BackInTheGame78
Moderator
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2014
- Messages
- 16,424
- Reaction score
- 18,453
I've often heard that people in the EU are "better off" than their counterparts in the US in terms of affordability, living standards, etc.
However, there is an important thing to understand. While this is generally true, the reason is not because it's less expensive to live in the EU, it's actually MORE expensive. The reason is because the average person in the EU consumes far less than the average American in almost every aspect of their daily existence.
Houses are much smaller.
People either have 1 car or no cars and use public transportation rather than having 2 cars which is standard in the US.
Cars are generally much smaller and distances to travel are much less as cities are more walkable in general.
They generally have less "stuff".
So yes, while the living standard is higher, it's not an actual true comparison because you are comparing the cost of less with the cost of more.
If you did an apples to apples comparison and factored in the same size houses, having multiple cars, etc as the average American does, the costs would be much higher in the EU than the US.
Most things are more expensive there...fuel, utilities, parking, etc.
Healthcare is mostly free but they also pay much higher tax rates and get much lower incomes than the US for the same job, so Americans paying health insurance for the most part is a wash unless you are exceedingly sickly.
So while they may "live better" than people in the US, they also are doing so mainly because they have lower consumption thresholds and if the consumption thresholds would be equivalent they would be more expensive to much more expensive by comparison.
Not saying one is better than the other and in many cases people are actually happier with less to worry about...just saying it's a different comparison.
However, there is an important thing to understand. While this is generally true, the reason is not because it's less expensive to live in the EU, it's actually MORE expensive. The reason is because the average person in the EU consumes far less than the average American in almost every aspect of their daily existence.
Houses are much smaller.
People either have 1 car or no cars and use public transportation rather than having 2 cars which is standard in the US.
Cars are generally much smaller and distances to travel are much less as cities are more walkable in general.
They generally have less "stuff".
So yes, while the living standard is higher, it's not an actual true comparison because you are comparing the cost of less with the cost of more.
If you did an apples to apples comparison and factored in the same size houses, having multiple cars, etc as the average American does, the costs would be much higher in the EU than the US.
Most things are more expensive there...fuel, utilities, parking, etc.
Healthcare is mostly free but they also pay much higher tax rates and get much lower incomes than the US for the same job, so Americans paying health insurance for the most part is a wash unless you are exceedingly sickly.
So while they may "live better" than people in the US, they also are doing so mainly because they have lower consumption thresholds and if the consumption thresholds would be equivalent they would be more expensive to much more expensive by comparison.
Not saying one is better than the other and in many cases people are actually happier with less to worry about...just saying it's a different comparison.
