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The UK's GDP per capita has struggled to reach its 2007 peak because, while the economy was stagnant or even declining until very recently, the population boomed. It grew by nearly 8% in England and Wales.
GDP per capita is, well, exactly what it says - gross domestic product divided by the population. It is definitely not a measurement of well-being. The average annual wage in the UK is around £27,000 or 50,761 Canadian dollars - which is, incidentally, higher than Canada (though that's before COL is taken into account).
If that were the sole criteria of living standard then everyone would opt to live in nowheresville. E.G. I could live in a mansion for the price of a box sized flat in, say, San Francisco (where I happen to be - and do) but where's the joy in that? Easy turn-off to a shopping mall? Great 'standard of living'.
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Originally Posted by Ottawa2011
Europeans have the same amount of disposable income as Canadians.
Some consumer goods are more expensive... I seem to remember books being one item that's pricier in the UK for some reason. Some food items can be slightly more expensive. I know there are plenty of threads comparing the cost of living in North America versus Europe, and at the end of the day, it's pretty much a wash between Canada and Europe.
Canada also has high taxes, and we also have our cold winters that require heat, winter clothes, winter tires on the car, etc.... we have expenses that they don't have, and they often have higher quality consumer goods that we don't have. They have cheap wine, and we have cheap weed. Vive la différence. Comparing western Europe to Detroit's current blight is... a bit rich.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lukas1973
How much of the stuff that Canadians "own" is financed by debt?
An average household in Germany is indebted by about €27,100, compared to about CAN$140,000 (not sure whether this number is correct) for an average Canadian household.
Buying stuff, financed by debt, doesn't make you rich.
I agree with Ottawa. Standard of living in Canada and UK, all things considered, IS about the same. But, as my Scottish grandmother used to say, there's lots of "quantity" in Canada (and in the US), but far less "quality" (of life). When I was much younger, I didn't buy her argument, but I do now.
Some things are more expensive in the UK (and the Continent), but salaries are considerably higher, too. Besides, as lukas1973 says, Canadians are up to their eyeballs in debt, paying small fortunes for ridiculously overpriced homes and all that "stuff", while convincing themselves it's all worth it. Having lived in both countries, I'm not even sure that Americans have ever been as singularly focused on owning a home (s), overall, as Canadians are. My dad used to say, "If homeownership is the American dream, it's the Canadian obsession." Nevertheless, Americans have learned a hard lesson in that regard; Canadians haven't yet, but they will. Sooner or later.
Brits/Europeans, on the other hand, use different criterion to measure "success." Like modernist says, there's more to value in life than owning a big house and multiple cars. Ultimately, "standard of living" is highly subjective. Yes, people in Canada and the US might "own" bigger houses and cars, boats, cottages, etc, but, so what? We have to work damn hard for all of that stuff. My British relatives, without a doubt, enjoy a higher quality of life. For starters, there is a glaring difference between the amount of vacation and leisure time of the average Brit vs that of the average American OR Canadian.
When I've talked to them on that subject, Brits are dumbfounded when they learn that most North Americans do, in fact, have only 2 or 3 weeks of vacation time per year, and that it usually takes years with one employer to be able to earn more. Funnily enough, up until we have those conversations, they'd dismissed what they'd heard about standard North American vacation times as silly urban mythology. And, get this: Brits and Europeans tend to actually go away for real vacations more often than do North Americans. Where Brits' and Europeans' consider their vacations essential, Americans and Canadians are more likely to consider them "luxuries."
So basically, the OP has some hang-ups about his own country but would rather not address them and denigrate others. A very common thread on these forums sadly. To the OP, your country is a bit boring, but not without merit, it could be worse.
Some things are more expensive in the UK (and the Continent), but salaries are considerably higher, too.
This is objectively false. Speaking generally, salaries are somewhat lower in the UK and Continental Europe, at least in recent times.
Canada is somewhat wealthier than Western Europe, and somewhat less wealthy than the U.S. Though all these areas are obviously wealthy for global standards and more alike than different.
This is objectively false. Speaking generally, salaries are somewhat lower in the UK and Continental Europe, at least in recent times.
Canada is somewhat wealthier than Western Europe, and somewhat less wealthy than the U.S. Though all these areas are obviously wealthy for global standards and more alike than different.
I didn't say anything about the countries' respective wealth. I think China now has the 2nd largest economy in the world, but it doesn't have a high standard of living, overall. If you're talking about GDP or GNP, the UK is a wealthier country than Canada. But, again, that's not what I was referring to.
I'm talking about the standards of living in Canada vs the UK. I grew up in Canada, so I'm quite aware that it's a wealthy country with a high standard of living (and with a middle class that is now "wealthier" than that of the US, apparently). But there appears to me to be little difference in terms of day-to-day middle class material living. Apart from the size/style of housing (which I've already said is cost prohibitive in Canada relative to income), people live very similarly with most of the same kinds of "stuff."
And, as far as salaries are concerned, I'm going by what family members and friends in the UK earn, roughly, compared to what they would earn in similar occupations in Canada or the US. If they're all making considerably less than we are, it doesn't seem to stop them from having pretty much the same material wealth AND going on their international vacations almost every year.
Last edited by newdixiegirl; 03-25-2016 at 09:17 PM..
I didn't say anything about the countries' respective wealth. I think China now has the 2nd largest economy in the world, but it doesn't have a high standard of living, overall. If you're talking about GDP or GNP, the UK is a wealthier country than Canada. But, again, that's not what I was referring to.
We were talking about household wealth and salaries. You claimed that Europe had higher salaries, which isn't true. China is poorer than Mexico and not even in the conversation.
The gap has narrowed somewhat very recently, because Canada is more dependent on resource extraction, but it's still U.S.>Canada>Western Europe when it comes to salaries and wealth.
We were talking about household wealth and salaries. You claimed that Europe had higher salaries, which isn't true. China is poorer than Mexico and not even in the conversation.
The gap has narrowed somewhat very recently, because Canada is more dependent on resource extraction, but it's still U.S.>Canada>Western Europe when it comes to salaries and wealth.
I threw China in as an example of a "wealthy" country with a very low standard of living to illustrate my point, because I thought you were referring to national wealth.
It's most likely a tie between Canada and Western Europe in living standard while Americans having a lower standard of living than both these days especially when factoring in costs of health care and education, the long work weeks they make for their incomes and little holidays they get.
Whatever the standard of living amounts to exactly in 21st century Britain it hasn't 'dropped', like most countries in the western world the standard of living rises with each generation. For example your average everyday Briton in 1920 didn't have a machine to do their washing up, didn't have holidays abroad, didn't drive around in a car, didn't have central heating etc etc and probably most importantly of all worked longer hours and didn't have any social welfare (well not much anyway) their standard of living was a lot worse.
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