Eurobarometer 56.1 (Sept-Oct 2001)

This round of Eurobarometer surveys is focused on the social exclusion
and modernization of pension systems in European Union countries.

Topics: Respondents were asked why people were socially excluded, what
the role of government should be in reducing the risk of poverty and
social exclusion, how satisfied they were with their lives, whether
there were people in their neighborhoods who lived in poverty, and what
it meant to live properly. They were also asked whether they had
financial problems, and if so, for how long and what had caused them. A
number of questions focused on problems related to work. Respondents
were asked whether they had been unemployed in the last five years and
if so for how long. Those employed or self-employed were asked
questions concerning job satisfaction, the type of organization for
which they worked, the number of hours worked, their job title, number
of people employed at their workplace, how long they had been
continuously employed, and what they took into consideration when
choosing a job. They were also asked whether their job was interesting
and secure, whether they had to work hard and under pressure, whether
their employers paid for training or education, whether they had
friends at work, and whether they had influence over the
decision-making processes at their workplace and in deciding how to do
their tasks. They also compared different aspects of their current job
with what they had been doing five years ago, described relations
between management and employees, and commented on how their work
affected their health and their lives after work. Another major focus
of the surveys was the pension system. Those who had already retired
were asked at what age they had retired, what the main source of their
retirement income was, whether their current financial situation was
better than before retirement and what it would look like in five to
ten years, and whether the state pension allowed them to get by easily.
Non-pensioners supplied information about when they intended to retire,
what their main source of income would be after retirement, what
percentage of their current household´s total income after tax they
considered sufficient in retirement, and how they were saving for their
retirement. Additionally, respondents were asked what a good pension
system should look like, how the pension should be provided, what level
of minimum guaranteed income should be provided for elderly people,
whether older workers should be forced to retire at a fixed age,
whether men and women should be treated equally in terms of the
retirement system, and how retirement problems caused by an aging
society should be resolved.

Demography: Age, gender, nationality, marital status, left-right
political self-placement, occupation, age at completion of education,
trade union membership, household income, type and size of locality,
and region.