So companies just pay you out of the goodness of their heart because you need the money?

I have no idea how you know from what I said to that. All I said is that available data does not allow you to conclude that the entirety of the difference in pay is due to difference in labor laws. It's not an extraordinary claim, it's quite tame in fact, I would self evident.

> the cost of almost everything in the US is higher

Certainly not compared to Europe/UK. I have friends that moved there and have spent many weeks over there myself. Property, living expenses, taxes, and many goods are generally noticeably higher over there.

To counter your anecdote with mine, I’m always shocked whenever I return to visit the US how expensive basic things like groceries and rent are. Much more so than the Netherlands.

This is complicated, and it’s insufficient just to state that everything in Europe is generally more expensive than in the US.

All these anecdotes are kind of silly. The US is only a bit smaller than the entirety of Europe, and our states have economies as large as entire countries. The price of groceries and rent are going to be radically different in The Netherlands vs. Spain, for example.