Hungarians see brighter future than do citizens of other EU countries after first wave

Hortobágy, Hungary. Photo: MTI

Hungarians see a brighter future compared with the citizens of many other EU countries after the first wave of coronavirus, according to a survey by Eurofound conducted in July.

Around 10 percent of Europeans have lost their jobs since the coronavirus appeared, with the most affected in Spain and Greece, according to the survey carried by Tuesday’s Magyar Nemzet. After the spring lockdown was lifted, only 3 percent managed to find a job again.

In Hungary, Austria and Denmark, only 5 percent of employees saw their jobs at risk compared with 15-20 percent in Bulgaria and Greece and 10 percent on average in the EU as a whole.

In Hungary, a large number of respondents looked ahead to improved financial prospects following the corona restrictions, while in the EU as a whole the outlook did not change significantly.

Fully 44 percent of EU households said their reserves were insufficient for three months, while citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Hungary, were the most upbeat in this regard,

and 16 percent of respondents were confident their household finances would improve, as against an EU average of 12 percent.