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Subjective well-being

Subjective well-being refers to how people perceive the quality of their lives. Promoting the well-being of its citizens is a key goal for the EU and has gained prominence in the social policy agenda in the last decade. This includes differences or inequalities in health. 

Topic

Recent updates

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During the pandemic, many young people had to change their plans for the future. While at the end of 2023 young people’s labour market situation was more favourable than it...

21 maj 2024
Publication
Research report
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Workers on non-permanent contracts and workers with no formal contract are less satisfied with the functioning of democracy in their country, as are workers experiencing job insecurity. They are less...

1 september 2023
Corporate news

Eurofound research

European Quality of Life Survey

Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) has a uniquely large set of indicators of subjective well-being (26 indicators in the 2016 survey). Two global measures are typically included to capture overall subjective well-being: 

  • life satisfaction, which allows people to provide an overall evaluation of their life
  • overall happiness, which enables people to give a more emotional assessment of how they feel 

Indicators of well-being

Eurofound launched its first EQLS in 2003, having completed its fourth survey in 2016. The conceptual framework used in the EQLS is generally in line with the OECD guidelines. It addresses subjective well-being by means of three groups of indicators: 

  • evaluative well-being – life satisfaction and satisfaction with domains of life
  • positive and negative affect – happiness, vitality, feeling calm, feeling cheerful, feeling depressed
  • eudaimonic well-being – optimism, autonomy, sense of purpose, having time to enjoy life and resilience

EQLS findings show that the strongest determinants of higher life satisfaction and happiness are having a sense of purpose, followed by optimism about one’s future and autonomy.

Health is another key determinant of well-being. EQLS data shed light on changes in self-reported health for the EU population as a whole and in relation to groups of particular concern. With regard to mental health and well-being, the EQLS asks several questions that can be used to construct the WHO Mental Well-being Index (WHO-5).

The EQLS 2016 included two additional items that measure resilience to capture the perceived capacity to deal with problems and the time it takes to bounce back. Perceived resilience correlates positively with mental well-being variables.

Key outputs

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Following a long recovery from the economic crisis (2007–2013), young people in the EU proved to be more vulnerable to the effects of the restrictions put in place to slow...

9 november 2021
Publication
Research report
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Quality of life data show that in most countries, the capital city has advantages compared to the regions outside the capital. In light of the continued growth of capital city...

27 januari 2020
Publication
Policy brief
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Demographic change, social progress and economic cycles have impacted household composition in Europe. This report provides an overview of household types in the European Union, how they have changed over...

19 december 2019
Publication
Research report
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This report provides an analysis of European societies in terms of social cohesion – in particular, social tensions, perceived social exclusion and community engagement are explored as key dimensions. It...

13 november 2018
Publication
Research report

EU context

Article 3 of the Treaty of the European Union outlines the importance for the EU of promoting the well-being of its peoples and to work for the sustainable development of Europe. The European Pillar of Social Rights reiterates this objective and highlights that a strong social Europe is about putting people and their well-being at the centre. Good health and well-being is also one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

To capture the complexities around modern societies, the European Commission’s Beyond GDP initiative aims to measure progress, true wealth and well-being by developing indicators that complement GDP figures but are more inclusive of environmental and social aspects of progress. Moreover, Eurostat’s quality of life indicators provide recent statistics on various dimensions of quality of life in the EU, also complementing the traditionally used indicator of GDP. 

The WHO European Framework for Action on Mental Health and Well-being 2021–2025, co-funded by the Commission, supports the EU Member States in reviewing their policies and sharing experiences in improving policy efficiency and effectiveness.

In a global context, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has produced guidelines on the collection and use of measures of subjective well-being. 

 

European Industrial Relations Dictionary 

Eurofound expert(s)

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Eszter Sandor is a senior research manager in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound. She has expertise in survey methodology and statistical analysis, has worked on the preparation...

Senior research manager,
Social policies research unit
Publications results (63)

During the pandemic, many young people had to change their plans for the future. While at the end of 2023 young people’s labour market situation was more favourable than it had been in recent years, many obstacles remained on their route to independence, such as the rising cost of living and

21 May 2024

This report investigates the social groups whose attachment to the labour market may be unstable and who are most likely to have non-standard working arrangements, and the implications of such arrangements, and job insecurity, for workers’ well-being, social exclusion, trust, perception of fairness

29 August 2023

Bostäder till oöverkomliga priser är ett stort bekymmer i EU. Det leder till hemlöshet, otrygga bostadsförhållanden, ekonomiska påfrestningar och undermåliga bostäder. Det är också ett hinder för unga människor när det gäller att flytta hemifrån. Dessa problem påverkar människors hälsa och

30 May 2023

Eurofound lanserade undersökningen Leva, arbeta och covid-19 för första gången i början av 2020. Undersökningen syftar till att identifiera pandemins omfattande inverkan på EU-medborgarnas arbetsliv och deras liv i allmänhet. Den femte omgången av Eurofounds undersökning, som genomfördes våren 2022

07 December 2022

Covid-19-pandemin har förstärkt ojämlikheten i samhället i Europa, bland annat genom bristande jämställdhet mellan kvinnor och män på flera viktiga områden. Denna rapport ger en överblick över jämställdhetsbristerna före covid-19-krisen och beskriver hur pandemin har påverkat könsklyftorna. I

13 October 2022

Den femte omgången av Eurofounds e-undersökning, som genomfördes mellan den 25 mars och den 2 maj 2022, belyser den sociala och ekonomiska situationen för människor i Europa två år efter det att covid-19 först upptäcktes på den europeiska kontinenten. Den omfattar även frågor om hur det är att leva

07 July 2022

A new European Disability Strategy was launched in 2021 with the aim of intensifying progress on ensuring the full participation of people with disabilities in society. The increase of EU policy focus on people with disabilities is timely: the COVID-19 pandemic magnified the challenges they faced i

21 March 2022

Denna rapport behandlar covid-19-pandemins påverkan på livskvaliteten hos de äldre, bland annat vilken inverkan den haft på deras välbefinnande, ekonomi, sysselsättning och sociala delaktighet. I rapporten undersöks effekterna på utnyttjandet av vård- och omsorgstjänster och äldres beroende av annat

28 January 2022

Efter en lång återhämtning från den ekonomiska krisen (2007–2013) visade sig ungdomar i EU vara mer sårbara för effekterna av begränsningar som infördes för att bromsa spridningen av covid-19-pandemin. Ungdomar var mer benägna än äldre att drabbas av arbetslöshet, ekonomisk otrygghet och psykisk

09 November 2021

I över tio år har osäkerheten inför framtiden ökat i de flesta delar av EU. Många människor anser att samhället försämras, vilket har gett upphov till en allmän pessimism. Finns det ett samband mellan missnöjespartiernas ökande popularitet och den ökande pessimismen? Dessa negativa känslor kan

16 September 2021

Online resources results (1)

European Quality of Life Survey 2016 New results for the EU candidate countries Event on Improving quality of life in Europe – Sharing data to shape better policies, 26 June 2018, Belgrade, Serbia Presentation by Tadas Leončikas, Senior Research Manager, Eurofound

26 juni 2018
Blogs results (9)
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Women and frontline workers are most exposed to the risks of adverse social behaviour at work, such as burnout, exhaustion, anxiety and depression. This is according to the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey 2021 (EWCTS). In this data story, we dive into EWCTS data (EU27) to examine the pr

A worker sitting on the floor

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live and work. With the lifting of restrictions across the globe, we are now able to examine the many repercussions on the world of work. In particular, the unique demands of the last few years have shone a harsh spotlight on the pressures brought to bear

17 januari 2023
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A cocktail of insecurity, misinformation and mistrust imperil Europe’s future. Reliable, accessible data are at a premium.

14 december 2022
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We need to study and understand the blow Europe’s youth have suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to adjust recovery and resilience measures to their needs: without prioritising young people in the present, we have little hope for the future.

3 december 2021
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The exponential growth of COVID-19 cases across Europe this autumn has quickly erased hopes that the virus had been contained and confirmed the surge of another wave of the pandemic. With Member States now implementing new restrictive measures for the second time since March in an attempt to control

23 oktober 2020
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While we now know that the idea that ‘COVID-19 only affects older people’ is fake news, the first weeks of the pandemic have shown that young people are in general more resilient than older people to the disease. But are they also more resilient to its social and economic impacts?

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The impact of COVID-19 continues to create chaos in people’s lives across Europe and the world. The economy is heading towards another major dip, and a sense of general insecurity pervades. The daunting challenges confronting health services and projections on the long-term impact of the crisis domi

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Depopulation of rural areas and the concentration of employment and education opportunities in urban centres is a fact of modern life. What impact does this have on the quality of life of rural residents? Do they feel increasingly isolated, and what are the emerging trends? New research by Eurofound

8 maj 2019
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Motivated workers have higher levels of engagement, better health and are able to work longer. Improving motivation at work is therefore a key component in meeting the challenges of Europe’s ageing workforce and improving the EU’s long-term competitiveness on a global scale. This means that fosterin

20 mars 2019
Data results (1)
24 oktober 2023
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