De Europese enquête over de kwaliteit van het bestaan (EQLS) van Eurofound documenteert de levensomstandigheden en de sociale situatie van mensen en onderzoekt kwesties die relevant zijn voor het leven van Europese burgers.
European Quality of Life Survey 2003
The first European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) was carried out in 2003. The survey examined quality of life in core life domains covering a range of issues, such as employment, income, education, housing, family, health, work-life balance, life satisfaction and perceived quality of society. A number of reports on the findings of the EQLS 2003 have been published.
The survey was carried out in the summer of 2003.
Over 25,000 interviews were conducted in 28 countries, including the EU25 and three candidate countries, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
Interviews were conducted face to face.
The master questionnaire was translated into 28 different languages.
A dashboard for this survey round is currently not available. Please refer to newer rounds of the survey to access data visualisations.
Much of Eurofound's research in the run-up to the 2024 EU enlargement focused on documenting and better understanding the situation in the new European Union. One of the most important such initiatives was the first-ever European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS). The basic findings confirm the widespread perception of general economic and social divides between the former EU15 and the acceding and candidate countries. The differences between the 10 new Member States and the three candidate countries in areas such as housing and education are also underlined.
Living standards are markedly lower in the NMS than in the former EU15.
NMS and CC3 citizens are generally less satisfied with their quality of life than those in the EU15.
Housing conditions are worse in the NMS and the CC3 than in the EU15.
Workers in the NMS and candidate countries report worse working conditions.
Citizens of the NMS and the CC3 report poorer health and less satisfaction with health services.
The results also provide an insight into areas which are often overlooked – areas where the new Member States may boast an advantage and where there is a common pattern across the enlarged Europe.
Two thirds of citizens across 28 countries are optimistic about the future.
Families and friends provide the main social support for up to 95% of citizens across the EU25/CC3.
Home ownership is more common in the NMS/CC3 (75%) than in the EU15 (60%).
Female employment rates are higher in the NMS and CC3.
Rates of completion of secondary education are higher in the NMS than in the EU15.
Rates of completion of third-level education are similar across the EU25.
This section provides further information targeted in particular at researchers.
The following publications were produced in relation to the EQLS 2003.
Methodology
The first EQLS represents an ambitious attempt to explore quality of life in a wide range of countries. It is a major source of information of the social situation in each country, highlighting the challenges facing an enlarged EU. The strength of the survey is that it provides a synthesis of information on the main aspects of quality of life, both objective and subjective.
Contractor
Intomart GfK and the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
Coverage
25 EU Member States and Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey
Fieldwork period
Summer of 2003
Target population
General adult population (18 years and older)
Sample
The basic sampling design used in all countries was a multi-stage, random (probability) one. Firstly, sampling points were drawn after stratification by region and degree of urbanisation.
Sample size
Over 25,000 interviews were completed. Around 1,000 persons aged 18 and over were interviewed in each country, except for the ‘smaller’ countries – Cyprus, Estonia, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovenia – where around 600 interviews were conducted.
Type
Face-to-face interviewing
Quality assurance
After data collection, the data were checked thoroughly by the Social Science Center (WZB) with the help of national experts.
Questionnaire
The questionnaire was developed by a research consortium and covers a broad spectrum of life domains with an emphasis on employment and working conditions, housing, family, social and political participation, quality of society, and subjective well-being.
The questionnaire is available in the Annex to the overview report.
Onderzoeksrapport: Quality of life in Europe
Eurofound experts
You can contact the following experts for questions on the survey.
Daphne Ahrendt
Senior research managerDaphne Ahrendt is senior onderzoeksmanager bij de eenheid Sociaal Beleid van Eurofound. Sinds ze in 2013 bij Eurofound in dienst trad, heeft ze zich beziggehouden met een breed scala aan sociale beleidsterreinen. Momenteel coördineert zij de activiteiten van Eurofound op het gebied van het beheer en de ontwikkeling van enquêtes en leidt zij de voorbereiding en analyse van de COVID-19 e-enquêtes. Daphne heeft meer dan 20 jaar ervaring als onderzoeker bij internationale enquêtes, en werkte eerder bij de Eurobarometer-eenheid van de Europese Commissie en bij het National Centre for Social Research in Londen, waar ze werkte aan het International Social Survey Programme. Daphne heeft een masterdiploma in strafrechtbeleid van de London School of Economics en een bachelordiploma in politieke wetenschappen van de San Francisco State University.
Eszter Sándor
Senior research managerEszter Sandor is senior onderzoeksmanager bij de eenheid Sociaal Beleid van Eurofound. Ze heeft expertise op het gebied van enquêtemethodologie en statistische analyse, heeft gewerkt aan de voorbereiding en het beheer van de European Quality of Life Survey en meest recentelijk de Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, en is verantwoordelijk voor de kwaliteit van de dataset. Haar onderzoeksgebieden zijn het welzijn van jongeren en de kwaliteit van leven in huishoudens en gezinnen, waaronder subjectief welzijn, werk-privébalans en levensomstandigheden. Eerder werkte ze als economisch consultant in Schotland, waar ze zich richtte op economische impactbeoordelingen, evaluaties en input-outputanalyses. Ze heeft een masterdiploma in Economie en Internationale Betrekkingen van de Corvinus Universiteit van Boedapest.
