European Quality of Life Survey 2007

The survey was carried out for the first time in 2003, covering 28 countries (25 Member States and three candidate countries).

The second round of EQLS was carried out during September 2007 – February 2008 in 31 countries - the EU 27, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Norway, and Turkey.

• Europeans are generally satisfied and happy with life: on a scale from one to ten, the EU27 average is 7 for life satisfaction and 7.5 for happiness;
• Disparities in household incomes across Europe are stark: in the EU27, Bulgaria and Romania have incomes almost as low as that of the candidate country, FYR Macedonia; to cope with inadequate income, around half of all households in the NMS12 and CC3 (with the exception of Cyprus and Malta) grow some of their own food;
• The family is highly involved in child- and eldercare and remains the first port of call for personal support in emergencies; Europeans report high levels of satisfaction with their family life; women still spend more time than men in caring activities and domestic duties;
• A good work-life balance is tricky to achieve and problems with it appear to be most common in south-eastern Europe: in Croatia and Greece, a little over 70% of working citizens say that they are too tired to do household jobs at least several times a month because of work;
• 81% of EU residents said that good health was ‘very important’ for their quality of life: however, on average, only 21% of people rate their health as ‘very good’;
• When asked to rate the quality of society, people in the eastern European NMS12 – and in Italy and Portugal – trust their political institutions the least. Citizens in the Nordic countries, and in Turkey, have the most trust in their institutions; people in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands also express the highest levels of trust in other people.