As policymakers, social partners and civil society prepare for the European Employment and Social Rights Forum in Brussels next week, a new episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast looks at latest results from Eurofound’s eighth Living and Working in the EU e-survey, and the actions that could be taken to respond to the social challenges that it highlights.
Increasing economic divergence and a profound sense of precariousness permeate the European Union today, according to new results from Eurofound’s eighth Living and Working in the EU e-survey.
In the latest episode of Eurofound Talks, published today for World Suicide Prevention Day, Mary McCaughey speaks with Senior Research Manager Hans Dubois about concerning trends highlighted in Eurofound’s new report, Mental health: Risk groups, trends, services and policies.
Problematical social media use affects a quarter of young girls in Ireland, economic pressures impact the mental health of 32% of the population, and 17% of those in rural areas report a lack of services mental health.
The long-term decline in suicide death rates across the EU has stalled, marking an alarming reflection of poor mental health in Europe. Suicide accounted for 18.9% of deaths among 15–29-year-olds in 2021, ahead of traffic collisions (16.5%). Eurofound analysis also reveals that in 2021, poor mental health resulted in 11.1 million years of life lost or lived with disability.
A new Eurofound report reveals encouraging progress in reducing child poverty and boosting early childhood education and care (ECEC) participation across Europe. However, the report strongly emphasises that the sustained well-being of children hinges on urgent improvements to the working conditions and training of the professionals delivering these essential services.
Respondents that participated in Eurofound’s 2024 e-survey were less optimistic about their future than those that took part in 2023, with the degree of optimism across all age groups falling considerably since 2020. The sharpest drop in optimism occurred among respondents in the 35–49 and 50–64 age groups, who reported the lowest levels of optimism in 2024.
Workplace cyberbullying or ‘digital harassment’ is only explicitly covered in regulatory frameworks in Denmark in the EU, with other Member States either attempting to extend legal definitions to include misconduct occurring through information and communication technologies (ICTs) or outside of the physical workplace; or lacking any definition of workplace bullying or harassment in law.
Eurofound has launched a new online survey to chart evolving perceptions of life and work in Europe. The survey looks primarily at the situation of people living in the EU, but is open to everyone aged 16 years or older, regardless of where they live.
Today is World Mental Health Day, an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilise efforts in support of mental health.
In summer 2020, 34% of people in the EU aged 80+ had not left home since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and 88% of people in this age group reported visiting family members less often. Although people of all ages became more at risk of mental health issues and loneliness during the pandemic, the impact was particularly severe on both young people and people aged 80+.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed structural inequalities in healthcare capacity across EU Member States threatening convergence in healthcare - where central and eastern Member States with lower health indicators had been catching up with more affluent Member States in a number of areas. This could have serious consequences for economies, labour markets and cohesion across the Union.
Ireland and Denmark are the most socially optimistic countries in the EU, according to Eurofound's Social Optimism Index, a newly developed composite indicator which measures six variables of optimism among people in Europe.
Vaccine acceptance is key to the success of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns worldwide. Worryingly, over a quarter of people living in Europe are hesitant about taking a COVID-19 vaccine, and the level of hesitancy is especially high among heavy users of social media.
Mental well-being among people in Europe improved between the April and July waves of Eurofound’s Living, working and COVID-19 surveys, with the largest increases among those aged 50 and over.
First findings from Eurofound's Living, working and COVID-19 online survey show that, despite comparatively high overall levels of life satisfaction and optimism in Ireland, women aged 18-34 in the country report being the loneliest in the EU. The first wave of Eurofound’s survey was carried out in April, with 85,000 participants – 16,599 of which were aged 18-34.
People in the lowest income groups remain the most likely to report difficulties in accessing primary care services across the European Union, according to Eurofound research. More than 8 out of 10 people in the EU reported using health services in 2016, but many still struggle to access services, including those with incomes just above the threshold that would entitle them to state support.
Just one in three workers in the EU whose daily activities are severely or somewhat limited by a chronic disease report that their workplace has been adapted to accommodate their health problem. This means the majority of workers in Europe with a limiting health condition are not being supported in terms of workplace adaptation.
People at work in Europe report good health and well-being, and increased control over their work activities. However, Eurofound data shows that work is also becoming more emotionally demanding, which poses a risk to health, as well as the long-term sustainability of work itself.
Overall trust in institutions such as national governments, the legal system, the EU, and the media has rebounded in Europe following the recent economic recovery. However, in a number of the Member States most adversely impacted by the crisis, trust in national institutions has still not returned to pre-crisis levels.
