5 ms·

I don't know where in the EU you are but I live in Germany and had to have cancer treatment a few years ago & got outstanding care for no cost. Also having two

by ido 6y ago

I don't know where in the EU you are but I live in Germany and had to have cancer treatment a few years ago & got outstanding care for no cost. Also having two children the amount of support we (and everyone who has kids) get from the state here is excellent.

durnygbur 6y ago
This will last at most only 5-10 years more [1]. Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain and Greece are brain-drained to the bone already. There is noone to come over. [1] https://www.populationpyramid.net/germany/2020/ https://www.populationpyramid.net/germany/2020/
- ido 6y ago
  I've worked at tech companies since we moved here in 2013 and at least for developers most of the "imported talent" were from non-EU former Soviet countries (Russia, Ukraine, etc), India or Latin America.
- iamlucaswolf 6y ago
  This might be a fair assumption from a birth statistics viewpoint, but completely misses immigration. I met a lot of brilliant people from all over the world during my undergrad at TU Munich; many of them stayed. Google, Apple, Microsoft have expanded rather aggressively over the past years, and the startup scene is growing. Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt seem to follow suit. Granted, it's much less likely (and also less politically incentivized) to become a "millionaire employee", but I guess ultimately, the correlation between wealth and wellbeing is simply weaker in (northern) European economies? As long as immigration policies don't change (and why would they? the current model aligns well with lobby incentives), I don't see much reason for this to change. Also, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Spain, and Greece have a different political and economic history than Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, etc.
- luch 6y ago
  Holy shit, I knew from anecdotal evidences that young people from Spain and Italy were "fleeing" their country but the demographics are frankly scary ! I don't know how what the retirement scheme is implemented over there, but if it is generational (young gens pays for older gens) they willy have a BIG problem in 15/20 years ...
  - durnygbur 6y ago
    The population pyramids of Germany, Spain, Italy are interestingly similar while the economies of the latter two are in deep problems. Retirement age in Germany is 67, wait for it. Putting aside the tabloid hysteria I dare to presume that this was one of the main reasons of Brexit. The entire Europe will hiccup.
- eeZah7Ux 6y ago
  This is huge exaggeration and generalization. Some parts of EU are doing very well economically and have very quality of life. Cherry-picking specific countries does not represent the totality.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
I live in the Netherlands and I pay nearly 150 / month in health insurance, my employer pays another heap, and on top of that I have a mandatory minimal deductible, medication that isn't on a list gets billed extra, and a lot of things are not covered by default (like glasses, physical therapy) or have a max coverage (like dental work).
- em500 6y ago
  The total spending on health care in the Netherlands in 2019 was €510 per person per month[1]. That need to be paid in somehow. [1] https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2020/24/zorguitgaven-stegen-in-2019-met-5-2-procent https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2020/24/zorguitgaven-stegen-...
- ido 6y ago
  I pay a lot more than you, but I'm ok with it cause it's a % of my wage and it means people much poorer than me get free/cheap healthcare. I'm not familiar with what is covered in the Netherland but here the normal public insurance really does cover a lot.
  - consp 6y ago
    Not just poor people. Kids are insured by the ZVW premie which the employers pay for everyone. They are subscribed on one of the parents insurance but for the basic insurance this is free. Additional insurance can cost money for kids.
    - ido 6y ago
      That's true! And when my wife was home when they were babies all 4 of us were insured on my contribution alone.
- durnygbur 6y ago
  > nearly 150 / month in health insurance, my employer pays another heap This contribution is in line with public health insurance in Poland, which in practice doesn't cover any services and is completely disfunctional. German one which actually delivers is twice as much.

by ido 6y ago

durnygbur 6y ago

This will last at most only 5-10 years more [1]. Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain and Greece are brain-drained to the bone already. There is noone to come over. [1] https://www.populationpyramid.net/germany/2020/ https://www.populationpyramid.net/germany/2020/

ido 6y ago
I've worked at tech companies since we moved here in 2013 and at least for developers most of the "imported talent" were from non-EU former Soviet countries (Russia, Ukraine, etc), India or Latin America.
iamlucaswolf 6y ago
This might be a fair assumption from a birth statistics viewpoint, but completely misses immigration. I met a lot of brilliant people from all over the world during my undergrad at TU Munich; many of them stayed. Google, Apple, Microsoft have expanded rather aggressively over the past years, and the startup scene is growing. Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt seem to follow suit. Granted, it's much less likely (and also less politically incentivized) to become a "millionaire employee", but I guess ultimately, the correlation between wealth and wellbeing is simply weaker in (northern) European economies? As long as immigration policies don't change (and why would they? the current model aligns well with lobby incentives), I don't see much reason for this to change. Also, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Spain, and Greece have a different political and economic history than Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, etc.
luch 6y ago
Holy shit, I knew from anecdotal evidences that young people from Spain and Italy were "fleeing" their country but the demographics are frankly scary ! I don't know how what the retirement scheme is implemented over there, but if it is generational (young gens pays for older gens) they willy have a BIG problem in 15/20 years ...
- durnygbur 6y ago
  The population pyramids of Germany, Spain, Italy are interestingly similar while the economies of the latter two are in deep problems. Retirement age in Germany is 67, wait for it. Putting aside the tabloid hysteria I dare to presume that this was one of the main reasons of Brexit. The entire Europe will hiccup.
eeZah7Ux 6y ago
This is huge exaggeration and generalization. Some parts of EU are doing very well economically and have very quality of life. Cherry-picking specific countries does not represent the totality.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago

I live in the Netherlands and I pay nearly 150 / month in health insurance, my employer pays another heap, and on top of that I have a mandatory minimal deductible, medication that isn't on a list gets billed extra, and a lot of things are not covered by default (like glasses, physical therapy) or have a max coverage (like dental work).

em500 6y ago
The total spending on health care in the Netherlands in 2019 was €510 per person per month[1]. That need to be paid in somehow. [1] https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2020/24/zorguitgaven-stegen-in-2019-met-5-2-procent https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2020/24/zorguitgaven-stegen-...
ido 6y ago
I pay a lot more than you, but I'm ok with it cause it's a % of my wage and it means people much poorer than me get free/cheap healthcare. I'm not familiar with what is covered in the Netherland but here the normal public insurance really does cover a lot.
- consp 6y ago
  Not just poor people. Kids are insured by the ZVW premie which the employers pay for everyone. They are subscribed on one of the parents insurance but for the basic insurance this is free. Additional insurance can cost money for kids.
  - ido 6y ago
    That's true! And when my wife was home when they were babies all 4 of us were insured on my contribution alone.
durnygbur 6y ago
> nearly 150 / month in health insurance, my employer pays another heap This contribution is in line with public health insurance in Poland, which in practice doesn't cover any services and is completely disfunctional. German one which actually delivers is twice as much.