I spent most of my 20s living in Copenhagen. I made ~35k in one of the most expensive cities in the world. And yet I felt far less economically anxious than I do living in the US. My job was secure, my healthcare was free, I could commute by bike. It sucks we all live with this.
— Michael Hobbes (@RottenInDenmark) February 27, 2020
I was just chatting with an American buddy of mine who lives in Berlin. The most noticeable thing about visiting the US, he says, is this overall sense of precarity. Even his middle-class friends feel like they can lose everything at any moment. And they can!
— Michael Hobbes (@RottenInDenmark) February 27, 2020
When I read this thread on Twitter I found myself nodding in agreement. Since moving here there has been a general sense of anxiety that we were always close, or one malady away from being out on the street. I thought at first this was just a response to having to look after the kids alone for the first time, but the feeling hasn’t gone away. This despite Sheryl being here, and her good fortune in finding long term subbing work.
I don’t recall having this level of concern in the 20+ years we lived in Taiwan, in spite of the fact that we were not citizens, and as such had little in the way of rights. If you lose your job, you need to find another quickly or you’re out of the country. There is no EI or gov funds for retraining, or much of anything. You are on your own with no social safety net but for the one you construct yourself.
Part of the anxiety may stem from the fact that the cost of living on the island has proven to be far higher than our wildest estimates. With few exceptions, we pay 2x or more to live here with a far more conservative lifestyle than years past. Net income is also far less. I also don’t have much confidence in a social safety net being there to help us. Medical care is top notch but access severely constrained.
I’m sure winter has some effect as well.