Living standards across the EU compared : Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:51 pm  

OK firstly I know these are not 'perfect' measures of living standards and they don't reflect distributional issues however with those disclaimers in mind the following figures are interesting: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ ... -BP-EN.PDF They are showing GDP per person (adjusted for purchasing power parity, ie taking into account the fact prices are lower in some countries like in Eastern Europe) in 2010. The average GDP per person across all the people in the EU is indexed to 100 so the UK's index of 112 means we have a 12% higher GDP per person than the average. Luxembourg comes top with 271 - 171% higher than the EU average but that comes from its small population. On GDP per person the UK comes 10th out of 27 EU countries. The top 10 are Luxembourg, Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Finland, UK. We come just ahead of France, Italy and Spain who are 11th-13th. The bottom three are Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria. Compared with countries not in the EU, if Norway and Switzerland were in the EU they would have come 2nd and 3rd ahead of the Netherlands. The interesting figure that comes out of this is what happens when you go from GDP per person to AIC (Average Individual Consumption) per person. GDP includes consumer spending, business investment, government spending and net exports. If you just measure the average amount of goods and services consumed by individuals (whether they are paid for by individuals, government or non profit organisations) then UK jumps from 10th to 2nd behind Luxembourg. This suggests that UK citizens benefit more from goods and services provided to them by government than others (I expect free healthcare boosts this measure). The top ten on this measure becomes Luxembourg, UK, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, France, Finland, Belgium. We have probably leapfrogged Germany because they are ahead of us on GDP per capita due to their large net exports but in terms of the aggregate level of goods and service being consumed by citizens, the UK is ahead of Germany.

OK firstly I know these are not 'perfect' measures of living standards and they don't reflect distributional issues however with those disclaimers in mind the following figures are interesting: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ ... -BP-EN.PDF They are showing GDP per person (adjusted for purchasing power parity, ie taking into account the fact prices are lower in some countries like in Eastern Europe) in 2010. The average GDP per person across all the people in the EU is indexed to 100 so the UK's index of 112 means we have a 12% higher GDP per person than the average. Luxembourg comes top with 271 - 171% higher than the EU average but that comes from its small population. On GDP per person the UK comes 10th out of 27 EU countries. The top 10 are Luxembourg, Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Finland, UK. We come just ahead of France, Italy and Spain who are 11th-13th. The bottom three are Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria. Compared with countries not in the EU, if Norway and Switzerland were in the EU they would have come 2nd and 3rd ahead of the Netherlands. The interesting figure that comes out of this is what happens when you go from GDP per person to AIC (Average Individual Consumption) per person. GDP includes consumer spending, business investment, government spending and net exports. If you just measure the average amount of goods and services consumed by individuals (whether they are paid for by individuals, government or non profit organisations) then UK jumps from 10th to 2nd behind Luxembourg. This suggests that UK citizens benefit more from goods and services provided to them by government than others (I expect free healthcare boosts this measure). The top ten on this measure becomes Luxembourg, UK, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, France, Finland, Belgium. We have probably leapfrogged Germany because they are ahead of us on GDP per capita due to their large net exports but in terms of the aggregate level of goods and service being consumed by citizens, the UK is ahead of Germany.

Re: Living standards across the EU compared : Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:03 pm  

Does the fact that Germans save and Brits spend on credit affect the measure?

Re: Living standards across the EU compared : Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:24 pm  

Yes Germany has a high saving rate and that will have an implication for those figures.

Re: Living standards across the EU compared : Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:32 pm  

Does living standards here include such things as work-life balance, maternity/paternity rights?

Re: Living standards across the EU compared : Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:47 pm  

Mintball wrote:

Does living standards here include such things as work-life balance, maternity/paternity rights?

If so, the UK will probably leapfrog Germany as average hours worked in the UK are less than most European countries - we were 29th out of 31st according to The Guardian in 2009. In terms of long-hours (48 hours per week +) we had a lower percentage of people working such hours than the EU average.

So, the UK seems to be the place to be!

Re: Living standards across the EU compared : Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:54 pm  

Dally wrote:

Mintball wrote:

Does living standards here include such things as work-life balance, maternity/paternity rights?

If so, the UK will probably leapfrog Germany as average hours worked in the UK are less than most European countries - we were 29th out of 31st according to The Guardian in 2009. In terms of long-hours (48 hours per week +) we had a lower percentage of people working such hours than the EU average.

So, the UK seems to be the place to be!

I have a feeling that you'll be knocked back on that assertion

Re: Living standards across the EU compared : Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:01 pm  

cod'ead wrote: Dally wrote: Mintball wrote: Does living standards here include such things as work-life balance, maternity/paternity rights? If so, the UK will probably leapfrog Germany as average hours worked in the UK are less than most European countries - we were 29th out of 31st according to The Guardian in 2009. In terms of long-hours (48 hours per week +) we had a lower percentage of people working such hours than the EU average. So, the UK seems to be the place to be! I have a feeling that you'll be knocked back on that assertion http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/ma ... ing-h.ours (The Guardian would never mislead - like it didn't over the NOTW!)

cod'ead wrote: Dally wrote: Mintball wrote: Does living standards here include such things as work-life balance, maternity/paternity rights? If so, the UK will probably leapfrog Germany as average hours worked in the UK are less than most European countries - we were 29th out of 31st according to The Guardian in 2009. In terms of long-hours (48 hours per week +) we had a lower percentage of people working such hours than the EU average. So, the UK seems to be the place to be! I have a feeling that you'll be knocked back on that assertion http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/ma ... ing-h.ours (The Guardian would never mislead - like it didn't over the NOTW!)

Re: Living standards across the EU compared : Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:11 pm  

This can't be right. Positive news about the UK on the Sin Bin.

Re: Living standards across the EU compared : Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:31 pm  

Dally wrote: cod'ead wrote: Dally wrote: Mintball wrote: Does living standards here include such things as work-life balance, maternity/paternity rights? If so, the UK will probably leapfrog Germany as average hours worked in the UK are less than most European countries - we were 29th out of 31st according to The Guardian in 2009. In terms of long-hours (48 hours per week +) we had a lower percentage of people working such hours than the EU average. So, the UK seems to be the place to be! I have a feeling that you'll be knocked back on that assertion http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/ma ... ing-h.ours (The Guardian would never mislead - like it didn't over the NOTW!) "404 page not found"

Dally wrote: cod'ead wrote: Dally wrote: Mintball wrote: Does living standards here include such things as work-life balance, maternity/paternity rights? If so, the UK will probably leapfrog Germany as average hours worked in the UK are less than most European countries - we were 29th out of 31st according to The Guardian in 2009. In terms of long-hours (48 hours per week +) we had a lower percentage of people working such hours than the EU average. So, the UK seems to be the place to be! I have a feeling that you'll be knocked back on that assertion http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/ma ... ing-h.ours (The Guardian would never mislead - like it didn't over the NOTW!) "404 page not found"

Re: Living standards across the EU compared : Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:34 pm  

Mintball wrote: Dally wrote: cod'ead wrote: Dally wrote: Mintball wrote: Does living standards here include such things as work-life balance, maternity/paternity rights? If so, the UK will probably leapfrog Germany as average hours worked in the UK are less than most European countries - we were 29th out of 31st according to The Guardian in 2009. In terms of long-hours (48 hours per week +) we had a lower percentage of people working such hours than the EU average. So, the UK seems to be the place to be! I have a feeling that you'll be knocked back on that assertion http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/ma ... ing-h.ours (The Guardian would never mislead - like it didn't over the NOTW!) "404 page not found" It works when I click on it. You can access it via Google.

Mintball wrote: Dally wrote: cod'ead wrote: Dally wrote: Mintball wrote: Does living standards here include such things as work-life balance, maternity/paternity rights? If so, the UK will probably leapfrog Germany as average hours worked in the UK are less than most European countries - we were 29th out of 31st according to The Guardian in 2009. In terms of long-hours (48 hours per week +) we had a lower percentage of people working such hours than the EU average. So, the UK seems to be the place to be! I have a feeling that you'll be knocked back on that assertion http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/ma ... ing-h.ours (The Guardian would never mislead - like it didn't over the NOTW!) "404 page not found" It works when I click on it. You can access it via Google.