European Quality of Life Survey 2003

Promoting the well-being of people is a key goal of European social policy: happy, fulfilled and engaged citizens are the hallmark of a thriving society. Factors such as income, social relationships and time use all have a huge bearing on individuals’ quality of life. A recent Foundation report explores key components in personal happiness and sense of belonging. This paper is a short summary of the main findings of the report.

Family support, social contacts and an adequate work–life balance are essential factors in overall quality of life for individuals. However, time constraints resulting from changing work and family patterns are having a negative impact on personal life. People are finding it difficult to find time to look after older people and children and due to work pressures often put off starting a family until they are older. A recent Foundation report explores quality of life from the point of view of households and families in Europe.

Income security and economic well-being have a huge bearing on people’s overall quality of life. Recent enlargement of the European Union has reshaped the contours of the economic landscape in Europe, resulting in a widening of the gap between the richest and poorest countries. A recent Foundation report explores quality of life from the point of view of income inequalities and deprivation. This paper is a short summary of the main findings of the report.

This report explores the impact material resources, social relationships, time use and perceptions of society have on individual life satisfaction, happiness and sense of belonging. It reveals that levels of individual well-being reflect levels of national prosperity and the quality of society, with dissatisfaction, unhappiness and feelings of alienation being concentrated in Europe’s poor regions and most of the NMS, where assistance is obviously needed most urgently. 

This report explores how families, social networks and work–life balance issues affect quality of life. The survey shows that time constraints in the workplace impact negatively on overall quality of life, formation of families and family life. It highlights that people, particularly in the new Member States, often find it difficult to provide the necessary care for children and the elderly because of work commitments. 

The recent enlargement of the European Union has changed the context within which poverty and social exclusion in the Member States is understood and has highlighted the need for an expanded approach to these problems. Enlargement has widened the gap in living standards between the richest and poorest Member States: median household income in the richest EU states such as Denmark and Germany is three to four times greater than in the poorest Member States, such as Latvia (Eurostat, 2004).
 

The Foundation launched its European Quality of Life Survey in 2003. The first results of this ambitious attempt to explore quality of life issues in 28 countries – the EU25 and three candidate countries, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey – provide a comprehensive portrait of the face of an enlarged Europe. With comparisons between countries as well as between demographic, social and economic groups, the report documents material conditions, employment situations, living and working conditions, family and community life, health and housing in the 28 countries.

In 2003, the Foundation carried out a European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) in 28 countries. This survey examined issues such as education, household and family structures, housing, health care and employment. It provides a wide-ranging, up-to-date snapshot of quality of life and living conditions in the enlarged Europe.

This document summarises the findings of a research report from the European Foundation for the Improvement and Living Conditions (EF03115), drawing on the results of Eurobarometer surveys carried out in the EU and the 13 acceding and candidate countries. Examining quality of life in 28 European countries, the report provides an analysis of the views and experiences of the citizens of the new Europe on aspects relating to fertility levels and family size, as well as gender roles within the home and responsibility for care and household tasks.

This document summarises the findings of a research report from the European Foundation for the Improvement and Living Conditions (EF03109), drawing on the results of Eurobarometer surveys carried out in the EU and the 13 acceding and candidate countries. The objective of the research was to contribute to the policy debate on migration in the EU by presenting new empirical evidence on the potential extent and breakdown of migration from the acceding and candidate countries towards the EU.