It’s this one. As a Canadian, I can’t take anything they say seriously about their housing “crisis” or cost of living. Almost everything is more expensive in Canada and most jobs pay a lot less, but things are still not really that bad, so I know that the Americans just like to complain.
The only way it’s possible for an American to struggle financially is if they do it on purpose.
The Greatest Generation was exceptionally patriotic, and I always assumed it had to do with living in a country that suffered much less industrial damage in WWII than other countries (which enabled a great standard of living while everyone else was still rebuilding). But I am starting to wonder how much of this has to do with just simply having spent a couple of years abroad and getting to witness first-hand how dysfunctional most other places are (during and in-between wars).
Everything except the most expensive things. Paying 20% more for cheese is fine when you're saving 95% on healthcare.
* high monthly premiums for healthcare with high deductibles (I pay 14k a year with a 5k deductible for each person in my family)
* high medication prices (people often buy drugs from canada)
* 0 maternity leave (15 weeks max in Canada)
* 0 vacation (2-3 weeks in Canada)
* less accessible child care (Canada is working on building out ~$10/day child care, it can easily cost ~$20k a year in the US)
* less affordable college tuition
* higher crime rates, higher incarceration rates
* lower minimum wage (canada’s is nearly double)
* at-will employment, termination without cause or severance (in canada you can be fired easily, but reasonable severance is required)
* reduced access to abortion (significantly in some states as of late)