Eurofound surveys
Eurofound surveys are regular pan-European studies that gather comparative data on living and working conditions across the European Union.
European Quality of Life Surveys (EQLS)
The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is a monitoring tool to capture quality of life in multiple dimensions. Since its launch in 2003, the EQLS has developed into a valuable set of indicators which complements traditional indicators of economic growth and living standards such as GDP or income. The EQLS indicators are as clear and appealing as GDP, however they are more inclusive of environmental and social aspects of progress and therefore are easily integrated into the decision-making process and taken up by public debate at EU and national levels in the European Union.
The EQLS examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general.
The main objectives of the survey are to:
identify groups at risk and issues of concern as well as of progress
monitor trends by providing homogeneous indicators on these issues
contribute to European policy development on living conditions
The EQLS is a representative, questionnaire-based interview survey that covers the adult population (18+ years).
The EQLS covers life domains that correspond to a wide range of policy areas and programmes carried out by European institutions. Many of those policies address a range of issues affecting quality of life, quality of society and quality of public services. These include employment, income, education, housing, family, health and work–life balance. The survey also looks at subjective topics, such as people’s levels of happiness, how satisfied they are with their lives and how they perceive the quality of their societies and public services. This multi-dimensional approach to quality of life has remained robust through the survey editions, even if topics and indicators have expanded over time to reflect emerging policy themes. By running the survey regularly, it has also become possible to track key trends in the quality of people's lives over time.
In view of the prospective European enlargements and interest from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, the geographical coverage of the EQLS has expanded over time. The timeline below lists the countries covered in the various editions of the survey.
In addition, a number of questions from the EQLS 2007–2008 were asked as part of a Eurobarometer survey in 2009 which allowed for the study of Trends in quality of life in the EU: 2003-2009.
EQLS 2016
EQLS 2012
EQLS 2003
Eurofound experts
You can contact the following experts for questions on the survey.
Sara Riso
Research managerSara Riso is a research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. She is involved in research projects in the areas of employment change and restructuring.
Topics of expertise
Mary McCaughey
Head of UnitMary McCaughey is Head of Information and Communication in Eurofound. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the College of Europe, Bruges, she started work in Brussels with Europolitics and the Wall Street Journal Europe. She worked with the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) in South Africa during the country’s transition to democracy, and in 1998 she took up the post of spokesperson with the Delegation of the European Union in Pretoria, heading up its press and information department during the negotiation of the EU–South Africa free trade agreement. Following the end of the Kosovo War, she worked as a communications consultant for the European Agency for Reconstruction in Serbia. She took up the post of Editor-in-Chief in Eurofound in 2003.
Marie Hyland
Research officerMarie Hyland joined Eurofound as a research officer in the Social Policies unit in 2023. Prior to this, Marie spent several years as an economist at the World Bank, where she worked on a range of issues including gender, climate change and private sector development. Marie’s research has looked at the impact of legal discrimination on women’s economic empowerment, considered the role of firm size and managerial practices on productivity and economic development, and analysed the economics of climate change mitigation policies. Marie holds a PhD in Economics from Trinity College Dublin.
Topics of expertise
Dragoș Adăscăliței
Research officerDragoș Adăscăliței is a research officer in the Employment unit at Eurofound. His current research focuses on topics related to the future of work, including the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs, the consequences of automation for employment and regulatory issues surrounding the platform economy.
Jorge Cabrita
Senior Research ManagerJorge Cabrita is a senior research manager in the Working Life unit. He is responsible for formulating, coordinating and managing European-wide research, and promoting the dissemination of findings in the areas of working conditions and industrial relations. His main research areas of interest include working conditions and job quality, working time and work–life balance, workers’ health and well-being, gender equality and the socioeconomic impacts of the transition to a climate-neutral economy. He is currently leading research on working time developments and on social dialogue and collective bargaining during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, he worked as a researcher at the Centre for Studies for Social Intervention and at the Research Centre on the Portuguese Economy of the Lisbon School of Economics, and as a trainer and consultant in the areas of strategic management, organisational communication, leadership and team building. He holds a BSc in Economics and an MSc in Socio-Organisational Systems of Economic Activity from the Lisbon School of Economics.
Topics of expertise
