[caskstrength]

> I could still buy a car, a house, raise a family, have some savings, etc.

You are an outlier. Very few SDEs in EU can afford to raise a family in their own SFH on a single salary while living in a location with any notable IT jobs market.

[badpun]

In Poland, it's not hard. I suspect some other EE countries are similar. Western Europe is harder, with high marginal tax rates and super-expensive real estate.

[surgical_fire]

> You are an outlier

No I am definitely not.

In every company I worked for, in three different countries, my coworkers were in similar situations.