Irish among Most Satisfied in Europe' with Overall Quality of Life

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The Irish population is among the most satisfied in Europe when it comes to overall quality of life, official data suggest. According to the European Commission's data analysis arm Eurostat, Irish and Finnish people are the happiest when a range of factors such as health, home life, safety, and finances are taken into account. The average satisfaction with the quality of life across the EU and affiliated countries that are not members of the bloc, such as Norway, is given as 7.3 out of a possible 10. Ireland and Finland top the list in the bloc at 8.1 out of 10. The Irish metric in 2018, from where the latest data is extrapolated, is far higher than in 2013, when the country was still feeling the aftershocks of the worst financial crisis in living memory, and unemployment and spending power was precarious. Ireland ranked as eight out of 10, higher than the EU average of 7.4, but below the Danes and Finns who topped the housing satisfaction list at 8.4; it is unclear what factors were gauged when extrapolating satisfaction in relation to housing. When it comes to satisfaction with personal finances, Ireland ranked at 7.2, above the EU average of 6.5, but below the Nordic nations of Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. Just under half of Irish people said, "They were reasonably happy with their personal finances, while just over 28% said they were very happy. Just over 22% said they had low levels of satisfaction with their money." The annual equivalised disposable income — which is the total income of a household, after tax and other deductions, that is available for spending or saving, divided by the number of household members — stood at just over €25,500, according to Eurostat data. Irish people are among the most satisfied with their jobs in Europe, the data show. The Irish rate of job satisfaction stood at 7.8, compared to 7.2 across the EU, but below Finland at 8.1. More than 38% of Irish people classed themselves as highly satisfied with their jobs, while half said they were reasonably so. When it comes to the use of time, Ireland was just above the EU average at 6.9. Employees in Ireland work around 36.5 hours per week, and just over 29% said they were very happy with how they use their time. More than 42% said they were reasonably happy with it, but almost 29% said they were not satisfied. Irish people feel safer than most of the rest of their European neighbours. Two-thirds of Maltese people feel safe walking alone in the dark, compared to a third of Irish people. The EU average is around 27%. Only around 10% of Lithuanian people feel safe enough to do so.