But you would be, you'd just be paying for it in taxes instead of your pocket. If you're middle class, you're paying for it either way. I don't know how those are funded in the EU, but you're either paying for it through corporate taxes (i.e. lower salary), income taxes, consumption taxes, etc.
Comparing apples to apples here is quite difficult because of the complexity of such systems, but I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out to a similar number.