Abstract
The economic crisis to hit a number of countries, particularly European Union countries, since late 2007 has triggered many unpleasant effects that are still being felt today. Faced with such a situation, the question arises as to whether the negative economic consequences of the crisis have impacted the quality of life in said countries and to what extent. A further point of interest is to ascertain which countries have been most adversely affected and which have been able to weather the storm without serious difficulties. Comparing the quality of life in countries in 2007 and 2011 allows us to analyse and quantify the impact of the economic crisis on people’s quality of life. As expected, the conclusions to emerge from the study point to significant changes in both the individual as well as relative situation in European countries and evidence that in many, there has been a substantial decline in citizens’ quality of life.
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Notes
The value of the normalised synthetic indicator for country j is \((DP2_{j} - \hbox{min} \,DP2)/(\hbox{max} \,DP2 - \hbox{min} \,DP2)\), where DP2j is the value of the synthetic indicator in country j and DP2 the vector formed by the values of the indicator in all the countries.
Zarzosa (1996) names this measure as “The Ivanovic-Pena Relative Individual Information Quantity”.
And, therefore, of the correlation coefficients, which determine these correcting factors.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Mariano Rojas, Andrés J. Picazo-Tadeo and Jorge Guardiola for their invitation to submit this paper as well as two anonymous referees for their useful comments.
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Appendix
Appendix
Component | Indicator | Definition | Source | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Household | Overcrowding | Percentage of the population living in overcrowded conditions **A person is deemed to live in overcrowded conditions if the household does not have a minimum number of rooms equal to: one room per dwelling, one room per couple in the dwelling, one room per person aged 18 or over, one room per each single person aged between 12 and 17, an area for each person between 12 and 17, and not included in the previous category, and one room for each two children below the age of 12. | Eurostat | 2007–2011 |
Household | Percentage of households lacking basic needs | Percentage of the population with no bath/shower and indoor WC for exclusive use in the household | SILC-European survey on income and living conditions | 2007–2011 |
Household | Internet access | Percentage of households with Internet access | Eurostat | 2007–2011 |
Household | Material deprivation in households | Percentage of the population living in overcrowded conditions, combined with at least one material deprivation in their household. This refers to dwellings with a leaky roof, no bath/shower and indoor WC, or dwellings deemed to be too dark. | SILC-European survey on income and living conditions | 2007–2010 |
Income | Income inequality S80/S20 | Quintile income ratios (s80/s20) | SILC-European survey on income and living conditions | 2007–2011 |
Income | Gini index | Gini index | SILC-European survey on income and living conditions | 2007–2011 |
Income | Per capita GDP | Gross Domestic Product at market prices and current prices in conditions of equal purchasing power per capita | Eurostat | 2007–2011 |
Income | Financial burden linked to accommodation in households | Percentage of the population living in households where expenses related to the dwelling represent over 40 % of disposable income | SILC-European survey on income and living conditions | 2007–2011 |
Environment | Noise | Percentage of the population living in a dwelling where noise from neighbours or the street is deemed a problem. | SILC-European survey on income and living conditions | 2007–2011 |
Environment | Pollution | Percentage of the population who feel the area where they live is affected by pollution or other environmental problems. | SILC-European survey on income and living conditions | 2007–2011 |
Environment | Greenhouse gas emissions | Greenhouse gas emissions per capita *100 | (EEA) European environment agency | 2007–2009 |
Safety | Crime and/or vandalism rate | Percentage of the population who feel crime and/or vandalism in the area where they live to be a problem. | SILC-European survey on income and living conditions | 2007–2011 |
Safety | Perceived corruption | Mean perception of corruption by countries according to entrepreneurs and analysts in the country. | http://archive.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007-2011 | 2007–2011 |
Health | Life expectancy at 65 years | Life expectancy at 65 years | European system of health indicators | 2007–2011 |
Health | Needs not met by the health system | Proportion of people who state that their health service needs are not satisfactorily met due to: financial restraints, waiting times, or distance they have to travel. | European system of health indicators | 2007–2010 |
Health | Own perception of health | Percentage of the population who state that their health is good or very good. | European system of health indicators | 2007–2010 |
Education | Secondary education | Percentage of people aged between 20 and 24 who have completed secondary school education. | Eurostat | 2007–2011 |
Education | Expected schooling | The number of years of expected education throughout the whole of the individual’s life by countries | Eurostat | 2007–2010 |
Education | Early school leaving | Percentage of young people who do not further their education after completing compulsory education | Eurostat | 2007–2001 |
Work | Employment rate | Employment ratio of 15–64 year-olds | (ELF) European Labour Force Survey | 2007–2011 |
Work | Job satisfaction | Percentage of the population who are very satisfied or satisfied with their job | (EQLS)-European Quality of Life Survey 07—(EWCS) European Working Conditions Survey | 2007–2010 |
Work | Low labour intensity | Percentage of the population who live in households with very low labour intensity. These are people between the ages of 0–59 living in households where adults worked less than 20 % of the total of their potential workload during the previous year | Eurostat | 2007–2011 |
Work | Youth unemployment | Unemployment rate among under 25 year-olds | (ELF) European Labour Force Survey | 2007–2011 |
Work | Female employment | Female employment rate | (ELF) European Labour Force Survey | 2007–2011 |
Work | Long-term unemployment | Long-term unemployment | (ELF)—European Labour Force Survey | 2007–2011 |
Society | Racial tension | Percentage of individuals who feel there is much tension between ethnic groups in their country | (EQLS)- European Quality of Life Survey 07/Eurobarometer | 2007–2009 |
Society | Tension between rich and poor | Percentage of individuals who feel there is much tension between rich and poor in their country | (EQLS- European Quality of Life Survey 07/Eurobarometer | 2007–2009 |
Happiness | Satisfaction with life | Percentage of the population who are very or fairly satisfied with life | Eurobarometer | 2007–2011 |
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Somarriba Arechavala, N., Zarzosa Espina, P. & Pena Trapero, B. The Economic Crisis and its Effects on the Quality of Life in the European Union. Soc Indic Res 120, 323–343 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0595-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0595-9