Where healthcare, pension contributions and substantial paid leave are statutory, the salary does not have to fund them — so a gross figure that looks lower can leave you materially better off. Pricing these is the step that turns an international comparison from a currency conversion into an actual answer, and most comparisons skip it entirely.
The four that matter most
Healthcare. Where it is public and funded through employment or taxation, the salary carries none of it. Where it is not, employer coverage is a benefit worth pricing and individual coverage is a cost worth subtracting.
Pension. A mandatory employer contribution is deferred pay. It is real money whether or not it appears in the figure quoted to you.
Paid leave. Statutory minimums range from none to five or six weeks plus public holidays. Twenty days of leave is roughly eight per cent of a working year, and that is a straightforward multiplier on the value of the salary.
Sick pay and parental leave. Rarely priced and occasionally decisive, particularly at a stage of life where they are likely to be used.
How to price them
Leave is the easiest: divide the salary by working days and multiply by the difference in days. Healthcare is what equivalent private cover costs in the country without it. A pension contribution is its percentage of salary, straightforwardly.
None of this needs to be precise. The point is that the adjustment is frequently large enough to reverse a comparison, so a rough figure beats leaving it out.
The mistake in both directions
Americans comparing outward routinely undercount, because the things being provided are things they have never had to buy separately in the salary conversation. And people comparing inward routinely undercount the cash, because a large gross figure in a country with fewer statutory benefits genuinely does buy the same things — privately, and usually at a worse price.
What statutory benefits do not do
They do not travel. Leave entitlement, healthcare access and pension accrual are attached to working in that country, and leaving generally ends them — with pension contributions sometimes transferable and sometimes not. For a move intended to be temporary, that is a real qualification on their value.
The comparison worth making
Take-home, plus a cash value for the statutory benefits, converted at purchasing power. Three steps, none precise, and together far closer to the truth than any figure a currency converter will give you.
Common questions
How do I value statutory paid leave?
Divide the salary by working days and multiply by the difference in days. Twenty days is roughly eight per cent of a working year, which is a substantial multiplier.
Is a lower salary with public healthcare better?
Frequently, because the salary does not have to fund it. Whether it wins overall depends on the size of the gap and on what equivalent private cover would cost.
Do employer pension contributions count as pay?
Yes. A mandatory contribution is deferred pay and is real money whether or not it appears in the figure you were quoted.
What do people get wrong most often?
Americans comparing outward undercount statutory benefits because they have never had to buy them separately. People comparing inward undercount the cash, which genuinely does buy the same things privately.
Do these benefits follow me if I leave?
Generally not. Leave, healthcare access and pension accrual attach to working in that country, though pension contributions are sometimes transferable. For a temporary move that qualifies their value.