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66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

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Re: 66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

#71

Post by Etheryte »

quonn wrote: post #62
cloogshicer wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I live in a big European city. You basically don't need a car - pretty much anything within the city is reachable in about 30min, and public transit is comfy. Also, I have a public transit ticket that allows me to travel the entire country for a year, which only cost about 1000€. Yes, salaries are lower, but I also don't have to save anything to get my kids through university, or keep emergency funds for hea…

Parents have to pay for university in Europe unless they are poor. And while there are no fees, the costs are typically between 30k and 100k per child. edit: In Germany. I‘m German and I have studied there. I should know. edit2: Someone said this comment could be interpreted as the cost per year which is not the case. This is the total cost.

Higher education is free in many EU countries, you often only have to pay if you want to study abroad. The ones that are not free aren't anywhere near as expensive as you describe.

Re: 66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

#73

Post by ghosty141 »

refurb wrote: post #18
cpursley wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair question. I think many Americans in higher income brackets would say yes; it’s just that they’d never had the option. Ditto on a 4 day work week.

Americans with higher incomes likely have very good vacation policies. I get 25 days per year.

What you call very good is almost the minimum (24) vacation days in germany plus you get public holidays ontop of which range from 10-12 (in a good year most of them are during the workweek).

Here people who have good jobs can get ~35 vacation days.

Re: 66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

#74

Post by jakewins »

ghosty141 wrote: post #58
Longhanks wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Germany: "Free" as in waiting for months to get an appointment with a specialist? "Pension fund" as in gigantic ponzi scheme that requires 30% of the state‘s yearly budget, with no party having any kind of plan how to save the system? "Strong social system" as in being taken advantage of with the world‘s second highest taxes? Sure, I’d rather be super poor in Europe than in the US. But anybody above the poorest,…

Free as in I can get flown to the ER without having to worry to go bankrupt. Strong social system as in you get 60% of your salary if you go unemployed for s year. Im not sure you realize that lots of things you pay are for the chance something doesnt go as planned in your life. Ofc its better to live in the US from a financial standpoint if everything works out and you never get sick or unemployed etc

All US full time positions include health insurance, the insurance included with a good software job is, in my experience, miles and miles better than the one I now get in Scandinavia.

Re: 66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

#75

Post by tommek4077 »

quonn wrote: post #62
cloogshicer wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I live in a big European city. You basically don't need a car - pretty much anything within the city is reachable in about 30min, and public transit is comfy. Also, I have a public transit ticket that allows me to travel the entire country for a year, which only cost about 1000€. Yes, salaries are lower, but I also don't have to save anything to get my kids through university, or keep emergency funds for hea…

Parents have to pay for university in Europe unless they are poor. And while there are no fees, the costs are typically between 30k and 100k per child. edit: In Germany. I‘m German and I have studied there. I should know. edit2: Someone said this comment could be interpreted as the cost per year which is not the case. This is the total cost.

BS.

Re: 66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

#76

Post by xetifafa »

If anyone is interested in an anecdote from a US American mid level dev living in Germany:

I get 30 paid vacation days, 10 ish public holidays and my employer has to pay up to 6 weeks of sick leave a year (after that the public health insurance pays).

I make around 75k€ with a 38 hour work week and my take home is roughly 3600€ net. My living expenses are less than 1k (mid sized city, no car, split rent, no kids) so I am able to invest 2-2.5x my living expenses every a month.

Re: 66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

#77

Post by badpun »

quonn wrote: post #62
cloogshicer wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I live in a big European city. You basically don't need a car - pretty much anything within the city is reachable in about 30min, and public transit is comfy. Also, I have a public transit ticket that allows me to travel the entire country for a year, which only cost about 1000€. Yes, salaries are lower, but I also don't have to save anything to get my kids through university, or keep emergency funds for hea…

Parents have to pay for university in Europe unless they are poor. And while there are no fees, the costs are typically between 30k and 100k per child. edit: In Germany. I‘m German and I have studied there. I should know. edit2: Someone said this comment could be interpreted as the cost per year which is not the case. This is the total cost.

Depends on the country. All public universities (and these are the best ones) in Poland are free, for example.

Re: 66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

#78

Post by [deleted] »

lionkor wrote: post #4

> While the average American is lucky to get 11 vacation days WHAT? Does that count sick days as well, or is that a myth? Here in Germany, I get 30 vacation days per calendar year, plus any sick days, and thats fairly normal. Edit: Sure the absolute salaries here are lower, but the cost of living is vastly different and the social support structures and healthcare are different, too. That should definitely be kept in…

[deleted]

Re: 66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

#79

Post by rpadovani »

quonn wrote: post #62
cloogshicer wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I live in a big European city. You basically don't need a car - pretty much anything within the city is reachable in about 30min, and public transit is comfy. Also, I have a public transit ticket that allows me to travel the entire country for a year, which only cost about 1000€. Yes, salaries are lower, but I also don't have to save anything to get my kids through university, or keep emergency funds for hea…

Parents have to pay for university in Europe unless they are poor. And while there are no fees, the costs are typically between 30k and 100k per child. edit: In Germany. I‘m German and I have studied there. I should know. edit2: Someone said this comment could be interpreted as the cost per year which is not the case. This is the total cost.

Uhm, what?

If you live with your parents, and the university is free, where does that number come from?

And if you don't live with your parents, you live with others students, spending 600-1000 euro month for living, how do you reach that numbers?

Re: 66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

#80

Post by morelisp »

refurb wrote: post #18
cpursley wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair question. I think many Americans in higher income brackets would say yes; it’s just that they’d never had the option. Ditto on a 4 day work week.

Americans with higher incomes likely have very good vacation policies. I get 25 days per year.

25 days a year is not a "very good" vacation policy in Europe, I'd say that would be at least 35 + public holidays.
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