Portuguese people are among Europe’s “least satisfied” with their lives, according to a recent study by the EC’s statistical office Eurostat.
In 2013, Europeans were asked to rate their “life satisfaction” on a scale of 0 (not satisfied at all) to 10 (very satisfied. Portugal came in at second to last, with an average score of 6.2.
Only Serbia (4.9) registered a lower life satisfaction average.
Dirceu Graça, who has worked as a social worker for 32 years, told Jornal de Notícias that she has witnessed “cases of real desperation”, from people who have “lost everything” in the crisis to youngsters who have completely “lost motivation”.
Psychologist and Porto University lecturer Miguel Ricou added that “a lack of individual expectations” and the fact that Portuguese now live in “such a consumer society” are two of the largest obstacles in the way of happiness and life satisfaction.
Learning to accept that it is okay to feel sad every now and then is another issue people struggle with, he said, stressing “being sad is just as normal as being happy”.
Eurostat published its findings to coincide with International Happiness Day, celebrated today (March 20).
On average, EU citizens had a life satisfaction level of 7.1.
Denmark, Finland and Sweden were the most satisfied (all scoring 8), followed by the Netherlands and Austria (7.8).
