system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
I’m an American living in Spain for two years now, and in the UK for 6 years before that. I prefer it over here, but there’s definitely pros and cons. Here’s my opinion:

Pros:

Free healthcare

Better public transit and cities are walkable

Better parental rights for workers

More paid holidays and better work/life balance in general

More chill attitude about how people live. I feel like the US has the “correct” way to live (ambitious job, nuclear family, two cars and a house, etc) and an “alternative” way to live (extreme rejection of all the above) and people are really polarized about it. Here, nobody gives a fuck about how you live your life.

People are healthier.

Cons:

MUCH lower salaries. Like, half what you make in the US for the same job.

Less variety of consumer goods. Grocery stores have much less variety than even a mediocre US supermarket, and for a lot of things like cleaning products or tools, there’s only a couple of options. I do a lot of gift shopping when I’m in the US because there’s just a lot more to find.

Low and intermediate level healthcare is a pain. If you have a chronic condition like HIV or diabetes, the government healthcare is great. If you have an emergency like a heart attack or broken leg, the government healthcare is great. If you have something unpleasant but not life threatening, like a bad case of strep throat, the government healthcare is not great. It’s hard to get an appointment and then they’ll give you enough treatment to sustain you, but not much else.

More government red tape. This ain’t all that bad, but it’s noticeable. 

Smaller homes, in general.


I like it over here. People are chill, work-life balance is just right for me, and I like not having to drive. But if you’re making good money in the states, many things might feel like a step down over here.
gpt
Regarding healthcare, there's also something that my (American) wife was amazed to discover: visiting a private doctor or hospital is not going to bankrupt you. If you have a bad case of strep throat and you neither want to wait the stupid amount of time a government-funded doctor would take to see you (it can be from 1 week to 2 months) nor go to the public hospital's outpatient care (which can involve an 8 hour wait) you can spend 50-60 Euros to visit a private doctor, or pay about 80-90 for an in-house visit.

The other thing is that all medication is actually affordable. Not only are the base prices far lower than the US, you also get a discount. For example, in Greece you get a 75% discount on the vast majority of medication plus a flat 5 Euro fee per prescription.

Regarding the red tape, it heavily depends on the country. Greece underwent massive digital transformation over the last 3 years, with the pandemic acting as the trigger. We went from the Dark Ages (having to physically stand in line for ages in a litany of government agencies to get something trivial done) to being able to do most everything online, from a computer, smartphone, or tablet.

A final note on the choice of products in grocery stores: yes, it's far smaller, but you still get plenty of choice. The major difference is that each EU country is the size of a US state (and speaks a different language), so you get mostly this country's products in your grocery stores. That's why the selection appears to be smaller.