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Kasz216 on 22 April 2009
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To put it a way that is more understandable....

The US in general has higher Purchising Power Parity.

So... if someone in the US and UK made the same amount of money.

The person in the US could buy more... and this before counting out all the taxes taken out in the UK system.

The poor person is going to be better off in the US with a lower salary in just about every issue except healthcare.  Even with unemployment and government aid.

Some other info about the US Poor...

http://www.heritage.org/research/welfare/bg2064.cfm

The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various gov­ernment reports:

  • Forty-three percent of all poor households actu­ally own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio..

  • The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)

  • Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.

While the poor are generally well nourished, some poor families do experience temporary food shortages. But even this condition is relatively rare; 89 percent of the poor report their families have "enough" food to eat, while only 2 percent say they "often" do not have enough to eat.

One of the things the UK desperatly needs more of is these.

http://www.swindonfoodbank.co.uk/

The US has a lot of them and they work really well to feed the poor.