26/05/2005 2:24:50 pm
Swedes Over 50 Are the Poorest in Europe. According to a new study conducted by some 120 researchers, Swedes over 50 years of age are the poorest among the ten European countries in northern, western and southern Europe. (In Sweden the study, "50+ i Europa", is published by the Department of Economics at Uppsala University.) The average income before tax is somewhat over the average, though it is higher i Switzerland, Denmark and Holland. After taxes, and corrected for the high price level, the Swedes over 50 fall down to the average level. And if you take into account wealth, that is how much saved money in various forms Swedes have, we drop to the very bottom. That is no surprise. If you have a big state with high taxes, the point is that people should depend on the state instead of having money of their own.