Standard of living in UK better than in USA

Telegraph ^ | 1/7/2008 | Lucy Cockcroft

[Steve_Seattle]

"Wages here are stagnated or falling because of unreported 'real' inflation, ie, exhorbitant healthcare premiums, unaffordable housing, low paying jobs."

True. Cost-of-living increases usually run about 2-3%, at a time when the cost of housing - most people's major expense - has risen about 500% in 20 years (Seattle area).

Gas has risen 50% in three years, healthcare is going through the roof, and the cost of most commodities has risen equal to or faster than inflation. The "cost of living" indexes are an absolute sham.

[Matchett-PI]

"If you want to cherry pick data to make "Third Way" socialism look like a good idea, that's how you go about it. Using nearly any measurable material standard, the average American living below the poverty line has a higher standard of living than the average European, above or below the poverty line."

Exactly. bttt

[Leisler]

I was talking to a girl I knew when she was young. She ran off to France and married a Fwench guy, had two children. She back in the States getting a divorce. They lived in London, and were making $400K/yr. She said they never hardly went out and were just getting by.

[RooRoobird20]

Pay-as-you-go dental care is probbably more expensive in the U.S. because most employers provide dental as well as health insurance. (So the dentists increase their prices, LOL)

Anyone who’s on Medicaid (ACCHS in AZ) also gets dental coverage. Most dental plans cover a big chunk of orthodontic work, too.

If you look at kids in U.S. middle schools and high schools, most of them wear braces at one time or another.

[agere_contra]

A guide to UK prices for common cosmetic dental treatments

Teeth Whitening £300.00 - £1000.00
Dental Veneers £300.00 - £2000.000 per tooth
Dental Crowns £300.00 - £2000.00 per tooth
Dental Implants £1200 - £2500.00 per tooth
Dental Bridges £250 - £800 per unit
Gum Contouring from £400.00
CEREC restorations from £400.00 per unit
Invisalign £3000.00 - £6000.00

So double the numbers as a rough and ready dollar conversion and - well, we probably don’t have enough data points to make a good comparison. But it seems similar. Anybody else with a price check?

[B Knotts]

free healthcare

*snort*

However the average British person may not feel richer than their US cousins as goods and services there are often vastly cheaper. So, despite earning less, the average American can buy more.

Uh...isn't that pretty much the definition of "standard of living?"

[trisham]

Baloney. I’ll take life in this country any day over life in the UK.

[eleni121]

less than 700 sq feet of living space for over 1/2 milion dollars

Manchester UK area

538,330.09 dollars for this

[SomeReasonableDude]

Eh, I’m taxed through the nose in the US and what do I have to show for it? Not much. Maybe we should consider the beam in our eye before we point out the mote in Britain’s.

[RooRoobird20]

Now let’s not turn this into a Britain-bashing thread.

The Brits have been our most loyal allies in the wars against fascists, communists, and jihadists.

[Intimidator]

True. Cost-of-living increases usually run about 2-3%, at a time when the cost of housing - most people's major expense - has risen about 500% in 20 years (Seattle area). Gas has risen 50% in three years, healthcare is going through the roof, and the cost of most commodities has risen equal to or faster than inflation. The "cost of living" indexes are an absolute sham.

Exactly and the exact reason I think our economy is going to hell in a handbasket fast. Without equity in their house, people have absolutely no discretionary income to spend whatsoever. In a consumer driven economy, well that self explanatory. We are headed for some hard times and if wages don't go up considerably the average Joe is forked bad

[wardaddy]

I don’t agree with this.

If you removed the illegals slums and other historical laggards here from the stats

and did the same in the UK

Our median income would dwarf their’s.

So much of their standard of living is dole.

[SomeReasonableDude]

Yeah, America's housing market doesn't include ridiculously overpriced, crummy real estate. Ha!

Freepers: More concerned with getting a dig in on the other guy than worrying about real problems America faces.

Sad.

[Steve_Seattle]

The price of that house in Manchester seems comparable to a similar house in the Seattle area. It looks like a very nice, upper-middle-class house with a big lot, and you could easily pay $538,000 or more for a similar house here. I’m not sure why the author points to the soaring cost of housing as a good thing; if it is, it’s only good for those who already have a house.

[fweingart]

The Muslims will live well and better!

And what about our muslims? They may get jealous and threaten to leave our cities for the UK.

Don't mistakenly believe we aren't inundated by muslim hordes.

[toothfairy86]

I’m a dental hygienist in the US. From what I hear, the UK employs “dental hygiene technicians” who not only clean teeth, but are also permitted to drill and fill teeth. In the US, and expanded duties dental hygienists and assistants are permitted to fill teeth, but it must be the dentist who does the drilling. Some states in the US also permit the hygienist to administer local anesthesia, i.e. “novocaine.”

[RooRoobird20]

WOW! 700 square feet is the size of a small apartment.

We own a 2,000k sf home with a good sized yard, upscale kitchen and two baths (granite counters, gourmet appliances, blah, blah). Current market value is between $400k ande $350k.

$538,000 will buy what’s considered a luxury home in most areas of Phoenix AZ.

[RockinRight]

Dunno, but this article is BS.

[MrB]

According to any leftist that does a study like this,

more socialism = higher living standard

[fweingart]

I’ll take America over Britain any day of the week and twice on Sunday!

Think how much better our country would be if we could dump the liberal, socialist Democrats and their Republican allies into the Potomac along with the legions of lifers that staff their offices and do the hard work of writing all the freaking bills that ruin our lives and help destroy our country and our economy.