[Tichy]

I wish - I pay between 400 and 700€/month for healthcare (public insurance). It's my biggest expense after rent.

They fool employees by making the employer pay half of it, though - which of course doesn't make a real difference, but people are less likely to notice.

I think the actual rate is something like 14% of your income, capped at 700 or 800€ (not sure). As I am self-employed, unfortunately by law they are required to assume a minimum income that might be higher than what I actually earn (completely absurd and unfair regulation to discourage self-employment).

[franklindholm]

Sure, we all pay for it somehow, I pay for all of my health care through my taxes, you pay half through your taxes and half out of pocket if i interpret you correctly? But on general I agree, it is difficult to compare incomes between different countries, for example IT workers in the US compared to in Europe, where the US wages are higher, but the costs of living are also higher (rent, health insurance, etc), so in the end you have to take a lot of things into consideration.

I would argue that €421 for 4 days work in Germany and €300 for 4 days of work in Romania isn't a huge difference, and if there is it is probably to the advantage to the Romanian (cheaper rent, food etc).

For instance, if I had the same wage after taxes that I have now and I lived in Algeria (I use this as an example as I have spent a lot of time in that country), and my standard of living would be unchanged then I would lower my rent by about 60-80% (depending on where in the country), lower my energy costs about 90%, grocery costs would be lowered by about 50-65% and so on.