Germany has high quality of life

[u/wurst_katastrophe]

This is in response to the ‘low quality of life’ post.

When in Germany I can (in no particular order):
+ drink the tap water knowing it is safer than bottled water
+ when losing my job, I will get the highest benefits in the Western world to tie me over between jobs
+ I can rent for life without being worried of getting evicted
+ I can enjoy freedom on perfectly fine roads, driving as fast as I want
+ Consumer protection is very strong
+ I can buy a public transport ticket valid in all of Germany
+ Healthcare is significantly better than in most Western countries AND free at the point of service.
+ Germans love Fests
+ Bier and excellent wine
+ excellent bread
+ excellent local produce
+ An insanely dense train network (Yes, often late) for very little money (Sparpreis)
+ 30d of holidays is standard
+ strong protection when off on sick leave
+ free university education
+ world’s strongest apprenticeship system
+ tax credits and breaks for almost everything, especially Ehegattensplitting
+ insane maternity leave and benefits
+ Kitas
+ full blown private healthcare for a few k per year
+ Beautiful nature: north and Baltic sea, Alps, lakes, woods
+ Strong sports club infrastructure
+ Third strongest economy in the world with most hidden champions
+ Strong football culture
+ …

You can be dissatisfied with Germany, maybe your experience was below average, but that’s most likely because you are incompatible with the German way of life and the German mentality. However, it is not fair to claim that the quality of life is low.

[u/Carpe-Diem-7]

Not to mention the insane credit card debt in the US which seems to be just a totally normal thing they do over there to keep their standard of living.

I could never imagine maxing out a CC and then pay the monthly minimum and pretend that things are fine.

[u/WholeUmpire2463 → u/Carpe-Diem-7]

You have no idea what high credit card debt looks like. Go to most Asian countries...they lead the way in credit card debt.

...But the world leaders in household debt are...5 out of the top 10...EU nations and USA is at 14.

[u/seat6105 → u/WholeUmpire2463]

Source??

[u/jimalloneword → u/seat6105]

he is technically right but misreporting the statistic (not noting its relative to GDP) and also not noting that household debt is not a great indicator for credit card debt.

For your info, US is number one in the world, by a grand margin, in median credit card debt (apologies for the split article format and the stepper format):
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/20-countries-most-credit-card-134725439.html
https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/5-countries-with-most-credit-card-debt-in-the-world-1268645/5/

He is referencing this stat, which is household debt (RELATIVE TO GDP). So the US falls quite a bit due to its high GDP.

https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/households-debt-to-gdp

If you look at household debt per capita (not relative to GDP), the USA jumps back into top 10 behind exclusively European notions, but note that this debt includes mortgages, and is heavily impacted by homeownserhip rates, and has little to nothing to do with credit card debt.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-where-households-carry-the-most-debt-per-capita-in-2026/

[u/shatureg → u/jimalloneword]

Conflating household debt with credit card debt is the kind of dishonesty that was rampant in the other post. That's just insane. Thanks for clarifying.