benefits of high taxes in denmark...

been putting in those 10-12hrs days for the last couple of days... sigh... work is indeed piling up fast and furious...

anyway, after spending more than a month in denmark, maybe it will be a good idea to talk a little more about the country... let's start with the tax rate...in case anyone out there is interested in coming over to denmark to work, note that the tax rate starts from a minimum of 40% to a whopping 60% of your monthly pay... (!!!!!)

however, according to a recent survey done, danish people are pretty much happy to pay these high levels of taxes... well, if i were to be a danish, maybe i will be happy to do so too, cos of all the benefits:

(i) for the ladies out there... the maternity leave is 12 months, which includes 6 months of full-paid leave... so if you want to have children, come to denmark! also, the government pays 2/3 of the childcare costs...

(ii) visits to the doctors and the hospital are free...

(iii) all danish students in the university get "paid" by the state... 4800kr per month... that equivalent to S$1350 per month!!!! but since students are paid more than 40000kr per year, they are subjected to taxes on the additional (after 40000kr) money... ha~~~ you get taxed from what the government gives you... does that not sound ironic? oh, forgot to mention this, the students do NOT have to reply the monthly allowance from the govt...

and according to my supervisor, there are no "really" poor people in denmark cos the state will take care of you whenever you are unemployed, sick, studying, retiring...