IRISH ATTITUDES towards job prospects and personal finances are among the most gloomy in the EU, a new survey has revealed.
A Eurobarometer poll on the social impact of the financial crisis was released yesterday at a conference on the European year for combating poverty and social exclusion in 2010.
Irish respondents were the least hopeful of the EU27 when asked about chances of finding a job in the next six months if made redundant. More than two-thirds said it was not likely, including a third saying it was not at all likely.
This compares to the EU average of a half, and to one third of Swedish respondents, who said they were not likely to find a job.
Robert Manchin of Gallup presented the findings, which surveyed 25,000 people in July. He commented on the Irish pessimism and said that while the unemployment rates in Ireland and Sweden were similar, the perceptions were different. However, he added that citizens’ perceptions often anticipate what is happening in the real economy.
Irish people were also among those most concerned about finances. Some 43 per cent expected their fiscal positions to worsen in 2010. Only Latvian, Lithuanian and Hungarian respondents were more gloomy. For the EU average, just a quarter expected their situation to worsen.
Irish people were also more worried than most Europeans about repaying debt.
A quarter of Irish respondents said there was a risk that they would fall behind in repaying loans compared with the EU average of 19 per cent and 14 per cent in the UK.
More than a quarter of Irish people also said there was a risk that they would fall behind with rent or mortgage payments in the next year, compared with just 18 per cent of the EU average and 14 per cent in the UK.
Irish people were more positive in their perceptions of poverty than most EU citizens. Over a quarter of Irish respondents thought there had been a reduction in poverty in Ireland in the last year. This compared with eight in 10 of the EU average who thought poverty had increased.
Some 69 per cent of Irish people felt poverty was widespread, less than the average of three-quarters of EU citizens. Commission president José Manuel Barroso said this view of widespread poverty was “worrying”. Combating poverty and social exclusion was a priority for the EU project, he said.