Low salaries in the UK vs U.S: How do people make it work?

Well the thing is, most people who live in the UK are only familiar with what things cost here, and don't really know how this compares with prices in the USA, so it is difficult for someone who is not familiar with both countries to answer your question. However if American television and films are a reliable guide there are certain differences in lifestyle that suggest people in the UK might spend less on certain things than in the USA. For example, I am given to understand that air conditioning is common in many American homes. Not so here. Also the impression is given that steak is virtually standard fare at mealtimes in America whereas here it is something of a luxury, for special occasions. Cars are smaller, and so I assume probably cheaper here, and they also travel shorter distances (because it is not so far to go between places here) so I imagine we spend less on fuel. And of course we don't buy guns. Other than that, as I said, you really need the advice of someone who travels regularly between the two countries who can provide a fair comparison.

haha. Yes there are some that eat steaks and have guns.  We don't do either. Cars are definitely smaller there it is true.

Hopefully anyone who's moved between the two countries can give some advice here too

Hi again.

I used to work for a US multi; we did a comparison of our truck drivers; in the UK they average £28k ($37k), in the US $40k.  The main reason for that $3k difference is that workers in the US work longer hours and get less holiday, plus pensions, shares and healthcare are often part of the deal.  Taxes can make a difference in higher salaried positions.

The big leveller is Healthcare, the UK has the NHS which is free at the point of delivery with no pre-existing issues; the US hasn't got anything like it.

The other mistake people make is thinking because we share the same language, we are the same in all other respects, sadly we're not.  You don't compare the UK with Germany or Japan, so why should you compare it to the USA, or any other country for that matter; it's just different.

Strictly my own opinion.

Cynic
Expat Team

Ok. I just compared average salary in UK and Britain and they don’t seem so diff. Some sites put similar jobs as vastly different in pay and others do not. But yeah with free healthcare that seems to even out.

And I agree. Same language but they are quite different for sure. I do think people forget this.

Also, if you wanted to make more comparisons, salaries in France are generally lower than in the UK, and in France the taxes are really high. Free medical in France too, but then peoples taxes need to support so much more than just the health service since a huge chunk of the working population are working for the state and they hand out so many benefits for all kinds of things.

So I agree that you really cannot compare the two places. I know that if I wanted to live in either the US or the UK then I would definitely choose the UK, probably because of the NHS and also that most of the population cannot own guns in the UK.

Shill88 wrote:

salaries in France are generally lower than in France

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SimCityAT wrote:

Shill88 wrote:

salaries in France are generally lower than in France

????

It's been corrected.