[jimlongton]

> More impressionistically the Irish, British and Australian press don’t talk about deaths of despair.

While that phrase is uniquely American, it certainly has been used to describe decreases in living conditions in the UK. [1]

It's impossible to accurately compare the US with Western Europe where we've had social safety nets and affordable health care. Unfortunately, in the UK a decade of under-staffing, under-funding and stealth privatisation has crippled the NHS. If you go to the former industrial towns in England you can definitely see the same issues as America's Rustbelt play out but to a lesser extent.I think most Europeans would be shocked by the poverty and deprivation in certain parts of the UK.

[1] https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/podcast/episode-0...