Millions opting out of rat race

MILLIONS of people around Europe are becoming fed up with the rat race and giving up well-paid jobs and moving home in search of a simple life.

A Datamonitor report entitled Simplicity, estimates that 12 million Europeans have chosen to ‘downshift’ their working life, by choosing to reduce their workload. This is an increase of almost one third since 1997.

The report says these people are often highly successful, typically from high-paying, high-stress jobs, such as lawyers and investment bankers, who have decided they are not entirely satisfied or fulfilled by their jobs. They often have children and want to focus more on family life.