I’d much rather pay higher taxes and have free or low cost college. Tuition at Oxford is less that 10,000 pounds. Tuition at private university in America is $60,000. We are fooling ourselves thinking lower taxes is better. I’m saving every nickel and dime for my child’s future college tuition. |
Yeah, but your kid can only apply to either Oxford OR Cambridge, and he isn't getting into either. Now what? Leeds? |
My European friend says this kills womens’ careers in Europe. There is an expectation that European women will take 2-3 years of maternity leave per child. It is only equitable if men do the same. |
So now what, force men to do what women WANT to do?
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Spare a tear for 21st century Northern European women. The most privileged humans in the history of the universe. |
There are plenty of US colleges you can go to for much cheaper than this. There are fantastic public colleges, community college + transfer programs that cost a reasonable price. I don't really get posts like these because these are things you can get right now in the US, but won't consider due to prestige issues. There is a reason you named Oxford and not random UK colleges. |
It's actually pretty normalized in several European countries, for meant to take lengthy paternity leaves in order to enable kids to be home with a parent for the first 12-18 months of life. Definitely pretty standard in Scandinavia, including Finland, where my family is from. Men do want to do it and there are all these benefits that might be invisible to people who haven't done it. For instance, my observation is that taking these lengthy parental leaves and being home alone with kids helps a lot of dads create the foundation for better relationships with their kids, and also gives them confidence in their parenting ability that I don't see in men who are never home alone with their babies. It's crazy to me that in 2026 there are still men who feel weird about changing diapers, putting a kid down for a nap, knowing what to feed kids, etc., but I see it in the US. You don't see that in Finland. Men are confident and comfortable around babies. I think it also leads to more egalitarian marriages and makes it so much easier for women to continue working because they can trust that their partners will step up and co-parent and not leave it all to them. |
Random UK colleges are even less expensive. The PP said Oxford because that's the best 1:1 comparison to a school like Harvard or Williams where you have high prestige (but with a massive sticker price). Another poster said "but what do you do when your kid doesn't get into Oxford or Cambridge? Leeds? where?" And the answer is: yes, Leeds, or any of the other less prestigious but still perfectly good universities in the UK. |
Does your child want to live and study in Leeds? it is not an equivalent choice to UVA or other VA colleges in terms of experience at all. And Americans have MUCH higher salaries to pay for these in-state college costs. There is a reason not that many people end up picking UK colleges in the end. |
| Not surprising considering the leadership of this country was totally fine with raping girls, criminalizing women's healthcare, and openly talking about taking away our right to vote. We are a banana republic. |
| Maybe for retirement or an eject button from the rat race |
Many Men WANT to be home with their children too! Are you not aware of this basic fact? |
Hmmm... pay high taxes every year in the UK on the off chance that your child will go to Oxford (and to fund free housing for migrants and very mediocre health care) or pay high taxes to get high quality health care in old age (and fund free housing for migrants) in the US. Which is better? |
I'm so sorry about your reading comprehension disorder. That must be frustrating. American taxes don't pay for health care. Many of us wish they did. They mostly pay for fighter jets and military drones. |
New poster. Speaking of reading comprehension, the poster you responded to said paying taxes to get high quality health care in old age. Which is correct. It’s called Medicare. And it's been awesome for my parents. I lived in the UK for a long time. It is easy to sentimentalize the country. The NHS had many virtues but also many limitations and is severely overburdened these days. People are now quietly paying cash for private doctors because the waiting lists for appointments are so long. And there's no denying the mass migration has helped to overburden the system too. Speaking for lower education costs, which is true, but it is also somewhat misleading. Student debt is a major issue in Britain, and when adjusting for salaries of new graduates, even worse of a problem. Most British students graduate with plenty of debt. The American system may cost more money but you also make more money. The UK is really not in a good place right now. Tourists see the pretty towns and fancy parts of London but day to day life is much more ordinary and often not pretty. Same is true for all of Europe. There are things I do appreciate about your typical European lifestyle and virtues to it, but all in all, the average American does have a more materially comfortable life. Significantly so. If you're rich, you live well anywhere. America or Britain or Europe, making it a moot point. |