Living and working in the EU e-survey

Eurofound launched a large-scale, EU-wide online survey originally to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s life and work. Since 2020, over 140,000 people participated in this survey series. To continue monitoring the ever-changing situation around the long-term impacts of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and rising living costs, Eurofound adjusted its data collection to monitor the impact of these events on the lives of people in the EU and policy responses to mitigate the effects. 

As part of this effort, Eurofound developed the Living and working in the EU e-survey. Originally launched during COVID-19 to monitor the impacts of the pandemic and policy responses, the e-survey has since expanded to document developments in living and working during a time of rapid change. The most recent round runs throughout March–April 2024 with results expected to be published by the end of the year.

E-survey objectives

The Living and working in the EU e-survey aims to capture the ever-changing situation around people’s living and working conditions since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The survey has evolved to monitor not only the far-reaching implications of the pandemic for the way people live and work, but also the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine including a mass migration across Europe, as well as rising energy and living costs. 

By continuing the e-survey, Eurofound aims to help policymakers respond to the challenges and create opportunities for change in order to bring about an equal recovery from these crises.

E-survey: 2020–present

The e-survey is now in its seventh iteration. Read more about how the survey has developed and related publications since 2020. 

Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey – round 1 

This survey, conducted in spring 2020, examined quality of life and quality of society during the pandemic, with questions ranging from life satisfaction, happiness and optimism, to health and levels of trust in institutions. It also focused on the work situation of respondents, their work–life balance and use of teleworking during the crisis.  

Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey – round 2

In summer 2020, Questions centred on job quality and health and safety at work, online schooling, use of online services, as well as the extent to which they had requested and availed of government support schemes. 

Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey – round 3

Fielded in spring 2021, additional questions covered attitudes and willingness to be vaccinated, trust in science, use of and trust in social media. Questions also examined access to and quality of public services during COVID-19. 

Living, working and COVID-19 panel survey – round 4

This was a panel survey, recontacting panel respondents only, making it possible to track developments since the start of the pandemic. This round was fielded in autumn 2021.

Related publications 

Living, working and COVID-19 in the EU and neighbouring countries e-survey – round 5

While a continuation of previous surveys, the fifth iteration (in spring 2022) focused more on questions related to housing, living and financial conditions, and reflections on teleworking and work-life balance, including the division of labour at home. It also shed light on a new uncertain reality caused by the war in Ukraine, record- high inflation and sharp rises in the cost of living. In parallel, the European Training Foundation (ETF) used a shortened questionnaire to field a pilot e-survey in 10 EU neighbouring countries. 

Living and working in the EU and neighbouring countries – round 6

The sixth iteration explored living and working in the EU and neighbouring countries in the post-pandemic period. Apart from collecting core data from the previous rounds, the survey included a module on young people: skills, training, participation in traineeships and apprenticeships, as well as young people’s wishes and plans for the future.

Related publications

Living and working in the EU e-survey: 2024

The seventh iteration commences on 25 March 2024, focusing on the cost of living, levels of social support, mental well-being and unmet healthcare needs. The survey also collects respondents’ views on the war in Ukraine.

Related publications

Methodology

The e-survey data are collected via non-probability methods, mainly through social media advertisements. While this allows the survey to frequently collect data, it is distinct from other Eurofound surveys, as this method produces a non-representative sample. However, the composition of the sample was adjusted to be representative of the demographic profile of the EU27 as a whole and of each individual Member State, by applying weighting on the basis of gender, age, education and employment status.

Read more on the e-survey methodology.

Eurofound experts

Disclaimer

When freely submitting your request, you are consenting Eurofound in handling your personal data to reply to you. Your request will be handled in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. More information, please read the Data Protection Notice.