Furthermore, alot of Europeans treat hard work as essential. There just isin't the same peril for those who don't make that choice.
The state is stepping in to provide benefits etc for those. Honestly it is a broken system that can't be sustained forever.

But for the vast majority the option of payed holidays and not working yourself to death for a median living is afforded to more Europeans. That is clear.

Are you only alive when you're not working? Then you're only living a third of your life. Imo it's better to enjoy the process.

That includes (or can include) public holidays, you need to treat those as separate. The average American might work ~15% more on average, but that's a combination of longer hours and less time off.

Granted. But the idea of living purely to work hard is fairly asinine.

Will you be more likely to look back in 30 years and think, I wish I took less days off from my job;
Or, look back and think, I wish I never took as many days off from my job.

Each person outlook will be different obviously.

The difference in paid holiday entitlement is stark. Talking bout 15% is irrelevant. 10days against 28 days paid holiday. Its almost triple.

This post was edited by Prox1m1ty on Jun 15 2024 06:41am

Talking about life. Stop losing your shorter one in this topic is a friendly adivce

Even if it was 15% more in terms of hours worked on average. 15% of an average career could be 5 years, or more.

Gimme my 5 fucking years at the golf course or with my family lol

This post was edited by Prox1m1ty on Jun 15 2024 06:47am

The USA is clearly one of the best places in the world to be aspirational or very wealthy, and Western Europe is the best place to be in the world if you're poor, with less potential upside for the aspirational. It makes perfect sense seeing as America is far more capitalist than Europe and it is far more productive and dynamic. Which one you prefer depends on your world view, your politics and your work ethic.

I personally like the European way a bit more, but we are dinosaurs when it comes to productivity and innovation. If we managed to achieve that within the current regulatory environment and welfare state then there would be nowhere better than Europe. But are those two models diametrically opposed and never reconcilable?

French austerity incoming

https://www.ft.com/content/b0f2ce3e-e951-4ef4-9325-86b0594e7205#comments-anchor

When I look back on regrets today they're mostly instances where I could have worked harder.

The 28 paid (UK) includes holidays, which are usually separate from accrued PTO in the US. So a starting employee would get closer to 17-18 days, not 10. Companies are free to give more, and many do, so the average PTO, especially in white collar professions, is much higher than that.



Only in the richest countries can you die by being too rich. You should try it sometime!

This post was edited by bogie160 on Jun 16 2024 08:02am

More power to you. I have a different outlook leaning more toward working smarter and for as little time as I need to. Ain't getting that time back, period.
Live to work, or work to live. Everyone falls on a different part of that scale.

In terms of workers rights its night and day however. Between the US and other developed countries particularly European countries and perhaps with the exception of Japan.
https://www.careerchange.com/newsletters/working-standards-u-s-vs-europe/

"When it comes to paid time off, the United States is an outlier. According to a 2019 think tank report entitled “No-Vacation Nation”:
The United States is the only advanced economy that does not mandate any paid vacation time for workers, and it is one of the only countries that does not require employers to offer at least some paid holidays. Without a legal requirement for paid vacation and paid holidays, about one-fourth of the US labor force has no paid vacation or paid holidays throughout the course of the work year.

The report also notes that the estimated sum of the average paid vacation and paid holidays offered for full-time, private-sector employees in the United States —10 vacation days and six paid holidays in total— falls short of the minimum annual leave requirement for all EU countries of 20 paid vacation days per year.

The U.S. is also the only country in the OECDthat does not mandate any paid leave for new parents. (Although some states offer it and four weeks of paid leave is currently part of the budget discussions in Congress.) In the European Union, by comparison, mothers are entitled to 22 weeks of paid maternity leave on average."

The only country that does not mandate paid leave for new parents is crazy to me.

This post was edited by Prox1m1ty on Jun 16 2024 09:06am