I don’t know which EU country you lived in. But taxes from what I understand can be pretty high in Italy depending on the income tax bracket. And you have to pay regional and local taxes. Plus corporate tax if you own a business, VAT/ sales tax, and some other taxes that I don’t understand. It’s pretty complicated and I’ve heard it can end up being around 60% of things once it’s all added with especially if you own a business.
But you are right that the gov does provide cheap housing and help with kids. They do this pretty well on most of EU that I know of.