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Topic
Last updated: 19 August 2025

Living and working in Europe

Eurofound’s research captures the many dimensions of living and working in Europe. The annual yearbook provides a snapshot of the work and lives of Europeans as explored in the Agency’s research activities over the course of the previous year. This serves to inform the policy debate at EU and national levels. As the EU Agency whose vision is ‘to be Europe’s leading knowledge source for better life and work’, research in 2025 addressed some of the most pressing issues affecting people in their lives and work, through the lense of three connected themes: work (job quality, wages, ageing and sectoral restructuring), quality of life (housing, mental health and institutional trust) and inequality (the gender pay gap and the distribution of wealth). It continues to report on the broader structural challenges affecting the EU.

Find the latest content on this topic below.

24 September 2026
Ireland in the EU: In conversation with Noelle O’Connell
In this episode of Eurofound Talks, Mary McCaughey speaks with Noelle O'Connell, former CEO of European Movement Ireland, Vice-President of European Movement International, and founder of Merrion Advisory. Together, they reflect on Ireland's evolving relationship with the European Union, the country's growing influence in European policymaking, and the challenges and opportunities facing Europe in the years ahead.
Mary McCaughey+1
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Podcast episode
26 June 2026
Consolidated annual activity report 2025
This report describes Eurofound's activities, particularly its research, information and communication programmes and policy achievements, in relation to the objectives set in the Eurofound work programme 2025: Supporting better policies for a strong social Europe, the first annual work programme under the Multiannual research programme 2025–2028: Responding to Europe's new opportunities and challenges. 2025 was a landmark year for the Agency, marking its 50th anniversary. The report also covers the management and external evaluation control systems, key performance indicators, and financial and HR information. Eurofound's key research findings and how they are embedded in the current policy context are also presented in Living and working in Europe 2025, Eurofound's yearbook.
Eurofound
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Annual report
5 June 2026
Overheated and underprepared: How can we shield Europe's most vulnerable?
Four out of five Europeans have been affected by extreme weather. But if we think climate change is everyone's problem in equal measure, the data tell a different story.
Marianna Baggio
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Blog post

Upcoming event

In-person event
Joint event
Joint Meeting of the Chief Medical Officers, Chief Nursing Officers and Chief Dental Officers
Thursday, 15 October 2026Dublin, Ireland
Joint Meeting of the Chief Medical Officers, Chief Nursing Officers and Chief Dental Officers

The Joint Meeting of the Chief Medical, Chief Nursing and Chief Dental Officers is an important platform to connect the leadership of the medical, nursing and dental policy-makers in the EU. This event comprises a two-day conference, a site visit to a relevant medical facility and a number of breakout sessions.

Living and working in Europe 2025 covers a wide range of topics, drawing on the latest round of Eurofound’s Living and Working in the EU e-survey, the 2024 European Working Conditions Survey and a rich body of research published over the past year. It highlights the connections between work, quality of life and inequality in the EU. It also establishes the links between Eurofound’s work and EU policy priorities such as the green and digital transitions, competitiveness and sustainability of work, affordable housing and anti-poverty ambitions.

In this light, the yearbook puts the spotlight on a number of important research areas.

2025 – A year in review

In 2025, financial pressure remained part of everyday life for households across the EU – and not only for those on the lowest incomes. Via its Living and Working in the EU e-survey, Eurofound looks back at the lived-experience context for the more detailed analysis that follows throughout the Yearbook, highlighting where pressures were most visible in 2025 and where inequalities in financial resilience remain most pronounced.

Quality of work

Employment and job quality, wages, care responsibilities and sectoral change shape people’s financial resilience across the EU. The research explores job quality, minimum wages, labour market participation among older workers and carers, and how the green and digital transitions are reshaping competitiveness in key sectors such as automotive, construction and tourism. It assesses whether jobs in Europe are good enough in terms of pay, sustainability and adaptability to support workers through economic pressures and social change.

Quality of life

Financial strain, stagnating wages and cost-of-living pressures affect key dimensions of quality of life, including access to housing, mental health and trust in institutions. This research puts the focus on rising housing insecurity, worsening mental health outcomes and uneven access to care, particularly among financially vulnerable groups. It also examines how economic insecurity shapes trust, democratic satisfaction and solidarity across European societies.

Inequalities across the EU

Inequality across the EU runs along multiple axes, shaping people’s quality of life in different but interconnected ways. Research puts the spotlight on the disparities that exist between women and men, younger and older generations, income groups, and regions and tenures. It examines how these inequalities affect pay, care responsibilities, housing security, employment opportunities, mental health and trust in institutions. It also explores how structural inequalities reinforce one another, linking issues such as the gender pay gap, unpaid care work, housing costs, unequal distribution of wealth and financial resilience, and highlighting their implications for EU social inclusion and anti-poverty goals.

Looking ahead to 2026

In 2026, Eurofound enters the second year of its current four-year programme, continuing to provide timely, evidence-based information to guide the work of policymakers, with research firmly aligned with key EU initiatives. In the second half of 2026, Eurofound will have a role to play as Ireland takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Agency's work programme for 2026 supports EU priorities by addressing urgent social and labour market challenges. It aligns with the Commission’s focus on affordable housing, high-quality jobs, fair working conditions and strengthened social protection – essential to building resilient, inclusive societies.

Key policies at EU level address the main political, economic and social challenges faced by the EU and its citizens. In recent years, Europe has faced a long list of overlapping crises – a global health pandemic, cost-of living pressures with rising inflation, an energy crisis, geopolitical instability with Russia’s war on Ukraine, the ongoing climate crisis, as well as the escalating instability in the Middle East and beyond. Yet, through each of these crises, the EU has not only endured, but adapted and evolved.

Eurofound’s research on living and working in Europe feeds into a number of key EU policy areas centred, in particular, around the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan; the move towards a digital and green transition; the Quality Jobs Roadmap; the Competitiveness Compass; the European Affordable Housing Plan; and the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Eurofound aims to provide knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work-related policies that will lead to a strong social Europe focusing on jobs and skills for the future, and paving the way for a fair, inclusive and resilient socioeconomic recovery.

This is a selection of the most important outputs for this topic.

7 May 2026

Annual report

Living and working in Europe 2025

In 2025, cost-of-living pressures, housing insecurity and fragile mental well-being continued to shape the lived experience of millions of Europeans. This yearbook draws on the latest round of Eurofound’s Living and Working in the EU e-survey, the 2024 European Working Conditions Survey and a rich body of research published over the past year.
Playful grandfather spending time with his grandson in park on sunny day
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7 May 2026

Digital story

Living and working in Europe 2025 - digital version

In 2025, cost-of-living pressures, housing insecurity and fragile mental well-being continued to shape the experience of living and working in Europe for millions of Europeans. Focusing on work, quality of life and inequality, this digital yearbook captures Eurofound's work over 2025.
Living and working in Europe yearbook
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19 January 2026

Podcast episode

Making the EU accountable to its citizens

In an era where public trust is paramount, the latest episode of the Eurofound Talks looks at the mechanisms that keep the European Union transparent and fiscally responsible. Host Mary McCaughey sits down with Tony Murphy, President of the European Court of Auditors, to discuss the critical role of financial oversight in safeguarding the European project. They also discuss the importance of Ireland’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Young woman holding the European Union flag
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19 January 2026

Other

Uneven picture of a changing Europe: Findings from Living and Working in the EU e-survey 2025

Findings from the 2025 (eighth) round of Eurofound’s Living and working in the EU e-survey suggest persistent economic strain and uneven levels of resilience across Member States. Despite lower inflation and labour markets that remain relatively stable by headline indicators, respondents continue to face significant financial pressure, with widening gaps between income groups, rising insecurity among renters and middle-aged people, and continued housing insecurity, especially among low-income and single-parent households.
Senior couple reviewing utility bills at home with laptop
Read more about Uneven picture of a changing Europe: Findings from Living and Working in the EU e-survey 2025

19 January 2026

Digital story

Uneven picture of a changing Europe: Findings from Living and Working in the EU e-survey 2025 - Digital story

This digital story from Eurofound’s 2025 e-survey reveals persistent economic strain, uneven levels of resilience, fragile trust in institutions, ongoing work–life balance challenges and growing concern over environmental issues among Europeans.
Man stands beside his bicycle in front of flooded road during high water
Read more about Uneven picture of a changing Europe: Findings from Living and Working in the EU e-survey 2025 - Digital story
In-person event
Joint event

Eurofound’s Annual Lecture 2025: Living and working in Europe - Rethinking progress for a sustainable and equitable future

DateThursday, 19 June 2025
Time12:30h‒14:30h (Irish local time)
LocationDublin
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This event is in the past
See details : Eurofound’s Annual Lecture 2025: Living and working in Europe - Rethinking progress for a sustainable and equitable future

30 January 2025

Podcast episode

50 years of social change in Ireland and Europe

In this episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Deputy Director Maria Jepsen, and Barry Colfer, Director of Research at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), about European social change over the past 50 years, Eurofound’s role in these changes, how Ireland itself has developed and changed, and the challenges currently on the horizon.
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This section provides access to all content that has been published on the topic.

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