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 EU aged 18-34 report being more likely to feel depressed, lonely, and anxious than those aged 35 and over. They also indicate lower levels of resilience in dealing with problems in life.
Nearly half of people surveyed in Spain report that their financial situation is worse now than three months ago, and a similar proportion expect the situation to get worse in the future. Spain also reports above EU average job loss as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Trust in Slovakian national government on a par with EU average during COVID-19 crisis.
People in Italy reported both the third lowest optimism for the future, and fourth lowest mental well-being, in the EU in Eurofound’s Living, working and COVID-19 online survey. The survey amassed over 85,000 responses in April, including 2,676 from Italy.
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is having a profound impact on families and working life across Europe. In addition to the health implications, many people are now required to balance caring for and educating children, while at the same time continuing to manage work responsibilities.
On Europe Day 2020, the EU institutions want to pay tribute through numerous online activities to the many Europeans who, in a spirit of solidarity, are helping our Union get through the coronavirus crisis.
The high levels of resilience reported by the Netherlands may be of long-term benefit to the country as the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to present enormous social, economic and health challenges. The Netherlands reports the highest level of resilience across the EU, with just 17% of respondents reporting difficulty managing their lives when things go wrong.
Eurofound's analysis of the 2016 European Quality of Life Survey shows that in many countries decline in trust in institutions was a temporary phenomenon during the recession that followed the 2008 financial crisis.
While the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic presents enormous social, economic and health challenges, it is worth noting on Cyprus’ national day that there have been improvements to the quality of society in recent years with the level of social exclusion declining between 2011 and 2016, while at the same time, the level of trust in people has increased.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown societies around the world into flux and threatens to undo some of the positive progress that has taken place in recent years. However decreasing levels of societal tensions, such has been the case in Greece, may be a positive indicator of strengthening solidarity in society which is important in these difficult times.
Hungary has recorded a remarkable improvement in the level of labour market participation over the last decade and unemployment rates have fallen to some of the lowest levels in the EU. At the same time, life satisfaction in Hungary has increased from 5.9 in 2003 to 6.5 in 2016 and the share of population struggling to make ends meet has been on a downward trajectory.
Bulgaria has experienced seismic shifts in typical household composition over the last decade; reporting the largest decrease in the share of multigenerational households in the EU, as well as increasing levels of cohabitation and people living alone. These societal trends occur at the same time as improving quality of life, higher labour market participation rates and population ageing.
The new von der Leyen Commission took office on 1 December 2019. Having adopted its first work programme on 29 January 2020, the Commission sets out its plans for a transition to a fair, climate-neutral and digital Europe. It outlines six top priorities. Eurofound’s work directly feeds into a number of these key areas aimed at creating a strong social Europe.
Cohabitation – couples living together without being married – is on the rise in Europe. Eurofound’s calculations of EU data shows that France (13%), Sweden (13%) and Finland (12%) recorded the highest co-habitation rates in the EU in 2017.
A new analysis of EU-level data by Eurofound shows that one in three households in the EU is now single occupancy. Germany now has the largest proportion of the population living in single-person households, and large increases in the share of the population living alone have been reported in Lithuania and Bulgaria.
Lithuania has experienced significant improvements to the perceived quality of public services and overall living standards in recent years. However, despite overall increases to quality of living standards, income inequality has been increasing since the financial crisis, making Lithuania’s income distribution the second most unequal in the EU.
People living in the capital cities in Europe generally have a better quality of life and report higher life satisfaction than those living in other parts of the country. Capital cities also have a larger proportion of people who report feeling being able to cope during times of hardship than other urban centres and rural regions.
Finland reports some of the highest quality of life standards across the EU with happiness, life satisfaction and trust ranking top across the EU28 – to name just a few areas of high performance.
A common understanding of labour market segmentation is necessary to tackle poor quality jobs with lack of opportunities, affecting especially young people, women, immigrants and lower-educated individuals on the labour market. A new ambitious report explores why segmentation is problematic and identifies policy approaches which could be helpful in tackling this phenomenon.
