Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
bloomberg.com
Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
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Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
#2Thing is, in the software world at least, you earn >25% more than Europeans in the US. Just look at salaries in London. Given the extraordinary cost of living, salaries are pitiful.
Why is that?
Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
#3How happy are they working that extra 25%? They are richer, sure. But I don't think being rich is an indicator of your overall state.
Looking at [1], you can see that people in european countries come out on top of the happiness index. One could argue that working less is actually better for productivity and overall happiness.
[1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-23/these-are-...
Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
#4How happy are they working that extra 25%? They are richer, sure. But I don't think being rich is an indicator of your overall state. Looking at [1], you can see that people in european countries come out on top of the happiness index. One could argue that working less is actually better for productivity and overall happiness. [1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-23/these-are-...
It's almost like working 60+ hour weeks churning out CRUD apps to get a rich person richer isn't the secret path to happiness or something.
Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
#5Thing is, in the software world at least, you earn >25% more than Europeans in the US. Just look at salaries in London. Given the extraordinary cost of living, salaries are pitiful. Why is that?
Because European governments take a lot more out of your salary before it reaches you in exchange for social services (pensions, healthcare, etc). Unlike America where you are expected to either drop a stack of bills just to see the doctor or die in the streets.
Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
#6How happy are they working that extra 25%? They are richer, sure. But I don't think being rich is an indicator of your overall state. Looking at [1], you can see that people in european countries come out on top of the happiness index. One could argue that working less is actually better for productivity and overall happiness. [1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-23/these-are-...
Or more taxes do good for the community, there are a lot of factors...
Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
#7Thing is, in the software world at least, you earn >25% more than Europeans in the US. Just look at salaries in London. Given the extraordinary cost of living, salaries are pitiful. Why is that?
We also have higher costs of living when you factor in healthcare costs and lack of public transportation. A healthy 20 year old can pay $300 a month for insurance that covers nothing until you hit 10k in expenses.
Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
#8Does anyone know of a similar comparison that includes South and East Asian countries? From my personal conversations, those areas will see longer hours AND lower pay than the U.S., and I'd be interested to see that broken down statistically.
Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
#9I've worked in both Europe and the US, and in my opinion, US workers are far worse off for it. You earn more money in the US, you can advance faster, but you have next-to-no vacation time (and even when you do, you're still often expected to be reachable by e-mail), maternity/paternity leave is pitiful, and you have to pay large health insurance premiums, amongst other things.
I know that isn't the case for everyone, but on average I'd advise someone to take Europe over the US, just for quality of life alone.
Re: Americans Work 25% More Than Europeans, Study Finds
#10Thing is, in the software world at least, you earn >25% more than Europeans in the US. Just look at salaries in London. Given the extraordinary cost of living, salaries are pitiful. Why is that?
Because European governments take a lot more out of your salary before it reaches you in exchange for social services (pensions, healthcare, etc). Unlike America where you are expected to either drop a stack of bills just to see the doctor or die in the streets.
I think the parent is actually referring to pre-tax salaries; the baselines are much lower (last I checked) in the EU relative to the US.