[1_player]

There are salary discrepancies everywhere in the world. If you mean the salaries across countries, you're comparing apples and oranges. €100k in Berlin goes much further than $100k in Houston (a random big city in the US, I don't think Berlin is comparable to NYC)

[usrbinbash]

Not to mention the person in Berlin has access to state funded medical support, a state funded pension, paid sick leave, paid ma/paternity leave, ...

Salaries are lower, but expenses for essential services are simply A LOT less in most of Europe.

[jokethrowaway]

The problem with that is that you end up paying everything twice because state funded healthcare sucks, the state pension sucks and the state paid ma/paternity leave is quite short.

If you're in a good tech company in Europe you generally end up having private healthcare, a private pension with employer's top up and extended ma/paternity leave.

The problem is that taxes in the USA are still fairly high and comparable to the ones in EU - you would expect some services for the amount of money you're paying. That said, having lived in countries with state run services all my life, I don't think the solution is state run services, but cheaper private services. The problem in the USA is that governments and insurance companies inflated the cost of healthcare ridiculously. Similarly the cost of universities in the USA has been inflated following government intervention.

Talking about state run services: Between waiting times, poor support and the lack of competition the quality is pretty bad, despite what the state propaganda will tell you. Having lived in the UK and in Italy I cannot but laugh hearing that NHS or the SSN are "the best healthcare systems in the world". The amount of bad experiences I had is ridiculous (some of which could have damaged my family health, had we not had the money to pursue private treatment). Universities in Italy, which are pretty cheap at 3-4k€ per year, have several deficiencies and, despite having a handful of great professors who do it out of passion (maybe while running a profitable business on the side), it has its fair share of problems. Not to mention the amount of freelancers in Italy who pay pension contributions every month who will never see a penny for their money.

[jakear]

Tech companies also pay for health insurance, sick leave, and ma/pa leave. Sure pensions aren't a big thing, but increased savings from increased salary can make up for that (not to mention 401k).

[usrbinbash]

The difference: It's not up to the companies in most of western Europe. These services are guaranteed by law, and provided by the state.

>but increased savings from increased salary can make up for that (not to mention 401k).

And huge medical bills can quickly eat up even substantial savings...that doesn't happen as easily when medical services are provided by universal coverage.

Also, state guaranteed pensions aren't lost if some company in a portfolio crashes.

[JJMcJ]

> pay for health insurance

Have cancer, or a premature baby with 90 days in Neonatal Intensive Care, in the USA, and get back to me on your health insurance.

[daemonhunter]

There are big discrepancies in the US alone. I'm comparing mine (L6+) to those.