I think my Norwegian cousin put it best. "In the US some people do very well, in Norway everyone does well."

I agrree Americans are hardworking always on the go so busy. Europeans always have time for vacation

I agree that Americans are overworked and yet we are the most productive workers. We are taken advantage of because the corporate guys cry poverty every time the worker asks for decent treatment or extra benefits.

It is time to unite and do something about this!

That's because there is no need for such philanthropy. Think about it.

Unless a reader is blind, the vast majority of these socialist countries are nordic. Has anyone stopped to take a look at the total taxes paid out or shall we say deducted from the workers to pay for all th is stuff? You will be astounded - shocked.

The Americans are finished. They just prefer to spend their money on wars and armaments to fight imaginary enemies. Before long these power drunk dudes will be emigrating to work as gardeners and chauffeurs for the Indians and the Chinese.

Unlike other countries, such as merrie old England,which were finished before WWII was started aand have been in a decline every since 1945, those power drunk Americans can spend it all on war and armaments and still have plenty left in the tank. When the USA economy hiccups, the entire world goes into a tailspin. You'd better hope the good old Yankee way of t hings doesn't fail, Georgie boy, or you and yours will be quite a few pegs lower than you are right now.

The author of this article is in some kind of dreamland. Who do you think pays for all these benefits and days off? My son lived in Germany for three years as an engineer. His salary was significantly lower than what he got as soon as he got to the States, any purchases not considered essentials were significantly higher than similar items in the U.S. He loved Germany but couldn't afford to live there!

I thought this was about quality of life, not how much stuff you can buy -

Yup! We still owe our souls to the company store. Keep singing that "Sixteen Tons.." song.

You hit the nail right on the head.

There is no such thing as free health insurance in the Netherlands where I live.

I like this type of comment articles. I'd like to see more.

Wow. How biased can you get. The assumption is that making your government bigger, more powerful and more bureaucratic (through mandated "good causes") is good for your country.

Yes, we here in the US prefer our government work to enrich itself and its political and corporate cronies. Heck with good causes. And we have created a self-perpetuating system to keep the rich rich and everyone else struggling to get by. We call it freedom because one day one of us, through the miracle of reincarnation could be reborn rich and powerful.

Amen!

Philippines is one of the best countries to work in too !

as what? a domestic worker?

Gee, everyone of these countries also has free health insurance. Don't need as much money to live on if you don't have to worry about getting sick or hurt.

Health care is free in Sweden

Shannon you are wrong, there is no such freebee, they all have to pay for there Health Insurance. My Brother in Germany payes over a 1000.00 Euros a month for a family of 4.

A lot of these countries offer additional health insurance. Everyone gets basic care, but you can upgrade to better plans. So, no, not everyone has to pay. But most do.

Janos, the best in what way? Would love to hear the specifics.

S-A-N-G-R-I-L-A,where can one live without the modern amenites/facilties?

Seems like this report put most of the emphasis on the number of vacation and the less number of work hours per week. How about other components to make a good work place? Like work environment, job security, employee enrichment, etc., etc.

As to these aother areas, Germany, Netherlands and the Nordics are doing better than the US. They all have clean environment (especially Sweden, Finland and Norway), strong economy equalling employment opportunities, legally protected employment security (if you are an executive in an international company, you know very well how difficult it is to dismiss in e.g. Sweden or Germany), and lots of legally mandated employee training etc.

Face the fact that this may not be the greatest place in the world to live and we are all brainwashed to hate europe.

I have been to many countries,europe and far east. I know after living in these other countries , U.S. is by far the best!

Yes, you're right, though we do lead the developed world in infant and maternal mortality thanks to our for-profit medical system.

maybe we lead the way in infant mortality because people don't take care of themselves, their unborn, or their children. When some live on junk food, smoke, drink excessively, and have a sedentary lifestyle, this must and does have an impact on health and mortality in both infants and adults..Personal responsibility is a big factor here, and I suspect in these other countries as well in how healthy the population is. Doctors can only do so much.,

Any country with enough socialism would be OK for the poor and lower middle class worker. The richer people could work anywhere and make ends meet very good if they wanted to. High cost of everything and low wages are killing many people. In the U.S. the ratio of cost of living to net income is not good for at least 50% of the population. Emergencies put most of them in a hole about 1 out of every 3 months.

the reason why you see this level of cheap sallow patriotism " ameica is the best " is
that most of US middle class believes they might be milionares some day .

In Europe if you are in you are in. If you are out you are out.

This is why Americans see Europeans as elitists. The Europeans believe themselves superior to others because they think they know what is good for everyone else. And the way to force others to take what's good for them is to make their governments bigger, stronger, more bureaucratic.

If you have a job in Europe, you are one of the elite. If you are one of the many looking for a job, you are screwed.

Actually, in most of Europe they have what you might call a real social safety net, which allows people to live until they can find employment or take advantage of training opportunities. That is why Western Europe surpassed us years ago in upward mobility. In the US if you are poor--more and more of us as full-time work gives way to part-time without benefits--in all probability you will remain poor... and hungry.

Well that's just grossly disgusting.

How about all the violence on women in the north of Europe?

It is always great to read self-righteous opinions based on made up statistics: try checking your facts, Rush.

Easy to say, my friend. What percentage of Americans can afford to travel abroad even once, not to mention frequently?

Germany looks actually better than Germany. The only thing that distorts the statistics is the unification of East lands into new Republic in 1990. There has been a substantial difference in economic development, and the convergence will still take some time. Norway wouldn't probably be anything special if not vast resources of oil and natural gas.

corr. Germany looks better than Holland...

Well that sounds cool and dandy, but what are the salary ranges and what are the job oportunities in these countries?

It all depends on what you like,and your experience in the the many parts you have been,USA is the best for focused and hard workers.every thing is kind of evened out by the system and the law,every one is under the law,where else?

wait untill you will be 50 , fired from you job because you are non productive , no union to protect you because they have all been busted by the pro business mentallity of people like you and HAVE no pension since social security is bankrupt because had to be used to pay for a war the country did not need .
Yea keep thinking we are number 1

Those tax rates are simply not true. I have lived in Finland (my husband is from there) alltogether 5 years (2years on fully paid maternity leaves) and my salary then was about 6000 euro/month and my total tax rate was 44%. for those never travelled in Europe, if converted to US dollars, my salary was about 8000 $/month.

everyone but politicians and oil companies...

Can probably add insurance companies...

Seems to me (octogenarian) that in the good ol' USA we don't know where we're going but we want to get there FAST. Fast foods, fast cars, fast computers, etc etc. Perhaps, in some other countries the majority believe (or have been persuaded) that it's ridiculous to hurry to you not where? But it's comforting to know that OURS is not the only "hurry" culture in the world.

I live in the Republic of Colombia. I am a young 72 years old. Never been healthier or stronger. I have a beautiful trim 20 year old wife. Try that in the U.S.

You must be rich!

What's the suicide rate over there in Sweden? Alcoholism rate?

Happy with your 30% or 60% tax rate, or whatever it is? It's great having someone else take care of you, isn't it? It makes you feel big and strong, in control, doesn't it?

Americans should travel more frequently abroad to appreciate living in OUR GREAT country - USA for ever.

Totally agree! Going abroad and witnessing and living other cultures made me appreciate the USA, and I couldn't wait to get back. But I learned that money is not everything as well.

Taxes are high indeed, to support the wide social net, but 98% kicks in only AFTER a huge amount of income...

I will earn my second graduate degree on May 3rd,2012. I have no job related to any of my degrees here in the US.Maybe I need to move to Europe! I know I like what I see about Sweden(love volvos),Finland,Denmark,Norway and Netherlands.
Though I don't discriminate,I think and have read, that women from those countries are very sexy. What else does a guy need in life?

I know what you mean about the woman here in the states. Alot of them are fat and dont move for anything. All i do is say what do you do all day beast. I dont know how guys knock them up? Doesnt work for me.

The gentlemen have similar problems... Let's not be sexist. A lot of Americans have trouble with obesity and are "lazy."

Although who can blame them when they are struggling to make ends meet, get the bare minimum for lunch time, and work for over 40 hours/week. It's hard enough to get motivated to work out, let alone fight everything else in your life to do so.

Long vacations are nice, but that's not all! I mean, I wouldn't want to live in Bulgaria regardless of their number of maternity days! (I'm originally from Eastern Europe, so I know...). Also, public holidays are listed as plus "benefits" in many of those countries, but I doubt that they have been "moved" to a Monday or Friday, like in the US. And "(Norway)...must be doing something right..." Well, as the list shows, most Scandinavian countries do, but Norway also has huge oil deposits.

My son just returned from 2 years in Norway. His income tax: approx. 30%.
VAT is 16% to 21%. All medical paid by the State.

98%??? Where did you get that fiction? And, please, please, please do stay in the U.S. It would be an embarassment to have you overseas...

OMG quit spreading your lies. People do not pay that much in taxes in those countries. You stay here with your economic freedom. I'll move at the first chance I get.

The high taxes that you state offer free healthcare, free higher education and much more.

I think Japan is the busiest country I know....all my friend from different countries says the same....in Jpan most people work more tha 72 hrs a week...lots of overtime thats why they dnt have time for the family and pay a high taxes...but here is also a lots of benifits(health insurace,livelihood assistance,free education,single mother assistance and the kids recieve a monthly assistance until the aged of15) from the goverment,from

As an American living in Sweden, I can agree with this. Notice that 4 of the 5 Scandinavian countries are included. Not only do we get all they have mentioned, but I only pay about 30% in taxes with way more benefits (Health care, free dental for kids until 20 years, free school with free lunch!). Just adding my family onto my insurance in the US would have pushed my withholdings to over 40%! I love it here! America could learn alot from this type of government.

Sweeden Not Great? Better healthcare, better education, better longevity. Plus they don't declare wars on countries that they have no business in. Poor old Sweeden, I'd move there in a second.

please do

really wish I could move (:

Hi,

I'm new here hope you'll welcome a new member :)

Bissous :*

Welcome! Thanks for joining us.

Enter your comments

One thing I'm wondering about is how addicted are people in these Top Ten countries to their stuff? I think one reason why we work ourselves to death here is because we are trying to accumulate more and more stuff. That leaves less time for family, friends, and other important non-material aspects of life. How can we, as a nation, get over our obsession with stuff (present company included!!)?

Very good question. I know that some of these countries really love their "stuff," but I can't say how it compares to the U.S. I wonder if anyone out there can break it down for us.

Where is the list? I did not see it.

It's done as a photo slideshow... there are arrows at the top right of the article, you have to click through to see each one.