IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imk/studie/91-2024.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Comparing living and working conditions - Germany outperforms the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Priewe

Abstract

This paper compares living and working conditions in the U.S. and Germany for the year 2022 with a focus on economic, social and environmental standards. Twelve dimensions of comparison are used, split into 15 themes, which are examined with 80 indicators. Subjective indicators based on polls or surveys, such as happiness or quality of life in general, are explicitly avoided. A special emphasis is placed on median values instead of mean values if data allow. Emphasis is also placed on income and wealth inequality. The methodology, which focuses on only two countries in a granular approach, provides much more detailed information than methodologies used in other studies. This paper is, to the knowledge of the author, the only comprehensive comparison of living conditions in the U.S. and Germany. The result of the comparison shows that Germany scores 23 and the U.S. only 6. The framing of the comparison is the analysis of two different types of capitalism. It underlines the limited role of GDP per capita for the living conditions of the majority of the population while highlighting the impact of institutions and the type of the welfare state.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Priewe, 2024. "Comparing living and working conditions - Germany outperforms the United States," IMK Studies 91-2024, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:imk:studie:91-2024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_imk_study_91_2024.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kai Ruggeri & Amma Panin & Milica Vdovic & Bojana Većkalov & Nazeer Abdul-Salaam & Jascha Achterberg & Carla Akil & Jolly Amatya & Kanchan Amatya & Thomas Lind Andersen & Sibele D. Aquino & Arjoon Aru, 2022. "The globalizability of temporal discounting," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 1386-1397, October.
      • Kai Ruggeri & Amma Panin & Milica Vdovic & Bojana Većkalov & Nazeer Abdul-Salaam & Jascha Achterberg & Carla Akil & Jolly Amatya & Kanchan Amatya & Thomas Lind Andersen & Sibele D Aquino & Arjoon Arun, 2022. "The globalizability of temporal discounting," Post-Print halshs-03903193, HAL.
    2. Eddie C. M. Hui & Ka Kwan Kevin Chan, 2022. "How does Covid-19 affect global equity markets?," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Kevin Watkins & Donald A. P. Bundy, 2022. "Free school meals to alleviate global hunger," Nature, Nature, vol. 607(7918), pages 239-239, July.
    4. Devadoss, Stephen & Ugwuanyi, Blessing & Ridley, William, 2022. "Determinants of Global Agricultural Trade," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 47(3), September.
    5. Shusong Ba, 2022. "China’s Banking Industry in Globalization 3.0," Springer Books, in: The New Cycle and New Finance in China, chapter 0, pages 55-60, Springer.
    6. Tram T. B. Nguyen & Dong Li, 2022. "Towards Safer Global Food Supply Chains," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-93356-2, September.
    7. Anderson F. Brito & Elizaveta Semenova & Gytis Dudas & Gabriel W. Hassler & Chaney C. Kalinich & Moritz U. G. Kraemer & Joses Ho & Houriiyah Tegally & George Githinji & Charles N. Agoti & Lucy E. Matk, 2022. "Global disparities in SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Daniel S. Maynard & Lalasia Bialic-Murphy & Constantin M. Zohner & Colin Averill & Johan Hoogen & Haozhi Ma & Lidong Mo & Gabriel Reuben Smith & Alicia T. R. Acosta & Isabelle Aubin & Erika Berenguer , 2022. "Global relationships in tree functional traits," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Pao‐Li Chang & Phuong T. B. Nguyen, 2022. "Global value chains and the CPTPP," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(12), pages 3780-3832, December.
    10. , Rahmi & K, Khelvin. & Nurrahma, Ayuni, 2022. "Sejarah Perbankan Syariah Secara Global," OSF Preprints skv3c, Center for Open Science.
    11. Kai Ruggeri & Amma Panin & Milica Vdovic & Bojana Većkalov & Nazeer Abdul-Salaam & Jascha Achterberg & Carla Akil & Jolly Amatya & Kanchan Amatya & Thomas Lind Andersen & Sibele D. Aquino & Arjoon Aru, 2022. "The globalizability of temporal discounting," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(10), pages 1386-1397, October.
    12. Francesco Maria Sabatini & Borja Jiménez-Alfaro & Ute Jandt & Milan Chytrý & Richard Field & Michael Kessler & Jonathan Lenoir & Franziska Schrodt & Susan K. Wiser & Mohammed A. S. Arfin Khan & Fabio , 2022. "Global patterns of vascular plant alpha diversity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    13. Thomas K. J. McDermott, 2022. "Global exposure to flood risk and poverty," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-3, December.
    14. Luis E C Rocha & Petter Holme & Claudio D G Linhares, 2022. "The global migration network of sex-workers," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 969-985, May.
    15. ., 2023. "Employment market effects of a Basic Income," Chapters, in: A Research Agenda for Basic Income, chapter 4, pages 69-96, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Paul J. J. Welfens, 2022. "A New Global Economic Order," Springer Books, in: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, chapter 0, pages 221-269, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Emilio Ocampo, 2023. "Dollarization as an Effective Commitment Device: The Case of Argentina," CEMA Working Papers: Serie Documentos de Trabajo. 848, Universidad del CEMA.
    2. Wifo, 2023. "WIFO-Monatsberichte, Heft 9/2023," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 96(9), September.
    3. Apollo Uma, 2022. "Short communication: It’s always agricultural extension, what about agribusiness extension?," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(9), pages 459-460, September.
    4. Lavopa, Alejandro & Donnelly, Carolina, 2023. "Socioeconomic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of industrial capabilities," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 44-57.
    5. Benjamin Faucher & Chiara E. Sabbatini & Peter Czuppon & Moritz U. G. Kraemer & Philippe Lemey & Vittoria Colizza & François Blanquart & Pierre-Yves Boëlle & Chiara Poletto, 2024. "Drivers and impact of the early silent invasion of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Qushua, Najat & Smith-Appelson, Jesse & Sarraf, Danielle & Stark, Lindsay & Seff, Ilana, 2023. "Seeking approval first: Mental health care utilization and engagements among MENA adolescents in the United States," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    7. Stephan Kambach & Francesco Maria Sabatini & Fabio Attorre & Idoia Biurrun & Gerhard Boenisch & Gianmaria Bonari & Andraž Čarni & Maria Laura Carranza & Alessandro Chiarucci & Milan Chytrý & Jürgen De, 2023. "Climate-trait relationships exhibit strong habitat specificity in plant communities across Europe," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Kosha J. Mehta, 2022. "Effect of sleep and mood on academic performance—at interface of physiology, psychology, and education," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    9. Injy Johnstone, 2022. "Global governance and the Global Green New Deal: the G7’s role," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    10. Lin, Zewei & Wang, Peng & Ren, Songyan & Zhao, Daiqing, 2023. "Economic and environmental impacts of EVs promotion under the 2060 carbon neutrality target—A CGE based study in Shaanxi Province of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 332(C).
    11. Radike, Monika & Zuromskis, Tadas, 2023. "Lithuanian physicians practising abroad: Reasons to leave and conditions to return to Lithuania. A survey," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 75-83.
    12. Abu Zafar Mahmudul Haq Ph.D & Sayeed Mahmud Ph.D, 2023. "The Impact of Farmers’ Awareness of Visit to Health Care Centers on their Health Problems in Bangladesh," Journal of Agriculture and Crops, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 9(4), pages 483-487, 10-2023.
    13. Dmytriieva, Viktoriia & Sviatets, Yurii, 2023. "Agricultural business in independent Ukraine: thirty-year dynamics of the reorganization process," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 9(2), June.
    14. Jinke Li & Fang Wang, 2024. "A Study on the Competitiveness and Influencing Factors of the Digital Service Trade," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-21, April.
    15. Kang, Dongju & Kang, Doeun & Hwangbo, Sumin & Niaz, Haider & Lee, Won Bo & Liu, J. Jay & Na, Jonggeol, 2023. "Optimal planning of hybrid energy storage systems using curtailed renewable energy through deep reinforcement learning," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    16. Aneta Nowakowska-Krystman & Marek Sośnicki & Beata Burchert-Perlińska, 2022. "Globalne uwarunkowania funkcjonowania systemu energetycznego," Nowoczesne Systemy Zarządzania. Modern Management Systems, Military University of Technology, Faculty of Security, Logistics and Management, Institute of Organization and Management, issue 4, pages 111-130.
    17. Jailobaeva, Kanykey & Jailobaev, Temirlan & Baialieva, Gulsaadat & Ismanbaeva, Rakhat & Kirbasheva, Dilbara & Adam, Marc-Antoine, 2023. "Empowering parents and promoting school and teacher accountability and responsiveness: Case of Kyrgyzstan," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    18. Schaumann, Sarah K. & Bergmann, Felix M. & Wagner, Stephan M. & Winkenbach, Matthias, 2023. "Route efficiency implications of time windows and vehicle capacities in first- and last-mile logistics," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 311(1), pages 88-111.
    19. Mbiba, Beacon & Mupfumira, Daisy, 2022. "Rising to the occasion: Diaspora remittances to Zimbabwe during the COVID-19 pandemic," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    20. Pengfa Li & Leho Tedersoo & Thomas W. Crowther & Baozhan Wang & Yu Shi & Lu Kuang & Ting Li & Meng Wu & Ming Liu & Lu Luan & Jia Liu & Dongzhen Li & Yongxia Li & Songhan Wang & Muhammad Saleem & Alex , 2023. "Global diversity and biogeography of potential phytopathogenic fungi in a changing world," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    living conditions; quality of life; international comparisons; inequality; National Accounting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P10 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - General
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • P50 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - General
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:imk:studie:91-2024. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sabine Nemitz (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imkhbde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.