OECD: Europeans Less Satisfied than Others

People across the developed world are less satisfied and more suspicious of their governments than they were before the financial crisis began, with the euro zone feeling worse than their U.S. counterparts, a new study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found.

While average life satisfaction levels across the 34 member countries of the OECD have dipped slightly between 2011 and 2012, the overall score has stayed fairly level in the five years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. However, individual countries showed wide differences in satisfaction levels. Between 2007 and 2012, the “How’s Life?” report finds that average life satisfaction declined by more than 20 percent in Greece, 12 percent in Spain, and 10 percent in Italy, as the hardest-hit euro zone countries struggled with high unemployment and severe austerity measures.

Meanwhile, satisfaction levels fell slower in the U.S. declining by 7 percent in the four years to 2012. And Germany, Israel, Mexico, Russia and Sweden all saw increases in their satisfaction levels.

CNBC

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.