The cost of living varies a lot not only from country to country, but from city to city within the same country. But yes, it's the safety net that we have here. You don't go bankrupt if you have a medical emergency, your health care insurance isn't tied to your job, child support is better (varies by country), worker rights are stronger (varies by country, but on average it's better than the US), secured paid maternity leave, vacations, sick leave, etc. Generally speaking, if you live in Europe but work for a US company, you basically hit a lottery. As a software dev, at least.