[syndicatedjelly]

    The salary is less than U.S. but their actual take home pay may be more.

Unless the social services in Europe are worth $50-100k/year more than in America there is just no way this is true. That’s around $4-8k/month. I’d expect transit and public attractions to be free across Europe at that price (they’re not). Healthcare is another matter…do Europeans feels like they get $50k+ of healthcare coverage a year on average? That would be about $4 million in a lifetime

A comment earlier said that the average senior software engineer salary at a large UK firm was 62k pounds per year. Even adjusting for PPP that’s about half of what a senior swe in a MCOL city in America can expect to make.

Also, contrary to popular belief, we have health insurance in America, with max deductibles. As in, after a certain amount (usually in the 4 digits), all healthcare costs are covered by insurance

[throw3423624356]

The high-earning individual might not get the 50k-100k USD/year back directly, but it supports a social safety net where people dying of cancer et al do not have to resort to GoFundMe campaigns. It also supports infrastructure and sociatal building with reduced influence of private companies acting as gatekeepers for individual participation.

To me, that is worth the taxation even I myself (probably) will never have to use most of the safety net.

[syndicatedjelly]

Fair, one could say that Europe has better cultural institutions and safety nets, and is overall a nicer place to live (qualitatively and subjectively) than most of the US

[oytis]

Pre-tax salary is lower too though. And health insurance is paid on top of taxes.