Here's something that I perceive the UK has going for it that the US doesn't - health care and child care. In the US, you could easily be spending > $1000/mo on child care, and for those families of child rearing age, a health insurance bill > $500/mo is pretty normal. So there's basically a mortgage into just those costs. Plus, with the design of US cities a car or two are practically a necessity, so there goes another > $500/mo too where in much of the UK you might get away with only one car or no car in a household depending on your location.