THE PORTUGUESE are among the unhappiest and most unsatisfied people within the European Union, according to a European Lifestyle Quality Research Report.
The report, which looked at 30 countries, said they are unhappy with their quality of life, salaries and prospects.
They are also particularly unhappy with their politicians and political and legal institutions.
Portugal came in sixth as the unhappiest country in the EU while Denmark, Sweden and Finland were the happiest. The United Kingdom came in 10th.
More than half of those questioned in the Eurofound-led survey, based in Dublin, said they were not optimistic about the future.
On a scale of one to 10 for happiness and satisfaction in the survey, which asked a cross section of the population in the 27 Eurozone countries and Turkey, Macedonia and Croatia, Portuguese citizens came in sixth place as least satisfied with their quality of lives, with 6.2 points, and fifth when it came to unhappiness.
Lithuania, Romania and Estonia topped the dissatisfaction list.
Portugal’s overall position contrasted with the European average. In general, Europeans said they were on average satisfied and happy with life (7.5 points).
Portugal’s dissatisfaction was the result of various factors which were related with socio-economic problems such as income, lack of funds for essential goods, poor health and health services, work-free time imbalances, inability to trust other people or institutions.
In relation to income, Portugal is not among the lowest but is below the average (100 points) of the 27 EU countries with 82 points.
On health questions, 81 per cent of residents said that health was essential for happiness and quality of life while 30 per cent in the lowest income brackets said they had health problems.
The research study also showed that nine European Union countries in Eastern Europe and Italy and Portugal had little confidence in their political, judicial institutions and government leaders.
