Quality of life in Europe: Quality of society and public services
Published: 28 January 2014
This report explores how Europeans perceive the quality of their societies, and of their public services. It looks at such aspects of society as trust in institutions and other people, perceived tensions between social groups, attitudes towards migrants and the effects of the economic crisis on social inclusion and social cohesion. It finds that satisfaction with the economic situation of one’s country, not being in employment and overall life satisfaction appear to boost satisfaction with public services; hardship appears to reduce it. In societal terms, trust in institutions decreased visibly from 2007 to 2011. Trust in people however changed less than trust in institutions and is more similar across the EU. A positive relationship exists between trust in institutions and satisfaction with the economic situation of one’s own country; a negative relationship between trust in institutions and inequality. And tensions were perceived to be highest between different racial and ethnic groups and between rich and poor.
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ISBN
978-92-897-1119-7
Number of pages
118
Reference no.
EF1361
ISBN
978-92-897-1119-7
Catalogue number
TJ-02-13-296-EN-C
DOI
10.2806/37653
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27 November 2012
What determines life satisfaction and happiness? How do we value our social situation and immediate surroundings? How has this changed with the economic crisis? For the third wave of the European Quality of Life survey, 35,500 Europeans in all EU Member States were interviewed, in an effort to gain insights to these questions. This overview report presents findings and trends and shows that the impacts of the recession are indeed noticeable and measurable in some areas, while in others there are more long-term developments to be observed. While overall life satisfaction levels have not changed much, optimism about the future and trust in institutions have declined markedly in those countries most affected by the downturn. And groups that were already vulnerable – the long-term unemployed, older people in central and eastern Europe and single parents – report the highest levels of material deprivation and dissatisfaction with their life situation.
