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I can't really speak authoritatively for Western Europe, but what I can say is that I think Canadians in general feel more pressure to work through it or sort it out on their own without asking for Government help. There is always some service industry job to be filled that you could eventually make an okay wage with. I assume that's not necessarily unique to Canada though.
For example, a lot of Germans and some Spanish and Austrians I have met are paid a bit of money to study by the state, and then their parents seem to pay for their flats and lifestyle as long as they are in school. That doesn't exist in Canada unless you are from a richer family. Most students hold a job of some sort from 14 or 15 while it seems rarer for European students to work until they hold a degree. Unless they opt for working straight out of primary education instead.
Of course, that's students and not poorer people, but I find that to be one of the biggest differences between Canada and European countries, although I am mostly speaking about Germany here.
However, I Couchsurfed with a man who lives off state pay in Berlin. He told me he is given (if i remember correctly) 900€ a month. He lived in a nice bachelor flat around Museum island and seemed to be doing okay with that considering his flat was renting at just under 300€/month. He just went back to school though, so I'm not sure what his living situation is now, though he was certainly never poor.
In either case, I think the truly poor are making a conscious decision to stay on the streets because it pays for the drugs. I don't think it's possible to be desperately poor here unless you are having serious addiction issues or an outstanding circumstance, and I'd imagine it's the same throughout a lot of Europe.
These OECD Better-life index is completely nonsense.
For example they ask the people how they feel about the economy or the crime. Americans are almost very optimistic, that's nice. Germans in the opposite are almost very pessimistic, that's a very typically german attitude. In our opinion it isn't a bad thing to be pessimistic or thoughtful. Most Germans would feel bad if they don't complain about everything. Germany have very low crimerates, but in the OECD Index Germany scored very bad in the crime subindex because the Germans feel unsafe, but it's only their normal attitude. In whole Germany there is no area that is unsafe. In the US every bigger City has No-Go areas.
The bottom 10% of US-Americans are better off than their Swiss or German counterparts? Lol, that's such an idiocy. Or the bottom 10% of Poland are better off than the bottom 10% of Poland? Completely nonsense.
Every one can use Google Street View and "drive" through the US. No other Western country has such an amount of extremely poverty than the US. Nearly every bigger City over 20.000 inhabitants has an extremely run down part, that looks so ugly, poor, depressing. The worst thing I have ever seen is Skid Row.
Last edited by Rozenn; 04-29-2014 at 05:00 AM..
Reason: Unnecessary
I'd say Canada. Western Europe may have more government aid, but the best social program I ever heard of was a job and that's where the biggest difference is, Canada has more opportunity and lower unemployment, especially for youth. Which isn't to say things are peachy here, times are tough, but they're better then in most of Western Europe which is why so many French and Irish are moving to this country.
In most western European countries social programs (widely defined: including education, training, parental benefits, etc.) tend to be better than in Canada as are working conditions, benefits, holidays, hours, etc. Of course we are talking about different countries but overall I think western Europe is better than us in this respect.
Canada's advantages are that is has a better economy than most places in western Europe and also that cost of living tends to be lower for most things compared to Europe.
These OECD Better-life index is completely nonsense.
For example they ask the people how they feel about the economy or the crime. Americans are almost very optimistic, that's nice. Germans in the opposite are almost very pessimistic, that's a very typically german attitude. In our opinion it isn't a bad thing to be pessimistic or thoughtful. Most Germans would feel bad if they don't complain about everything. Germany have very low crimerates, but in the OECD Index Germany scored very bad in the crime subindex because the Germans feel unsafe, but it's only their normal attitude. In whole Germany there is no area that is unsafe. In the US every bigger City has No-Go areas.
Obviously not if a certain percentage of Germans feel unsafe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by florian73
The bottom 10% of US-Americans are better off than their Swiss or German counterparts? Lol, that's such an idiocy. Or the bottom 10% of Poland are better off than the bottom 10% of Poland? Completely nonsense.
Every one can use Google Street View and "drive" through the US. No other Western country has such an amount of extremely poverty than the US. Nearly every bigger City over 20.000 inhabitants has an extremely run down part, that looks so ugly, poor, depressing. The worst thing I have ever seen is Skid Row.
By a very slim margin yes bottom 10 percent of Americans are better off than their Swiss or German counterparts according to that link.
Don't know what America has to do with anything i thought we were talking about Canada.
Last edited by Rozenn; 04-29-2014 at 05:01 AM..
Reason: Orphaned - Response to an edited post
Canada's advantages are that is has a better economy than most places in western Europe and also that cost of living tends to be lower for most things compared to Europe.
I don't think Canada is cheaper. It seems like groceries, eating out, and admission to events or museums is less costly. Rent seems about par. The only things more expensive seems to be clothes, fuel, or technology. Also education is universalized so that is a huge relief if you're European. Well, maybe not since you never had to worry about it.
Of course, this is a very general observation. I think the people who say Europe is expensive are spending far too much time in nothing but London and Paris and need to recognize that there is more to the continent and it's pretty much less expensive across the board.
I don't think Canada is cheaper. It seems like groceries, eating out, and admission to events or museums is less costly. Rent seems about par. The only things more expensive seems to be clothes, fuel, or technology. Also education is universalized so that is a huge relief if you're European. Well, maybe not since you never had to worry about it.
Of course, this is a very general observation. I think the people who say Europe is expensive are spending far too much time in nothing but London and Paris and need to recognize that there is more to the continent and it's pretty much less expensive across the board.
Higher fuel costs tend to drag the cost of most things up quite a bit. I'd say access to better paying jobs is probably easier in Canada as a whole than Western/Northern Europe. Having said that, it is highly generalized because there so many variations within Canada and also within the many nations in Europe that its hard to draw a meaningful comparison when the comparison is too broad and vague. When I was in Spain I found it was pretty cheap for food and restaurants compared to Canada, yet while in Scotland food was damned expensive. Having said that, I was floored by how much it cost for a few Gillette razors in Spain so I think it really depends on the item(s) you are buying. I'd get really fat in Spain though lol..
In simple terms - I think Canada is in between the U.S and Western Europe for socialism and as such we tend to be more capitalist than joe blow European country as well.
Both places plus Australia/NZ typically have the best overall QOL rankings in the world so its a comparison of the best with the best really.
It is meaningless to vote for one over the other imo.
I don't think Canada is cheaper. It seems like groceries, eating out, and admission to events or museums is less costly. Rent seems about par. The only things more expensive seems to be clothes, fuel, or technology. Also education is universalized so that is a huge relief if you're European. Well, maybe not since you never had to worry about it.
Of course, this is a very general observation. I think the people who say Europe is expensive are spending far too much time in nothing but London and Paris and need to recognize that there is more to the continent and it's pretty much less expensive across the board.
I've been all over western Europe in places big and small. (Spent much of last summer there in fact.)
Only Spain and Portugal offer any kind of deal overall for Canadians. Everywhere else is more expensive for most anything except maybe for a good bottle of wine.
My friends and relatives who live there go out to restaurants far less frequently than we do, and even in smaller cities property (at least the attractive, prosperous ones) prices are often sky-high for very small digs.
As for education personally I would include in social and government programs. So on that front, advantage Europe for sure.
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