News, analysis and rankings
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News, analysis and rankings on living, working and traveling in 50 countries, always with sources cited.
Paid parental leave in OECD and EU countries: weeks versus pay
Czechia and the Slovak Republic offer mothers 164 weeks of paid leave, but Romania's 104.3 weeks are worth more once pay is counted. The OECD's full-rate equivalent shows which countries pay well and which pay little for a long time, for mothers and for fathers.
Job seeker visas: where you can move before you have a job offer
Germany, Austria, Sweden and the United Kingdom run official programmes that let qualified people come and look for work without an offer. They differ in length, money required and whether you can work while you search. Portugal has one in law but is not issuing it yet.
Minimum wage in the EU, July 2026: euros versus purchasing power
On 1 July 2026, monthly minimum wages in the EU ranged from €620 in Bulgaria to €2,771 in Luxembourg. Adjusted for price levels, the gap shrinks to roughly half and the order changes. Five EU countries have no national minimum wage at all.
The cheapest countries in the EU to live in: 2025 prices and pay
Bulgaria and Romania had the lowest consumer price levels in the EU in 2025, at 62.5 and 65.1 against an EU average of 100. Net pay there was even further below the EU average. Here is what that means if your income comes from abroad, and if it does not.
Your first 90 days abroad: what to do, and in what order
Registration, tax number, bank, health insurance and school, organised by phase. With the official deadlines in Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, where missing one can hold up everything else.
Portugal tightens its citizenship rules: what changes for residents
Since 19 May 2026, naturalisation in Portugal requires 7 years of legal residence for citizens of the EU and Portuguese speaking countries, and 10 years for everyone else, up from 5. Here is what the law says, who is protected and how time is now counted.
Best countries to move to with your family in 2026
Safety, schools, healthcare and time at home, each from its own official source. No country wins on all four, and the table shows where each one is strong and where it falls short.
Best countries for tech professionals in 2026
Six countries with a clear skilled work route, compared on the official 2026 salary requirement, English proficiency and internet speed. Plus two changes that matter for software developers this year.
Digital nomad visas in 2026: who offers one and how much income you need
Seven countries, each checked against its official immigration page. The income bar ranges from USD 1,500 to EUR 4,500 a month, and in four of them it moves every year with the minimum or average wage.
How much of your salary you actually keep: 10 countries compared
On an average wage, a single worker keeps 82% of gross pay in Switzerland and 61% in Belgium. Children change the picture a lot. Here is what the OECD's 2026 figures show, and what a tax rate on a job offer really means.
Countries officially short of workers: the jobs they recruit abroad in 2026
Germany, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland each publish an official list of the occupations they struggle to fill. Here is what is on them in 2026, grouped by area, and one surprise for software developers.
The safest countries to live in 2026
The Global Peace Index 2026 ranks 163 countries on 23 indicators. Here is the top 10, what the index actually measures, and why it is not a ranking of street crime.
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