Since its launch in 2020, Eurofound's unique Living and Working in the EU e-survey has provided an overview of the ever-changing developments in living and working since the onset of the pandemic, through the recovery measures and during a time of constant change.
Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey - Summer 2020
In the summer of 2020, Eurofound carried out a second round of its unique Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, three months after the first e-survey when society and economies in most Member States were slowly reopening. Running from 22 June to 27 July 2020, the e-survey was met with a high response rate across the EU, making it the only survey to provide a trend perspective of the situation during the crisis.
With this second round of data, Eurofound was able to draw comparisons between respondents situation during the initial emergence of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown measures, with the situation three months later, when many countries began easing the restrictions.
The survey examined quality of life and quality of society during COVID-19, including life satisfaction, happiness and optimism, health and levels of trust in institutions. It covered people’s work situation, their work–life balance and use of teleworking during this crisis. The second round expanded its scope to examine job quality, health and safety at work, online schooling, use of online services, and the extent to which respondents had requested and availed of government support schemes.
Round 2: The e-survey aimed to capture the evolving impact of the COVID-19 pandemic three months after its outbreak in the EU.
Launched in June 2020, as countries began to ease restrictions
23,702 respondents aged 18+ across the 27 EU Member States
E-survey among panellists and advertised on social media
Questionnaire comprised 159 questions, available in 22 EU official languages
To display this data, use the filters below to select a question. Refine the results by selecting a country (or group of countries), apply additional filters (which vary throughout the surveys) or change the visualisation by selecting a preferred chart type.
Dashboard
8% of those working for an employer became unemployed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The likelihood of becoming unemployed was even higher for the solo self-employed (13%).
A large proportion of respondents were obliged to work fewer hours during the pandemic. The number of hours worked increased in the second round of the survey, when just over a third reported that their working hours had decreased during the pandemic, compared with half in the first round.
The proportion reporting that their household has difficulties making ends meet in July continues to be highest among respondents who are unemployed – more than twice that of households in employment.
In July, nearly half of the employees in the sample worked at home at least some of the time during the pandemic. Of these, a third reported working exclusively from home. Respondents who worked from home more often report working in their free time, especially when there are children in the household.
One respondent in five received some form of financial support during the pandemic. Self-employed respondents – who received financial support more often than employees or unemployed respondents – are significantly more positive about their financial situation in July than they were in April.
Trust in national governments was higher in April than in July, whereas in July trust in the EU was higher. Trust in the EU among respondents went up in 13 Member States.
16 December 2021
8 December 2021
This section provides further information targeted in particular at researchers.
The following report covers rounds 1 and 2 of the e-survey:
27 September 2020
This report presents the findings of the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, carried out by Eurofound to capture the far-reaching implications of the pandemic for the way people live and work across Europe. The survey was fielded online, among respondents who were reached via Eurofound’s stakeholders and social media advertising. Two rounds of the e-survey have been carried out to date: one in April, when most Member States were in lockdown, and one in July, when society and economies were slowly re-opening.
The findings of the e-survey from the first round reflected widespread emotional distress, financial concern and low levels of trust in institutions. Levels of concern abated somewhat in the second round, particularly among groups of respondents who were benefiting from support measures implemented during the pandemic. At the same time, the results underline stark differences between countries and between socioeconomic groups that point to growing inequalities.
The results confirm the upsurge in teleworking across all countries during the COVID-19 pandemic that has been documented elsewhere, and the report explores what this means for work–life balance and elements of job quality.
Methodology
The e-survey methodology is similar for all rounds of the survey.
Eurofound experts
You can contact the following experts for questions on the survey.
Eszter Sándor
Senior research managerEszter Sandor is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. She has extensive experience in survey management, including questionnaire design and scripting, data preparation (processing, cleaning, weighting), and statistical analysis using R. She manages Eurofound’s e-survey (Living and working in the EU) and contributes to the preparation and management of the European Quality of Life Survey. Her research focuses on the quality of life of young people and families, including subjective well-being, mental well-being and living conditions.
Before joining Eurofound, she worked as an economic consultant in Scotland, specialising in economic impact assessments, evaluations, and input-output analysis. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Budapest University of Economics and Business and a Master’s degree in Economics and International Relations from Corvinus University of Budapest.
Daphne Ahrendt
Senior research managerDaphne Ahrendt is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. She is the coordinator of the survey management and development activity. In 2020, she initiated Eurofound’s Living and Working in the EU e-survey and now leads the 2026 European Quality of Life Survey, which she has worked on since the survey started in 2003. With over 30 years of experience in international survey research, she is also a member of the GESIS Scientific Advisory Board. Beyond surveys, her substantive research focuses on social cohesion, trust and the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Daphne started her career at the National Centre for Social Research in London where she worked on the International Social Survey Programme before moving to the Eurobarometer Unit at the European Commission. She holds a Master's degree in Criminal Justice Policies from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from San Francisco State University.
