Originally Posted by Bostonian
Originally Posted by DeHe
But the scientist in me is driven crazy but the faux comparative analysis. You cannot say that the middle class or upper middle class scenarios are equal when the french have universal health care, more vacation time, shorter work weeks and numerous other mechanisms which make life just easier all around. French families are not nearly as stressed about the things which drive american families to be stressed even before they get to actual parenting. The irony of this being in the WSJ!

All those government benefits come at the cost of high taxes, which can also stress families trying to make ends meet. Social spending in the U.S. is higher now than it was a half-century ago, and I don't think that has reduced stress.

How the tax burden is distributed, and what kinds of supports and benefits the social spending provides both matter a great deal in shaping whether higher spending and taxes relieve or exacerbate stress on lower- and middle-income families. In the case of the US vs France, it seems clear that France's higher social spending significantly reduces the number of families who are "trying to make ends meet". Source

Last edited by aculady; 02/04/12 12:13 PM.