Young People in European Bulgaria: A Sociological Portrait 2014

Leisure time and lifestyle of Bulgarian youth. Values and beliefs. Family transitions. Migration intentions. Education and employment. Democracy and politics. European integration. Optimism and fears.

Topics: 1. Leisure time and lifestyle: main leisure time activities; number of hours a day the respondent spends watching TV and on the internet; purposes for internet use; fashionable and old-fashioned personal values; smoker;, alcohol use; acceptance of marijuana use and alcohol use; satisfaction with own appearance; sexual experience; tolerance towards non-traditional forms of sexuality; tolerance towards abortion; involvement in some form of physical (violent) conflict in the last 12 months; material possessions; family’s cultural capital: number of books in the household.

2. Values and beliefs: most fashionable accomplishments - values; more important: success in life at any cost or honesty and integrity; what does personal success in Bulgaria depend the most on; ranking of the most important values; most appreciated personal qualities of own children; trust in social groups from young people’s milieu; ever felt discriminated and factors for discrimination; membership in organizations; participation in voluntary activities over the last 12 months; religious beliefs and practices: religious denomination; acceptance of religious beliefs (there is a God, God created the world, believe in the existence of heaven and hell, and in God as a source of moral prescriptions and duties); frequency of participation in religious practices.

3. Family transitions: housing situation; number of rooms in the household; form of ownership; reasons for living with the parents; relationship with the parents; persons with most influence on young people’s decisions; way of decision-making in the family; life plans for family formation; advantages of marriage; advantages of unmarried relationship; most appropriate age for creating a family; the most appropriate age for women to get the first child; desired number of children; ranking of factors for the choice of a marriage partner; attitude towards the traditional gender roles in the family.

4. Migration intentions: intentions for internal migration and emigration; attractive opportunities abroad.

5. Education: educational aspirations; most important factor for obtaining the desired education; everyday life at school / university: motivation for attending school / university; academic efforts and achievements; corruption in the educational system: grades and exams are being bought at the own school / university.

6. Employment: preference for private or public sector employment; plans to start own business; preference for a better-paid job or a more interesting job; difficult job demanding responsibility; most important factor for finding a suitable job and succeeding in employment today; employed in the profession the respondent was educated for; working hours per week; average monthly income.

7. Democracy and politics: frequency of political discussions with parents; interest in world politics, EU politics, politics in the Balkans, and Bulgarian politics; voted in 2014 European Parliament elections; electoral participation since becoming eligible to vote; satisfaction with democracy; opinion about the influence of one’s vote upon parliament and the government; trust in Bulgarian and EU institutions; trust in political parties; correspondence between political views of the respondent and his parents.

8. European integration: perception of the EU; positive and negative synonyms; attitude towards Bulgaria’s EU membership; Bulgaria has benefited or lost from EU membership; areas where Bulgaria has benefited from EU accession; attitude towards European values; European identity; national identity.

9. Optimism and fears: assessment of personal and family life-prospects at present; expected future in ten years; vision of Bulgaria’s short-term future; disturbing / alarming problems for Bulgarian society; Bulgaria’s EU membership poses threats to different levels; global fears: the world is becoming ever more hostile and dangerous vs, living in a better world .in 30 years.

Demography: sex; age; year of birth; household size; highest educational level of respondent and parents; ethnic or national background (Bulgarian, Turk, Roma or Bulgarian Muslim); employment situation; monthly salary; monthly expenses of household.

Additionally coded was: respondent-ID; country (region); settlement type.

Interviewer rating of respondent’s ethnic or national origin.