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A comment on Poor kids who do things right don't do better than rich kids who do things wrong. Parent comment

Re:Poor kids who do things right don't do better than rich k... by dogma1138 on Monday October 24, 2016 @04:12PM (#12782409)
That is not indicative of social mobility, the tax liability on the poor and the middle class in the US is considerably lower than in Europe. Wages are on the other hand considerably higher.

This holds true even for low income jobs, McDonalds pays nearly 10$ an hour in the US vs 4.35 GBP in the UK, or 6.50 EUR in Germany (there are comming minimum wage changes in Germany so it will increase to about 8 EUR in 2017) and US those workers are taxed at considerably lower rates.

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Re:Poor kids who do things right don't do better than rich k... by tankenmate on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @10:04AM (#12788060)
The current minimum wage in the UK is £7.20, and what's more if you are on the minimum wage in the UK the government will frequently top that up with tax credits (money paid directly to the claimant either weekly or monthly) and possibly housing benefit (money paid to either the claimant or landlord, and in some cases help to pay your mortgage) as well, although these typically only apply to people who are earning less than an equivalent to a full time minimum wage job and/or have children.
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