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From another website……..very interesting
Why do EU countries feel so much richer than the US?
Don Emerson
Don Emerson, former Union Member for 25 Years
Answered Nov 21
My guess is that someone who has traveled in both the US and the EU, will observe considerable differences in the prosperity of the average citizen. They will also observe differences in the amenities available in each society.Some examples:
Europeans can maintain better health than we can in the US. They have access to Universal Healthcare that is affordable. We in the US do not.
Wages in EU countries, for their Working Class, are generally higher in real terms, than they are in the US. So the average citizen in the EU is as a matter of fact, more prosperous than his US counterpart. The EU Worker can afford a decent lifestyle on his wages. The average US Worker is loaded with personal debt which is required for any semblance of what used to be considered a US “Middle Class” standard of living. European Workers have pensions that will allow them to comfortably retire at a relatively early age (late 50s to early 60s). Most US workers have no pensions, and no prospects for a comfortable retirement. Indeed, US workers are constantly threatened with the loss of their Social Security stipend.
EU workers work fewer hours, have more vacation time, more holidays, and greater sick leave and personal leave options. US workers spend much more time at work, have less time off for sick leave and vacation days and holidays.
Poverty rates in the EU are lower than they are in the US. In the US, 20% of our children live in poverty, and the overall poverty rate is 17%. Our street corners are full of homeless people with cardboard signs.
Most EU cities and communities have excellent, state of the art, mass transit systems which allow efficient, and inexpensive commuting. In the US most commuting is done by personal automobile, because our mass transit is woefully underdeveloped and inadequate.
Europeans are generally better educated than US citizens. This is because their higher education is much more affordable than it is in the US.
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