I couldn’t afford to raise my son in Britain, so I moved to Mauritius for the dream life
A mother-of-one who moved her young family to Mauritius for a “better lifestyle” has said she would “have to win the lottery to move back”.
Annabel Fenwick Elliott, 37, didn’t want to put her son Jasper, two, in childcare and quickly realized she ‘could never afford’ her good lifestyle in Britain.
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At the same time, her German-born husband, Julius Scholtes, 31, was unable to obtain a British visa.
So traveling over 9,000 kilometers to East Africa in September 2023 for a new life with less work and daily trips to the beach just made sense.
“I don’t think you can have a good life in Britain unless you have a significant amount of money,” says Annabel.
‘You need so much to live in a decent house.
“I’d have to win the lottery to get back.”
The family lives in Poste de Flacq and pays a similar price for a four-bedroom house with a swimming pool as Annabel did for her ‘small’ studio in London.
The one-room house cost her £1,200 in mortgage and bills – and that was before the cost of living crisis hit.
Annabel moved to a friend in Essex after Jasper’s birth and wanted to “settle in Britain initially”.
But she had to move abroad when helicopter pilot Julius couldn’t get a visa for Britain, despite having a British-born son.
The family initially moved to Iceland in 2022 before moving to Mauritius for a job in September 2023.
They fell in love with their home then and have never looked back.
“We have a big, big house,” says Annabel.
“I never thought I could live in such a place.
‘In England this would be a house worth more than £1 million.
What help can parents get for childcare costs?
CHILD CARE can be a costly affair. Here’s how to get help.
- 30 hours of free childcare – Parents of three and four year olds can request 30 hours of free childcare per week.
To qualify you must work at least 16 hours a week at the national living or minimum wage and earn less than £100,000 a year. - Tax credits – For children under 20, some families can get help with childcare costs.
- Tax-free childcare – Available for working families and self-employed people. For every £8 you put into government, you get an extra £2.
“Everything is so much cheaper.”
Thanks to the cheap cost of living, she can afford to stay at Jasper’s house – and work from home as a freelance journalist, while still renting out her studio in London.
“I didn’t want to take Jasper to daycare,” she says.
‘All my friends had to put their babies in daycare at the age of nine or ten months.
‘The idea of working full-time if you don’t want to be away from your baby – just to pay for raising them – is wrong.
“I would have had so much mom guilt.”
The average cost of sending a child under two to nursery in Britain is £300 per week full-time – an eye-watering £14,030 per year.
For part-time toddlers in childcare, the average cost is £148.63 per week, or £7,210 per year.
Annabel believes that being able to afford to raise a baby “shouldn’t be too much to ask”.
She adds: ‘I don’t see how we could have a good lifestyle in Britain.
“I feel so happy.”
