Pretty much any full-time developer gig in the US will include employee-provided health insurance in addition to salary, so salaries are still pretty much direc

Pretty much any full-time developer gig in the US will include employee-provided health insurance in addition to salary, so salaries are still pretty much directly comparable in that sense -- take-home pay shouldn't be that different. I could see that argument being used to justify higher salaries in the UK, since employers don't have that additional expense, but not lower ones.