‘Splainer time: I got a ton of flak for posting an image on my Facebook fan page that showed some similar numbers. What for? Because I didn’t show the cost of living in those countries. Basically, the argument is that “sure, minimum wage is higher in those countries … you have to pay more for everything!”
Welp, I got on my Internet horse and galloped around Google a bit … and here’s what I found:
In some of those countries, it does indeed cost more for basics. In some, it costs much less. It’s pretty much right down the middle; here are some examples:
Cost of Living
Turkey: Consumer prices including rent are 43.6% lower than the United States
France: Consumer prices including rent are 15.3% higher than the United States
Australia: Consumer prices including rent are 45.26% higher than the United States
Slovenia: Consumer prices including rent are 20.02% lower than the United States
The Netherlands: Consumer prices including rent are 14.8% higher than the United States
Latvia: Consumer prices including rent are 33.76% lower than the United States
Canada: Consumer prices including rent are 7.45% higher than the United States
(Figures are as of September 2014. These things change daily, so my numbers might be slightly off.)
Of course, there are other factors to consider here. For example, many countries have a nationalized health care system of some sort and other social safety nets so that people don’t die from working too many minimum wage jobs while not being able to go to the doctor and such … just saying.
