Cost of living, benefits, wages, housing childcare etc. Germany v UK

I would rather be unemployed on Germany than here. I would rather have a pension in Germany than here. And I would rather be in work in Germany than here.
Would you also like to pay the high rate of tax and social security they pay in Germany ? Unable to afford a house and have to settle for bringing up a family in a small rented flat ? I like Germany, but its no place to be poor.
 
Would you also like to pay the high rate of tax and social security they pay in Germany ? Unable to afford a house and have to settle for bringing up a family in a small rented flat ? I like Germany, but its no place to be poor.
Ah the great dilemma. British people

I want a better National Health Service but I don’t want to pay more tax

I want better standard of local services but I don’t want to pay higher council tax

I want my cake and eat it.

I would pay higher tax and social security if it brought a better standard of living.
 
More right wing nonsense. The UK is not a poor country. We're not the force we were due to our ridiculous philosophy of the last 45 years but we're still a wealthy nation.
Almost certain that's sarcasm from the wanderer.

Right wingers don't think we're poor. It would surely be unpatriotic to think that way? We're amazing, best at everything. Rule Britannia etc.
 
Would you also like to pay the high rate of tax and social security they pay in Germany ? Unable to afford a house and have to settle for bringing up a family in a small rented flat ? I like Germany, but its no place to be poor.
Yes to the first question. By a long way. And I don think the "small family flat" thing is correct. Where do you get that? I believe German housing is,on average, slightly beter than British housing. Happy to be priced incorrect if you have evidence.

Have just checked. You are correct that UK houses are bigger. However Germany had the 6th largest agerage house size in the world. So I would say your "small flat" comment as, at best, an exaggeration
 
Ah the great dilemma. British people

I want a better National Health Service but I don’t want to pay more tax

I want better standard of local services but I don’t want to pay higher council tax

I want my cake and eat it.

I would pay higher tax and social security if it brought a better standard of living.
Problem is Zoo I think most people would be willing to pay more into the system if they genuinely believed they would get more out, most feel that the more they put in the more the government would squander/siphon off... imho
 
I think scandi countries are a better benchmark to be aspiring to.

Maybe once during 60/70s the Golden Age that older Swedes talk about. But like everywhere else in Europe things have moved to the right. The Swedish Democrats, or Nazi’s has my late and oldest friend named them were avoided like the plague for inclusion in partnership for government, until the last election now they have a right wing government, with for the first time the inclusion in the coalition of the Swedish Democrats.
 
Ah the great dilemma. British people

I want a better National Health Service but I don’t want to pay more tax

I want better standard of local services but I don’t want to pay higher council tax

I want my cake and eat it.

I would pay higher tax and social security if it brought a better standard of living.
I don't think it's a great dilemma. The vast majority of British people shouldn't pay more tax. We should just collect tax properly. We have so many wealthy people and businesses that don't contribute anywhere near as much as they should. If everyone paid their fair share of tax we wouldn't have to ask the PAYE tax payers to keep increasing their contributions.

I want better public services but I don't think I should pay more tax into the current system because that is just allowing the avoiders and evaders to get relatively even richer than the rest of us. The tax system needs a massive shake up so that everyone pays their fair share.
 
About £1.2 billion in 2020-2021 lost to tax avoidance according to HMRC
There are millions of ways to legitimately avoid tax so that figure is meaningless. They don't count all the ways we could tax people if we changed the rules. Close all the loopholes and we could claim a lot more tax from people that currently can easily (and legitimately) avoid it.
 
There are millions of ways to legitimately avoid tax so that figure is meaningless. They don't count all the ways we could tax people if we changed the rules. Close all the loopholes and we could claim a lot more tax from people that currently can easily (and legitimately) avoid it.

The poor buggers on PAYE get shafted left right and centre whilst the people living off trust funds, inherited wealth and other forms of passive income are living the dream.
 
There are millions of ways to legitimately avoid tax so that figure is meaningless. They don't count all the ways we could tax people if we changed the rules. Close all the loopholes and we could claim a lot more tax from people that currently can easily (and legitimately) avoid it.

That’s the only “Legit” figures available. Like you I don’t think it even touches the real numbers
 
That’s the only “Legit” figures available. Like you I don’t think it even touches the real numbers
It's definitely not even close. There is about £70bn in ISAs which is a legitimate form of tax avoidance but if they aren't including that in their calculations then they can't be including much.
 

Transport Workers' Strike Paralyzes Germany​

German workers on strike, March 2023.

German workers on strike, March 2023.

Published 27 March 2023

“The Federal government and local authorities have categorically rejected a socially balanced collective agreement,” the Verdi leader Werneke revealed.

On Monday, Germany's largest transport unions, the Berlin-based United Services Trade Union (Verdi) and the Railway & Transport Union (EVG), began a 24-hour strike while negotiations for a wage increase are underway
Shortly after midnight, train, bus, and airplane services were completely paralyzed at the national level. German workers are demanding wage increases of over 10 percent in order to recover the purchasing power lost in recent years. According to EVG, over 30,000 workers from some 350 towns joined the ongoing strike, which has managed to paralyze the population's mass transport.
“Until now, the Federal government and local authorities have categorically rejected a socially balanced collective agreement,” the Verdi leader Frank Werneke revealed.
“That is why we now take the initiative. It is better to send a strong signal now than to have weeks of labor disputes with the corresponding consequences,” he added.

“Despite many workers' difficult financial situation, we are on strike because we were not offered anything that we could seriously negotiate on,” the EVG Collective Bargaining Director Kristian Loroch said.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called for responsibility from employers and unions to reach "good solutions" before the start of the third round of talks for a collective agreement involving 2.5 million public service employees.
 
Another example saying overall prices are 25% lower in Germany than the UK, where is the evidence for this? When I went to Germany I would say they were very similar overall and I know people who have gone to Germany recently and said the same. I don't know about incomes is Germany, but if the average income is over £43,000 I would expect Germany is to be flooded with people from other countries i.e they would represent over 50% of the overall German population. The £43,000 looks a little too high for say a median wage. The difference in GDP per person between the Germany and the UK is about 12% according to the Internet. However I do expect the wage differences are increasing and I expect the UK to have much more regional inequalities, income and wealth inequalities, because we are quite an unequal society. From what I have learnt Germans have seen themselves as a more collective society, certainly since 1870 than the UK while in the UK its been more fashionable to look after number 1 and put a low priority on wider society.
massive amounts of "I don't believe it" in that sentance. I've got some good friends in germany, my small window into it is that they have a far better life than us
 
I would rather be unemployed on Germany than here. I would rather have a pension in Germany than here. And I would rather be in work in Germany than here.
you missed, the last remaining option, I'd rather be in education in Germany than here :)
 
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