A large part of the traveling spouses (65 %) is dissatisfied with the financial dependence on your partner and 45 % are concerned about the loss of financial independence.

Other factors can also have a negative impact: 52 % of traveling spouses indicate that their partner always works for many hours, 51 % are expected to organize all practical aspects of their lives abroad, and 27 % feel discriminated against on their gender. A problem that occurs much more often in women.

money

40 percent of all respondents are worried about their future finances. It is not surprising that this number is increasing when its new country has to struggle with economic problems (this number increases to 71 %in Greece).

Access to pension and other investment programs can be interrupted or impaired when working abroad and is a common financial problem with expats. The respondents also take care of the expenditure: 30 % of the expatts surveyed report that they lose money when they move abroad and work.

Further financial problems are difficulties in adapting to a new work environment and the lack of a professional network. In Japan, this problem is particularly widespread, where almost half of all respondents (48 %) indicate that they have to deal with the local business environment.

Culture shock

Although less prominent than the areas mentioned above, a quarter of all expats expressed concerns about adapting to the culture of their new country. Difficulties in learning the new language were perceived as a burden, a problem addressed by 26 % of all respondents.

meanwhile 22 % said that cultural change was a larger shock than they expected, 21 % said that they were fed up with the expat life, while smaller but still significant 10 % said that moving abroad was bad for their mental health.

Download the full expat insider report 2015.

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