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0 pointsOtomotO1y ago0 comments

The average person in the US maybe.

And the third world.

In Western Europe? Not so much. I mean, yes, there are poor people, but the middle class mostly doesn't live paycheck to paycheck.

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rsynnott1y ago

Most Western European countries do have higher savings rates than the US, but, disregarding Switzerland, Ireland and the Nordics (ie small wealthy countries with very high cost of living), it’s not a _dramatic_ difference. People may be less likely to be living paycheck to paycheck, but being able to just take two years off not working, unless you had very low living costs, would still be very unusual.

swiftcoder1y ago

I think the difference in available social services here is also necessary to take into account. Someone laid off in, say, Spain, already has full healthcare provided by the state, and qualifies for an unemployment benefit based on their most recent salary for up to 3 years - this makes for a significantly less precarious position than that same person recently laid off in the US.

Nasrudith1y ago

I would have expected the opposite to occur because of that - lesser saving rates because they have more robust available social services and don't need emergency reserves.

Fokamul1y ago

And if go eg. Germany. Ridiculously, without kids, it's nearly more beneficial to go on unemployment support there. Since, when working, you blow like 50%+ on taxes.

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jajko1y ago

A lot of people adjust their lifestyle to paycheck, so little is left afterwards. Concept of savings is quite foreign to them, they want to enjoy life now. So paycheck to paycheck, while sporting newest highend phone or other gizmos, nice package of vacations through the year or just look at fashion clothes they wear and how often they buy new ones.

I mean I would fit in this category too for maybe past decade, little cash left over after paycheck but I did like exotic 5 vacations per year and invested rest into mortgage for mountain apartment for rentals.

cscurmudgeon1y ago

Not really.

1. Most Americans are not paycheck-to-paycheck. It is what politicians constantly say depending on whether they are in power or not.

https://old.reddit.com/r/AskEconomics/comments/1dbpaag/do_th...

2. Americans have higher disposable income at all income levels than Europeans (Western Europe included).

https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/xgoouz/americans_ha...

throwaway20371y ago

    > Americans have higher disposable income at all income levels than Europeans

Most of this is eaten up by higher healthcare and university education costs, combined with a much worse social safety net compared to other G7-like nations. So really, are middle class Americans more financially stable than Europeans from G7-like nations? I doubt it.

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