- In an era in which decent, high-paying jobs are hard to find, and in which the workforce-participation rate is at lows not seen since the late 1970s, gainful employment turns into something of a status item. That allows us to rationalize the increasing hours we put in on the job — often done because we fear the consequences of saying no — as choice. Then we turn around and demean others who don’t work.
that's very interesting, since my experience (austria) is completely different. the downside of this is that the "Lohnnebenkosten" (non wage payroll costs?) are massive and should definately be lowered
I'm not sure that lowering those taxes is the answer. Distributing them better among income classes would certainly be appreciated, though. I think that modern society has a deeply schizophrenic relationship to the concept of "work". The mentalities which kept the machine running smoothly in previous decades are challenged as the availability, distribution and actual nature of work changes rapidly. So far, we're going with a system where fewer people work more and more people work less or not at all. This trend is masked to a certain degree by various monetary and statistical "tricks", but it's there. Trouble is, if you are a consumer society, you need consumers. For a while now, people have learned to fulfill this important role by going into debt. Not exactly a viable long term strategy, though.
Taxes aren't the problem, insurances are. If I get paid € 1500 /month net by my employer at € 8,99 net an hour i actually cost him about € 17,50 an hour with taxes and insurances. that' s almost 50% going to vienna every month at an exactly average wage. and 13th and 14th month are not tax free but have only a 0,5% decrease in Lohnnebenkosten. I think decreasing them and looking for lowering the burden for both employer and employee is necessary
no i definately don't want that. i would support a lower tax rate as well as some cuts to insurances, 15,2 % minimum just for insurances seem very high. especially since the lowest tax rate (income between 10 and 25k p.a.) is at 36% or so. but i also think for employers it's quite tough to hire people at the moment, our economy is largely based on small to medium sized buissnesses