According to a new survey published by the official EU organization (Eurofound, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions)-“Quality of life in the EU in 2024: Results from the Living and Working in the EU e-survey“, Greeks are the most pessimistic of all member states, but also the most dissatisfied with their standard of living. They are also deeply disappointed with the way democracy works in their country, coming third from the bottom after Orban’s Hungary, not far behind neighboring Bulgaria, which is experiencing a prolonged political crisis.

Surveys and polls
Eurofound’s findings add to the pile of recent surveys that paint a bleak picture of living conditions in Greece, in contrast to the government’s celebrations of economic growth. Beyond “anti-political” suspicion, international organizations such as Eurostat, the OECD, and the Eurobarometer rank Greece among the last in the EU in terms of quality of life, purchasing power of wages, financial difficulties of households, and citizens’ access to health. Even the monthly economic climate reports of IOBE – an institution representing the “elite” of the business world in Greece – consistently rank Greeks as the most pessimistic in Europe, with the consumer confidence index in last place, with minimal fluctuations from month to month.
If we add to this body of research the polls that show Greeks struggling for accuracy, worrying about the country’s course and distrusting institutions, an overall negative picture emerges. A picture that is difficult to offset by positive performance in specific economic indicators. Since those participating in the surveys cannot belong to “sad minorities”, nor be motivated by “leveling nihilism”, it is probably not the shore that is crooked, but the people who are crooked in Greece. The question is how the widespread social discontent is expressed and whether there is a coherent alternative proposal.
What the Eurofound survey shows
Eurofound’s surveys on the quality of life and work in Europe have been conducted online, at regular intervals since 2020, and have so far collected over 260,000 responses. The latest survey is the 7th in a row.
The rising cost of living continues to be the main concern of respondents across the EU, with low- and middle-income households particularly affected.
These households are finding it harder to make ends meet and afford the costs of energy, housing and leisure compared to 2023.
Trust in institutions, such as the EU, national governments and healthcare systems, has remained relatively stable since the end of the pandemic, at least on average among respondents in the EU. However, there was a slight decrease in trust in the EU and satisfaction with democracy compared to 2023 levels.
Access to health
A worrying finding of the 2024 online survey is the deterioration of mental well-being, with respondents reporting lower mental health scores. Unmet healthcare needs continue to affect respondents, particularly those aged 50-64 and those from low-income households. Older respondents report greater difficulty accessing hospital and specialist services, while younger respondents more often report unmet needs for mental health services.
Respondents with disabilities are more likely to experience unmet medical needs, especially those struggling to make ends meet. Cost is the most commonly cited barrier to accessing healthcare services among this group.

Struggling to make ends meet
For the 50-64 age group, 2024 was overall worse than 2023 in terms of financial difficulties. In this category, the proportion of people “struggling to make ends meet” increased by 12 percentage points across Europe, while there was also a significant increase in younger ages.
Among the Member States, Greece has by far the highest proportion of those struggling to make ends meet, at 55%. This is followed by Croatia with 45% and Estonia and Latvia with 41%. The European average is also high, with three in ten households struggling to make ends meet.
Greece also had the highest proportion of respondents who said they might have to leave their accommodation in the coming months because they can no longer afford it (22%), followed by Cyprus (19%). Across Europe, 7% of respondents face housing insecurity.

Pessimistic and disappointed
In Greece, only 20% of respondents say they are optimistic about the future, the lowest percentage in Europe, along with the Italians. On the other hand, the most optimistic are the Irish and the Danes with percentages of 49% and 48% respectively.
According to the Eurofound analysis, optimism is related to a series of objective factors. One of them is age. The probability of optimism increases by 18 percentage points in the age group of 16-29, compared to the reference group of 40-54, when other characteristics are similar.
Being unemployed reduces the average probability of feeling optimistic by 6 percentage points. The household’s net disposable income is another crucial factor. The likelihood of optimism decreases by 13 percentage points for people with lower incomes and increases by 15 percentage points for people with higher incomes, compared to people with middle incomes. Other factors that positively influence optimism include completing higher education (+12 percentage points), being male or living with a partner (+2 percentage points).

Dissatisfied
Along with the decline in optimism, life satisfaction also declined between 2023 and 2024. Greece has the lowest life satisfaction rates. When asked “how satisfied are you with your life,” on a scale of 0 to 10, Greeks are the only people to score below the baseline, with an average of 4.5. Estonians and Hungarians follow with 5 points, while the European average is 5.8. Austrians, Dutch, and Danes are the most satisfied with 6.5 and 6.3 respectively.
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