Social Monitor: Romanians more worried about declining living standards than most EU citizens

Declining living standards and poverty are among Romanians’ leading economic concerns, with worries significantly higher than the European Union averages, according to Eurobarometer data analysed by the Social Monitor, a project of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania. Some 62% of Romanian respondents expressed concern about falling living standards, compared with 40% across the EU, while 48% were worried about poverty, versus a European average of 32%.

The findings placed Romania among the EU countries where economic insecurity is most pronounced. Poland recorded considerably lower levels of concern, with 36% of respondents worried about declining living standards and 21% about poverty.

Asked which goods and services they feared they might be unable to afford over the next 12 months, 45% of Romanians mentioned travel. Utilities and medical care followed, each cited by 44% of respondents. Romania’s level of concern about utility bills was exceeded only by Ireland, at 47%, and Greece, at 58%, the report revealed.

Meanwhile, 40% of Romanian respondents said they feared being unable to afford food, a share close to those recorded in Ireland, Greece, and Portugal.

By contrast, basic expenses such as food, housing, and utilities were less prominent concerns in Germany, France, and Italy, where respondents were more worried about discretionary spending, including travel, entertainment, and eating out.

Meanwhile, half of Romanian respondents described the country’s current economic situation as poor, while 25% considered it neither good nor bad and slightly more than one-fifth rated it positively. The results were broadly in line with the EU averages of 49%, 25% and 24%, respectively.

Assessments of personal finances were also close to the European average. Some 34% of Romanians described their economic situation as good, 38% as neither good nor bad, and 27% as poor.

According to the same analysis, Romanians were divided over the prospects of the next generation. While 42% believed today’s children would have a lower standard of living than their parents when they reach adulthood, 35% expected them to be better off.

This made Romania more pessimistic than several other eastern EU countries. Only around 26-27% of respondents in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland expected the next generation to have a lower standard of living.