Europe's Fear of the Future

The discussions about euro bonds, government debt and bankruptcies have left traces all over Europe. Only two out of five Europeans (40%) say that they view the future with hope. In 2010, it was nearly one out of every two Europeans (48%). This result is based on a study by the Foundation for Future Studies, an initiative by British American Tobacco, for which 15,000 Europeans in 13 countries were questioned. In particular, older Europeans (55 and older) only rarely expressed optimism for the future (29%). In contrast, nearly half of the younger generation (47%), those under 34 years old, look hopefully into the future.

By country comparison, the scepticism of the larger nations is particularly clear. Dr. Ulrich Reinhardt, scientific director of the foundation: "In particular, the citizens of economically strong countries are worried about losing a part of their own prosperity and paying for the standard of living for others in the future. But this is short-sighted: countries, such as Germany, Italy or France, would not have achieved such economic strength nor such prosperity without decades of peace, without a low inflation rate since the introduction of the euro or without the profits from exports to other euro-area countries.

The Danes are significantly more positive than other Europeans. More than four of five Danes questioned look hopefully into the future. As an explanation, the foundation mentions that the Danes increasingly think about personal quality of life instead of the economic standard of living when referring to the term "future." This includes for them, for example, emancipation, work-life balance or child-friendly areas, where Denmark is far ahead compared to the rest of Europe.

You can find this and other results in the foundation's current publication under the title "United Dreams of Europe."