First European Quality of Life Survey
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First European Quality of Life Survey: Quality of life in Bulgaria and Romania Authors: Ioan MÆrginean (coordinator), Iuliana Precupe¶u, Vassil Tzanov, Ana Maria Preoteasa and Bogdan Voicu with Iskra Beleva (contributor) Research institute: Research Institute for Quality of Life, Romanian Academy, Bucharest Research managers: Branislav Mikulic and Hubert Krieger Research project: Quality of life in Europe First European Quality of Life Survey: Quality of life in Bulgaria and Romania Wyattville Road, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18, Ireland - Tel: (+353 1) 204 31 00 - Fax: (+353 1) 282 42 09 / 282 64 56 email: [email protected] - website: www.eurofound.europa.eu Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2006 ISBN 92-897-0959-6 © European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2006 For rights of translation or reproduction, applications should be made to the Director, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Wyattville Road, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18, Ireland. The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions is an autonomous body of the European Union, created to assist in the formulation of future policy on social and work-related matters. Further information can be found on the Foundation website at www.eurofound.europa.eu European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions Wyattville Road Loughlinstown Dublin 18 Ireland Telephone: (+353 1) 204 31 00 Fax: (+353 1) 282 42 09 / 282 64 56 E-mail: [email protected] www.eurofound.europa.eu Printed in Denmark The paper used in this publication is chlorine-free and comes from managed forests in Northern Europe. For every tree felled, at least one new tree is planted. Foreword Diversity is one of the defining features of the enlarged European Union. With the prospect of further enlargement ahead, differences such as those in living conditions, quality of life and cultural traditions are likely to be more pertinent than ever. While the nurturing of cultural diversity lies at the heart of the European ideal, fostering greater cohesion is also a central priority. Against this background, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has been committed to obtaining more in-depth information about how people live and how they perceive their circumstances. In 2003, the Foundation conducted fieldwork for its First European Quality of Life Survey in 28 countries: the EU25, the two acceding countries – Bulgaria and Romania – and one candidate country, Turkey. The survey was a questionnaire-based, representative household survey, which aimed to analyse how various life factors affect Europeans’ quality of life. In particular, it addressed a number of key areas: employment, economic resources, housing and local environment, family and household structure, participation in the community, health and healthcare, knowledge/education and training. The results of the Foundation’s First European Quality of Life Survey were published in 2004. Since then, the Foundation has been engaged in more extensive analysis of how different aspects impact on individual quality of life in the EU. This activity has produced a series of in-depth analytical reports, which look at key components of quality of life across all 28 countries, identifying differences and similarities as well as policy implications. This report examines quality of life from the unique perspective of the two acceding countries, Bulgaria and Romania. The historical, political, socioeconomic and cultural contexts of these two countries have meant that their experiences are often quite different to those of the EU Member States. In an attempt to identify the similarities and differences between these two countries and the EU25, the report explores key aspects of quality of life in Bulgaria and Romania, namely – their economic situation, housing and the local environment, employment, education and skills, household structure and family relations, work–life balance, health and healthcare, subjective well- being, and the perceived quality of society. As well as comparing quality of life indicators of the two acceding countries with the EU25 as a whole, the report also draws comparisons between the two countries and the six lower income EU Member States. In light of Bulgaria and Romania’s impending entry into the EU, this report is particularly timely in its efforts to underline the key challenges that lie ahead for ensuring these countries’ proper integration in the EU. We hope that the findings of this report will contribute to shaping EU policies aimed at solving such issues and at improving quality of life for people living in Bulgaria and Romania and throughout the EU. Jorma Karppinen Willy Buschak Director Deputy Director v Country codes Abbreviations EU6 Low Six low-income EU Member States EU25 whose GDP per capita lies below AT Austria 60% of the EU25 mean (see p. 8): BE Belgium Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, CZ Czech Republic Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia CY Cyprus EQLS European Quality of Life Survey DK Denmark PPS Purchasing Power Standard EE Estonia EU15 15 EU Member States (pre May FI Finland 2004) FR France NMS 10 new Member States that joined DE Germany the EU in May 2004 EL Greece EU25 25 EU Member States (post May HU Hungary 2004) IE Ireland GDP Gross Domestic Product IT Italy LV Latvia LT Lithuania LU Luxembourg MT Malta NL Netherlands PL Poland PT Portugal SK Slovakia SI Slovenia ES Spain SE Sweden UK United Kingdom Acceding countries BG Bulgaria RO Romania Candidate countries TR Turkey HR Croatia vi Contents Foreword v Introduction 1 1 – Economic situation 7 2 – Housing and local environment 17 3 – Employment, education and skills 25 4 – Household structure and family relations 35 5 – Work–life balance 43 6 – Health and healthcare 49 7 – Subjective well-being 59 8 – Perceived quality of society 69 9 –Conclusions 77 Bibliography 87 vii Introduction Following enlargement in May 2004, the European Union is increasingly being characterised by a variety of economic, social and cultural differences among its Member States. Thus, an important focus of EU social and economic policy is to foster economic and social cohesion in order to reduce the inequalities that are currently visible across Europe, lowering the gap between older and new Member States with respect to living and working conditions. Further enlargement of the EU through the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, which is scheduled for 2007, will bring to the fore once again the issue of economic and social inequalities and the need for policies aimed at moderating differences, while still maintaining a positive overall trend of growth. In order to reduce inequalities in an enlarged Europe, policymakers and social actors need reliable information on how people live and react to their living conditions. Against this background, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions launched the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) in 28 countries in 2003, examining key aspects of quality of life in the 25 EU Member States (EU25), the two acceding countries – Bulgaria and Romania – and one candidate country, Turkey. Since the Foundation published the results of this survey in 2004, it has been engaged in more in-depth analysis of key components of quality of life, based on the initial findings of the EQLS. Among the series of analytical reports based on these findings, this report focuses on quality of life in the two acceding countries – Bulgaria and Romania. The report, which provides the first comprehensive analysis of quality of life in these two countries in a European context, explores both the objective living conditions of people in Bulgaria and Romania and their subjective well-being, along with people’s perception of the society in which they live. The main objectives of the report are to describe the material conditions and subjective well-being of people living in Bulgaria and Romania, and to identify the relationship between objective living conditions and subjective components of quality of life. Furthermore, the report compares the two countries from a number of quality of life dimensions, identifying areas in which the two countries are either similar or dissimilar in relation to eight major domains of quality of life and with regard to their economic, social, cultural and political integration in the EU. Moreover, the report places the situation of Bulgaria and Romania in a broader European context by comparing the results of these two countries with those of the six lower income and former communist new Member States (EU6 Low)1 – Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – and also with the EU25 as a whole. Such comparisons help in assessing whether the two countries pose the same challenges for EU integration as the other former communist countries that joined the EU in 2004, or whether the accession of Bulgaria and Romania creates specific and new integration challenges for the EU. Given the impending accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU, such a report is particularly timely. Although quality of life is not a criterion for accession, researching this sphere contributes to understanding the disparities in the various realms of people’s lives and to identifying appropriate measures that are needed in order to achieve social cohesion at European level. Moreover, although the situation of Bulgaria and Romania has changed significantly over the last three years since the EQLS data were first collected in 2003, the comparisons between the two countries and between 1 EU6 Low refers to the six low income EU Member States whose gross domestic product (GDP) per capita lies below 60% of the EU15 average. This particular country grouping is adapted from a similar classification used by the Commission’s Directorate General for Regional Policy in summarising inequalities in levels of economic development across EU Member States.