Updated & republished.

This diary offers a colloquially worded straightforward brief introduction to benefits, that I've observed as an expatriate American living in the E.U., which are typically received by Western European workers, even what would be considered in the US low paid unskilled service jobs. It is the hope of this diary to promote a thoughtful discussion as to why working people in the US don't receive these same type of benefits from the barebones American social system. Concurrently it is the hope of this diary that people who have international experience living in countries that provide the type of social benefits described in this diary, would consent to extending themselves to comment. Having said that we all recognize that everyone has the ability to comment, and everyone's comments and questions are equally valued and welcome.

Why do workers across Western Europe receive 20 to 30 days paid vacation?

We've all heard the stories that American workers receive about half of the paid vacation as their European counterparts. For me this however isn't an abstract idea, it's a reality as an American expat that I see every single day. Did you know that even American companies operating throughout Western Europe are required by law to provide 20 days paid vacation to all employees. How is it that these American companies can do this in Western Europe and show a profit, but if they do it in the States they will become insolvent. The short answer can be described in one word - which is sophistry.



The U.S. government, of course, guarantees precisely zero days of paid vacation for those employed in the private sector. For those Americans not working for government agencies, then, the amount of time off they get is a matter of negotiation with their employer and, usually, the number of years at a given firm. As a result, "Americans work two weeks longer than the work-till-you-drop Japanese, and two months longer than the Germans, who sometimes receive up to 15 weeks paid vacation each year, according to the Hay Group, a human resource consulting firm. " Indeed, "The U.S. is second from the bottom with 10 days, tied with both Canada and Japan. Only Mexico, with a piddly six days, offers employees less vacation time."

http://www.acus.org/...

Statutory minimum annual paid vacation days by country: Austria - 25 paid vacation days

Belgium - 20 paid vacation days

Denmark - 25 paid vacation days

Finland - 20 paid vacation days

France - 25 paid vacation days

Germany - 20 paid vacation days

Greece - 20 paid vacation days

Hungary - 20 paid vacation days

Ireland - 20 paid vacation days

Italy - 20 paid vacation days

Luxembourg - 25 paid vacation days

Netherlands - 20 paid vacation days

Norway - 21 paid vacation days

Poland - 20 paid vacation days

Portugal - 22 paid vacation days

Spain - 22 paid vacation days

Sweden - 25 paid vacation days

United Kingdom - 20 paid vacation days

United States - Zero paid vacation days

http://www.acus.org/...

Nearly one-fourth of American workers have no paid vacation or holidays, according to a recent study from the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, and nearly half of all private-sector workers have no paid sick days.

http://www.illinoistimes.com/...

Not all but many countries in Western Europe offer up to a year's paid sick leave or more if you have a physician's certificate of medical disability. For most Americans living in the US this would be actually impossible to imagine. There are systems in place to prevent abuse of paid sick leave and while the paid sick leave benefit system will vary from one country to the next within the European Union. The amazing thing is there is no job protected paid sick leave system required by law in the USA in accordance with any national uniform standard for all employees, unlike in EU countries.



Source: http://www.cepr.net/...

Parent's Maternity Leave:

Did you know that the US virtually speaking is the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn't have job protected paid maternity leave by right of law? [Please note the Family and Medical Leave Act in the US only provides for unpaid leave]. By contrast virtually all countries in Western Europe have some type of mandatory job protected paid maternity leave by right of law available to working parents. These systems can vary from about 5 months to up to 2 years paid maternity leave depending on the country within the European Union. Again American companies operating in Europe are required by law in the European Union unlike in the US, to provide paid maternity benefits to all working parents irrespective of the type of job or position they hold.



"Maternity leave benefits in weeks for 19 countries: Share of leave unpaid & share of leave paid: United Kingdom - 35 paid weeks leave & 15 weeks unpaid leave.

--

Ireland - 15 weeks of paid leave & 10 weeks of unpaid leave.

Italy - 18 weeks of paid leave & 4 weeks of unpaid leave.

Denmark - 18 weeks of paid leave.

Finland - 12 weeks of paid leave & 5 weeks of unpaid leave.

Greece - 18 weeks of paid leave.

France - 18 weeks of paid leave.

Austria - 18 weeks of paid leave.

Netherlands - 18 weeks of paid leave.

Spain - 18 weeks of paid leave.

Switzerland - 18 weeks of paid leave.

Sweden - 12 weeks of paid leave & 2 weeks of unpaid leave.

Belgium - 12 weeks of paid leave & 3 weeks of unpaid leave.

Canada - 10 weeks of paid leave & 5 weeks of unpaid leave.

Germany - 15 weeks of paid leave.

Japan - 10 weeks of paid leave & 2 weeks of unpaid leave.

New Zealand - 5 weeks of paid leave & 6 weeks of unpaid leave.

United States - 12 weeks of unpaid leave. [Full time equivalent of leave in weeks, as if the claimant were to receive 100% of average earnings. Source: OECD Family database 2005/2006, International Social Security Association. The following information can be seen from this chart at this URL:

http://www.epi.org/... http://www.epi.org/...

In Norway we have a choice between 46 weeks (with 100% pay) or 56 weeks (with 80% pay) parental leave. Six weeks are reserved for the mother, 10 weeks reserved for the father (plus the 2 weeks off they get at the time of the birth), and the rest can be shared. Next year, the fathers 10 weeks will be increased to 12 weeks.

http://www.worldmomsblog.com/...

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Medical benefits are provided to all persons in the European Union irrespective of employment status.

As an American expat in Europe I have seen that all persons who are residents in the European Union, irrespective of the type of job they hold

or the length of their employment, receive complete medical benefits for themselves and their families. Excluding people for medical coverage for pre-existing conditions is virtually unheard of in the EU.

Unemployment compensation:

Most Western European countries have unemployment compensation systems, wherein when your regular unemployment insurance runs out you receive some type of unemployment insurance assistance social benefit payments, which never run out in most Western European countries. As such this also provides for medical care for the unemployed worker and their families. When I first found out about this I was truly shocked, and my friends and family back in the States actually refused to believe it when I explained it to them. Maybe that's because the corporate owned mainstream media isn't interested in explaining these benefits to us on the 6 o'clock news Stateside. I wonder why that is?



Source: OCED



European benefits also tend to last longer. In Belgium, jobless benefits have no time limit at all. In Denmark, the state replaces up to 90% of lost wages and invests over 4% of gross domestic product every year in supporting and retraining the jobless. Jobless benefits vary around Europe, just as they can vary state-by-state in the U.S. But in most Western European countries, the state replaces 60% to 80% of the average worker's lost salary, compared with just over half on average in the U.S., according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

http://online.wsj.com/... Safety Nets

Public expenditure in labor market programs as a percentage of GDP 2006. Germany - 2.97%

Netherlands - 2.67%

France - 2.32%

Sweden - 2.32%

Spain - 2.24%

UK - 0.61%

US - 0.38% Source: OECD

http://online.wsj.com/...

A 2008 study by the CESifo Group, a European research group, shows that many public universities in Europe do not charge their students any tuition fees at all. This is, for instance, the case in France, Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Malta and all of the Scandinavian countries, according to the CESifo study.

http://media.www.theeagleonline.com/...

University tuition in the EU compared to the US is very progressive. Most countries in continental Europe have no tuition except for modest registration fees, when compared to the US tuition system, which forces students from working families to take on large student loans, therein creating a new class of indentured servants. A de facto form of economic slavery if you will, wherein student loan monthly repayments are on their way to becoming as much as most people's modest mortgage payments. Let's add to that the fact that graduate students, as graduate students are not eligible for Pell grants, are now actually running over the Stafford student lifetime loan limit of $135,000 which has not been increased since 1992 for a period of some 17 years, because the GOP has no interest in seeing American students from working class families enter the ranks of leadership in govt or industry. By contrast in the EU modest registration fees can vary from country to country. In Germany for example registration fees are around 500 Euros per semester, plus you have to buy your own books in the EU. In England they do have tuition but unless you make over a threshold amount you don't have to repay your student loans. In France for example there is no tuition as such whatsoever. It just doesn't exist. Therefore people from working families can go to college or university and rise to management and leadership level in govt and industry much more easily. Isn't that one more reason why France is more socially progressive than the US?

Yet another civilized fact of life in the European Union countries is the fact that people who are on long term sick leave while on sick leave according to the European Union high court must be given the right to accumulate paid vacation days while on mandatory sick leave, as a human rights imperative and issue in equity. To that end I offer the quote below:



Employees on long-term sick leave are still entitled to paid holiday, EU judges have said. It means that staff can take their annual leave built up while at home as soon as they return to work. In addition, any worker who is sacked or who leaves a firm while off ill must be financially compensated for the holidays not taken. The European Court of Justice verdict takes effect immediately and cannot be appealed against.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...

In conclusion can we ask ourselves why doesn't the corporate owned media inform the American people of the social safety net available in the European Union, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand to name but a few. I think the answer is obvious don't you, when we consider who owns the commercial corporate mainstream American media. Therefore it's up to us that is to say political progressives to get the word out, to therefore invite all readers to comment on this diary. I'd also like to issue a special appeal to the Kossacks who have international experience living under the type of social safety net described in this diary to please consider extending yourselves to offer firsthand account that reflects your own empirical experiences attendant upon this subject matter.

As the Republicans have wrecked the American economy with their unregulated, vulgar robber baron Wall St capitalism, can we agree that after Wall Street has been bailed out it is now time for Main Street to be bailed out by a strengthened American social safety net, wherein not everything has to be ran for-profit. As our politicians and journalists can no longer be relied upon to tell us the truth, in the ancient tradition only the court jester could be relied upon through satire to tell the truth. It is in that vein that this diary offers a link to a modern day progressive court jester Bill Maher who in this video which ends this diary on a humorous note, reminds us there was a time in America when certain things weren't ran for profit, such as the health care system and the American prison system, both of which due to the profit motive have become infinitely worse. Isn't it the truth that it's a lot cheaper to pay for a strong American social safety net than it is to pay for an American prison system on steroids!

Also please note that the top five cities in the world to live in, none of them are in the United States. Three of them are in Europe.

The World’s Best Places To Live: http://finance.yahoo.com/...

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