European Quality of Life Surveys

Nearly 37,000 people in 33 European countries (28 EU Member States and 5 candidate countries) were interviewed in the last quarter of 2016 for the fourth wave of the European Quality of Life Survey. This overview report presents the findings for the EU Member States. It uses information from previous survey rounds, as well as other research, to look at trends in quality of life against a background of the changing social and economic profile of European societies.

In order to develop effective and focused strategies to uphold social cohesion and improve happiness and quality of life in Europe, it is above all necessary to understand how complex social developments interact with each other. In particular since – as this study amply demonstrates – the different circumstances in the individual EU Member States demand flexible measures that can be adapted to each specific situation.This policy brief examines how significant social cohesion is for the well-being of people in Europe.

Il presente documento programmatico espone le conclusioni relative a una tematica specifica dell’indagine europea sulla qualità della vita (EQLS), che presentano un particolare interesse da un punto di vista politico. Esso riunisce i risultati dell’analisi di tali dati con elementi comprovati provenienti da altri progetti della Fondazione, al fine di formulare una serie di indicazioni politiche. Il presente documento programmatico è dedicato alle differenze nella qualità della vita fra l’Europea urbana e quella rurale.

This report presents the trends and changes in quality of life among the Croatian population based on the survey rounds conducted in 2007 and 2012.

Is quality of life improving in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia? Has the crisis worsened the particularly low baseline revealed by the second European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS)? This report shows the positive progress made in the country over the period 2007–2012 in several aspects of life quality. Major improvements relate to living conditions, health, quality of public services, well-being and satisfaction levels in general. Nevertheless, there is still evidence of high material deprivation, low housing quality and low quality of the environment.

Over the past decade, Turkey has undergone huge economic and social change. This report uses Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey to capture changes and developments in the quality of life of Turkish people, measured at three periods over the past decade: 2003, 2007 and 2012. The report examines the key improvements in quality of life over this period and investigates whether all social groups benefited equally. It explores the impact of recent policy changes and charts new expectations that may be emerging in Turkey. It finds that people in Turkey became much more satisfied with their lives over the period; they overtook the EU average in terms of satisfaction with health services and self- assessed health; poverty and material deprivation diminished. However, Turkey has a very high proportion of early school leavers, and gender inequality remains stark.

This policy brief highlights findings on a specific topic from Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) that is of particular interest from a policy perspective. It brings results of the analysis of these data together with evidence from other Eurofound projects to formulate a number of policy pointers. The focus of this policy brief is the quality of life of young people in Europe, focusing on dimensions such as living arrangements, social exclusion, relationships and sources of support, as well as participation in society and social/cultural activities.

Results from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) show comparisons over time of different dimensions of people’s quality of life, including their standard of living. A combined review of indicators from the EQLS and those obtained from the Eurobarometer (for 2009 and 2010) highlights the fact that, on the whole, the economic and financial crisis has led to a decline in quality of life. This is more apparent for those living in countries most affected by the crisis. Vulnerable groups such as the unemployed, the elderly and the retired, as well as people suffering financial difficulties, have experienced a considerable drop in their well-being following the crisis.