The latest Eurostat data show that those with children at home consider themselves more satisfied than average. Young people are more positive than older people.
Photo: [link]Simon Berger[/link], Unsplash, CC0.
A 7.3 out of 10, ‘more satisfied than dissatisfied with life’. This is how recent Eurostat data define the average European Union citizen.
Finland, closely followed by Belgium, Austria, Romania and Slovenia are the countries where most people said they felt “satisfied” with their life (between 7.7 and 7.8). These countries are in different regions of the continent, so it is not possible to associate satisfaction with a geographical pattern.
The least positive responses, although also above 5 points, are found in Greece, Lithuania (both 6.9) and especially Bulgaria (5.9).
[photo_footer] Data and graph: Eurostat. [/photo_footer] These numbers were published by the European Commission's statistical research service in January 2025, although they are based on data from 2023.
What factors influence people’s perception of their own lives? One of them is clearly having children. “People living in households with children consider their life satisfaction to be higher, on average, than those living in households without children”, the report explains.
In addition, the younger age group (16-29 years) expresses higher life satisfaction than older people (over 65 years), with the exception of some rich countries such as Denmark, Sweden, or the Netherlands.
[photo_footer] Data and graph: Eurostat. [/photo_footer] Educational background also plays a role. But even so, “while people who are the highest earners/ most educated tend to be more satisfied with their lives on average than those with the lowest incomes or who have, at most, a primary education, even people in the lowest categories tend to be more satisfied with their lives than not”, Eurostat adds.
Being male or female has no influence on the outlook on life (with only a 0.1 difference between the two sexes).
Finland, the leader in this list published by Eurostat, has been consistently presented as “the happiest country in the world” also in other rankings.
However, respondents’ self-perceptions may not always match the reality presented by other objectively measurable data. Finland has one of the highest rates of drug overdose deaths as well as antidepressant use.
“Finns have a deep-seated idea that one should not complain about unnecessary things. This can affect how Finns respond in this type of survey”, Matti Korhonen, a journalist in Finland, previously told Evangelical Focus.
Does the sense of satisfaction with life have anything to do with faith? “Finns generally don’t think much about how faith affects the country’s happiness”, Korhonen adds. “However, researchers have suggested that the Nordic welfare state is built on the principles of the Lutheran Reformation. And it is clear that, for example, our legislation is built on the basis of Christian values. Even though religiosity in decline, belief in God has built this country”.
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