I have never been to Europe- in what ways is it better than the US?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Per the America is #1! thread, I am curious- what exactly is better about Europe- I have heard that 1.5 to 3 months vacation is the norm, taking 2 hours for lunch acceptable, healthcare, etc;

But is the quality of life better?

Am I guaranteed housing (safe, clean, well built housing, or slum?), medical care, money, food, whether working or not?

Can I afford coffee from a coffee shop, cable, cell phone, ipod if I work at a low to middling job?

Can I afford to hit a pub, buy recreational drugs (not currently a part of my life, but a large part of it until my daughter came around), and still keep the lights on?

Are utilities free, cheap, or as coffee and books seem to be, about double (well, for the pound- haven’t seen recent euro pricing)? Heat, gas, electricity, water, sewer, garbage?

The recent stats I have seen seem to indicate that the housing, medical care, etc might be better, but that the second bit, the luxury items, are less likely to be present unless I have money (meaning a good job or family money).

Thanks!

NorCal by way of the midwest, by way of the south, by way of the midwest, by way of the southwest, by way of the midwest…

2

The trains, man. The trains are AWESOME.

3

But seem expensive- can I ride them free if I live there? Is there a resident discount if you are EU?

4

Hmmm, I speculate that it’s going to be hard to get any clear-cut answers to this question. In my experience, the European ideal of comfort is much different from the USA’s. Things that they think are necessary for a good life aren’t thought about much here, and vice versa.

In my experience, Europe is great for easy public transportation (though as you observed, trains are expensive!), high quality food, and plentiful social services.

In my experience, they fall severely short on climate control, comfy beds, and adequate bathing facilities.

5

Europe? Are we talking about Albania ($3,911 GDP per capita) or Switzerland ($67,559) or what? Despite most of the nations being part of EU, it’s hardly one country. :dubious:

6

Europe isn’t one country. That’s your first misconception.

7

Criticism noted and accepted as valid-

I don’t know what I don’t know, and the info I am looking for is available partially as statistics in several places, but I am looking for an insider view from someone who has spent time both places long enough to know.

I have a friend who’s been in Geneva for several years, but he was upper middle/low high here and is upper middle/low high there, so I don’t know that he is representative.

Plus, Geneva seems to be a bit above the norm, which would agree with your post, AExMach…

To be honest, while I did mean Europe (the EU), I am mostly thinking England/Scotland/Wales- when I think about it- is it very different than the Continent?

8

It depends whereabouts in Europe you’re comparing to whereabouts in the US.

You are, however, guaranteed free emergency medical care all over the EU, and some free other medical care, more in some countries than others.

Housing is guaranteed in some countries, if you’re a parent or in another vulnerable group (elderly or disabled or caring for someone who is). But it’s not free - cheaper, usually, and more secure than private renting, but not free.

Yes, on a low-to-middle income job you’d be able to afford those things - unless you went wild on the recreational drugs! I would have thought the same went for America.

I’m surprised about books being double the price in the UK as opposed to the US - are they really? Utilities aren’t free, no way - I think the US might be cheaper for those. Petrol is much more expensive than in the US.

Some countries/cities give residents’ discounts for trains and so on, at least for specific categories of residents, but it’s not the norm; however, most of Europe does have better transport than most of the US, overall; I mean, New York has obviously better public transport than rural Poland, but most small towns do at least have some public transport. Things are also not spaced as far apart, so you’re less likely to need a car for everything).

Paid time off work varies a lot - it’s a minimum 20 days + public holidays in the UK (bringing it up to 30). 2 hours for lunch is not normal, though. Spain has a long lunch/siesta, but people make up the hours at the other ends of the day.

(Of course, there are ways in which the US is better too, before anyone gets defensive. I’m just trying to answer the OP’s questions).

9

You couldn’t afford the luxuries (well, not all of them, even in small amounts) on a LOW income, like minimum wage, and I have tried- but you can on a middle, with check-to-check living…

Thank you for the answers!

Just taking a look at prices on the web, the same items seem to go for 1.5 x the price in pounds, and the pound is about 1.5 x = the dollar, so I would say *about *double…

This is unscientific research, however, just something I have noted as an aside.

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From a UK perspective (sorry about formatting):

Not guaranteed housing, although there’s help for rent/mortgage interest if you’re not working. It’s possible to get local authority housing, but waiting lists are very long, and they it isn’t free anyway. Medical care is free at point of use - exceptions: prescription charges for drugs (some people are exempt, like kids and pregnant women), dentistry (again, mostly), eyecare (although things like eye tests are generally free, and you can get glasses free if you can’t afford them and don’t mind a limited choice of frames)). Unemployed people get around £65 a week, which is really not very much at all,and you have to demonstrate that you are looking for work. People who can’t work through illness get a bit more.

Yes. What a ridiculous thing to think. Cell phones plans are generally cheaper here than in US judging by threads on the SDMB. Cable TV isn’t as widespread, but satellite has been for many years. Coffee shops price themselves so that they sell stuff.

Depends how much you drink/take but generally yes. Pubs are still a massive part of British life.

Free!? Gas and electricity depend on the supplier, and I pay mine monthly averaged over a year, it’s about £50 a month. Water, sewer and garbage collection is included in local taxes. (Scotland only I think, other parts do something different with water) That is very highly variable over the country, and also depending on the value of the property you live in.

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There’s a not inconsiderable amount of “rounding up” when it comes to American imports. If something ends up translating to a cost of 24.56 pounds or something like that, it might well actually be put up for sale at 29.99. But double the price doesn’t sound right to me.

12

The cheese is better in Europe.

I want to have my ashes scattered around Borough Market in England just because of the cheese.

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The ‘what a ridiculous thing to think’ comment is exactly what I want to explore- with a minimum wage job, one can’t afford an apartment alone, even a studio, where I live. Many of the cities have ‘living wage’ ordinances to raise this, but it is not the rule.

There is NO WAY that someone around here would assume that they could afford luxuries if they were living on a low end job- this is the sort of thing that makes me wonder about the ‘USA is #!’ sort of mentality.

If it is possible, why aren’t we making it happen?

14

The last edit didn’t work for some reason…

The ‘free’ question re: utilities is due to the idea many here seem to have that in Europe, everything is socialized with regard to housing, and that appears to be wildly off the mark, although the idea that garbage, water and sewage is included in taxes varies wildly even here- so if that is standard across the board, that might go a little ways towards the idea of partial socialization…

15

OK, I see where you are coming from. Around here you can rent a decent two-bedroom place for £400 a month and minimum wage is around £12000 a year for a 40-hour week. Not an extravagant life, but do-able. Most people who make minimum wage are still at home though, or working part-time with a working partner. There’s all kinds of tax credits for folk with kids etc. This is only the case in my part of semi-rural Scotland though. Londoners will have a different story to tell.

16

I used to live in the poorest and most corrupt country in the European Union.

Virtually none of the things mentioned in this thread resemble my experience. My income was almost exactly 10 times less than my income as an office monkey in the US. My monthly rent was the equivalent of 50 euros. The cheese was pretty boring.

Just an FYI on the wide variation even within the EU.

17

It’s very difficult for someone here to lose utilities. If someone doesn’t pay bills, they usually don’t get cut off (and never water and sewerage), but they get stuck on a pre-pay gas and/or electricity meter with a charge taken for every unit used to pay debt.

18

Ah, see, that is good information.

Minimum wage would be 14862.50, if I have the $7.25 hr right, and my 2 bedroom (which is not extremely cheap in North Oakland, but a very good deal, is $1075 per month. Not exactly money you could live well on left over- $1962.50/12= $163.54 per month…

There are housing authorities here, but the lists open up every 5-10 years and have a 5-10 year wait to get actual assistance…

Oh, forgot taxes…

19

Bulgaria and Italy? :wink:

20

I have had electricity cut off because the bill was so small that I just kept forgetting to pay it for three months…

I had to pay a hundred bucks deposit to get it turned back on, and pay the $82.00 bill…