I'm from Belgium, one of the highest taxed countries in the world. Due to an incapacitating illness, my wife and I are no longer able to work. We are lucky to be born in this country. We receive a disability allowance of 3000 USD per month and 315 USD family allowance for our son. We received a totally new social apartment for only 550 USD per month. We pay a maximum of 500 USD for health care per year, the rest is paid by our social security. We receive 1000 USD scholarship for secondary education, the school is free, it's just for the material (school bag, pen, ..). We also receive each year a vacation bonus of 1580 USD. We are not rich but we lack nothing. I thank God every day. I am proud to be Belgian.
Yep also from Belgium and I can agree with u. We pay much taxes but we get much in return . In a way most of our taxes goes back to ppl who need it mostly. And we have a great safety net and social funds.
I'm finnish and here many people complain about high taxes but never think what we get! Free healthcare and education, good infrastructure, social security, library services, great defence forces, generally supporting citizens in all kind of situations in life... With more taxes you generally get peace of mind and much more easier and enjoyable life because it's not struggling with basic things all the time.
Literally no one in Europe is shocked that most of Europe, is happier than the US. It just has to do with the safety in many regards, the freedoms, and cities that are built for people instead of mostly for cars or ''progress''. Dutchie here, but we all know our northern neighbors are great in so many regards. Love Europe so much. The trains & freedom to never have to buy a car to get anywhere you want, is great too. At least over here:)
i think even the "bad apples" in EU have way more to offehn than living in the states, reason some north American are actually moving to some cheaper countries in EU.´ P.S im from a EU bad apple btw.
@@magnushelin007 Yes, yes I am, he made me realize (and when I started traveling) how awesome our Dutch mobility system is, it made me be so interested in this, I started studying this. It's always such a delight coming home after a long journey and enjoying the total serenity that is a functioning mobility system :3
Yeah similar idea here in the land of the Danes. It's just assumed they are ducking taxes to get rich. And for the most part no one really cares to know them outside of material needs since they are clearly chasing money, not social bonds.
Most of us are tax dodgers 😃 but if you have money that is often legal.. I only touch tax free earnings. I pay plenty in tax by owning a house car and vacation home. And i have paid tax 2 times from the money i use, in dk that is alot of money (something like 90-95% in tax) Im not paying a third time, my investments are in art and gold and personal belongings i make sure gains value The last year i made 2 times the money i could by having a job, just by taking care of my stuff own, and making it better. And i kept local workers 100 times more busy then other people around me.. The money i use bennefits other people that does pay tax And before that everything was going up like crazy and i sold my house in the right part of copenhagen at the right time. They could just change the rules, im just following them and adding a bit of luck My cost of living is also cheaper then many tax payers, i can afford to invest in green energy for my self If it helps, i am taking all my tax free money and moving with them to a country in southern europe soon 😆
As a Dane, I can confirm that the trust that people have in each other, is a driving factor. Just the other day, i dropped my WALLET, with ALL my cards, drivers license, mastercard, healthcarecard, ALL, I dropped it in a parking lot, i only noticed around 24 hours after i dropped it, I didnt even worry. I knew that because i live in Denmark, I dont have to worry about people stealing. I went back to the gym 3 days later, and asked in the reception. If they by any means had found a wallet, and low and behold, they had it, bear in mind, i dropped it at night when no staff was around, that means, either it was on the ground in the parkinglot all night, or a stranger picked it up, went back in and put it behind the counter for them.
Dropped my wallet 2 times in my life and got it back with everything someone had found it, but if rich people pay their taxes in Denmark I only know a few people who think there is something wrong with them, but most danish people don’t care about becoming super wealthy
When he says "What's wrong with them" he means that we will look at that person and wonder why they are willing to often sacrifice so much of their time to accumulate wealth instead of spending it on family, freetime and a more balanced way of living. People who strive for moneytary gains beyond a comfortable lifestyle are often seen as somewhat greedy and potentially narcissistic. Greed is rarely a favourable trait to have here. I am a dane, btw.
As a fellow dane I also feel like it's just a bafflement at the need for excess that very wealthy people have. Like, why do you need all that luxury, that extra car, that huge house?? What are you compensating for??
Hi! I agree completely with what Murricath writes here. Very well put! I'm a Swedish-speaking Finlander who has lived in Paris, France, and in Fort Wayne and Chicago. The difference between the U.S. and the Nordic countries when it comes to the freedom to improve your life, when it comes to feeling safe and secure, to living without fear, is that in the States you need money, the more the better, to achieve those things, whereas in the Nordic countries you don't need to accumulate personal wealth for those reasons. And why is that? The answer: The rights and benefits that those "high" taxes are used for, as explained in the video. You don't have to pay from your own pocket, or be dependent on your insurance, for your health care, education, vacation time (if you can get it) etc. Instead, everybody chips in by paying taxes. It used to be called solidarity. It's about equality, equal opportunity, and about understanding that, in the long run, a well-organized, peaceful, trusting and safe society benefits Everybody, even the rich. You don't need to sacrifice your life to the pursuit of money, and more money, just to feel safe and secure. In the Nordic countries, as in many other European countries, safety, security and trust are root assumptions. With those taken care of, everybody can get on with their lives. And, as we know, the best things in life are free.
I'd argue it also helps to stave off classism or class hierarchies. Because rich people aren't idolized in Scandinavia many of said rich don't go out of their way to display that wealth and instead integrate themselves with everyone else, to go unnoticed. I feel like the US have a much worse class problem precisely because you are supposed to brag if you got money, it makes it a status symbol.
@@Lewtable Probably true to a large extent, but as a Norwegian, x gen, I notice that we have changed for the worse in this regard. Now our leaching billionaires are mowing to Switzerland, good riddance, but if it was up to me I would arrest them when they return and give them life in prison for betrayal. They always come back for reasons.
"I love the idea of going on a vacation to relax" this really shocked me. For me vacation is kind of defined as a time off period to relax and do leisure activities
Definitely. Weekends are more stressful, I want to go on a day trip, I need to do laundry, clean the apartment etc. But vacations should be relaxing. Which they will be, if I have three weeks, 3-4 days for that theme park, one week to visit family and the rest of the time for relaxing.
Dear Heidi! I really enjoy your content. German here. I find it quite interesting how much U.S. Americans tend to love any kind of charity and acts of kindness as long as they do it on their own will (just need to watch some of these „random kind of kindness“ videos). But if someone starts to try get some solidarity into the U.S. society, everyone seems to be freaking out on that commie stuff. If you take a look behind the mirror, the German healthcare and social security system was invented by Otto von Bismarck who definitely was no communist. He was a VERY conservative aristocrat who simply found out that healthy workers and people with a perspective work better and do not start riots :)
Having a system relying on donations make welfare a competition. It is not about getting the most value for tax payer money, it is about getting the most exposure for your money. Insanely luxurious galas that cost $1000 per person (and draw about $4000 per person in profit) with 1000 guests is the equivalent of each American spending a little more than one cent. And 20% of the money collected is pure cost just so the wealthy elite can enjoy the ultimate in luxury. Meanwhile, the people who actually deserve praise are the unpaid waiters that give of their time and get nothing in return, except the "satisfaction of having contributed".
I find a lot of Americans only do it because it's a competition. It's to "one up" on each other. They see it as something they can do to make themselves better than someone else. It's not natural at all...
12:40 ..... THAT is the reason, we as Danes pay high taxes. It pays our healthcare, it pays our education, AND it pays for finding options in your life. And having this kind of security in your life, is a huge factor for happiness. As you mention later in the video, it is all about helping each other. Of course we would love to pay less taxes. But those taxes are vital, and we know that ANY of us may at some point have to depend on the money we ALL pitch into the social economy.
had this debate with some Americans about paying for others and I always tried to explain it that they can think of it in a selfish way if they want. what would you rather have around you , dumb criminals or happy educated people. making sure others have it okay can benefit you as well.
in the US, u pay for others with health insurance too (private insurance, your co-pay/montlhy pay pays for the others), car insurance too (u pay montly but it will pay for the others too), the difference in europe, it 's state scale and not just one compagny amoung 1200 other ones, car insurance (u share the risk and the cost too), "social" healthcare is state wide , like firefighters ( "social" fire insurance), police ( "social" safety)... americans think they pay for 'if anything happens to me, it will be used', doesn t work like...what they think it is , it's called saving....and that s not how insurances work.
Ye, its basicly "pay a little, to be safe and live a better life". So i dont have to worry about desperate people breaking in because they have nothing
Haha, I've been explaining it the same way to Americans for years now ! xD Sad that this is actually the best way I've found to make them understand the benefits of universal healthcare...
exactly! It is a simple concept actually. Having free healthcare and education (and paying a bit more for it) has two huge benefits - no crazy amount of criminals and homeless people PLUS it can save your own life! Some people cannot really understand that it can be that they lost their job too or became seriously ill and not be able to pay their own bills... and as a result - bankruptcy and no money for their children's college. Easy concept!
Four months are set aside for the mother....but only one month is while still pregnant. The infographic actually shows that. I am danish and we have a similar systeme. It was amazing with both my kids having plenty of time enjoying my pregnancy, getting ready, nesting, and staying home with my kids. Also, the dads get time to stay home with the children. And that is so precious. When it comes to health care, I would have been ruined with two special needs children on a teacher´s salary.
In Sweden both parent stay home the first one or two weeks after birth. And wa laugh at every guy becoming a father looking forward to having time to do some project in the house while on parental "leave".
@@57thorns Some years ago they made it with law for the fathers to be home the first 2 weeks in DK. Before that many dads went to work and gave their "free" time to the mother to earn money. It is true you get money after birth, but it not nearly as much as if you go to work, wich is why many dads go to work after the 14 days is over and still gives the rest to the mother.
The finnish baby box has the advantage that young parents get what they would never tought they needed. Like nursing pads, condoms and picture books. You can opt for a small sum of money, if you wish, also. Many take the box for the first kid, but take the money for the second one. It also requires you to visit your doctor for prenatal care, which in itself is promoting healthy babies and mothers.
@@rowan_Something Well, babys aren't _that_ big. They fit into a lot of boxes. If you've ordered more than twice from Amazon, chances are you're pretty much set in the infant-storage department.
Your last sentence , as far as I recall it, is really the reason why the baby box was introduced - to increase the health of the mother and decrease the number of still borns.
It makes sense to get the box for first child and money for second because you'll just recycle the clothes from first child. The box is also worth more than the miniscule money you'll get.
@@K__a__M__I So, the container itself, the cardboard box was all you managed to wrap your head around. Perhaps give a second of thought to take a gander to all the useful stuff that comes in that box. Geez, Americans... Pro-life, my ass.
In the nordic countries there is this concept called The Law of Jante. It basically says that you are no better than the crowd. This mindset makes bragging about wealth something that we just don't do here. Our societies are mostly focused on collective achievements rather than push this hyper-individualistic mindset we see in America and other places. Edit: Parental leave doesn't start 4 months before the woman gives birth. It's normally a month to 14 days before the birth when the woman goes on parental leave.
In Finnish folk lore, luck is finite resource. So if someone gets unlucky, someone must have stolen it and if someone is lucky, they are essentially a luck thief in others eyes.
Yes , we do have baby showers in Finland also, but because of the baby box your not dependent on your social status or the amount of friends you have, everyone is taking cared of.
So you get a baby shower by your gouvernment... ^^ That's really cute. I always admire the social security system and the common sense for national identity in Scandinavian and/or Baltic countries, even though I know we're not doing that bad in Germany as well, at least compared to the US, but coming from northern Germany near the Danish border I really noticed, how bad the climate is for my personal mental health, when I moved further south, even inside Germany. My dad still lives in the area, we used to live, when I went to school, and he is constantly complaining about the weather, especially now, that he's getting older. :D
As someone very introverted, I feel like I understand hygge completely. I'm not a party person (an oddity in Brazil, where party culture is very strong), but it doesn't mean I don't love my family nor appreciate being with other people. This Christmas, if you were to look for me at our home, I was sitting by the beautiful tree me and my family decorated together, drinking something tasty, reading an e-book, and from time to time just leaning back and listening to the laughter and the music coming from the people dancing outside. Almost as if I was basking under an invisible light of welcoming and happiness, content in simply existing within that moment. This small habit is often my favorite moment of any day. I feel that we are taught that real happiness has to be this enormous thing, like experiencing a very expensive vacation, going to a huge party, buying a great car... But those are all temporary, and not necessarily will make you actually happy. True happiness is found, not bought.
Things are a lot cheaper in the US. What makes the US income higher is that your top earners earn A LOT while the masses do not. For example our CEO saleries here are more modest and can be typically up to $500.000, while in the USA they are several millions. So lower vages jobs are paid more, while the top jobs are paid less. Also I believe that number you see is disposable income, i.e after tax. So for the Nordic countries that includes health, education etc etc, while in the USA you still have to pay your health insurance, your collages etc. The maternity leave does not start 4 months before birth. it starts when it is needed to start. Some have most of their prgnancy off as sick leave if they are having complications, but then that is sick leave and not part og the maternity months. In general the mother have 4 months, the father have 4 months, and they have 4 months they can share between them, so 12 months leave in total that is covered. We can get more, but then with less covered. We don't have baby showers as a standard rule, but some do it. Many people here look at it as begging and therefore do not like it. But family will always help out, and friends and family will often keep their old childrens stuff to let someone else have it later on. I grew up in my early years using a lot of my cousins clothes and toys. I find it interresting that you say USA look down on socialstic things and having people paying for others well being, especially when you look at the GoFundme campains, and how many there are begging for help with medical bills. In that case I feel a lot better of just paying a little through my taxes and not having them going through the humiliation of begging stranges for help on the internet.
If we look at the median income you have United States at $19,306 and Denmark at $17,432, And this is before education and healthcare costs in USA, and since most people have a median income and not average, it looks like the Nordic countries compares well with regards to income.
Wealth care In USA is verran expensive. When it is cheap enough wealthcare and education for examöply a family can afford much more with everyday living. That is more money to buy from domestic services.
Median CEO salaries are indeed very low in comparison, but generally their paychecks go through the board etc. In Finland, the median salary of a top 50 CEO was about 25k€ a month. This doesn't mean a few didn't make millions, cause they absolutely do, but the falloff is really rapid after the top10, it goes from like 100M€ a year to sub-2M€ inside the top10 (2018 numbers, so probably bloated a LOT during the pandemic). EDIT: I checked and 2021 top10 goes from 58M€ to 23M€ inside the top10 :D Also, income information for the most part is public data.
Finland and Denmark are a model for Europeans, I really respect the idea of not having to be rich in order to be respected and appreciated and be a happy family guy
As a Finn who has lived in US I would say living in Finland is easier, because you don't have to worry so much about money: healthcare is rather inexpensive, if you want to go to school you can get financial help with that, if you become unemployed you don't have to wait for long to get unemployment money. Less stress for sure. Oh, and because guns are less available you don't have to worry about being shot at the grocery store or at school (generally speaking).
Yah sorry but your view of America is a bit biased. We don't go around worrying about being shot at store or school. That's ridiculously rare and is exaggerated by the media for views. If anything, the problem has gotten worse because of how much American and Non-American media obsess about it, often to make America seem like some criminal hellhole to justify taking away guns. In reality, most people with guns follow the law, and the US, although having some crime in some places, is actually very safe for most of it. Europe also has some crime areas, everywhere does. Also, most of hte recent crime waves have not been caused by legal guns, which we have always had, they have been caused by corporations literally stoking racial division within the US, much like the division we saw in Yugoslavia before they killed each other, similar division is being stoked in the US by our own corporations to control us easier. Yet they don't see how dangerous it is. But yah, that's the main reason hate crimes and other things are happening. Our own media actively tries to get black people to think it's justifiable for them to commit hate crimes because "non-priviledged folks cannot be racists and they are getting revenge/rising up". BLM literally justified the riots with that rhetoric "it's justice!". Imagine thinking burning down Korean owned businesses is justice because BLM brainwashed people into thinking they are oppressed when in reality Civil Rights was almost 60 years ago! Even though most hate crimes against Asians were from African Americans, the media pretends it's still white supremacy. The media despite obsessing over every hate crime and mass attack, completely ignored the Christmas Day Parade Massacre which was committed by a black supremacist (Go look it up, I'm not just saying this, I know it sounds crazy, but they really glossed over the attack and pretended it wasn't a bigoted hate crime, but just a random not hate crime tragedy, yet every time a black guy dies, even if it has nothing to do with race, they automatically define it as a hate crime). My point? The main reason for violence in the US is a huge rise in racial tensions. We were getting really equal and happy in the 2000s, but then corporations latched on to groups like BLM and actively promoted division. So that's why America is crazy right now. Just telling you, media does not tell the whole story. And our corporations have heavily manipulated the situation because they also don't 'want us to have guns, so they want to pretend violence is caused by the 2nd amendment, when in reality, it's mostly caused by radicalism and mental illness because of how openly racist groups like BLM have become, which then leads to the resurgence of white supremacist, and then both of those assholes start fighting. 99% of the nation can handle their weapons with maturity and responsibility. It's just that a few crazies and gang members think they can break the rules and the US government and corporations are too worried about appearing racist to actually police/bring justice to criminals. That's why the BLM riots were ignored in the US. That's why the controversy in Virginia with that trans kid happened (Search it up, it's dark, and shows why woke justice is extremely problematic as it can lead to allowing horrifying crimes to be committed in the name of appearing inclusive). Sorry for the rant, but yah, I just don't like when I see people act like America is some mad max hellhole. Violence is up, but every nation experiences some crime, and I definitely don't like when the 2nd Amendment is blamed for it. You had a lot of good points, but yah, I just don't understand your worry about safety unless you were walking in the gang neighborhoods of Chicago. And trust me, Europe has bad neighborhoods too. America is actually extremely safe, and in reality, safer from war than any other nation, so there's that. But yes, radicalism has been a huge problem and allowed crime to go unstopped because of the police, government, media, and corporations fear of appearing racist or bigoted. Sometimes you have to accept a little more danger (and its not really any more if you don't hang out near gang neighborhoods), to have a little more freedom. Ukraine is proving that, never cowtow to violence to allow you to give up on your freedoms. Liberty>Security.
@@b.ballooon9225 I hope you are right about the safety. I lived in Hollywood, CA and part of the reason I left was because I got into a life threatening situation and saw some other unpleasant situations too. I think guns are glorified in US. But enough of that. It's a really depressing topic.
@@b.ballooon9225 Per capita gun deaths in the US are higher than in Ireland _at the peak of the "troubles"._ Since you're American, I'll explain - it's a euphemism given to what was a low-level civil war.
@@b.ballooon9225 yes i agree, American News make America seem more dangerous than it is Still who does average Joe need to take a gun with him for to a family friendly zone like a zoo. If he doesn't feel unsecure about something?
Hi Heidi, I only recently discovered your videos. As an American living in France, I greatly enjoy your content, as well as the videos you choose for comment. I also adore your seemingly insatiable curiosity. My main thought as I watched this video is "Imagine what a different world it might be if the American government historically and currently were to prioritize the well-being and daily lives of its citizens as do Finland and Denmark."
About the sauna-elves (long comment) Finnish mythology has "elves" which are more akin to gnomes (in newer folklore) or spirits (in old folklore). There are "sauna-gnomes", "forest-elves", "river-trolls", "bog-spirits" etc. Tonttu, hiisi, näkki, haltija and peikko are some of the names for these spirits and creatures in Finnish. The words are still used to translate foreign stories today, like Lord of the Rings and such. (Where usually troll=peikko, elf=haltia, goblin/orc=hiisi and so on.) In old myths they were not considered exactly as powerful as the old Finnish gods (like Ahto, Ukko or Tuoni), but they were considered dangerous if not treated with courtesy and respect. Certain animals were more often than not considered to be these spirits in disguise. Snakes and foxes being a couple common examples of that. And sauna is an ancient thing in Finland. Archeologists have found 3000-8000 year old remnants of saunas across the country. The mayans also had steam rooms around 2500 years ago, but they're not the same thing culturally... although that should be obvioius, since South-America and Finland are about as far apart on the map as possible 😂
and the other folk that lives under and in house, barn forest, waters. that you should never pissed, or they would revenge for you with disease or any other ailments. mayan steam room or sweat room is basicly stone iglu, that sun heated. so modern version of that is infrared sweat room, which is not to called sauna.
My best friend was from Finnland, he died in car accident last year, was one of the happiest guy i ever met. He was on a complet different level that he sometimes annoyed me with it. Miss you brother.
Hey. In Europe we don't use the word "brother"! Only from a real brother. The word brother strongly refers to "cultural difference" like the "N" word. I'm just saying politely. Sorry!
Hello from Bulgaria. When talking about maternity leave I would like to add something. Because in Europe we also get annual leave & paid sick leave, a lot of mothers in the first trimester actually are just go to the doctor and get a note maxing out their remaining sick days & maxing out on their annual leave for the year before going into official maternity leave. This will basically cover most of the pregnancy and give you plenty of time to get check-ups and tests and plan for the future in peace. As my old manager used to say "Now she/he is taking the time to focus on her/his own personal project." P.S. And after 2 years of not much rest you return to work in the same company and position, and get promoted in the next 3 months :D
A lot of countries here don't have what Americans call "sick days". There are no set number of days you can be sick per year. Simple: if you're sick, you're sick and you stay home and get paid. Either by your employer or the government reimburses your employer for the loss of your work efforts. You get mental health troubles and take six months off, it's fine. Yes, you have to jump through some bureaucratic hoops to set the reimbursement, but most of the time, you get taken care of, unless your employer is an absolute scumbag of a company somehow. But then you can just sue them if you get fired when you're not well.
my daughter was born prematurely and had to spend a month in intensive care. all that time we were in our own family room and the nurses monitored the baby's well-being 24/7. breakfasts, lunches and all other food were brought to the room. all this came to us about €470 (about $500), this is the maximum annual fee that can be charged to you. this is determined by law. (currently it is 692€, (about 737$) slightly increased since those times. Greetings from Finland 🇫🇮
I am happy with your case and very satisfied myself with my children. Shall we give the thirty-something bearded, well-dressed iPhone "refugee men" the same free rights to health and social services. Without wives!
Baby shower parties are fairly new thing in Finland, purely brought from the US. I had my children about 25 years ago, and then it was not a custom. Older Finnish baby parties are varpajaiset and rotinat. Varpajaiset is party the father throws to his (male) family members and friends just after the birth, and rotinat is for the mother, also after the birth. People bring food so the mother doesn't have to cook for few days, and also bring something for the baby, usually clothes. Also the Christening/ name party is occasion people bring gifts and the new born is celebrated. In Finland the name of the baby is a secret until it is revealed at the Christening or name party if you are not religious, and that is usually 1-2 months after the birth.
We (in sweden) are also happy to pay our taxes because we know what we get for them. free schooling, free heathecare. And like the finns have there sauna and the danes have hügge. We an well known swedish expression, it´s called Lagom. wich can roughly be translated to not to much, not to little. Meaning like why brag about how much money you have and buy expensive clothes you don´t intend to use anyway. It´s an sort of minimalistic work life balance. You buy things you need when you need them. Could be new winter boots (especially this extreme winter) And parental benefit is paid out for 480 days (approximately 16 months) for one child. For 390 days, the compensation is based on your income. And you doesn´t have to worry about loosing your job while your home with your kid.
Sauna is the cornerstone of finnish culture. It's thousands of years old and the first homes were actually saunas here, but it has had many more meanings in our culture. And still has
I am half Danish and Half Japanese and in Japan Hot Baths have the same thing as Finnish Saunas........but Danes would think if you have a sauna and you go into it with family its incestuous.
@@adrianpallis4568 in sauna everyone is equal and theres nothing sexual about sauna. well except certain finnish region called savo. theres change that your danish thoughts might just be true... Savo, a remote location in the middle of Finland known for inbreeding and incapacity to form sentences that mean anything. similar to faroe islands which you danish own.
@@adrianpallis4568 As a dane who frequently goes to saunas, i can say that is, incorrect. I don't know where u heard about that, but it is simply not true. Sure the danes doesn't share the same culture/history when it comes to saunas, like Japan or Finland
Heidi, just pack your suitcases and move to Nordics, seriously. You have nothing to lose, you can only gain more than you expect. And your future kids will thank you. I did the move a decade ago, have never looked back. Regards from Sweden.
Where did you live before? And what nordic country are you living in now? Also, it's not *that* easy. It's a *big* decision. Happiness may also include family, moving would involve leaving behind family... And living in a nordic country can be *challenging*.
It amazes me that people think you can just up sticks and move to another country. Om an expat living in Norway and you have no idea how much paperwork is required and how much goes on to be able to work in that country. If you don't have skills and experience in short supply, you've got no chance.
I think you nailed it with your answer to "what´s wrong with rich people?". Having lived there for a full year, my personal impression was it´s a mix of two things: a) enough is enough. More than enough means someone else has less. b) Not so long ago, life out in the boreal Taiga was rather hard, and you absolutely needed to cooperate just to survive. So the whole village/large farm/big household would work together so all of them could live comfortably, because, well, you needed all of them, you couldn´t afford leaving someone behind. So, slacking off would be frowned upon, and consistently having more than others would raise suspicions. And I think that mindset just really luckily translated into the modern age, leading to a comparatively happy society. There are some that complain that with the tax system, you can´t really get super rich, but they usually just leave, and are not really missed much by the others. Doing your job properly I think has a higher priority than maximising profit. You are proud of your product, not your wealth.
Hello from Finland! Yes, we have baby showers but the government is one of the quests with the free-of-charge baby box. It's just another privilege to new families that our tax money pays for. Also, there are new moms who have no close family or friends who are able to support the newborn baby, so to them, the baby box can be a huge deal.
Also you can get to choose that do you want the baby box or money instead, but what I have understood, no one takes the money, cause there is actually really good quality products in the baby box. We chose baby box, and after 12 years, we still got the box 😄
@@lifeofpasche The box is worth upwards of 200€ or more and will provide worth for years. You can get about 170€ in cash. Anybody can see that taking the box makes way more sense!
If you can afford your daily expenses and have a little to save for a bad day, you can be happy. When my friend here in Finland got a new car last year, he was actually ashamed to admit that he had ordered some extra features to it and paid extra. He is a lawyer (without student loans) so we know he can afford it, but still he didn't want to brag 😅
9:22 No, I'm fairly sure that we don't have "baby showers" here in Norway. However that doesn't mean that people don't give gifts to new parents. We just don't have a separate event for it, instead people come and give their gifts one guest at a time. Coming over for coffee and cookies and to deliver some baby cloths etc.
In Germany, a celebration (baby shower) in advance is rather unusual, you wait until the baby is there. Colleagues, family, friends organize gifts (often there is a wish list). The gifts are usually delivered within the first 2-4 weeks or already at the hospital. However, sometimes there is a kind of "gender reveal" action. Sometimes the parents-to-be visit friends and relatives and hand over a corresponding mini present, sometimes they meet for coffee and cake (with the appropriate filling).
Speaking from own experiance, i had a verry well paying job after college, made more money then i could realisticly spend each month, but wasn't verry happy, always wanted more. Now a few years later, i make about half the amount of money, but i have a lot more time to spend doing the things i like. As a result i'm much happier then i was when i made twice the money. If you can afford to pay your bills, and have food, its really enough. Previously if i wanted something i could just go and buy it (to an extend) now i have to save up for a month or sometimes longer if i want to make a big purchase. But the fact that i have to save up for it, makes my appreciation of what i can buy a hundred times more valuable.
Yea we have baby showers in Finland but that maternity box is goverment given. If you don't want the box you can choose money also but usually the items in the box are worth more than the money.
I used to work a 40 hours week until spring of 2020 (Germany). Then covid came and our company had to reduce the working hours for every employee by 50%. In 2021 normal hours were setup again (40 hours) ..but since I enjoyed my new found life-work balance , I asked my employer to reduce my usual 40 hours to 30 hours /week permanently . Since 2021 I work only 30 hours per week instead of 40 hours.. and I finish the same amount of work as before = Work effiency increased and it is nice to have the afternoon off instead of work until its dark outside. For my life this adds a lot to my personal happiness. Edit: and also: your little cat in the corner... 😍
I love your reaction on this..what the companies in the US acieved is, they make the people pay in every possible way for taking out profits. Here in Germany, we see the US as the endgame of capitalism because people have to bust their asses off with one, two or even three jobs and living life without any reasonable social securities if shit happens. The US are pretty messed up :-/
I'm a father of two, living just across the pond from Finland (in a country that's tiny, just 1.3M people and not as wealthy, but similar in the Nordic way of living) and i can say that babyshowers aren't a common thing around here, at least i don't know of any such traditions, nor did we have any for our kids. We spent about 6 days on average in the hospital with each child, private family rooms both times, a care package from the city and country (baby stuff like clothes, diapers, creams etc plus books and booklets to guide the new mom with various things, including government related things like child support, registrations for kindergarten etc) and we paid nothing for it. Our taxes cover that stuff for everyone equally, no matter your income or social status. My wife stayed home for almost a year with each kid and was paid by the government. I also had a job that paid well, but wasn't one that made me happy, so i also took 6 months off just to recoup my energy and mental health, during which, the unemployment security net from the government paid me 90% of my previous average wage, during which i started learning stuff i'm actually interested in and want to become. Can't imagine how one would do that in the US. The Nordic people are actually friendlier than they appear. That's an important point - we prefer our privacy and peace, and respect others wish for it, but if we do open dialogue, we treat each other generally in a friendly manner. To close it off, if you want to be a little happier, like the Nordics, here's a tip - find one thing, doesn't matter how big or small, but it has to be something you absolutely love and can get lost in, and be selfish about it, in the sense that, find time, with absolute rigidity, make that time for yourself to do that, as often as you can. Do a little bit of that something to recharge your batteries and, most of all, create a space for it. Create a small nook in your home, that's dedicated for this one thing, that refills your good mood meter.
First of all, i love you chanel and i love that you taking your time to learn about the rest of the world.💪👍😃 Here in Sweden, we have 480 days of parental leave to be distributed between the mother and the father until the child turns 7. Out of the 480 days, 60 days are dedicated to the mother and 60 days to the father. Parental leave can start 60 days before the child's birth.🙂
Taxes are high here in Austria, but services, especially health care are excellent. People love to complain no matter where they live, but you won't find many who would actually want to live anywhere else. One of the best things about universal health care is that you simply never worry about it. Lost your job? No matter, you are still insured. Starting you own business? That's okay, you're still covered. Want to go back to school? Good for you, it's mostly free and your are still insured. Americans like to talk about freedom; how about freedom from worry?
Sending some happiness your way from Denmark :D Btw I know a rich guy, but you cant see it on him. He dress pretty much like a farmer and he loves his company and working. With the baby being left outside, I think its because we are much like ants and wasps. Anyone who harm the hive become a target and suddenly you are surrounded, while in the US some people will see an illegal action and help that person out because they are on a side.
Yeah alot more tribalism in the US. While we are more "everyone is equally human so we should help one another regardless of political or group viewpoints " Also why Mc D found itself at the business end of the Danes fury when they tried their american worker abuse shit xD
About "not dressing, as if you are rich" ... I mean, even your royals are so down to earth, we sometimes joked that it might be possible to meet Queen Margarethe on Holy Thursday at a Flensborg Aldi, doing some grocery shopping when she lives in Graasten ... I mean, she has such sympathy from the people, because she actually worked. I mean, she is a really respected artist and designer, not "just" a queen that speaks more than a handful of languages and studied politics...
The unfortunate truth is that the viciously individualistic nature of American society has set almost everyone against each other, and it results in a lot of strange pathological behavior.
Nahh it is not 4 months before the birth. As the 'graph' with the calendars show. It will usually be 1 month before birth and the rest after. Here in Denmark I believe it is set that the mother can go on maternity leave UP to a month before birth - I am not sure about the rules in Finland. Of course if complications arise or the work pose a danger to the pregnancy, consideration will be taken, at least that is my experience from the workplaces I have been, where I have also experienced women to be in this situation.
Hello, Finnish guy here. I just had a Teams meeting with all of the Finns and we had some comments :D About the diversity. Finlands climate is also a bit of a shock for somebody coming from warmer southern countries. So people from those countries might not even want to try to adjust to it to begin with. It's not just the cold. It's the darkness, the wet slushy snow when it's not cold enough, the dark and brown autumn before white winter and you're trying to maintain your hobbies in all these climates. These observations are from Southern Finland so it varies through whole country. To the comment that we Finns don't think we're the happiest. I would change us to be the happiest to 'we have the best chance to be happy and maintain the happiness'. Cool vids Heidi. Keep up the good work!
I have 4 kids, each of them got a baby box. Baby shower a.k.a Varpajaiset is common here but what people usually give as a gift is decorations and memorabilia. our childbirths were free except mother had to buy snacks, food was free though. For every child government pays around 100€/$ and all healthcare for kids is free, dentist, optician, even glasses. Daycare is free and after that all the education. This is not the same for everyone. It's all baced on income. Low income people pay nothing and rich people have to pay something in some rare situations.
On the topic of diversity, my experience as dane when I talk to friends and family, is that the issue isn't immigration but intergration.. In a lot of places, when a bigger group of people immigrate from the same area, understandably they group together with people who speak their language and have the same culture, and that is when a lot of danes end up seeing it as an "us vs. them" situation, because the danish culture, work ethic, view on raising children, view of how you treat men and women, different sexualities, and a lot of other subjets is seemingly "quite uniqe" to the notrthern countries, and it should be no secret to a lot of people, that talking with someone who thinks like you, is just easier a lot of time, and some people find it really hard to intergrate themselves, even though there's an entire system scheduled in an attemt to be helpful. A lot of danes have a standpoint of: You are more than welcome to come to Denmark, and to live in Denmark, no matter where you're from. You just have to make an effort, to earn out full respect and not take advantage of our system, because it would be the same 'demand' if a dane is going to live in any other country. Again, this is what I hear from my surroundings, and not the only viewpoint.
In denmark we have a unwritten rule all children learn.. It is called the "jante law" it says you are the same as everyone else and no one is worth more then you, no matter your status, color or wealth.. And that concept makes it hard to pose as someone special just because you have alot of money in danish culture.. We expect our boss is someone you can talk to like every other person in the world The work/life balance also makes you look like a unhealhy person that doesent even care about yourself if you dont take the time for your self in modern work culture in north europe It is not needed with baby showers, but some people does it.. if the mom dont have a job, she gets money and she gets extra depending on how many children if she lives in scandinavia Being a mom can be made a lifestyle that you can life from in scandinavia..
The four months of leave typically don't start exactly four months before the baby's birth, but rather only start one week or one month before. It's generally best to start the leave closer to the due date to allow for more time with the newborn. The last few months of pregnancy can be challenging for the mother, so taking leave can be helpful when needed.
Finnish saying: "Who has the fortune shall hide it", the word for fortune is also the word for happiness and luck. It means to not flaunt it, to not boast about it, but to keep it hidden.
Moin, as we say in Schleswig-Holstein, we Schleswig-Holsteiners are direct neighbors of Denmark, our mentality is very similar to that of Denmark. In the happiness atlas, the people of Schleswig-Holstein are the happiest Germans. However, there are also differences, we have different people here from all parts of the world, whether from Africa or Turkey etc. In addition to German, Danish is the official language in Schleswig-Holstein and there are still many minority languages and minorities living in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, such as Sinti and Roma are protected by the state of Schleswig-Holstein. I've lived in federal states like Bavaria or Baden Württemberg etc., but only felt comfortable and at home in Schleswig-Holstein. In Bavaria I was often insulted as a Prussian because I was born in North Rhine-Westphalia. And in Baden Württemberg I always had the feeling that I didn't belong. Nobody asks me that here in Schleswig-Holstein. I felt at home right from the start. It's true that Nordic people are quieter and more reserved, but when it matters most, they're there. I think what is said in the report is true, if people are content and happy then so are immigrants from other countries. Although you have to like the northern climate. It gets dark faster here in winter and mostly very gray you should know that if you want to live in the northern countries.
I live in Finland, and I hadn't even heard of the concept of "Baby Showers" until I randomly heard about it online. Though having a party to celebrate the birth of a child isn't unheard of, of course.
Finnish society is so new that we don't even have words for this in Finnish, neither we have a word for "lagom". Somehow we understand the concepts, though. Perhaps the concept of "sisu" is also somewhat properly understood in Scandinavia? Considering the topic: A fair society is a happy society, it's as simple as that.
@@germangarcia6118 Well, it's kind of both. It is ok to chase wealth with all your heart - just don't tell people or make it public. "Jantelagen" is also visible in middle class, like..."Why is our neighbour building a backyard pool?" If they're doing it to show off - not good. If they gonna use it a lot, it's fine. So it is a subtle thing.
And it’s a stereotype that we aren’t friendly here in the Nordics. It’s more that we crave authenticity over fakeness, like in America if you say hi how are you? it’s a greeting. but here people will actually tell you. We are honest. We don’t sugar coat things or walk around the bush. We get straight to the point. We also value our personal space and privacy. Why we don’t like to talk to strangers or let people we don’t know close. We take our time getting to know someone, before we let them in. Culturally that means sex before conversation🤣🤣🤣 And if you suck in bed, no 2nd date😝 Doesn’t mean we are slutty or loose. It’s just that if you suck in ned, you can’t be successful else where in your life either. And who wants crappy sex for the rest of their life?
Take a look at Luke Bland's American Dream in Finland videos, not necessarily for reaction but for information and a viewpoint from one American who moved to Finland.
31:27 That's a long long story but you might want to check article about "Haltija" from wikipedia (or more broadly Finnish paganism). Oh and Sauna is a Finnish word, so that might give a hint why Sauna is so big in Finland :)
My father was a highschool teacher in Belgium with a background in electronics. He took a 6 month break and basically started a company during it with the idea that if it all went wrong, no biggie, he could go back to being a teacher. He sold that business last year for about 5 million.
Let us make our lives more hyggelig. Actually, my city is directly at the border, a 25 min. walk or 10 min. with the city bus, and I am in Denmark, my grandma came from Denmark and spoke a language, that was/is only spoken in this city (Petuh=half Danish, half German), my first girlfriends were danish or spoke danish, many friends were danish or went to a danish school on the German side of the border, I worked 10 yrs for a danish company .... Having quite a lot of contact with Danish culture, I have to say, that this video mentions really a lot of the points that make Denmark so special for me. Really well-made for Americans to understand. It may be, that it is harder to make friends here in the north of Europe in general, BUT, that does not necessarily mean it must take a lot of time! It is more about the intensity of human interaction and communication, being honest about yourself and open for others. So, if you come from a country with a lot of "smalltalk" ... you will have a hard time to make friends at first, maybe. As a northern German, it is MUCH easier to get in contact and make friends with Danes. We get to the point very fast. You go to a pub and at the end of the evening you may have talked about religion, politics, sex, family, racism, abortion, genocide, music and climate change, and you go home and made one or more friends. It may seem that I exaggerate - but I actually HAD evenings like that, where I made friends for life. I am pretty sure, this kind of conversation may be impossible with most Americans. Americans often think Germans are unfriendly, because they do not like to smalltalk and will tell you their last medical consultation results if you ask "How are you?" They come straight to the point, esp. at work. At least in comparison to US Americans. And if we mean "Naaaa, that was really crap!" we don't say "How was your weekend? Everything good? Good! By the way, your last piece of work was really great, let's see how we could improve the current one just a little more ..." And, IMHO - the danish people that I know are not so different to us Germans. The truth is - Germans are too honest to be polite, while Americans are too polite to be honest. This makes for A LOT of misunderstandings, when Americans come to Europe generally. You come over as maybe superficial, shallow, etc., while you might only want to be super friendly to connect to people. And, as said in the documentary: happy or not - Danes are not necessarily polite or friendly people! But they can be warm and honest, and definitely they are people you can have fun with. And the suicide thing is really a sign of their happiness in society. If you have depression, for whatever reason, and the northern countries have dark and cold winters with lots of rain and storm ..., and it is so obvious that you can not take part in the happiness of most other people, you might feel especially bad about it. If you are woven into a dense net of social togetherness, and you can't enjoy it at these times, you might feel inner isolation and pain, that you might not be able to talk about. So those who are unhappy for mental health reasons stick out more and might have had higher suicide rates. I think they made a lot to destigmatize depression and suicide as topics. Free healthcare also makes it a lot easier for people who suffer from these issues to actually make a difference with anti-depressants.
I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in the video, but the Nordic countries have the highest number of metal bands per capita, that can't be a coincidence.
I just revisited this (I guess I have come to like your reactions) and have one additional comment: I have been thinking about this happiness/contentment/hygge thing and find that the worst thing you can do is to FORCE anything (your description of your frantic visit to Disneyland caught it well). When you can, just think of one or two nice things you'd like to do for the next hour - and then proceed to do that and only that. If you failed to have a calm and peaceful moment, never mind. Give it another shot later, only aiming for the nice things you'd like to to do at any particular moment. One day you will realize that you actually DID experience a moment of "hygge" or happiness. Do not expect or (God forbid!) demand anything, just keep trying and then enjoy the little moments you DO manage. With time it will be easier to find these little moments and before you know it, your life has improved quite a bit - and you can take it from there.
There is three components to Hygge. Activity, company and surroundings. Its basically doing something you love to do, either by yourself or in company with people you like, in comfortable safe surroundings. Like family dinner in the house you grew up in. It exists everywhere Danes just live for it so we have a name for it. We don't live to work, we work to live.
@@bmegatronI agree, but your comment made me realize something more: Cosy is an adjective, and hygge is a verb. In other words, hygge is something that you do.
Scandinavians have a concept called, "Lagom" which roughly translates to, "the right amount" or, "in moderation" - for example, if they're comfortable with their house and it suits their needs, they don't feel a drive to work towards buying a bigger one. It's the idea that if you're living a happy life, don't stress yourself by constantly trying to acquire more. Somewhat related to that is, "hygge" (hue-guh) which is akin to, "contentment in the moment" (think along the lines of how you feel when, after the day is through, you're freshly showered, have just put on clean, comfortable clothes, you have no obligations, and you get to settle down by a fire and relax with a cup of cocoa and read a book). Scandinavians REALLY have their shit together.
Yes we do have baby showers in Finland, but that's a new and not very common thing and more like just a fun party rather than for fulfilling your needs.
Edit: Being a European, German: There are so many things to unpack here. The way we see richness (what does it really means), the way we see healthcare (including birth to mental health), how we see life-work-balance, how we see the value of other people, if they can be productive or not. We cherish helping others for safety and health reasons.
The thing about looking to what’s wrong with people when they pursue wealth, is not so much an issue of what’s wrong with them, as it is a probe to see if the person is somewhat compensating for something. Is the person considering him-/herself a better individual for being rich, than “the rest of us”. Others have mentioned the concept of *Janteloven* An unwritten sense of equality between rich/poor, male/female, employer/employee. Many see it as something holding us down … (don’t think you are more or better than us), but it also highlights the thing about everyone contributes. A leader is open to suggestions and ideas. From the most educated to the janitors. It only takes a minute to listen to someone with an idea that could revolutionise the workplace for everyone. Should it then matter who came up with the idea? So input is encouraged. Regardless of social station. That’s a more positive side of _Janteloven._ A lot of expats in Denmark talk about the difficulties in making danish friends, and that danes aren’t really interested in making friends. Although there is a little truth in it, it is kind of instilled into us from a young age. Children from a young age goes to daycare then to kindergarten then onto our school system, onto highschool, university and so on … so they formed very tight knitted friendships from a young age. Going to school means, the children goes in the same class all through the 9-10 years of elementary school. They don’t change class mates. Only teachers. That is also contributing to those very close friendship groups. So while it can be difficult to get into those groups, it’s very doable. And expats will experience - once they get danish friends - they have a very fierce and loyal friend. Usually for life. Ohhh … danes hate social chit-chat. Have something to say? Then say it. Don’t waste my time with 20 questions before you get to what you want to say/ask.
In Austria, you get maternity leave starting 8 weeks before calculated birthday of the child and 8 weeks after birth (12weeks in case of a c-section). In this time you are not allowed to work. And I understand from the chart that in Finland it is 1 month before birth and 3 months after, i.e. 4 months in a row.
Hello from Germany. What an interesting reaction. For me as an European, it's quite the ordary concept. I talked to a dear friend from the US the other day, how things work here. Just little glimpse of the way of life in Europe. And he didn't understand it really. He kept asking me, why do you do this and that. And I was confused about his questions as well. Then I came to the conclusion that it's about the different perception of how a society is built and is functioning. Here in Europe it's more like ok we all contribute to society so we all get something in return. In the US it a more individual perception of society. You rely on your own skills and that's how you can make it to the top. I think the American society is more competitive amongst each other.
Agreed. I absolutely hate the American work culture and "fuck you, I got mine" attitude, but I'm stuck here unless I find some job with an international company that lets me move abroad. There's no way I'm having kids here. There are third world countries that provide better care for children and don't charge an arm and a leg for it.
I have never known anyone to have a baby shower in Denmark, i think its just not one of those things thats ever been needed. Though we do give gifts for stuff like babtism. I have heard some people do baby showers, but i think its mainly due to having seen it in american movies. Just like halloween not being a thing when i was a kid in the 90ties, but now its nearing the same status as our own similar day called Faste Lavn.
You can learn some more about the happiness of Denmark, if you watch Ms. Hellen Russel’s show “Living Danishly”. She explained how it is to move to Denmark, if you live in UK. And she did a big research about it.
In the Netherlands, employers are not even allowed to let people work less than a month before the due date. Some people choose to start the maternity leave 6 weeks before due date. I believe the total of maternity leave is around 5 months. But if you choose to have only 4 weeks before your due date and 12 weeks after and your baby comes 2 weeks later, you just get 2 weeks extra. Btw, I do not think 3 days in hospital is short. I know lots of people that do not have to stay for even 1 night and also friend's that had a homebirth (with certified nurse) When you are home, you will get 7 full days of help at home for you, your house and your baby. That is for every time someone has given birth. We call it a 'kraamverzorg(st)er' and when I was young I always wished to be that when growing up
As a Dane, I think a lot of it comes down to being able to slow down and be calm, and actually relax. I think the people who do worst in Denmark are the ones who cannot slow down, both natives and foreigners. The foreigners I have met who moaned the most about Denmark being tough on them, were usually people who wanted to have plans constantly and never stopped to get a feel for themselves and those around them. A great example is American or British guest culture. It is common in USA or the UK to have multiple plans with multiple people in a single day/evening, and just pop in for a few hours or less. In Danish culture that is if anything considered rude, especially if you are invited to their house. Generally any plans are intended to be for the entire afternoon and/or evening, not just a "hey how are you? ... I am leaving" thing. If an American comes here and does that, it is likely to mean they cannot form relationships with their prospective Danish friends, and they end up only interacting with other foreigners. They end up thinking that the Danish people were hard to befriend, but the Danish people they met would have felt the same about them, that they were hard to befriend and that they never tried to actually become friends. Another part of it is to not feel the need to do a ton. Continuing with the invitation to someones place example, then in Danish culture there will generally be much less planning of what is happening, often no stated plans at all. It is just an invitation to hang out and "hygge" together, which can be as simple as sitting together with a drink and chatting about nothing important. Again I feel that Americans for example will assume there have to be much more specific plans, and will try to suggest a lot of things to do and make it an event. You can lose yourself and what is really important in trying to find perfection all the time. By this I mean, when you overdesign your evening out, you can end up in a blur of lots of things with no real meaning or importance to you happening, but if you let yourself over to planning to nothing you can end up really learning to know yourself and those around you, and thus your happiness with yourself and your relations will increase. Denmark is not a good place for the social media/Instragram life, except for a lot of images of nice home spaces. It is however a great place to find yourself in. I am reminded of "Living Danishly: inspiring ideas from the world's happiest country" here on RUclips. This is a talk by a British lady who basically discovered herself and her family in Denmark. She was forced to slow down and in doing so she realized what really meant something to her in life.
I believe the term which would fit us Danes better is "satisfaction", most are satisfied with things overall. I am hardly ever truly happy, "glad" is something I become when the small things in life bring me joy, overall though I am satisfied with my life. I feel safe, have a good job, my family is obnoxious but I do love them and my friends are always there for me. As many in the comments have already stated, safety is the key word, not ever having to worry about whether the kids get an education or whether illness will ruin your bank account is paramount to feeling "safe" and my only worries are whether it´s "going to rain tomorrow". Good reliable friends is underrated, they are extremely important in my life.
Hi :) I'm from Denmark, and I've seen many places in the world when I was younger and employed by Maersk Line. And one way I can best describe the difference between the US and Denmark is..... the houses in the US often look like something from a shooting scene seen from a movie, the house only has a nice exterior, but nothing behind. Whereas the house in Denmark may not look nice on the outside, but inside there is warmth and coziness. :) ( Figuratively speaking ) :) I don't know if you have made a react video about the different tax system between the US and Denmark. But if you haven't, go watch the youtuber "Travelin' Young" - A Very Basic Look at Taxes - Between Denmark and USA. And i can confirm, from my own income, and if i calculate my tax percentage based on what I get paid into my bank account, I pay approx. 31 - 32% in tax on my entire income, where all deductions have been made. But in order to understand the Danish tax system, we have different rates and amount limits for each jump you have on the income scale, but there are deductions at all levels. What is called a progressive tax system, where you only pay the highest tax rate on the part of the income that is above a certain amount. But the bottom line is what you paid in taxes is not the highest percentage of the entire income.
Here in Romania the mom gets 63 days prenatal parental leave and 2 years postnatal parental leave. The postnatal parental leave, the 2 years, could be taken by the mom or the dad.
Interesting point about "F***kng flink" project: the project aims to make danish more friendly and kind to strangers. It's so true how we danish people tend to stick tight to the people we know (and the monotone sound of our language also tends to make people think we sound angry haha.) This can make it really hard for foreigners to make friends in Denmark, because we don't have a culture of befriending random people. This closed-off-ness became especially clear to me as a danish person when I went to spain and EVERYONE is just talking to each other! They say hi in the streets and small talk to people they don't know. If someone in Spain talks to you in a bar it's likely because they are being friendly, whereas if someone talks to you in a bar in Denmark, it's quickly assumed they just want to get in your pants. Though, interestingly we Danes don't tend to think of ourselves that way (being unfriendly/unapproachable), I think since our society in general is so generous and open-minded.
So I can only say good things about Danes. I've worked for Danish companies and I'm always happy to holiday in Denmark. Danes are more reserved but very nice people. Maybe I'm biased because I live in Schleswig-Holstein and our mentality is similar. But my Danish boss was one of the nicest bosses I've ever had. Så gør dig ikke dårlig😊
We used to do holidays a fairly structured but relaxed way. 1 day of local activities and 2 days of area activities per week, and then 4 days of just being as active as you wanted. For example, Kayaking in the river that runs by your cottage on Monday, laying by the pool with a book on Tuesday, going into town to buy some tasty stuff for in the freezer, having a bbq, Wednesday drive about 40 minutes to a wolf habitat, Thursday relaxing by the pool, maybe swimming a bit in the river, Friday relaxing, Saturday we'd go to an old city, look around the castle and stuff, check out the local shops. Sunday relaxing. On a relaxing day you could still go for walks/hikes/kayaking, and on an activities day there was still plenty of time for relaxing. But basically, only ~20 hours of the week was spoken for by activities and shopping trips, the rest was all filled doing w/e. Hell, last time I was in France, I think I did maybe 6 hours of touristy stuff, rest of the time was just going for walks, having breakfast with fresh stuff from the local bakery, swimming and hanging out in the open air jacuzzi. Which at night was even more delightful, very little light polution. Now some people here also try to 'make the most' out of their holidays, but at least in my family it was generally about planning in very little, because you can always decide to do more in the moment if everyone feels like it, but you don't have to. It was just super relaxed. One time my dad had the wild idea to just go to Barcelona, Spain (was about a 3 hour drive from our cottage in southern France) so we did, and had a lovely day there. But it wasn't planned, just suggested in the moment. I find stress to be the absolute worst vibe, which this video also kind of shows, don't shoot for absolute happiness, if every day is an 8/10, is that not still a great life?
In Denmark maternity leave is in general 4 weeks before due date, and 46 weeks after, the latter of which can be shared with the man. Also, if you have debilitating pregnancy even as "basic" as overwhelming nausea, you can pretty much start your paid maternity leave the day you are confirmed to be pregnant. All of it with full pay of course.
Dutch children are the happiest children in the world according to worldwide research. and if you look at the adults, we always fluctuate within the top 5. I'm glad we're doing well and that most people are happy. There are also countries where this is not the case, unfortunately.
I wouldn't necessarily say that we (Danes) are unfriendly, we are just reserved.We definitely keep to ourselves, but if you were to go up to any dane on the street and ask for help or directions, they'd be happy to assist you! ✨
It seems to me that you got the "Hygge" down real well. It looks really Hyggeligt in you're room. Regards from Denmark. And thanks for your videos. And for always being so joyful to spend some time with.
What is said in the video is that it's a personal experience to be stressed. Compared to average american doing two jobs and living in new york rat infested apartment my life is easy but when you raise level of happiness you also lower the bar for depression. One is stressed because it's impossible to go to college or have money to go to doctor while someone else is stressed because walls are of wrong color. It still feels exactly the same.
'average american doing two jobs and living in new york rat infested apartment' - what? The average american has twice the living space of the average european, and the vast majority have one job.
@@TransoceanicOutreach Yes, statistics on apartment size or number of jobs McDonald's workers hold was my point. I stand corrected. "Exaggeration is any statement in writing that creates a worse, or better, image or situation than it really is. It’s used to highlight points and add emphasis to a feeling, an idea, an action, or a feature. Using exaggeration in your writing lets you describe something in a heightened way to make it more remarkable."
Having 4 to 6 weeks payed vacation per year is the reason why we don’t have to rest from our vacation. You can for exemple take two weeks of vacation and you organise differently. You take the first 3-4 days to prepare luggage and clean your home (yes you don’t want to come back in a mass), you travel 5-7 days, take the time to come back with all the laundry to do and then chill for a few days before going back to work. That’s our October program and I already know that I would have the time to prepare the stuff for all of us (we have two boys) and when we come back put all the stuff back in place, do laundry and preparing kids to go back to school
It’s not true that we Think there is something wrong with rich people…. But for the most danes, being rich is not everything…. Btw….. get well and stay healthy 😊
I was at the Dave Chapelle show mentioned in the video. “The guy who he had with him” was Jon Stewart. After they both had performed they took some chairs out to sit on stage and spent a long time just chilling and asking questions to audience members about living in Denmark. They were great.
Yes that's what we think, we think people that chase money like that are narcissistic and/or dodgey/shady people, probably tax evader! And that's someone who is not contributing to our society, so that's gross to most.
I don't think having a word for a cosy atmosphere is uniquely Danish. It sounds like 'Hygge' is the Danish version of Dutch 'Gezelligheid'. We live for it, haha!
When I was a student from an ordinary family and travelled back home (in Norway), I sat next to someone who was really wealthy and in the oil industry on the plane (there is just one "class" on planes), and we were able to casually talk about both normal and technical stuff as if it was just a natural thing. I am not sure that could happen in the US, could it?
It could happen, just as it here in the Nordics exist a few rich people that goes against good behavior and flaunts their money there are a few of the rich in US that do the opposite goes against good behavior and to not flaunt their riches. So it would be very unlikely but still possible for it to happen in the US.
Hello Heidi! Part of why Finland is still quite homogeneous (and it will remain homogeneous) is language. While people in the other Nordic countries all speak a Germanic language, that is rather easy to learn for almost anyone who speaks a European language (also with a high degree of mutual intelligibility, especially between Norwegian and Swedish), Finnish is not even a Indo-European language, it's part of the Uralic language family, just like my native Hungarian (the two are distantly related, also there is Estonian which closely resembles Finnish, and Sami, the language of the indigenous inhabitants of Lapland, plus a few more local dialects). As such, it has very little in common with other European languages, it works in very unusual ways, it's grammar is fiendishly difficult. As an immigrant, you will be OK with English for a while, since in all Nordic countries, around 80% of the adult population is fluent in English, but if you intend to stay there, you will want to learn Finnish, and that's not easy at all. Danish, Norwegian or Swedish are very easy to learn for an English speaking person. The grammar structure is almost the same and there are many, many English words that come from Old Norse and thus they sound familiar to an English speaker. Therefore those countries are very diverse. On the main topic, I think the problem is that too many people think that happiness equals success. And success comes down to things like money, popularity, stuff like that. And that is simply not the case. Think about Michael Jackson for example. He was incredibly successful by all metrics. But was he happy?
Sure, there might be a few people who avoid Finland because of the language but the biggest reasons why Finland has less immigrants than Scandinavia is because 1) they simply didn't take in as many in the recent years and 2) historically much poorer (kinda like Norway before they struck oil). Finland in the 20th century was for the most part not a very attractive place to go to. Huge refugee crisis from Karelia, war reparations to the USSR without Marshall plan aid, Soviet army bases outside Helsinki, 90s financial crisis etc. Why would anybody move there when its neighbor Sweden offered so much more?
@@ellav5387 and Finland is remote. Finland is effectively an island. Yes, we have a long land border with Russia, but that is as good as an ocean today - and was so during the cold war
I think along with Canada, Australia needs to be mentioned - we rank very high on the happiness index and we have a huge immigration pool. In a Australia we call it "a fair go" and the whole concept of "mateship" - but basically what should be noticed is that no matter who conservative of government we get, no one will touch Universal Healthcare.
I live in Denmark and here is my explanation of why we think the ultra rich might have something wrong with them. Everyone know that making money is correlated to putting in work. We do not get the same amount of money from the same work, but nearly everyone has the option of putting in less work, and getting less money out of it. If you make 100M a year, why are you not choosing to work less and spend more time with friends and family, even if going from working 45 hours per week to 40 would mean you only made 80M, isn't that a better deal? The fact that a person values making more money past the point where you can reasonably spend it to make your life better, is highly suspicious.
you have to realise with the money in denmark/finland compared to USA you are looking at disposable income. Which in denmark/finland means when EVERYTHING is paid. Meaning no money needs to go to saving for college, medical bills or any of the many other things americans have to pay. The actual numbers are slightly higher in denmark and finland than usa when you account for debt and unforseen expenses and savings. Average wages in denmark in 2020 was about 65k usd a year (with an average 36,5 hours per week) as opposed to the average wage for americans being around 65k usd (with an average of about 43,8 hour per week). The disposable income however shows what is left after all the obligatory bills are paid. This means in denmark.... you are done all the rest is free money where as in usa you still need to worry about savings for education, medical expenses, a much higher rate of non value debt (meaning not tied to a house or something of value like forexample medical debt, legal debt, student debt all of which are MUCH higher and insanely expensive in usa) and much more. according to the UN The nordic countries on average have about 20% more spending money in their normal income than the average american. And closer to 35% when you dont accunt for the richest 1% on both sides. (and about 90% more when you remove all but the minimum wage or lower households) In denmark the minimum wage is effectively about 18-22 usd this means if you clean toilets or pick of dead animals on the roadside or serve at burger king or whatever else low pay job you can think, you will earn around 40k usd per year. BUT scandinavia dont have alot of super rich people because our system doesnt allow for abusive work practices (which is how almost all upper class wealth in america is earned). Try to see how many american millionaires and billionaires would survive if they had to pay their workers fair wages, give them 5 weeks of vacation, 10 days paid annual leave per year of service and 12 paid public holidays and still only have them work 37 hours per week ;) not to mention workers rights in general, fair practices, months of paid parental leave and no exploiting child labour, no firing without just cause, having to pay full taxes so they support those people and communities who work for them and much much more. Amazon currently pays a minimum wage of 15 usd per hour with no benefits and no insurance. They also work an average of 52 hours per week and have little to no coverage if they get hurt during work. Which they do at an alarming rate. (according to a fair practices survey in 2020 the average amazon worker took 2 minor injuries which require medical assistance and 1 major injury over the course of 1 year of work. According to their own website they offer 7 paid holidays per year (but this may be different for the more than 70% of workers who are not full time employees) in short denmark doesnt have many mega rich people because its hard to be mega rich without fucking over other people. BUT no one is poor
I had a fab growing up in Finland in the archipelago in summers, in Vaasa or in island of Åland. Care-free summers, with smoked hering, flounder, blueberries so on. Fresh water, sunny days and saunas and security within the all.. Pretty sure many of us in the Nordics feel the same. The basic security is so important to anybody. And the trust. I lived 10 yrs in Stockholm, And STO is a bit up-scale, in many ways, but never felt that I was away from the Nordic security feeling. Some might call it a bubble, some not. I had friend visiting/living here from U.S.---all loved this. I visited a lot in U.S., in very, very many cities, small and big. I never complained. Once I fell in love in Chicago, and my bf asked me, why would you want to live here, when you get everything for free in Finland. I did not get it then, but I do now.
For a European these things are absolutely normal, they are not shocking. If Finland and Denmark are the happiest countries in the world that have so much cold and few sunny days who knows what who, like us, live in a Mediterranean Country have to say, we are hyper-happy.
I'm from Belgium, one of the highest taxed countries in the world. Due to an incapacitating illness, my wife and I are no longer able to work. We are lucky to be born in this country. We receive a disability allowance of 3000 USD per month and 315 USD family allowance for our son. We received a totally new social apartment for only 550 USD per month. We pay a maximum of 500 USD for health care per year, the rest is paid by our social security. We receive 1000 USD scholarship for secondary education, the school is free, it's just for the material (school bag, pen, ..). We also receive each year a vacation bonus of 1580 USD. We are not rich but we lack nothing. I thank God every day. I am proud to be Belgian.
Yep also from Belgium and I can agree with u. We pay much taxes but we get much in return . In a way most of our taxes goes back to ppl who need it mostly. And we have a great safety net and social funds.
@@veroniquevanhauwaert2090 Sorry for you, but when the NVA, MR and Vlaams Belang get the power, all this would be a thing of the past.
Statements like this make me glad I moved to Belgium!
@@beuvue N'importe quoi!!
I'm finnish and here many people complain about high taxes but never think what we get! Free healthcare and education, good infrastructure, social security, library services, great defence forces, generally supporting citizens in all kind of situations in life... With more taxes you generally get peace of mind and much more easier and enjoyable life because it's not struggling with basic things all the time.
Literally no one in Europe is shocked that most of Europe, is happier than the US. It just has to do with the safety in many regards, the freedoms, and cities that are built for people instead of mostly for cars or ''progress''. Dutchie here, but we all know our northern neighbors are great in so many regards. Love Europe so much. The trains & freedom to never have to buy a car to get anywhere you want, is great too. At least over here:)
i think even the "bad apples" in EU have way more to offehn than living in the states, reason some north American are actually moving to some cheaper countries in EU.´
P.S im from a EU bad apple btw.
God damn even in latin américa people is happier, may not have a better life but happier after all
@@rowan_Something Yeah, that was funny. "Only Danes have this!" uhmm...german Gemütlichkeit says hello.
I assume you are a fellow follower of Not Just Bikes?
@@magnushelin007 Yes, yes I am, he made me realize (and when I started traveling) how awesome our Dutch mobility system is, it made me be so interested in this, I started studying this. It's always such a delight coming home after a long journey and enjoying the total serenity that is a functioning mobility system :3
Here in Sweden we don't think "what's wrong with them", we think: "probably a narcissistic tax dodger"
Yeah similar idea here in the land of the Danes. It's just assumed they are ducking taxes to get rich. And for the most part no one really cares to know them outside of material needs since they are clearly chasing money, not social bonds.
We also think that they're missing something else in their life.
Most of us are tax dodgers 😃 but if you have money that is often legal..
I only touch tax free earnings.
I pay plenty in tax by owning a house car and vacation home.
And i have paid tax 2 times from the money i use, in dk that is alot of money (something like 90-95% in tax)
Im not paying a third time, my investments are in art and gold and personal belongings i make sure gains value
The last year i made 2 times the money i could by having a job, just by taking care of my stuff own, and making it better.
And i kept local workers 100 times more busy then other people around me..
The money i use bennefits other people that does pay tax
And before that everything was going up like crazy and i sold my house in the right part of copenhagen at the right time.
They could just change the rules, im just following them and adding a bit of luck
My cost of living is also cheaper then many tax payers, i can afford to invest in green energy for my self
If it helps, i am taking all my tax free money and moving with them to a country in southern europe soon 😆
@@Sigart brains? ....
@@lillerosin2915 ... Or hobbies, family, friends, support, self-worth, self-respect...
As a Dane, I can confirm that the trust that people have in each other, is a driving factor. Just the other day, i dropped my WALLET, with ALL my cards, drivers license, mastercard, healthcarecard, ALL, I dropped it in a parking lot, i only noticed around 24 hours after i dropped it, I didnt even worry. I knew that because i live in Denmark, I dont have to worry about people stealing. I went back to the gym 3 days later, and asked in the reception. If they by any means had found a wallet, and low and behold, they had it, bear in mind, i dropped it at night when no staff was around, that means, either it was on the ground in the parkinglot all night, or a stranger picked it up, went back in and put it behind the counter for them.
Dropped my wallet 2 times in my life and got it back with everything someone had found it, but if rich people pay their taxes in Denmark I only know a few people who think there is something wrong with them, but most danish people don’t care about becoming super wealthy
When he says "What's wrong with them" he means that we will look at that person and wonder why they are willing to often sacrifice so much of their time to accumulate wealth instead of spending it on family, freetime and a more balanced way of living.
People who strive for moneytary gains beyond a comfortable lifestyle are often seen as somewhat greedy and potentially narcissistic. Greed is rarely a favourable trait to have here.
I am a dane, btw.
As a fellow dane I also feel like it's just a bafflement at the need for excess that very wealthy people have. Like, why do you need all that luxury, that extra car, that huge house?? What are you compensating for??
But we do have enough of these types of narcissists here in Europe as well..
Hi! I agree completely with what Murricath writes here. Very well put! I'm a Swedish-speaking Finlander who has lived in Paris, France, and in Fort Wayne and Chicago.
The difference between the U.S. and the Nordic countries when it comes to the freedom to improve your life, when it comes to feeling safe and secure, to living without fear, is that in the States you need money, the more the better, to achieve those things, whereas in the Nordic countries you don't need to accumulate personal wealth for those reasons.
And why is that? The answer: The rights and benefits that those "high" taxes are used for, as explained in the video. You don't have to pay from your own pocket, or be dependent on your insurance, for your health care, education, vacation time (if you can get it) etc. Instead, everybody chips in by paying taxes. It used to be called solidarity. It's about equality, equal opportunity, and about understanding that, in the long run, a well-organized, peaceful, trusting and safe society benefits Everybody, even the rich.
You don't need to sacrifice your life to the pursuit of money, and more money, just to feel safe and secure.
In the Nordic countries, as in many other European countries, safety, security and trust are root assumptions. With those taken care of, everybody can get on with their lives. And, as we know, the best things in life are free.
I'd argue it also helps to stave off classism or class hierarchies. Because rich people aren't idolized in Scandinavia many of said rich don't go out of their way to display that wealth and instead integrate themselves with everyone else, to go unnoticed. I feel like the US have a much worse class problem precisely because you are supposed to brag if you got money, it makes it a status symbol.
@@Lewtable Probably true to a large extent, but as a Norwegian, x gen, I notice that we have changed for the worse in this regard. Now our leaching billionaires are mowing to Switzerland, good riddance, but if it was up to me I would arrest them when they return and give them life in prison for betrayal. They always come back for reasons.
"I love the idea of going on a vacation to relax" this really shocked me. For me vacation is kind of defined as a time off period to relax and do leisure activities
Definitely. Weekends are more stressful, I want to go on a day trip, I need to do laundry, clean the apartment etc. But vacations should be relaxing. Which they will be, if I have three weeks, 3-4 days for that theme park, one week to visit family and the rest of the time for relaxing.
Uh... that's what vacations are for... right? RIGHT?!
Vacation is time for renovation and garden maintenance. 😅 There is usually a few days for holiday but my vacation is pretty busy.
Dear Heidi!
I really enjoy your content. German here. I find it quite interesting how much U.S. Americans tend to love any kind of charity and acts of kindness as long as they do it on their own will (just need to watch some of these „random kind of kindness“ videos). But if someone starts to try get some solidarity into the U.S. society, everyone seems to be freaking out on that commie stuff. If you take a look behind the mirror, the German healthcare and social security system was invented by Otto von Bismarck who definitely was no communist. He was a VERY conservative aristocrat who simply found out that healthy workers and people with a perspective work better and do not start riots :)
Having a system relying on donations make welfare a competition. It is not about getting the most value for tax payer money, it is about getting the most exposure for your money. Insanely luxurious galas that cost $1000 per person (and draw about $4000 per person in profit) with 1000 guests is the equivalent of each American spending a little more than one cent. And 20% of the money collected is pure cost just so the wealthy elite can enjoy the ultimate in luxury. Meanwhile, the people who actually deserve praise are the unpaid waiters that give of their time and get nothing in return, except the "satisfaction of having contributed".
Naja gut und er wollte halt den Sozialisten den politischen Wind aus den Segeln nehmen, was ja auch noch einige Zeit recht gut geklappt hat. :D
I find a lot of Americans only do it because it's a competition. It's to "one up" on each other. They see it as something they can do to make themselves better than someone else. It's not natural at all...
12:40 ..... THAT is the reason, we as Danes pay high taxes. It pays our healthcare, it pays our education, AND it pays for finding options in your life. And having this kind of security in your life, is a huge factor for happiness.
As you mention later in the video, it is all about helping each other.
Of course we would love to pay less taxes. But those taxes are vital, and we know that ANY of us may at some point have to depend on the money we ALL pitch into the social economy.
had this debate with some Americans about paying for others and I always tried to explain it that they can think of it in a selfish way if they want.
what would you rather have around you , dumb criminals or happy educated people. making sure others have it okay can benefit you as well.
☝️This!!!
in the US, u pay for others with health insurance too (private insurance, your co-pay/montlhy pay pays for the others), car insurance too (u pay montly but it will pay for the others too), the difference in europe, it 's state scale and not just one compagny amoung 1200 other ones, car insurance (u share the risk and the cost too), "social" healthcare is state wide , like firefighters ( "social" fire insurance), police ( "social" safety)... americans think they pay for 'if anything happens to me, it will be used', doesn t work like...what they think it is , it's called saving....and that s not how insurances work.
Ye, its basicly "pay a little, to be safe and live a better life".
So i dont have to worry about desperate people breaking in because they have nothing
Haha, I've been explaining it the same way to Americans for years now ! xD
Sad that this is actually the best way I've found to make them understand the benefits of universal healthcare...
exactly! It is a simple concept actually. Having free healthcare and education (and paying a bit more for it) has two huge benefits - no crazy amount of criminals and homeless people PLUS it can save your own life! Some people cannot really understand that it can be that they lost their job too or became seriously ill and not be able to pay their own bills... and as a result - bankruptcy and no money for their children's college. Easy concept!
Four months are set aside for the mother....but only one month is while still pregnant. The infographic actually shows that. I am danish and we have a similar systeme. It was amazing with both my kids having plenty of time enjoying my pregnancy, getting ready, nesting, and staying home with my kids. Also, the dads get time to stay home with the children. And that is so precious.
When it comes to health care, I would have been ruined with two special needs children on a teacher´s salary.
I was about to wright that to her so thanks :) Mange Tak ;)
In Sweden both parent stay home the first one or two weeks after birth. And wa laugh at every guy becoming a father looking forward to having time to do some project in the house while on parental "leave".
@@57thorns Some years ago they made it with law for the fathers to be home the first 2 weeks in DK. Before that many dads went to work and gave their "free" time to the mother to earn money. It is true you get money after birth, but it not nearly as much as if you go to work, wich is why many dads go to work after the 14 days is over and still gives the rest to the mother.
Yes, you do not need to earn the money you need in US because the goverment gives you many precious services and good quality
The finnish baby box has the advantage that young parents get what they would never tought they needed. Like nursing pads, condoms and picture books. You can opt for a small sum of money, if you wish, also. Many take the box for the first kid, but take the money for the second one. It also requires you to visit your doctor for prenatal care, which in itself is promoting healthy babies and mothers.
@@rowan_Something Well, babys aren't _that_ big. They fit into a lot of boxes. If you've ordered more than twice from Amazon, chances are you're pretty much set in the infant-storage department.
Your last sentence , as far as I recall it, is really the reason why the baby box was introduced - to increase the health of the mother and decrease the number of still borns.
It makes sense to get the box for first child and money for second because you'll just recycle the clothes from first child. The box is also worth more than the miniscule money you'll get.
@@K__a__M__I So, the container itself, the cardboard box was all you managed to wrap your head around. Perhaps give a second of thought to take a gander to all the useful stuff that comes in that box. Geez, Americans... Pro-life, my ass.
haha, I like the part with the condoms... :D It's like "yeah, we know it's too late for that NOW, anyways, maybe you use them next time!" :D :D :D
In the nordic countries there is this concept called The Law of Jante. It basically says that you are no better than the crowd. This mindset makes bragging about wealth something that we just don't do here. Our societies are mostly focused on collective achievements rather than push this hyper-individualistic mindset we see in America and other places.
Edit: Parental leave doesn't start 4 months before the woman gives birth. It's normally a month to 14 days before the birth when the woman goes on parental leave.
In Finnish folk lore, luck is finite resource. So if someone gets unlucky, someone must have stolen it and if someone is lucky, they are essentially a luck thief in others eyes.
Yes , we do have baby showers in Finland also, but because of the baby box your not dependent on your social status or the amount of friends you have, everyone is taking cared of.
So you get a baby shower by your gouvernment... ^^ That's really cute. I always admire the social security system and the common sense for national identity in Scandinavian and/or Baltic countries, even though I know we're not doing that bad in Germany as well, at least compared to the US, but coming from northern Germany near the Danish border I really noticed, how bad the climate is for my personal mental health, when I moved further south, even inside Germany. My dad still lives in the area, we used to live, when I went to school, and he is constantly complaining about the weather, especially now, that he's getting older. :D
As someone very introverted, I feel like I understand hygge completely. I'm not a party person (an oddity in Brazil, where party culture is very strong), but it doesn't mean I don't love my family nor appreciate being with other people. This Christmas, if you were to look for me at our home, I was sitting by the beautiful tree me and my family decorated together, drinking something tasty, reading an e-book, and from time to time just leaning back and listening to the laughter and the music coming from the people dancing outside. Almost as if I was basking under an invisible light of welcoming and happiness, content in simply existing within that moment. This small habit is often my favorite moment of any day.
I feel that we are taught that real happiness has to be this enormous thing, like experiencing a very expensive vacation, going to a huge party, buying a great car... But those are all temporary, and not necessarily will make you actually happy. True happiness is found, not bought.
ha yues, there you have it, it is always available , if you look properly, just sitting on a bench in the park, doing nothing.
Things are a lot cheaper in the US. What makes the US income higher is that your top earners earn A LOT while the masses do not. For example our CEO saleries here are more modest and can be typically up to $500.000, while in the USA they are several millions. So lower vages jobs are paid more, while the top jobs are paid less.
Also I believe that number you see is disposable income, i.e after tax. So for the Nordic countries that includes health, education etc etc, while in the USA you still have to pay your health insurance, your collages etc.
The maternity leave does not start 4 months before birth. it starts when it is needed to start. Some have most of their prgnancy off as sick leave if they are having complications, but then that is sick leave and not part og the maternity months. In general the mother have 4 months, the father have 4 months, and they have 4 months they can share between them, so 12 months leave in total that is covered. We can get more, but then with less covered.
We don't have baby showers as a standard rule, but some do it. Many people here look at it as begging and therefore do not like it. But family will always help out, and friends and family will often keep their old childrens stuff to let someone else have it later on. I grew up in my early years using a lot of my cousins clothes and toys.
I find it interresting that you say USA look down on socialstic things and having people paying for others well being, especially when you look at the GoFundme campains, and how many there are begging for help with medical bills. In that case I feel a lot better of just paying a little through my taxes and not having them going through the humiliation of begging stranges for help on the internet.
If we look at the median income you have United States at $19,306 and Denmark at $17,432, And this is before education and healthcare costs in USA, and since most people have a median income and not average, it looks like the Nordic countries compares well with regards to income.
Wealth care In USA is verran expensive. When it is cheap enough wealthcare and education for examöply a family can afford much more with everyday living. That is more money to buy from domestic services.
@@JoppeOSL is that after taxes? finnish median income before taxes is almost 30k
Median CEO salaries are indeed very low in comparison, but generally their paychecks go through the board etc. In Finland, the median salary of a top 50 CEO was about 25k€ a month. This doesn't mean a few didn't make millions, cause they absolutely do, but the falloff is really rapid after the top10, it goes from like 100M€ a year to sub-2M€ inside the top10 (2018 numbers, so probably bloated a LOT during the pandemic). EDIT: I checked and 2021 top10 goes from 58M€ to 23M€ inside the top10 :D Also, income information for the most part is public data.
Finland and Denmark are a model for Europeans, I really respect the idea of not having to be rich in order to be respected and appreciated and be a happy family guy
As a Finn who has lived in US I would say living in Finland is easier, because you don't have to worry so much about money: healthcare is rather inexpensive, if you want to go to school you can get financial help with that, if you become unemployed you don't have to wait for long to get unemployment money. Less stress for sure. Oh, and because guns are less available you don't have to worry about being shot at the grocery store or at school (generally speaking).
Yah sorry but your view of America is a bit biased. We don't go around worrying about being shot at store or school. That's ridiculously rare and is exaggerated by the media for views. If anything, the problem has gotten worse because of how much American and Non-American media obsess about it, often to make America seem like some criminal hellhole to justify taking away guns. In reality, most people with guns follow the law, and the US, although having some crime in some places, is actually very safe for most of it. Europe also has some crime areas, everywhere does. Also, most of hte recent crime waves have not been caused by legal guns, which we have always had, they have been caused by corporations literally stoking racial division within the US, much like the division we saw in Yugoslavia before they killed each other, similar division is being stoked in the US by our own corporations to control us easier. Yet they don't see how dangerous it is. But yah, that's the main reason hate crimes and other things are happening. Our own media actively tries to get black people to think it's justifiable for them to commit hate crimes because "non-priviledged folks cannot be racists and they are getting revenge/rising up". BLM literally justified the riots with that rhetoric "it's justice!". Imagine thinking burning down Korean owned businesses is justice because BLM brainwashed people into thinking they are oppressed when in reality Civil Rights was almost 60 years ago! Even though most hate crimes against Asians were from African Americans, the media pretends it's still white supremacy. The media despite obsessing over every hate crime and mass attack, completely ignored the Christmas Day Parade Massacre which was committed by a black supremacist (Go look it up, I'm not just saying this, I know it sounds crazy, but they really glossed over the attack and pretended it wasn't a bigoted hate crime, but just a random not hate crime tragedy, yet every time a black guy dies, even if it has nothing to do with race, they automatically define it as a hate crime). My point? The main reason for violence in the US is a huge rise in racial tensions. We were getting really equal and happy in the 2000s, but then corporations latched on to groups like BLM and actively promoted division. So that's why America is crazy right now. Just telling you, media does not tell the whole story. And our corporations have heavily manipulated the situation because they also don't 'want us to have guns, so they want to pretend violence is caused by the 2nd amendment, when in reality, it's mostly caused by radicalism and mental illness because of how openly racist groups like BLM have become, which then leads to the resurgence of white supremacist, and then both of those assholes start fighting. 99% of the nation can handle their weapons with maturity and responsibility. It's just that a few crazies and gang members think they can break the rules and the US government and corporations are too worried about appearing racist to actually police/bring justice to criminals. That's why the BLM riots were ignored in the US. That's why the controversy in Virginia with that trans kid happened (Search it up, it's dark, and shows why woke justice is extremely problematic as it can lead to allowing horrifying crimes to be committed in the name of appearing inclusive).
Sorry for the rant, but yah, I just don't like when I see people act like America is some mad max hellhole. Violence is up, but every nation experiences some crime, and I definitely don't like when the 2nd Amendment is blamed for it. You had a lot of good points, but yah, I just don't understand your worry about safety unless you were walking in the gang neighborhoods of Chicago. And trust me, Europe has bad neighborhoods too. America is actually extremely safe, and in reality, safer from war than any other nation, so there's that. But yes, radicalism has been a huge problem and allowed crime to go unstopped because of the police, government, media, and corporations fear of appearing racist or bigoted. Sometimes you have to accept a little more danger (and its not really any more if you don't hang out near gang neighborhoods), to have a little more freedom. Ukraine is proving that, never cowtow to violence to allow you to give up on your freedoms. Liberty>Security.
@@b.ballooon9225 Lol. No.
@@b.ballooon9225 I hope you are right about the safety. I lived in Hollywood, CA and part of the reason I left was because I got into a life threatening situation and saw some other unpleasant situations too. I think guns are glorified in US. But enough of that. It's a really depressing topic.
@@b.ballooon9225 Per capita gun deaths in the US are higher than in Ireland _at the peak of the "troubles"._ Since you're American, I'll explain - it's a euphemism given to what was a low-level civil war.
@@b.ballooon9225 yes i agree, American News make America seem more dangerous than it is
Still who does average Joe need to take a gun with him for to a family friendly zone like a zoo. If he doesn't feel unsecure about something?
Hi Heidi, I only recently discovered your videos. As an American living in France, I greatly enjoy your content, as well as the videos you choose for comment. I also adore your seemingly insatiable curiosity. My main thought as I watched this video is "Imagine what a different world it might be if the American government historically and currently were to prioritize the well-being and daily lives of its citizens as do Finland and Denmark."
About the sauna-elves (long comment)
Finnish mythology has "elves" which are more akin to gnomes (in newer folklore) or spirits (in old folklore). There are "sauna-gnomes", "forest-elves", "river-trolls", "bog-spirits" etc.
Tonttu, hiisi, näkki, haltija and peikko are some of the names for these spirits and creatures in Finnish. The words are still used to translate foreign stories today, like Lord of the Rings and such. (Where usually troll=peikko, elf=haltia, goblin/orc=hiisi and so on.)
In old myths they were not considered exactly as powerful as the old Finnish gods (like Ahto, Ukko or Tuoni), but they were considered dangerous if not treated with courtesy and respect.
Certain animals were more often than not considered to be these spirits in disguise. Snakes and foxes being a couple common examples of that.
And sauna is an ancient thing in Finland. Archeologists have found 3000-8000 year old remnants of saunas across the country.
The mayans also had steam rooms around 2500 years ago, but they're not the same thing culturally... although that should be obvioius, since South-America and Finland are about as far apart on the map as possible 😂
and the other folk that lives under and in house, barn forest, waters. that you should never pissed, or they would revenge for you with disease or any other ailments.
mayan steam room or sweat room is basicly stone iglu, that sun heated. so modern version of that is infrared sweat room,
which is not to called sauna.
I definately have a house elf living with me. Im glad i have them, they help me find thing i loose :D
My best friend was from Finnland, he died in car accident last year, was one of the happiest guy i ever met. He was on a complet different level that he sometimes annoyed me with it. Miss you brother.
Hey. In Europe we don't use the word "brother"! Only from a real brother. The word brother strongly refers to "cultural difference" like the "N" word. I'm just saying politely. Sorry!
Hello from Bulgaria. When talking about maternity leave I would like to add something. Because in Europe we also get annual leave & paid sick leave, a lot of mothers in the first trimester actually are just go to the doctor and get a note maxing out their remaining sick days & maxing out on their annual leave for the year before going into official maternity leave. This will basically cover most of the pregnancy and give you plenty of time to get check-ups and tests and plan for the future in peace. As my old manager used to say "Now she/he is taking the time to focus on her/his own personal project."
P.S.
And after 2 years of not much rest you return to work in the same company and position, and get promoted in the next 3 months :D
A lot of countries here don't have what Americans call "sick days". There are no set number of days you can be sick per year. Simple: if you're sick, you're sick and you stay home and get paid. Either by your employer or the government reimburses your employer for the loss of your work efforts. You get mental health troubles and take six months off, it's fine. Yes, you have to jump through some bureaucratic hoops to set the reimbursement, but most of the time, you get taken care of, unless your employer is an absolute scumbag of a company somehow. But then you can just sue them if you get fired when you're not well.
my daughter was born prematurely and had to spend a month in intensive care. all that time we were in our own family room and the nurses monitored the baby's well-being 24/7. breakfasts, lunches and all other food were brought to the room. all this came to us about €470 (about $500), this is the maximum annual fee that can be charged to you. this is determined by law. (currently it is 692€, (about 737$) slightly increased since those times.
Greetings from Finland 🇫🇮
I am happy with your case and very satisfied myself with my children.
Shall we give the thirty-something bearded, well-dressed iPhone "refugee men" the same free rights to health and social services. Without wives!
I just feel like I don't want to have kids, unless I move out of the US.
FINLAND TOPS WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT FOR FIFTH TIME IN A ROW
WHY ARE WE YELLING?
@@bubble0 IKR? WE USUALLY ONLY YELL AT HOCKEY GAMES
Sixth time ! ..................
Baby shower parties are fairly new thing in Finland, purely brought from the US. I had my children about 25 years ago, and then it was not a custom. Older Finnish baby parties are varpajaiset and rotinat. Varpajaiset is party the father throws to his (male) family members and friends just after the birth, and rotinat is for the mother, also after the birth. People bring food so the mother doesn't have to cook for few days, and also bring something for the baby, usually clothes. Also the Christening/ name party is occasion people bring gifts and the new born is celebrated. In Finland the name of the baby is a secret until it is revealed at the Christening or name party if you are not religious, and that is usually 1-2 months after the birth.
We (in sweden) are also happy to pay our taxes because we know what we get for them. free schooling, free heathecare. And like the finns have there sauna and the danes have hügge. We an well known swedish expression, it´s called Lagom. wich can roughly be translated to not to much, not to little. Meaning like why brag about how much money you have and buy expensive clothes you don´t intend to use anyway. It´s an sort of minimalistic work life balance. You buy things you need when you need them. Could be new winter boots (especially this extreme winter)
And parental benefit is paid out for 480 days (approximately 16 months) for one child. For 390 days, the compensation is based on your income. And you doesn´t have to worry about loosing your job while your home with your kid.
Sauna is the cornerstone of finnish culture. It's thousands of years old and the first homes were actually saunas here, but it has had many more meanings in our culture. And still has
I am half Danish and Half Japanese and in Japan Hot Baths have the same thing as Finnish Saunas........but Danes would think if you have a sauna and you go into it with family its incestuous.
@@adrianpallis4568 in sauna everyone is equal and theres nothing sexual about sauna.
well except certain finnish region called savo. theres change that your danish thoughts might just be true...
Savo, a remote location in the middle of Finland known for inbreeding and incapacity to form sentences that mean anything.
similar to faroe islands which you danish own.
@@adrianpallis4568 As a dane who frequently goes to saunas, i can say that is, incorrect. I don't know where u heard about that, but it is simply not true. Sure the danes doesn't share the same culture/history when it comes to saunas, like Japan or Finland
Heidi, just pack your suitcases and move to Nordics, seriously. You have nothing to lose, you can only gain more than you expect. And your future kids will thank you. I did the move a decade ago, have never looked back. Regards from Sweden.
I want to move to Nordics from the UK
Where did you live before?
And what nordic country are you living in now?
Also, it's not *that* easy.
It's a *big* decision.
Happiness may also include family, moving would involve leaving behind family...
And living in a nordic country can be *challenging*.
It amazes me that people think you can just up sticks and move to another country.
Om an expat living in Norway and you have no idea how much paperwork is required and how much goes on to be able to work in that country.
If you don't have skills and experience in short supply, you've got no chance.
@@Luredreier Try reading. He said Sweden.
@@sandersson2813 no-one is saying it's easy, and you're not an ex-pat, you're an immigrant, which is absolutely fine.
I think you nailed it with your answer to "what´s wrong with rich people?". Having lived there for a full year, my personal impression was it´s a mix of two things: a) enough is enough. More than enough means someone else has less. b) Not so long ago, life out in the boreal Taiga was rather hard, and you absolutely needed to cooperate just to survive. So the whole village/large farm/big household would work together so all of them could live comfortably, because, well, you needed all of them, you couldn´t afford leaving someone behind. So, slacking off would be frowned upon, and consistently having more than others would raise suspicions. And I think that mindset just really luckily translated into the modern age, leading to a comparatively happy society. There are some that complain that with the tax system, you can´t really get super rich, but they usually just leave, and are not really missed much by the others. Doing your job properly I think has a higher priority than maximising profit. You are proud of your product, not your wealth.
Hello from Finland! Yes, we have baby showers but the government is one of the quests with the free-of-charge baby box. It's just another privilege to new families that our tax money pays for. Also, there are new moms who have no close family or friends who are able to support the newborn baby, so to them, the baby box can be a huge deal.
Also you can get to choose that do you want the baby box or money instead, but what I have understood, no one takes the money, cause there is actually really good quality products in the baby box. We chose baby box, and after 12 years, we still got the box 😄
@@lifeofpasche I remember seen some of the stuff from my box and i am 50 yr ;D
@@lifeofpasche The box is worth upwards of 200€ or more and will provide worth for years.
You can get about 170€ in cash.
Anybody can see that taking the box makes way more sense!
If you can afford your daily expenses and have a little to save for a bad day, you can be happy. When my friend here in Finland got a new car last year, he was actually ashamed to admit that he had ordered some extra features to it and paid extra. He is a lawyer (without student loans) so we know he can afford it, but still he didn't want to brag 😅
9:22
No, I'm fairly sure that we don't have "baby showers" here in Norway.
However that doesn't mean that people don't give gifts to new parents.
We just don't have a separate event for it, instead people come and give their gifts one guest at a time.
Coming over for coffee and cookies and to deliver some baby cloths etc.
In Germany, a celebration (baby shower) in advance is rather unusual, you wait until the baby is there. Colleagues, family, friends organize gifts (often there is a wish list). The gifts are usually delivered within the first 2-4 weeks or already at the hospital.
However, sometimes there is a kind of "gender reveal" action. Sometimes the parents-to-be visit friends and relatives and hand over a corresponding mini present, sometimes they meet for coffee and cake (with the appropriate filling).
Correct we do not have "baby showers " here in norway. Its not even a thing.
We have in Danmark 🌹
Speaking from own experiance, i had a verry well paying job after college, made more money then i could realisticly spend each month, but wasn't verry happy, always wanted more. Now a few years later, i make about half the amount of money, but i have a lot more time to spend doing the things i like. As a result i'm much happier then i was when i made twice the money.
If you can afford to pay your bills, and have food, its really enough. Previously if i wanted something i could just go and buy it (to an extend) now i have to save up for a month or sometimes longer if i want to make a big purchase. But the fact that i have to save up for it, makes my appreciation of what i can buy a hundred times more valuable.
Yea we have baby showers in Finland but that maternity box is goverment given. If you don't want the box you can choose money also but usually the items in the box are worth more than the money.
I used to work a 40 hours week until spring of 2020 (Germany). Then covid came and our company had to reduce the working hours for every employee by 50%. In 2021 normal hours were setup again (40 hours) ..but since I enjoyed my new found life-work balance , I asked my employer to reduce my usual 40 hours to 30 hours /week permanently . Since 2021 I work only 30 hours per week instead of 40 hours.. and I finish the same amount of work as before = Work effiency increased and it is nice to have the afternoon off instead of work until its dark outside. For my life this adds a lot to my personal happiness. Edit: and also: your little cat in the corner... 😍
Spot on. Efficiency goes up and sick days go down when the balance is just right.
I love your reaction on this..what the companies in the US acieved is, they make the people pay in every possible way for taking out profits. Here in Germany, we see the US as the endgame of capitalism because people have to bust their asses off with one, two or even three jobs and living life without any reasonable social securities if shit happens. The US are pretty messed up :-/
I'm a father of two, living just across the pond from Finland (in a country that's tiny, just 1.3M people and not as wealthy, but similar in the Nordic way of living) and i can say that babyshowers aren't a common thing around here, at least i don't know of any such traditions, nor did we have any for our kids. We spent about 6 days on average in the hospital with each child, private family rooms both times, a care package from the city and country (baby stuff like clothes, diapers, creams etc plus books and booklets to guide the new mom with various things, including government related things like child support, registrations for kindergarten etc) and we paid nothing for it. Our taxes cover that stuff for everyone equally, no matter your income or social status. My wife stayed home for almost a year with each kid and was paid by the government.
I also had a job that paid well, but wasn't one that made me happy, so i also took 6 months off just to recoup my energy and mental health, during which, the unemployment security net from the government paid me 90% of my previous average wage, during which i started learning stuff i'm actually interested in and want to become. Can't imagine how one would do that in the US.
The Nordic people are actually friendlier than they appear. That's an important point - we prefer our privacy and peace, and respect others wish for it, but if we do open dialogue, we treat each other generally in a friendly manner.
To close it off, if you want to be a little happier, like the Nordics, here's a tip - find one thing, doesn't matter how big or small, but it has to be something you absolutely love and can get lost in, and be selfish about it, in the sense that, find time, with absolute rigidity, make that time for yourself to do that, as often as you can. Do a little bit of that something to recharge your batteries and, most of all, create a space for it. Create a small nook in your home, that's dedicated for this one thing, that refills your good mood meter.
First of all, i love you chanel and i love that you taking your time to learn about the rest of the world.💪👍😃 Here in Sweden, we have 480 days of parental leave to be distributed between the mother and the father until the child turns 7. Out of the 480 days, 60 days are dedicated to the mother and 60 days to the father. Parental leave can start 60 days before the child's birth.🙂
Taxes are high here in Austria, but services, especially health care are excellent. People love to complain no matter where they live, but you won't find many who would actually want to live anywhere else.
One of the best things about universal health care is that you simply never worry about it. Lost your job? No matter, you are still insured. Starting you own business? That's okay, you're still covered. Want to go back to school? Good for you, it's mostly free and your are still insured. Americans like to talk about freedom; how about freedom from worry?
Sending some happiness your way from Denmark :D
Btw I know a rich guy, but you cant see it on him. He dress pretty much like a farmer and he loves his company and working.
With the baby being left outside, I think its because we are much like ants and wasps. Anyone who harm the hive become a target and suddenly you are surrounded, while in the US some people will see an illegal action and help that person out because they are on a side.
Yeah alot more tribalism in the US. While we are more "everyone is equally human so we should help one another regardless of political or group viewpoints " Also why Mc D found itself at the business end of the Danes fury when they tried their american worker abuse shit xD
About "not dressing, as if you are rich" ... I mean, even your royals are so down to earth, we sometimes joked that it might be possible to meet Queen Margarethe on Holy Thursday at a Flensborg Aldi, doing some grocery shopping when she lives in Graasten ... I mean, she has such sympathy from the people, because she actually worked. I mean, she is a really respected artist and designer, not "just" a queen that speaks more than a handful of languages and studied politics...
The unfortunate truth is that the viciously individualistic nature of American society has set almost everyone against each other, and it results in a lot of strange pathological behavior.
Finnish person here. We do not think there is anything wrong with rich people ! Don't know where that man got it from
Nahh it is not 4 months before the birth.
As the 'graph' with the calendars show. It will usually be 1 month before birth and the rest after. Here in Denmark I believe it is set that the mother can go on maternity leave UP to a month before birth - I am not sure about the rules in Finland. Of course if complications arise or the work pose a danger to the pregnancy, consideration will be taken, at least that is my experience from the workplaces I have been, where I have also experienced women to be in this situation.
Same here in Finland. Not 4 months before birth unless some medical reason requires it.
Hello, Finnish guy here.
I just had a Teams meeting with all of the Finns and we had some comments :D
About the diversity. Finlands climate is also a bit of a shock for somebody coming from warmer southern countries. So people from those countries might not even want to try to adjust to it to begin with. It's not just the cold. It's the darkness, the wet slushy snow when it's not cold enough, the dark and brown autumn before white winter and you're trying to maintain your hobbies in all these climates. These observations are from Southern Finland so it varies through whole country.
To the comment that we Finns don't think we're the happiest. I would change us to be the happiest to 'we have the best chance to be happy and maintain the happiness'.
Cool vids Heidi. Keep up the good work!
I have 4 kids, each of them got a baby box. Baby shower a.k.a Varpajaiset is common here but what people usually give as a gift is decorations and memorabilia. our childbirths were free except mother had to buy snacks, food was free though. For every child government pays around 100€/$ and all healthcare for kids is free, dentist, optician, even glasses. Daycare is free and after that all the education.
This is not the same for everyone. It's all baced on income. Low income people pay nothing and rich people have to pay something in some rare situations.
On the topic of diversity, my experience as dane when I talk to friends and family, is that the issue isn't immigration but intergration.. In a lot of places, when a bigger group of people immigrate from the same area, understandably they group together with people who speak their language and have the same culture, and that is when a lot of danes end up seeing it as an "us vs. them" situation, because the danish culture, work ethic, view on raising children, view of how you treat men and women, different sexualities, and a lot of other subjets is seemingly "quite uniqe" to the notrthern countries, and it should be no secret to a lot of people, that talking with someone who thinks like you, is just easier a lot of time, and some people find it really hard to intergrate themselves, even though there's an entire system scheduled in an attemt to be helpful.
A lot of danes have a standpoint of: You are more than welcome to come to Denmark, and to live in Denmark, no matter where you're from. You just have to make an effort, to earn out full respect and not take advantage of our system, because it would be the same 'demand' if a dane is going to live in any other country.
Again, this is what I hear from my surroundings, and not the only viewpoint.
In denmark we have a unwritten rule all children learn..
It is called the "jante law" it says you are the same as everyone else and no one is worth more then you, no matter your status, color or wealth..
And that concept makes it hard to pose as someone special just because you have alot of money in danish culture..
We expect our boss is someone you can talk to like every other person in the world
The work/life balance also makes you look like a unhealhy person that doesent even care about yourself if you dont take the time for your self in modern work culture in north europe
It is not needed with baby showers, but some people does it..
if the mom dont have a job, she gets money and she gets extra depending on how many children if she lives in scandinavia
Being a mom can be made a lifestyle that you can life from in scandinavia..
The four months of leave typically don't start exactly four months before the baby's birth, but rather only start one week or one month before. It's generally best to start the leave closer to the due date to allow for more time with the newborn. The last few months of pregnancy can be challenging for the mother, so taking leave can be helpful when needed.
Finnish saying: "Who has the fortune shall hide it", the word for fortune is also the word for happiness and luck. It means to not flaunt it, to not boast about it, but to keep it hidden.
I really hope you will make some more content about Denmark!
Keep up det good work! It's funny an interesting to see
Moin, as we say in Schleswig-Holstein, we Schleswig-Holsteiners are direct neighbors of Denmark, our mentality is very similar to that of Denmark. In the happiness atlas, the people of Schleswig-Holstein are the happiest Germans. However, there are also differences, we have different people here from all parts of the world, whether from Africa or Turkey etc. In addition to German, Danish is the official language in Schleswig-Holstein and there are still many minority languages and minorities living in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, such as Sinti and Roma are protected by the state of Schleswig-Holstein. I've lived in federal states like Bavaria or Baden Württemberg etc., but only felt comfortable and at home in Schleswig-Holstein. In Bavaria I was often insulted as a Prussian because I was born in North Rhine-Westphalia. And in Baden Württemberg I always had the feeling that I didn't belong. Nobody asks me that here in Schleswig-Holstein. I felt at home right from the start. It's true that Nordic people are quieter and more reserved, but when it matters most, they're there. I think what is said in the report is true, if people are content and happy then so are immigrants from other countries. Although you have to like the northern climate. It gets dark faster here in winter and mostly very gray you should know that if you want to live in the northern countries.
Moin! Grüße aus Norderstedt...
@@Cussy69_420 Moin! Grüße aus Mölln
I live in Finland, and I hadn't even heard of the concept of "Baby Showers" until I randomly heard about it online.
Though having a party to celebrate the birth of a child isn't unheard of, of course.
It's called "Jantelagen" here in Sweden. It is usually looked down at being too rich or thinking too big of yourself.
Typical Sweden to try and claim this Danish thing called Janteloven 😅
@@Gissel1989 We have it in Norway as well, also called Janteloven and yes, indeed from denmark because, of course, denmark. xD
Finnish society is so new that we don't even have words for this in Finnish, neither we have a word for "lagom". Somehow we understand the concepts, though. Perhaps the concept of "sisu" is also somewhat properly understood in Scandinavia? Considering the topic: A fair society is a happy society, it's as simple as that.
Let me ask you. But this isn't about being rich, or even chasing wealth, but about chasing richness for a certain excessive lifestyle, right?
@@germangarcia6118 Well, it's kind of both. It is ok to chase wealth with all your heart - just don't tell people or make it public. "Jantelagen" is also visible in middle class, like..."Why is our neighbour building a backyard pool?" If they're doing it to show off - not good. If they gonna use it a lot, it's fine. So it is a subtle thing.
And it’s a stereotype that we aren’t friendly here in the Nordics. It’s more that we crave authenticity over fakeness, like in America if you say hi how are you? it’s a greeting. but here people will actually tell you. We are honest. We don’t sugar coat things or walk around the bush. We get straight to the point. We also value our personal space and privacy. Why we don’t like to talk to strangers or let people we don’t know close. We take our time getting to know someone, before we let them in. Culturally that means sex before conversation🤣🤣🤣 And if you suck in bed, no 2nd date😝 Doesn’t mean we are slutty or loose. It’s just that if you suck in ned, you can’t be successful else where in your life either. And who wants crappy sex for the rest of their life?
Lol I actually love that. There's something about being genuine over bring nice that is absolutely better. 💜
Someone even said, don't ask a Finn how they are doing, unless you're prepared to listen to the ir life story ;)
Take a look at Luke Bland's American Dream in Finland videos, not necessarily for reaction but for information and a viewpoint from one American who moved to Finland.
To learn more about the importance of Sauna, check out: ruclips.net/video/qY__OOcv--M/видео.html
31:27 That's a long long story but you might want to check article about "Haltija" from wikipedia (or more broadly Finnish paganism). Oh and Sauna is a Finnish word, so that might give a hint why Sauna is so big in Finland :)
Great to see you back !!!! Hope your health keeps improving
My father was a highschool teacher in Belgium with a background in electronics.
He took a 6 month break and basically started a company during it with the idea that if it all went wrong, no biggie, he could go back to being a teacher.
He sold that business last year for about 5 million.
Let us make our lives more hyggelig.
Actually, my city is directly at the border, a 25 min. walk or 10 min. with the city bus, and I am in Denmark, my grandma came from Denmark and spoke a language, that was/is only spoken in this city (Petuh=half Danish, half German), my first girlfriends were danish or spoke danish, many friends were danish or went to a danish school on the German side of the border, I worked 10 yrs for a danish company ....
Having quite a lot of contact with Danish culture, I have to say, that this video mentions really a lot of the points that make Denmark so special for me. Really well-made for Americans to understand.
It may be, that it is harder to make friends here in the north of Europe in general, BUT, that does not necessarily mean it must take a lot of time! It is more about the intensity of human interaction and communication, being honest about yourself and open for others. So, if you come from a country with a lot of "smalltalk" ... you will have a hard time to make friends at first, maybe. As a northern German, it is MUCH easier to get in contact and make friends with Danes. We get to the point very fast. You go to a pub and at the end of the evening you may have talked about religion, politics, sex, family, racism, abortion, genocide, music and climate change, and you go home and made one or more friends. It may seem that I exaggerate - but I actually HAD evenings like that, where I made friends for life.
I am pretty sure, this kind of conversation may be impossible with most Americans.
Americans often think Germans are unfriendly, because they do not like to smalltalk and will tell you their last medical consultation results if you ask "How are you?" They come straight to the point, esp. at work. At least in comparison to US Americans. And if we mean "Naaaa, that was really crap!" we don't say "How was your weekend? Everything good? Good! By the way, your last piece of work was really great, let's see how we could improve the current one just a little more ..."
And, IMHO - the danish people that I know are not so different to us Germans.
The truth is - Germans are too honest to be polite, while Americans are too polite to be honest. This makes for A LOT of misunderstandings, when Americans come to Europe generally. You come over as maybe superficial, shallow, etc., while you might only want to be super friendly to connect to people. And, as said in the documentary: happy or not - Danes are not necessarily polite or friendly people! But they can be warm and honest, and definitely they are people you can have fun with. And the suicide thing is really a sign of their happiness in society. If you have depression, for whatever reason, and the northern countries have dark and cold winters with lots of rain and storm ..., and it is so obvious that you can not take part in the happiness of most other people, you might feel especially bad about it. If you are woven into a dense net of social togetherness, and you can't enjoy it at these times, you might feel inner isolation and pain, that you might not be able to talk about. So those who are unhappy for mental health reasons stick out more and might have had higher suicide rates. I think they made a lot to destigmatize depression and suicide as topics. Free healthcare also makes it a lot easier for people who suffer from these issues to actually make a difference with anti-depressants.
I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in the video, but the Nordic countries have the highest number of metal bands per capita, that can't be a coincidence.
Ha - I didn't know that, even if particularly Norway (Black Metal) and Sweden (Death Metal) are known for their strength in certain sub-genres.
And Finland has the most metal bands per capita in the world.
yes, but i bet thats because of the history, vikings !! lol
These places seem amazing to live in
I just revisited this (I guess I have come to like your reactions) and have one additional comment:
I have been thinking about this happiness/contentment/hygge thing and find that the worst thing you can do is to FORCE anything (your description of your frantic visit to Disneyland caught it well). When you can, just think of one or two nice things you'd like to do for the next hour - and then proceed to do that and only that. If you failed to have a calm and peaceful moment, never mind. Give it another shot later, only aiming for the nice things you'd like to to do at any particular moment. One day you will realize that you actually DID experience a moment of "hygge" or happiness. Do not expect or (God forbid!) demand anything, just keep trying and then enjoy the little moments you DO manage. With time it will be easier to find these little moments and before you know it, your life has improved quite a bit - and you can take it from there.
There is three components to Hygge. Activity, company and surroundings. Its basically doing something you love to do, either by yourself or in company with people you like, in comfortable safe surroundings. Like family dinner in the house you grew up in. It exists everywhere Danes just live for it so we have a name for it. We don't live to work, we work to live.
I think the word cozy is pretty close to the meaning of hygge. Atleast the atmosphere of part of hygge :D
@@bmegatronI agree, but your comment made me realize something more: Cosy is an adjective, and hygge is a verb. In other words, hygge is something that you do.
as a dane who have just gone thoght several days of chrismas with my family, i would say that is connected to hygge :)
Dutch do the same thing with Gezelligheid, same thing but way more letters :P
@@mormacil and lot of german looking consonant (Dutch
Scandinavians have a concept called, "Lagom" which roughly translates to, "the right amount" or, "in moderation" - for example, if they're comfortable with their house and it suits their needs, they don't feel a drive to work towards buying a bigger one. It's the idea that if you're living a happy life, don't stress yourself by constantly trying to acquire more. Somewhat related to that is, "hygge" (hue-guh) which is akin to, "contentment in the moment" (think along the lines of how you feel when, after the day is through, you're freshly showered, have just put on clean, comfortable clothes, you have no obligations, and you get to settle down by a fire and relax with a cup of cocoa and read a book). Scandinavians REALLY have their shit together.
Yes we do have baby showers in Finland, but that's a new and not very common thing and more like just a fun party rather than for fulfilling your needs.
Edit: Being a European, German: There are so many things to unpack here. The way we see richness (what does it really means), the way we see healthcare (including birth to mental health), how we see life-work-balance, how we see the value of other people, if they can be productive or not.
We cherish helping others for safety and health reasons.
The thing about looking to what’s wrong with people when they pursue wealth, is not so much an issue of what’s wrong with them, as it is a probe to see if the person is somewhat compensating for something. Is the person considering him-/herself a better individual for being rich, than “the rest of us”.
Others have mentioned the concept of *Janteloven* An unwritten sense of equality between rich/poor, male/female, employer/employee.
Many see it as something holding us down … (don’t think you are more or better than us), but it also highlights the thing about everyone contributes. A leader is open to suggestions and ideas. From the most educated to the janitors. It only takes a minute to listen to someone with an idea that could revolutionise the workplace for everyone. Should it then matter who came up with the idea? So input is encouraged. Regardless of social station. That’s a more positive side of _Janteloven._
A lot of expats in Denmark talk about the difficulties in making danish friends, and that danes aren’t really interested in making friends. Although there is a little truth in it, it is kind of instilled into us from a young age. Children from a young age goes to daycare then to kindergarten then onto our school system, onto highschool, university and so on … so they formed very tight knitted friendships from a young age. Going to school means, the children goes in the same class all through the 9-10 years of elementary school. They don’t change class mates. Only teachers. That is also contributing to those very close friendship groups. So while it can be difficult to get into those groups, it’s very doable. And expats will experience - once they get danish friends - they have a very fierce and loyal friend. Usually for life.
Ohhh … danes hate social chit-chat.
Have something to say? Then say it. Don’t waste my time with 20 questions before you get to what you want to say/ask.
Heres a mind blower! In Iceland, electricity and gas is socialised. You do not get a bill for it, it is paid for by your taxes.
In Austria, you get maternity leave starting 8 weeks before calculated birthday of the child and 8 weeks after birth (12weeks in case of a c-section). In this time you are not allowed to work. And I understand from the chart that in Finland it is 1 month before birth and 3 months after, i.e. 4 months in a row.
The chart was actually 1 month before, and 9 months after.
Hello from Germany. What an interesting reaction. For me as an European, it's quite the ordary concept. I talked to a dear friend from the US the other day, how things work here. Just little glimpse of the way of life in Europe. And he didn't understand it really. He kept asking me, why do you do this and that. And I was confused about his questions as well.
Then I came to the conclusion that it's about the different perception of how a society is built and is functioning. Here in Europe it's more like ok we all contribute to society so we all get something in return. In the US it a more individual perception of society. You rely on your own skills and that's how you can make it to the top. I think the American society is more competitive amongst each other.
Agreed. I absolutely hate the American work culture and "fuck you, I got mine" attitude, but I'm stuck here unless I find some job with an international company that lets me move abroad. There's no way I'm having kids here. There are third world countries that provide better care for children and don't charge an arm and a leg for it.
Balance is the most positive word in the world. This applies to everything
hi,glad your back. thanx for the nice video.
I have never known anyone to have a baby shower in Denmark, i think its just not one of those things thats ever been needed. Though we do give gifts for stuff like babtism. I have heard some people do baby showers, but i think its mainly due to having seen it in american movies. Just like halloween not being a thing when i was a kid in the 90ties, but now its nearing the same status as our own similar day called Faste Lavn.
You can learn some more about the happiness of Denmark, if you watch Ms. Hellen Russel’s show “Living Danishly”. She explained how it is to move to Denmark, if you live in UK. And she did a big research about it.
In the Netherlands, employers are not even allowed to let people work less than a month before the due date. Some people choose to start the maternity leave 6 weeks before due date. I believe the total of maternity leave is around 5 months. But if you choose to have only 4 weeks before your due date and 12 weeks after and your baby comes 2 weeks later, you just get 2 weeks extra.
Btw, I do not think 3 days in hospital is short. I know lots of people that do not have to stay for even 1 night and also friend's that had a homebirth (with certified nurse) When you are home, you will get 7 full days of help at home for you, your house and your baby. That is for every time someone has given birth. We call it a 'kraamverzorg(st)er' and when I was young I always wished to be that when growing up
33:25 :D just loved the little "thumbs up" when putting in the cozy slippers XD
As a Dane, I think a lot of it comes down to being able to slow down and be calm, and actually relax.
I think the people who do worst in Denmark are the ones who cannot slow down, both natives and foreigners. The foreigners I have met who moaned the most about Denmark being tough on them, were usually people who wanted to have plans constantly and never stopped to get a feel for themselves and those around them.
A great example is American or British guest culture. It is common in USA or the UK to have multiple plans with multiple people in a single day/evening, and just pop in for a few hours or less. In Danish culture that is if anything considered rude, especially if you are invited to their house. Generally any plans are intended to be for the entire afternoon and/or evening, not just a "hey how are you? ... I am leaving" thing. If an American comes here and does that, it is likely to mean they cannot form relationships with their prospective Danish friends, and they end up only interacting with other foreigners. They end up thinking that the Danish people were hard to befriend, but the Danish people they met would have felt the same about them, that they were hard to befriend and that they never tried to actually become friends.
Another part of it is to not feel the need to do a ton. Continuing with the invitation to someones place example, then in Danish culture there will generally be much less planning of what is happening, often no stated plans at all. It is just an invitation to hang out and "hygge" together, which can be as simple as sitting together with a drink and chatting about nothing important. Again I feel that Americans for example will assume there have to be much more specific plans, and will try to suggest a lot of things to do and make it an event.
You can lose yourself and what is really important in trying to find perfection all the time. By this I mean, when you overdesign your evening out, you can end up in a blur of lots of things with no real meaning or importance to you happening, but if you let yourself over to planning to nothing you can end up really learning to know yourself and those around you, and thus your happiness with yourself and your relations will increase.
Denmark is not a good place for the social media/Instragram life, except for a lot of images of nice home spaces. It is however a great place to find yourself in.
I am reminded of "Living Danishly: inspiring ideas from the world's happiest country" here on RUclips. This is a talk by a British lady who basically discovered herself and her family in Denmark. She was forced to slow down and in doing so she realized what really meant something to her in life.
I believe the term which would fit us Danes better is "satisfaction", most are satisfied with things overall. I am hardly ever truly happy, "glad" is something I become when the small things in life bring me joy, overall though I am satisfied with my life. I feel safe, have a good job, my family is obnoxious but I do love them and my friends are always there for me.
As many in the comments have already stated, safety is the key word, not ever having to worry about whether the kids get an education or whether illness will ruin your bank account is paramount to feeling "safe" and my only worries are whether it´s "going to rain tomorrow". Good reliable friends is underrated, they are extremely important in my life.
Hi :) I'm from Denmark, and I've seen many places in the world when I was younger and employed by Maersk Line.
And one way I can best describe the difference between the US and Denmark is..... the houses in the US often look like something from a shooting scene seen from a movie, the house only has a nice exterior, but nothing behind. Whereas the house in Denmark may not look nice on the outside, but inside there is warmth and coziness. :) ( Figuratively speaking ) :)
I don't know if you have made a react video about the different tax system between the US and Denmark. But if you haven't, go watch the youtuber "Travelin' Young" - A Very Basic Look at Taxes - Between Denmark and USA.
And i can confirm, from my own income, and if i calculate my tax percentage based on what I get paid into my bank account, I pay approx. 31 - 32% in tax on my entire income, where all deductions have been made.
But in order to understand the Danish tax system, we have different rates and amount limits for each jump you have on the income scale, but there are deductions at all levels. What is called a progressive tax system, where you only pay the highest tax rate on the part of the income that is above a certain amount. But the bottom line is what you paid in taxes is not the highest percentage of the entire income.
Here in Romania the mom gets 63 days prenatal parental leave and 2 years postnatal parental leave.
The postnatal parental leave, the 2 years, could be taken by the mom or the dad.
Interesting point about "F***kng flink" project: the project aims to make danish more friendly and kind to strangers. It's so true how we danish people tend to stick tight to the people we know (and the monotone sound of our language also tends to make people think we sound angry haha.) This can make it really hard for foreigners to make friends in Denmark, because we don't have a culture of befriending random people. This closed-off-ness became especially clear to me as a danish person when I went to spain and EVERYONE is just talking to each other! They say hi in the streets and small talk to people they don't know. If someone in Spain talks to you in a bar it's likely because they are being friendly, whereas if someone talks to you in a bar in Denmark, it's quickly assumed they just want to get in your pants.
Though, interestingly we Danes don't tend to think of ourselves that way (being unfriendly/unapproachable), I think since our society in general is so generous and open-minded.
So I can only say good things about Danes. I've worked for Danish companies and I'm always happy to holiday in Denmark. Danes are more reserved but very nice people. Maybe I'm biased because I live in Schleswig-Holstein and our mentality is similar. But my Danish boss was one of the nicest bosses I've ever had. Så gør dig ikke dårlig😊
@@michaelkuschnefsky362 Thank u
We used to do holidays a fairly structured but relaxed way. 1 day of local activities and 2 days of area activities per week, and then 4 days of just being as active as you wanted. For example, Kayaking in the river that runs by your cottage on Monday, laying by the pool with a book on Tuesday, going into town to buy some tasty stuff for in the freezer, having a bbq, Wednesday drive about 40 minutes to a wolf habitat, Thursday relaxing by the pool, maybe swimming a bit in the river, Friday relaxing, Saturday we'd go to an old city, look around the castle and stuff, check out the local shops. Sunday relaxing. On a relaxing day you could still go for walks/hikes/kayaking, and on an activities day there was still plenty of time for relaxing. But basically, only ~20 hours of the week was spoken for by activities and shopping trips, the rest was all filled doing w/e.
Hell, last time I was in France, I think I did maybe 6 hours of touristy stuff, rest of the time was just going for walks, having breakfast with fresh stuff from the local bakery, swimming and hanging out in the open air jacuzzi. Which at night was even more delightful, very little light polution. Now some people here also try to 'make the most' out of their holidays, but at least in my family it was generally about planning in very little, because you can always decide to do more in the moment if everyone feels like it, but you don't have to. It was just super relaxed. One time my dad had the wild idea to just go to Barcelona, Spain (was about a 3 hour drive from our cottage in southern France) so we did, and had a lovely day there. But it wasn't planned, just suggested in the moment.
I find stress to be the absolute worst vibe, which this video also kind of shows, don't shoot for absolute happiness, if every day is an 8/10, is that not still a great life?
In Denmark maternity leave is in general 4 weeks before due date, and 46 weeks after, the latter of which can be shared with the man. Also, if you have debilitating pregnancy even as "basic" as overwhelming nausea, you can pretty much start your paid maternity leave the day you are confirmed to be pregnant. All of it with full pay of course.
Dutch children are the happiest children in the world according to worldwide research. and if you look at the adults, we always fluctuate within the top 5. I'm glad we're doing well and that most people are happy. There are also countries where this is not the case, unfortunately.
I wouldn't necessarily say that we (Danes) are unfriendly, we are just reserved.We definitely keep to ourselves, but if you were to go up to any dane on the street and ask for help or directions, they'd be happy to assist you! ✨
It seems to me that you got the "Hygge" down real well. It looks really Hyggeligt in you're room. Regards from Denmark. And thanks for your videos. And for always being so joyful to spend some time with.
What is said in the video is that it's a personal experience to be stressed. Compared to average american doing two jobs and living in new york rat infested apartment my life is easy but when you raise level of happiness you also lower the bar for depression.
One is stressed because it's impossible to go to college or have money to go to doctor while someone else is stressed because walls are of wrong color. It still feels exactly the same.
'average american doing two jobs and living in new york rat infested apartment' - what? The average american has twice the living space of the average european, and the vast majority have one job.
@@TransoceanicOutreach Yes, statistics on apartment size or number of jobs McDonald's workers hold was my point. I stand corrected.
"Exaggeration is any statement in writing that creates a worse, or better, image or situation than it really is. It’s used to highlight points and add emphasis to a feeling, an idea, an action, or a feature. Using exaggeration in your writing lets you describe something in a heightened way to make it more remarkable."
Having 4 to 6 weeks payed vacation per year is the reason why we don’t have to rest from our vacation. You can for exemple take two weeks of vacation and you organise differently. You take the first 3-4 days to prepare luggage and clean your home (yes you don’t want to come back in a mass), you travel 5-7 days, take the time to come back with all the laundry to do and then chill for a few days before going back to work. That’s our October program and I already know that I would have the time to prepare the stuff for all of us (we have two boys) and when we come back put all the stuff back in place, do laundry and preparing kids to go back to school
It’s not true that we Think there is something wrong with rich people…. But for the most danes, being rich is not everything….
Btw….. get well and stay healthy 😊
I was at the Dave Chapelle show mentioned in the video. “The guy who he had with him” was Jon Stewart. After they both had performed they took some chairs out to sit on stage and spent a long time just chilling and asking questions to audience members about living in Denmark. They were great.
Yes that's what we think, we think people that chase money like that are narcissistic and/or dodgey/shady people, probably tax evader! And that's someone who is not contributing to our society, so that's gross to most.
I don't think having a word for a cosy atmosphere is uniquely Danish. It sounds like 'Hygge' is the Danish version of Dutch 'Gezelligheid'. We live for it, haha!
When I was a student from an ordinary family and travelled back home (in Norway), I sat next to someone who was really wealthy and in the oil industry on the plane (there is just one "class" on planes), and we were able to casually talk about both normal and technical stuff as if it was just a natural thing.
I am not sure that could happen in the US, could it?
It could happen, just as it here in the Nordics exist a few rich people that goes against good behavior and flaunts their money there are a few of the rich in US that do the opposite goes against good behavior and to not flaunt their riches.
So it would be very unlikely but still possible for it to happen in the US.
In Norway you don’t pay at all giving birth. You get money from government giving birth. Between 4-5000 USD
Hello Heidi! Part of why Finland is still quite homogeneous (and it will remain homogeneous) is language.
While people in the other Nordic countries all speak a Germanic language, that is rather easy to learn for almost anyone who speaks a European language (also with a high degree of mutual intelligibility, especially between Norwegian and Swedish), Finnish is not even a Indo-European language, it's part of the Uralic language family, just like my native Hungarian (the two are distantly related, also there is Estonian which closely resembles Finnish, and Sami, the language of the indigenous inhabitants of Lapland, plus a few more local dialects).
As such, it has very little in common with other European languages, it works in very unusual ways, it's grammar is fiendishly difficult.
As an immigrant, you will be OK with English for a while, since in all Nordic countries, around 80% of the adult population is fluent in English, but if you intend to stay there, you will want to learn Finnish, and that's not easy at all.
Danish, Norwegian or Swedish are very easy to learn for an English speaking person. The grammar structure is almost the same and there are many, many English words that come from Old Norse and thus they sound familiar to an English speaker. Therefore those countries are very diverse.
On the main topic, I think the problem is that too many people think that happiness equals success. And success comes down to things like money, popularity, stuff like that.
And that is simply not the case. Think about Michael Jackson for example. He was incredibly successful by all metrics. But was he happy?
Sure, there might be a few people who avoid Finland because of the language but the biggest reasons why Finland has less immigrants than Scandinavia is because 1) they simply didn't take in as many in the recent years and 2) historically much poorer (kinda like Norway before they struck oil).
Finland in the 20th century was for the most part not a very attractive place to go to. Huge refugee crisis from Karelia, war reparations to the USSR without Marshall plan aid, Soviet army bases outside Helsinki, 90s financial crisis etc. Why would anybody move there when its neighbor Sweden offered so much more?
@@ellav5387 and Finland is remote. Finland is effectively an island. Yes, we have a long land border with Russia, but that is as good as an ocean today - and was so during the cold war
Happy New Year🎉🎉¨New subscriber from Denmark
I think along with Canada, Australia needs to be mentioned - we rank very high on the happiness index and we have a huge immigration pool. In a Australia we call it "a fair go" and the whole concept of "mateship" - but basically what should be noticed is that no matter who conservative of government we get, no one will touch Universal Healthcare.
I live in Denmark and here is my explanation of why we think the ultra rich might have something wrong with them. Everyone know that making money is correlated to putting in work. We do not get the same amount of money from the same work, but nearly everyone has the option of putting in less work, and getting less money out of it. If you make 100M a year, why are you not choosing to work less and spend more time with friends and family, even if going from working 45 hours per week to 40 would mean you only made 80M, isn't that a better deal? The fact that a person values making more money past the point where you can reasonably spend it to make your life better, is highly suspicious.
you have to realise with the money in denmark/finland compared to USA you are looking at disposable income. Which in denmark/finland means when EVERYTHING is paid. Meaning no money needs to go to saving for college, medical bills or any of the many other things americans have to pay. The actual numbers are slightly higher in denmark and finland than usa when you account for debt and unforseen expenses and savings.
Average wages in denmark in 2020 was about 65k usd a year (with an average 36,5 hours per week) as opposed to the average wage for americans being around 65k usd (with an average of about 43,8 hour per week).
The disposable income however shows what is left after all the obligatory bills are paid. This means in denmark.... you are done all the rest is free money where as in usa you still need to worry about savings for education, medical expenses, a much higher rate of non value debt (meaning not tied to a house or something of value like forexample medical debt, legal debt, student debt all of which are MUCH higher and insanely expensive in usa) and much more.
according to the UN The nordic countries on average have about 20% more spending money in their normal income than the average american. And closer to 35% when you dont accunt for the richest 1% on both sides. (and about 90% more when you remove all but the minimum wage or lower households) In denmark the minimum wage is effectively about 18-22 usd this means if you clean toilets or pick of dead animals on the roadside or serve at burger king or whatever else low pay job you can think, you will earn around 40k usd per year. BUT scandinavia dont have alot of super rich people because our system doesnt allow for abusive work practices (which is how almost all upper class wealth in america is earned). Try to see how many american millionaires and billionaires would survive if they had to pay their workers fair wages, give them 5 weeks of vacation, 10 days paid annual leave per year of service and 12 paid public holidays and still only have them work 37 hours per week ;) not to mention workers rights in general, fair practices, months of paid parental leave and no exploiting child labour, no firing without just cause, having to pay full taxes so they support those people and communities who work for them and much much more.
Amazon currently pays a minimum wage of 15 usd per hour with no benefits and no insurance. They also work an average of 52 hours per week and have little to no coverage if they get hurt during work. Which they do at an alarming rate. (according to a fair practices survey in 2020 the average amazon worker took 2 minor injuries which require medical assistance and 1 major injury over the course of 1 year of work.
According to their own website they offer 7 paid holidays per year (but this may be different for the more than 70% of workers who are not full time employees)
in short denmark doesnt have many mega rich people because its hard to be mega rich without fucking over other people. BUT no one is poor
I had a fab growing up in Finland in the archipelago in summers, in Vaasa or in island of Åland. Care-free summers, with smoked hering, flounder, blueberries so on. Fresh water, sunny days and saunas and security within the all.. Pretty sure many of us in the Nordics feel the same. The basic security is so important to anybody. And the trust. I lived 10 yrs in Stockholm, And STO is a bit up-scale, in many ways, but never felt that I was away from the Nordic security feeling. Some might call it a bubble, some not. I had friend visiting/living here from U.S.---all loved this. I visited a lot in U.S., in very, very many cities, small and big. I never complained. Once I fell in love in Chicago, and my bf asked me, why would you want to live here, when you get everything for free in Finland. I did not get it then, but I do now.
You sound like you would be good mother too. Do it. We need ppl like you more.
For a European these things are absolutely normal, they are not shocking. If Finland and Denmark are the happiest countries in the world that have so much cold and few sunny days who knows what who, like us, live in a Mediterranean Country have to say, we are hyper-happy.