Quality of social life in EU and candidate member states

¶ … Economics Finance and Management

In 1958, six of the most powerful European countries formed an alliance that was called the European Economic Community. These initial countries were France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Luxembourg and the formation was the incipient form of the European Union. Gradually, more countries joined the Union, which is today formed from a total of 27 states.

The European Union is now facing dramatic challenges as a result of the internationalized economic crisis, which affects its stability. The majority of the problems are raised by the situations in Greece, followed by instabilities in Italy and Spain. At the moment, a possibility is being discussed for the usage of the Euro -- the currency of the European Union -- to be restricted. Major decisions have yet to be made.

The future of the EU is uncertain, but the union strives to develop and implement measures which restore its economic stability. Still, aside from its problems, the non-member states of Europe continue to adhere to the EU and intensify their efforts to comply with the regulations imposed and become member states of the European Union.

In this setting, a question is being posed relative to the reasons as to why the non-EU countries wish to become member states, even if the union is now facing severe challenges and its currency and economic stability are threatened. The answers are complex, including an increased access to financial resources, the liberalization of circulation from the country to other EU member states, all which would lead to increases in the living standards and well-being of the population.

The current project strives to further investigate this hypothesis by comparing the quality of the social life in four of the six initial member states of the EU, with those in three states which are currently striving to adhere to the European Union. The comparison would as such be conducted between France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, on the one hand, and Iceland, Croatia and Turkey on the other hand. The expectation is that the quality of social life in the first four states is increased and that the latter three strive to become member states so that their own quality of social life can also increase.

2. Data description

The data to be used in the analysis proposed is secondary information, retrieved from the forth round of the European Social Survey, conducted in 2008. The information relevant to the question posed is presented below. In other words, the table below reveals various indicators of the quality of the social life in the seven countries selected for analysis.

Note: the data in the Survey of the European Union contained detailed information on the answers provided by each respondent. The data integrated throughout this project is a simplified version of the respective source, with the variables having been established based on the estimation of a mean value from the answers provided by the respondents in the survey.

Netuse = Personal use of internet / e-mail / world wide web -- It is expected that the higher levels of this indicator reveal higher quality of the social life as the people are better educated to use the internet and have an increased access to computers and the web.

Polintr = How interested is the population in politics. A higher level of this indicator reveals higher levels of education among the population, who is able to follow and understand politics. This is indicative of high social conditions, through better access to education and politics understanding.

Trstlgl = Trust in the legal system. Countries with better developed economic and social systems are often characterized by a well developed legal system, in which the population trusts. Socially and economically weak states often reveal less performant legal systems, which are subsequently less trusted by the population.

Stflife = The levels of satisfaction the population reveals in regard to life as a whole. The higher values of this indicator reveal higher social and economic living conditions, whereas in less economically and socially developed states, the values would be expected to rank lower.

Stfedu = The state of education in the country, at the present time. In socially and economically developed states, education would rank higher as the quality of the educational act would be increased, as would be the access to education.

Stfhlth = The state of healthcare within the country, at the present time. In countries better developed from the social and economic standpoint, the quality of the medical act would be increased to the increased quality of it, as well as the increased access of the population to healthcare.

Freehms = The ability of the gay population to live as they wish. This also indicates the levels of social development through the acceptance and lack of discrimination of non-traditional life styles.

Scnsenv = The use of modern science to solve environmental problems. This indicator is more so linked to technological development, but high levels of technologic development within the country positively impact the levels of social development.

Happy = The actual level of happiness and contempt regarding the life of the individual. The population in better developed states would be expected to reveal higher levels of happiness.

Aesfdrk = The levels of safety felt by the individuals when walking alone at night. The expectation is that the of the levels of this indicator to be higher in more socially and economically developed states, where crime rates would be lower, and the population would feel safer.

Health = The health of the individual as perceived by themselves (subjective health). Similar to most indicators, the values for this index are expected to be higher in more developed states, where the people are able to better access information and medical services, and are as such in a better shape.

Schtaut = The schools teach children to obey authority. In most developed nations, the educational institutions place an increased emphasis on creativity and freedom, to stimulate the learning process. In less socially developed regions nonetheless, the educational emphasis would sometimes fall on obedience.

Wmcpwrk = The women in the country are expected to reduce their paid work in order to take care of their families. In the less socially developed states, this indicator would be higher, as the gender inequality is still high.

Mnrgtjb = The access of males to jobs should be increased in comparison to the access of women to jobs, especially when jobs are scarce. High values of this indicator once again reveal low levels of gender equality and social development.

Slvpens and slvuemp = The living standards of the pensioners and the unemployment, with the expectation that these would be increased in better developed states, and decreased in states which are less developed from the social and economic standpoint.

Yngfnjb = The opportunities for the young population to find the first full time job. This would be expected to be increased in better developed countries.

3. Multivariate analysis

Croatia, Turkey and Iceland are currently increasing their efforts to adhere to the European Union, and a presumption in this sense is represented by the fact that they do so in an effort to increase their social living standards. In other words, it was initially believed that the quality of social life in the EU member states -- hereby represented by France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands -- was superior to that in the candidate states. This hypothesis would be addressed with the aid of multivariate analysis, represented at this stage by the analysis of concepts through descriptive angles, as these best apply in the context of social studies.

a) Personal use of the internet

The usage of the internet is rather similar in France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Iceland. It is however less used in Croatia and Turkey. This indicates that from this criterion, Iceland is already as developed as the EU member states and is adhering for other reasons.

b) Interest in politics

The interest in politics is rather linear throughout the totality of the seven states assessed, being only slightly higher in Belgium. This feature indicates that the interest in politics is not necessarily one of the most powerful indicators of social development, but it might in fact represent a personal choice and a generalized lack of interest in politics, throughout the entire globe.

c) Trust in the legal system

At the level of the legal system, most trust is revealed in Belgium and Turkey, followed by France and the Netherlands, and Germany. Iceland and Croatia do however reveal low levels of trust in the legal system, meaning that the adherence to the EU could help improve this sector.

d) Satisfaction with life as a whole

The people most satisfied with their lives live in Belgium, followed by the inhabitants of Netherlands and France, and eventually Belgium. At the level of the candidate states, their levels of happiness are somewhat different. Specifically, the people in Iceland are just as happy as the French and the Dutch. Still, the people in Turkey and Croatia are significantly less happy. This could indicate that the latter two countries seek to join the EU in hopes of more prosperous futures.

e) State of education in the country

From the standpoint of education, this is best ranked in Belgium, with a score of 8.8 on a scale from 1 to ten, and it is closely followed by France, with a score of 8.5, on the same scale. The Germans ranked their educational system with an 8, and the Dutch ranked their educational system with a 7. Turkey reveals a similar perception of its educational system as the Dutch, but the Croatians and the Turks have less positive perceptions over their educational systems.

From this standpoint then, it could be argued that all three non-EU member states would benefit from the accession to the EU as this would serve as grounds for improvement of their educational sectors.

f) State of health services in the country

From the standpoint of healthcare provision, the differences are mostly observable between the two categories of countries -- EU members and non-EU members. All four countries in the European Union reveal high levels of health care services -- access, quality etc. France is the leader of the group, with a 9 point on a scale from 1 to 10. It is followed by Germany, with 8.5, Belgium with 8 and Netherlands with 7. Iceland is the exception of the non-EU states, with a rank of 7. Still, Croatia and Turkey rank even lower, with 4, respectively 6. Through these lenses then, it could be argued that these latter two states strive to improve the levels of their health care services and aim to use the membership to the EU as a means of attaining this objective.

h) Use of science to solve environmental problems

The highest levels of science usage to solve environmental problems are observed in Iceland, revealing as such that the country is highly developed from the technological standpoint. This was also observed throughout the analysis of the first indicator -- usage of the internet -- where Iceland ranked higher that the other two candidate states. From this standpoint then, it would seem that Iceland is not striving to adhere to the EU in an effort to improve its technology.

Lower levels of science usage to solve environmental problems are observed in all the other states, with the lowest being common in Turkey.

i) Happiness of population

The population in the Netherlands has declared to be the happiest, granting this index a 9 on a scale from one to ten. The second happiest people are the French, the Belgians and the Icelanders, with an eight value of the index. The Germans computed a happiness index of 7.5, which is followed by Croatians with 7 and Turks with 6. With the exception of Germany -- which is often perceived as a more reserved and less open people -- the countries in the EU seem to present their inhabitants with more opportunities to be happy. From this social standpoint then, it is expected for the non-EU member states to strive and adhere to the formation.

j) Feeling of safety

When walking alone, in a dark area of their country, the French are the ones who feel safest; they are followed quite closely by the Dutch, the Germans and the Belgians. Croatia, Turkey and Iceland all reveal lower levels of safety upon walking alone in the dark.

From this standpoint then, it is noted that the higher levels of safety and protection against crime might represent criteria in the determination of Iceland, Croatia and Turkey to joining the European Union.

k) Subjective health

The populations in the seven states assess their own health at similar levels, and these levels are generically low. On a scale from one to ten, Croatians and Germans indicated their subjective health as a 2; Icelanders gave it a 2.5 and Turks, Dutch, Belgians and French gave it a 3.

The low levels of subjective health would be more so associated with changes in the global environment, such as the emphasis on an unhealthy nutrition or a sedentary life style, elements which are common across the entire globe. From this standpoint then, the subjective health does not seem to represent an important criterion in the desire to adhere to the European Union.

l) Obedience in schools

The degree to which school teachers promote obedience in schools is rather limited in all seven countries, with only slight variances existing. As a result of these variances, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands seem to be placing more emphasis on obedience than the schools in Croatia, Turkey and Iceland. A possible interpretation of this would be represented by the fact that the first four countries already promote creativity, but they are also going back to discipline as a way of functioning in society, whereas the educational institutions in the last three countries would be more permissive towards students, as a process of social emancipation.

m) Women cutting paid work to attend to the family needs

When it comes to women leaving paid work to attend to the needs of the family, most of the countries reveal similar perceptions which agree with this statement. Intriguingly enough, this perception is less common in Turkey, and this could be explained by two potential features. On the one hand, there are the traditionalists Turks, who already believe that women should not work outside the household. On the other hand, there are those who support social change and allow the same rights to women as they do to men, regardless of the shape of the economy (Ozturk, 2007).

n) More jobs for men in times of job scarcity

The belief that men should be presented with more jobs when these are scarce is highly common in most countries, revealing similar features in six countries, with the exception of Turkey. In this country, this perception is decreased and this could be explained by the fact that women in Turkey are already less present in the labor force than their male counterparts (Tunah and Baslevent).

o) Standard of living for pensioners

The highest levels of life among the retired population are observed in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, followed by Iceland, and then France. The lowest standards of life for the pensioners are revealed in Croatia and Turkey.

p) Standard of living for the unemployed

The unemployed population lives by the highest standards in Iceland, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, followed by France. In Turkey and Croatia however, the unemployed live by dramatic standards, indicating that the countries do require improvement which could be supported by the EU.

q) Employment opportunities for the youth

The youth are presented with most opportunities to find their first full time job in Belgium and the Netherlands, which are followed by Germany and Iceland, and eventually by France. The lowest levels of employment opportunities for the youth are obvious in Croatia and Turkey, indicating that the two states would perceive the membership to the EU as an opportunity to improve this indicator.

4. Conclusions

The current project has started at the premises that the European Union represents the promise and hope for a better life. With this belief in mind, non-EU member states strive to join the formation and as such increase their living standards and the quality of their social life.

In order to test this hypothesis, several indicators of the social dimension of life were selected for seven different countries -- four member states of the EU (founding states even) and three candidate states. The starting point was represented by the belief that the candidate countries aspire to attain the same social standards as the countries already in the EU. The core focus in this stance was then represented by the analysis of the social indicators to test the existence of differences.

The differences were generally obvious in various fields, such as the happiness of the population or the usage of the internet. Still, there were other indicators as well which did not reveal variations across countries, including most obviously the interest in politics. What is noteworthy however is the fact that the hypothesis is best revealed in the case of Croatia and Turkey, with Iceland revealing higher levels of social development, similar to the EU founding states.

Based on the analysis conducted, it is concluded that significant differences are indeed observed among the countries. In other words, the initial hypothesis that the membership to the European Union promotes increased social standards is validated.

References:

Ozturc, Y., 2007, Negotiating modernity: early childhood education policy in Turkey in the context of seeking European Union membership -- a case study of the General Directorate of Preschool Education,

Tunah, I., Bashevent, C., Female labor supply in Turkey, in The Turkish economy: the real economy, corporate governance and reform, Routledge

Round 4 of the European Social Survey, http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org / last accessed on January 12, 2012