Living conditions
Living conditions are the circumstances or factors affecting the way in which people live, particularly with regard to their well-being. The term ‘living conditions’ is closely related to that of ‘quality of life.’ The latter is the degree to which an individual is healthy, comfortable and able to participate in or enjoy life events. The term ‘quality of life’ then can refer to both the experience an individual has of his or her own life and to the living conditions in which individuals find themselves.
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Mapping green behavioural public policy in the EU
This paper maps how far Member States have built capacity to develop and deploy such behaviourally informed policies. It finds substantial disparities across the EU, with a troubling pattern: the countries under the greatest transition pressure are often the least equipped to design the human-centred policies that would ease it.Are Europeans prepared for climate change?
As the climate crisis intensifies, is Europe ready for the heat? In this episode of Eurofound Talks, Mary McCaughey explores the renter’s trap and the growing affordability crisis with experts from the EEA and Eurofound. Despite 80% of Europeans feeling the impact of extreme weather, a staggering 38% cannot afford to keep their homes cool. From the risk of "renovictions" to regional disparities in preparedness, the discussion bridges the gap between EU green ambitions and the stark reality of households. Discover why individual awareness isn't enough and what collective policy actions are needed to protect the vulnerable.Growth without resilience: Europe’s hidden social fracture
A recent EU survey exposes the chasm between headline economic data and the financial reality confronting households across Europe.Part of Eurofound’s main role is to contribute to the planning and design of better living conditions in Europe. Since 1975, Eurofound has developed a programme of activities around the monitoring and analysis of living conditions and quality of life in Europe. The research involves mapping and analysing key elements for the improvement of living conditions of people, including information on their perception of quality of life and society. The research findings aim to inform the creation of policies to improve living standards and promote social cohesion in the face of economic disparities and social inequalities.
Due to the health and ensuing economic crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic, the study of living conditions and quality of life has gained even more importance. Eurofound investigates the impact of the economic crisis on the living conditions of Europeans in different life stages and the role played by various initiatives implemented to alleviate the social hardship of various groups of citizens. The Agency will continue to monitor trends in this area in light of this new challenge.
Upward social convergence, that is improving living standards, working conditions and economic outcomes across Member States, is a principal goal of the EU. Monitoring and mapping the evolution of living conditions and quality of life in EU Member States is therefore a priority.
The European Pillar of Social Rights, jointly proclaimed by the EU institutions in November 2017, covers 20 principles under three core areas: equal opportunities and access to the labour market, which includes fairness related to living conditions and poverty; fair working conditions; social protection and inclusion, which includes housing and assistance for the homeless. In particular, the principles underline the role of public services in enhancing quality of life.
In March 2021, the European Commission launched the Action Plan to turn the Pillar’s 20 principles into concrete actions to benefit EU citizens in their daily lives, and proposing headline targets for the EU to reach over the next decade. A new ambitious target of lifting at least 15 million people out of the risk of poverty or social exclusion by 2030 puts living conditions and living standards high on the social policy agenda. The Pillar is accompanied by the Social Scoreboard – a list of indicators to monitor progress towards implementation of these principles in Member States.
The European Commission has established a set of quality of life statistics and launched the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILCopens in new tab) in 2003. EU-SILC gathers comparative data on income, poverty, social exclusion, housing conditions, labour, education and health.
European Commission: The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Planopens in new tab
European Commission: The European Pillar of Social Rights in 20 principlesopens in new tab
Eurostat: European Pillar of Social Rights – Scoreboardopens in new tab
European Commission: European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions - Eurostatopens in new tab
This is a selection of the most important outputs for this topic.
19 December 2023
Intergenerational inequalities: How to close the gaps?
The various economic and social shocks of the past decade and a half – most recently the COVID-19 pandemic – have ongoing consequences for the living standards and prospects of Europeans, and sometimes these outcomes have been uneven across age groups. Social policies – such as those in the areas of social protection and housing – in some cases have benefited certain age groups over others. The upshot both of crises and of policies is that inequalities between the generations have widened in important areas.
This policy brief examines some of the intergenerational social trends that either were persistent or changed considerably over the last decade and a half, sometimes contrary to expectations. It focuses on significant developments that have received somewhat less attention in policy planning in the areas of income, housing, work and employment, and health. The intention is to develop a clearer sense of the direction of social change and bring medium- and long-term perspectives into policy thinking.
17 October 2023
Bridging the rural-urban divide: Addressing inequalities and empowering communities
The Treaty of Lisbon established territorial cohesion as the third dimension of European cohesion. Despite the high priority given in policy to achieving geographically balanced economic development, gaps in living conditions still exist between rural and urban areas. In some cases, these gaps are growing. This report documents rural–urban differences in social, political, cultural and economic outcomes. These differences may pose a serious threat to social cohesion in Europe. Indeed, this report finds that rural residents more often perceive themselves as disregarded by governments and have lower levels of trust in governments and institutions than urban residents. Moreover, public service provision in rural areas is poorer than in urban areas, and gaps in provision are continually emerging. To ensure a bright future for all areas, innovative solutions to combat economic decline must be found. This report outlines creative solutions that are being deployed across Member States to provide services in remote areas.
20 September 2023
Guaranteeing access to services for children in the EU
The European Child Guarantee was established in 2021 to ensure that children in need have access to a set of key services. This policy brief analyses trends and disparities in children’s access to early childhood education and care, education, healthcare, nutrition and housing. This is done using a convergence analysis, which tracks whether Member States are improving in respect of specific performance indicators and whether disparities between them are expanding or narrowing. The analysis, where possible, also looks at the differences between urban and rural areas and between children living in households with different levels of income and risk of social exclusion. The indicators chosen for analysis highlight the links between the Guarantee, the European Semester and the Social Scoreboard.
7 December 2022
Living, working and COVID-19 in the European Union and 10 EU neighbouring countries
The Living, working and COVID-19 survey, first launched by Eurofound in early 2020, aims to capture the wide-ranging impact of the pandemic on the work and lives of EU citizens. The fifth round of the Eurofound survey, which was implemented in spring 2022, also sheds light on a new uncertain reality caused by the war in Ukraine, record-high inflation and sharp rises in the cost of living. As a pilot survey, a shorter version of the questionnaire was fielded by the European Training Foundation (ETF) in 10 European Union (EU) neighbouring countries. This joint Eurofound-ETF factsheet presents a selection of results from the survey covering both the EU-27 and the 10 selected EU neighbouring countries.
The results reveal at least one clear commonality across respondents from all countries: serious concerns about the rising cost of living. At the same time, the results point to a large divergence in living and working conditions between respondents in the two groups of countries, but also show large differences within the EU itself and amongst the selected EU neighbouring countries.
6 July 2022
Fifth round of the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey: Living in a new era of uncertainty
The fifth round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded from 25 March to 2 May 2022, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe two years after COVID-19 was first detected on the European continent. It also explores the reality of living in a new era of uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine, inflation, and rising energy prices.
The findings of the e-survey reveal the heavy toll of the pandemic, with respondents reporting lower trust in institutions than at the start of the pandemic, poorer mental well-being, a rise in the level of unmet healthcare needs and an increase in the number of households experiencing energy poverty.
30 March 2021
Wealth distribution and social mobility
This report explores the distribution of household wealth in the EU Member States and analyses the role of wealth in social mobility. Using data from three datasets (the Household Finance and Consumption Survey, the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and the Luxembourg Wealth Study), it focuses on wealth per household member. Wealth composition is compared across social groups and countries, and the role of housing assets in wealth distribution and negative wealth is assessed. The findings show that parental background, including parental wealth, has an impact on educational and wealth mobility. In order to promote equality of opportunities in terms of access to education and housing, the impact of wealth inequalities, including differences in parental wealth, should be counterbalanced. The report also suggests that regularising wealth declaration in the EU could be a way of promoting social justice by minimising hidden wealth and combating tax evasion.
Researchers at Eurofound provide expert insights and can be contacted for questions or media requests.
Sanna Nivakoski
Research officerSanna Nivakoski is a research officer in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. Before joining Eurofound in 2021, she worked as a post-doctoral researcher at University College Dublin's Geary Institute for Public Policy, the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She has worked in many research areas in microeconomics, including retirement income and wealth, pension saving, intergenerational transfers and the financial impact of widowhood. Sanna holds a PhD in Economics from Trinity College Dublin.
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.
Hans Dubois
Senior research managerHans Dubois is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. His research topics include housing, over-indebtedness, healthcare, long-term care, social benefits, retirement, and quality of life in the local area. Prior to joining Eurofound, he was Assistant Professor at Kozminski University (Warsaw). He completed a PhD in Business Administration and Management at Bocconi University (Milan), after working as a research officer at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (Madrid).
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