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5 Things Sweden Does BETTER Than America 🇸🇪 | American Reacts

37K views · May 20, 2026 · Entertainment

Aaron Arnold Reacts: Europe

15K subscribers

Comments · 178

@AaronArnoldReacts · 4 months ago · pinned
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@Asa...S · 4 months ago (edited)
Students in Sweden (higher education like college, university) get 4 120 SEK/month (ca 440 USD) if you study full time. This you don't have to pay back. But you can also get student loans, which is 9 472 SEK/month (ca 1000 USD), those you do have to pay back, but it's a low interest loan, and you can pay back quite little at the time. There is no tuition, but most students who don't live at home with their parents need the loan to pay for rent and other things.
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@bengtolsson5436 · 4 months ago
Education is free. The loan is for living expenses. Pant system in Sweden started late 19th century. But then it was glass bottles.
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@annalundquist8821 · 4 months ago
It’s always fun to hear Americans talk about Swedish taxes being so high and how that wouldn’t work 8n the USA. But I pay about 30% of my income in taxes. I don’t need a health insurance, because that’s covered by taxmoney, I don’t need to pay for kids getting education for 14 years, with lunch food included, as well as transportation to and from school if they are in a different district than where we live. They have free dentals and free glasses until they turn 18. We have subsidies for medicin, we only pay 1300-ish kronor, about $130 a year, and any medicin over that is free. Same with health care, you pay about $25 per visit to your gp, you don’t pay for specialists treatment, and when you reach the top of $120-ish per year, the rest is free, including rehab, psychiatric care and physiological rehab if you have an injury or illness that need physiotherapy. You also get 80% of your salary if you are home sick, the first two weeks are mandatory covered by your employer, after that the taxmoney pays for your sickleave, if you get an illness that need more time to heal from. You can also get help with changing careers if your injury or illness makes it impossible for you to get back to your job. When you have a child taxmoney pay for maternity and paternity leave for about a year and a half, where six months is take or loose for the men, to make sure they too stay home and connect with their children. Both parents get 10 day free right after birth. Free maternity care during pregnancy, free birth, free aftercare for both mother and child. Mandatory check ups to make sure both mother and child are ok. We have mandatory five to six weeks vacation a year, and strong worker’s right. If you loose your job you get money from the government until you find another one, as well as help looking, help with cv writing and other help to find a new job if necessary. There are also a lot of help when you grow old. Good public transportation, and so on. So yes, paying 30% of my income in taxes might seem to be a lot, but honestly, for what we get for it, it really isn’t. And I gladly pay my part, even if as a voluntary child free woman, I don’t use a lot of those benefits, but my friends and relatives does, and I’m happy to do my part in that. And for me living with a chronic illness, I’m so lucky I don’t live in a country like the USA because I wouldn’t have been able to afford my medication or my healthcare. ❤
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@bigjtq9176 · 4 months ago
Yes, we recycle waste food and turn it to biogas and also use it for our power plants and to produce central heating. We recycle so much waste that we actually are forced to import waste from our neighbours.
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@tommysellering4224 · 4 months ago
The prize on the tag is the prize that you pay EVERYWHERE, except in the USA!
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@MadSin69 · 4 months ago
Venmo is 30 years behind Swich.Swede in the US here,trust me lol
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@flockhead5342 · 3 months ago
Something I haven’t seen a lot of people mention in your comments in regard to what the taxes go to is that every school from kindergarten up to high school serves free school lunch. I think this is really important because for some kids that school lunch might be the only thing they eat that day and in almost every other country in the world (I believe Sweden and Finland are the only two) that’s not something that exists and also getting a steady meal obviously helps keep you focused for the entire school day
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@thomasnord5805 · 4 months ago
Comparison of Taxes in Sweden vs. United States and What You Get for Those Taxes: Some facts to consider before you read the rest: - Sweden’s Government is very close to run on a balanced budget or a small surplus every year. (the goal is 1% surplus per year) - U.S Government is running on a $1.5 - $2.0 trillion budget deficit - Sweden had a national debt of 31.5% of GDP, 2023 (one of the lowest in the world) - United States had a national debt of 122.3% of GDP, 2023 ($33 Trillion) ...now 2026 approx.$39 Trillion Labor Force Participation Rate - United States: 62.2% (July 2025) - Sweden: 77.5% (July, 2025) The Average Hours Worked per Year in Sweden in 2023 was about 1,437 hours in United States in 2023 was about 1,799 hours GDP per Capita - United States: $79,000 (2024) - Sweden: $70,000 (2024) Life Expectancy - United States: 79.4 years (2024) - Sweden: 83.6 years (2024) Swedes enjoy a longer life expectancy, benefiting from Sweden's high-quality healthcare system. Wealth - In Sweden: 7% are millionaires (in dollars) - In United States: 8.5% are Millionaires (in dollars) - In Sweden: 4 people per one million are Billionaires (in dollars) - In United States: 2 people per one million are Billionaires (in dollars) Total Taxes Collected - All paid income taxes $121 Billion in Sweden the year of 2024 turned out to be $11,509.00 for every single citizen. (10.6 million)   - All paid income taxes $4.2 Trillion ($2.8 Trillion Federal and $1.4 Trillion City/State ) in United States the year of 2023 turned out to be $12,350.00 for every single citizen. (340 million) - ALL TAXES collected in Sweden 2024 (Federal, local, sales tax, business taxes, etc.) $280 Billion - ($26,400) for every single citizen. (340 million) - ALL TAXES collected in United States 2024 (Federal, local, sales tax, business taxes, property tax etc.) $7.2 Trillion - ($21,200) for every single citizen. (340 million) SWEDEN (income taxes breakdown) This is based on a taxable income of $40,000 Approx.17-19% City/County taxes 11% Medical taxes (goes exclusively to healthcare) 0% Federal taxes (You only pay Federal taxes for the part of income over $65,000 (marginal tax)) TOTAL TAXES: approx. 28-30% - NO gift taxes - NO inheritance taxes - Property taxes: 0.75% of the assessed value, but they are capped to a maximum of approx. $1,000 So, what do you get for the taxes in Sweden? Here are JUST SOME of the most important things: HEALTHCARE: - 'FREE' for life. (you only pay a deductible of max $140 per year, if needed) - 'FREE medications for life. (you pay a deductible of max $380 per year, if needed) So, you will never pay more than $520 in a year if you need to use the healthcare system and meds. - The cost of an ambulance ride is 'FREE' of course. In Sweden, 10.9% (2023) of the GDP goes to healthcare, and everyone gets it. In the US, 17.6% (2023) of the GDP goes to healthcare, and everyone does NOT get healthcare. It's not socialism to cut out the greedy middlemen. Sweden is a capitalist country that works smarter, it's not socialism. - Home Care Assistance: The tasks of the home service include cleaning, shopping and other household chores. The home care staff can also accompany you on walks or do social activities. They also help you with various nursing tasks of course. There is no limit to how many times per day you need a visit from the home care staff, you just call them and they will there within 10-15 minutes. The monthly cost can never exceed $250 for home care. The cost depends on your income; how much you will pay. If your income/pension is very low, you pay a lot less than the maximum rate of $250. NURSING HOME: In a nursing home (special accommodation/nursing and care home) with round-the-clock care, you pay for care, rent and meals. Maximum rate: You never pay more than the maximum rate, which is currently $250 per month (2024) and is the same throughout the country. Same rate as it is for home care assistance. If your income/pension is very low, you pay a lot less than the maximum rate of $250. The fee is the same regardless of whether the accommodation is run by the municipality or a private business. EDUCATION: 'FREE' on all levels (kindergarten through university) 'FREE' high quality lunches in all schools. Everything is cooked and baked from scratch in the school's kitchen with a real educated Chef in charge. When you go to College/University you get a bank deposit every month of approx. $350 and the right to borrow $800 more a month for living expenses if you need it (low-cost loan through the Government). DENTAL: 100% 'FREE' until you turn 19 years old. After that it is subsidized as follows: First $300 you pay 100%. Costs between $300 - $1,500 you pay 50% of the cost. Costs over $1,500 you pay only 15% of the dental bill. When you're 67 years or older you only pay 10% of the bill no matter what the bill is.. This is why you rarely see any toothless people in Sweden. SICK LEAVE: The employer pays 80% of the paycheck  the first 2 weeks each time you’re sick. The next 364 days are paid by the Swedish 'Social Security'. Also 80% of the paycheck. From day 365, the pay is 75% of the paycheck until you're able to work again. CARE OF SICK CHILD: Same rules as your own sick leave. See above. MATERNITY LEAVE: Social security will pay 80% of your income for 390 days. Last 90 days, $20 per day. The 480 days can be divided between the parents as they wish and used until the child is 12 years old. If needed, the woman can start drawing parental allowance 60 days before expected delivery. Same pay as above. CHILDREN UNTIL THEY TURN 18 YEARS OLD: You get a monthly bank deposit from the Government for each child as follows until they are 18 y.o. - 1 child:    $130.00 - 2 Children: $280.00 - 3 Children: $450.00 - 4 Children: $700.00 - 5 Children: $980.00 - 6 Children: 1,250.00 DAYCARE: Max cost per Month for daycare: $170.00 per month for the first child. $110.00 per month for the 2nd child. $55.00 per month for the 3rd child. NO cost for child number 4, 5, 6 and so on.... HOUSE MAINTENCE: If you hire a carpenter, plumber, painter, electrician etc., the Government pays 50% of the labor cost up to $8,000 per year. INFRASTRUCTURE AND MORE: You get an extremely well-maintained infrastructure with Quality materials, streets, roads, bridges, buildings, parks, playgrounds etc. compared to the crumbling and rusty United States. When it's time to resurface a street/road in Sweden it's in a better shape than most 3-4 year old streets/roads in United States. UNEMPLOYMENT: - Unemployment benefits: Unemployment insurance is weekly insurance and is paid out 5 days per week in case of full unemployment. The benefit is paid for 300 days and an additional 150 days if the applicant has children under 18 when the 300 days have ended. You get paid 80 percent of your average income during the first 200 days of the benefit period. After that, the compensation is 70 percent of the income. VACATION: This has nothing to do with the taxes, but it's interesting to see the difference of vacation time in Sweden and United States and how it can be done without any problems for the employer. The employers in Sweden want you to take a vacation. Minimum 5 weeks paid vacation from year one. Most people have 6-7 weeks fully paid vacation. The vacation pay is 12% higher than the regular pay. This applies to ALL employers/employees. No exceptions. You can save vacation days up to 5 years. That means you could save 1 week every year and take a 10-12 week vacation year five. Plus 15 public holidays paid per year. The Annual Leave Act entitles employees to have at least 4 continuous weeks of vacation being taken during the period of June to August. Plus many many other things………. UNITED STATES (income taxes breakdown) This is also based on a taxable income of $40,000 Federal tax: 12.00% FICA tax:     7.65% State/local average income tax: approx. 5.00% TOTAL TAXES: approx. 25% (not too far off (28-30%) for a $40,000 taxable income in Sweden) Other costs in United States that people don’t have in Sweden: - Very high Property taxes (average $3,000- $4,000 per house) - Gift taxes. - Inheritance taxes. - Health insurance. - Hospital/Doctors bill. - Most Prescription Drugs. - Education. - Most Dental. - Most Daycare. - Maternity leave. - Sick leave. - Home care of sick children. - and so on and on.................................. Now. Add all those extra costs to your taxes and see where you end up compared to what a Swedish taxpayer pays. 😊 So, what do you get for the taxes in United States??? Please fill in... - ? - ? -?
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@davidrichardson9839 · 4 months ago
People use Swish to buy things at markets too. You scan a bar code on the stall and it opens Swish automatically.
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@roahir · 4 months ago
Regarding the plastic bottles, I recently read a story about a little kid who collected bottles for money in order to save up to buy his dream dog. I'm sure he got some extra money from his parents or grandparents, but he worked for 6 years collecting bottles. He really worked for that dog.
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@tangfors · 4 months ago (edited)
The thing is that taxes are not that much higher in Sweden than in the US, yes higher but not as much as people think. You do have more progressive taxes in Sweden, however. So if you earn a lot you pay more. Things that you have in Sweden that the US lacks that you get from taxes. When I say free, I mean that it is paid for by taxes. Medication- after you have paid the equivalent of 250 dollars in a year, the medications that your doctor prescribes are free. Healthcare is very low cost, 20 dollars for all doctor visits, this includes operations, etc. about 15 dollars a night in the hospital. The ambulance is free. You have 480 days of parental leave. This is statutory so everyone gets it. You then get 80% of your salary. Statutory sick pay, the same thing if you are sick at home from work 80% of your salary. To prevent people from taking advantage of it, you need a doctor's certificate after 14 days. There are actually two control mechanisms, first your own doctor, but the authority that pays your sick pay also has doctors and can, if it sounds strange, question your on doctor . Much cheaper care costs if you need help when you are older. Free University. I don't know how it is in the USA, but school meals in Sweden are also free. Much less cost to have your child in preschool/kindergarten. Around 150 dollars a month. Dental care is also free for everyone up to 20 years old, there is a certain discount for those between 20-65 years old, then again more things that the state pays for if you are older than 65 years old. Even if your poor dental health is due to an underlying illness, you can get it for free. Other things you notice from the USA and Sweden is that Sweden has a much better developed public transport, also that there are cycle paths and pedestrian paths almost everywhere where people live. Then as he says there are people at the tax office (most of it is well automated today) and do your tax calculations for you. Public service, that is, news etc. are the Swedish channels radio and TV, streaming Swedes watch the most of the Swedish supply. This makes the news flow less biased. Sweden's public service receives about twice as much money as the US each year, despite the fact that the US has more than 34 times as many people. PBS receives about 350 million dollars annually. If they worked like in Sweden, they would have about 21 billion dollar. There are probably more I haven't thought of but these are the things I thought of.
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