Monitoring quality of life in Europe

The challenges arising from low employment rates, an ageing population, changing family structures and social exclusion have pushed ‘quality of life’ issues to the front of the EU social policy agenda. The Foundation has launched an initiative to improve the monitoring and reporting of living conditions and quality of life in Europe. The first step was to develop a conceptual framework that would be appropriate for the Foundation’s mission to meet information needs of policy-makers among public authorities and social partners, specifically at EU level.This report examines key concepts, research and policy developments related to quality of life. It identifies gaps in information and develops a strategy for monitoring. It recommends focusing on a limited number of life domains and analysing the linkages between them, with time use regarded as a crucial aspect of the interrelationships. The conclusions prepare the way for a new survey of quality of life in 28 European countries. This survey will enable the Foundation to describe and analyse trends on a comparative basis and to identify emerging issues for future EU policy.