Chiswickite - formerly The Croydonian

Because the latest eurostat figures have the Danes leading the EU for rating themselves both very happy (49%) and happy (97%). We are well above average (87%/26%) at 92% /39%, as are the Swedes, belying their reputation somewhat. Things are rather less fine and dandy in the Balkans, with only 39% of Bulgarians rating themselves as even 'happy'. Maybe they need whatever goes into the Copenhagen water supply, or are running low on Danish blue, watery bacon and non-descript lager.

Moving on, we are at risk of losing our reputation as a nation of moaners - 93% are satisified with their standard of living and 88% with their quality of life. The Bulgarians are the least satisfied with either, with the French and Portuguese the only western European countries falling below the average response for the first question and the Portos and Italians below par for quality of life. Worth mentioning that to Algarve and Tuscan ex-pats, I would think.

Incremental updates to follow.

So, onwards:

Pensions are not being anticipated with much enthusiasm. The British are among the more optimistic, with half confident in the future of pension provision. Even the cheery Danes only manage 74%, and top the list. The French manage 32% and the Germans 25%. Mind you, a survey some years back showed that more Britons felt that they were in with a shot at winning the lottery than thought they would have a state pension that kept them comfortable.

88% of Nederlanders feel comfortable walking home at night, to two-thirds of us and a rather unnerving 45% of Latvians.

Health, family, friends and leisure rate as the most important things in the life of Euro man and Euro Woman. Work is rather more popular in France, Slovenia, Italy and Luxembourg at a nauseating 90% plus, whereas we and the Hibernians put the Curse of the Drinking Classes back in its box with 66% and 69% rating it important.

When troubles come, be they a need for advice, health or an attack of the miseries, we chaps bend the ears of our significant others disproportionately. They, however, call on family, by which I think we can assume mother. In terms of matters domestic, Greek women have the least helpful men folk - 91% do all the cleaning, 93% all the cooking and 95% all the ironing. Even in the three Nordic countries, women still do roughly two thirds of the three tasks.

An astonishingly high 30% of Britons judge childcare facilities satisfactory and 62% our schools. We are, naturally, near the bottom.

Elsewhere, what with 'volunteering' being all the rage with wonk groups and the like, watch out for the Austrians, Dutch and Swedes being held up as paragons of civic virtue: more than half volunteer, or else are good at lying to box tickers. 28% of us manage it (yeah, right...) , but the Latvians are having none of it 11%, probably because they do not fancy having to get home after dark.

Labels: EU fun and games, surveys

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 5:16 pm. You can skip to the end and leave a response.