Hungarians trust the least the healthcare system within the EU

Eurofound has published the first results of its Living, working and COVID-19 survey that presents how the coronavirus pandemic has influenced Europeans’ life. Hungary’s level of happiness and satisfaction with life is below the European average. We have a low level of confidence in our national government, but we trust the EU more than average. According to the data, Hungarians have the lowest level of trust in the healthcare system throughout the EU.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had comprehensive effects on all aspects of people’s lives across the EU. In April 2020, Eurofound, an agency for the improvement of living and working conditions, conducted an e-survey, Living, working and COVID-19, to assess the most immediate changes and difficulties that occurred in the European Union due to the coronavirus pandemic. The aim was to get a comprehensive picture of people’s current living conditions, quality of life, well-being, work situation, and work-life balance. The survey includes questions ranging from life satisfaction, happiness, and optimism, to health and levels of trust in institutions.

The questions measure the level of various aspects on a scale of 1 to 10. As far as life satisfaction is concerned, Denmark has the highest score with 7.4 and Greece has the lowest with 5.1. Hungarian people are less satisfied with their lives than the EU average (6.3). The data about happiness show a similar pattern: Denmark is the happiest country (7.3) and Greek people are the least happy (5.5).

Considering all 27 countries, young individuals and people looking for a job have reported the lowest levels of mental well-being.

Less than half of Europeans (45%) feel optimistic about their future as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. There is growing uncertainty surrounding further job losses and reductions in working time.