Eurobarometer 37.1 (1992)

The main topics of this Eurobarometer are: 1. Paying attention to product information, 2. Social security, 3. Older people and retirement questions. Topics: Citizenship and eligibility to vote at place of residence; general contentment with life; personal opinion leadership and frequency of political discussions; interest in politics; postmaterialism; frequency of listening to news on the radio, television and reading news in the paper. 1. Product information: paying attention to product information before purchase of foods and non-foodstuffs; detailed information on significance of selected product information in the decision to purchase vegetables, ready-to-serve meals, fruits, meat, fish, clothing, cosmetics, furniture, televisions, washing and cleansing agents; additionally desired product information and preference for Europe-wide standardization. 2. Social security: judgment on the social security system and social security in the country; preference for government or individual provision and Europe-wide standardization; adequate welfare for the unemployed, the old, the sick and the poor in the country; preference for national or European decisions in questions of establishing minimum income, unemployment benefit and pensions; attitude to equal treatment of locals and foreigners in questions of social security; impact from longer-term illness and disabilities; contacts with doctors during the last month or restrictions due to illness; inclination to visit the doctor for selected health complaints; utilization of medical check-ups; appropriateness of a percentage of the costs of selected medical services for patients; self-treatment and use of medication on doctor´s orders; general judgment on provision of medical care in the country; attitude to the public health system and judgment on services(scale); possession of a private health insurance or supplementary insurances; attitude to government support for the less well-off; assumed insufficient knowledge of the less well-off about support services to which they are entitled; doing without support for fear of discrimination; family responsibility for prosperity of family members and government responsibility for elimination of poverty (scale); judgment on the length of maternity leave and support services during this time; attitude to particular help for single-parents; child allowance for everyone or only for parents less financially well-off; times of unemployment during the last five years; probability of futureun employment; preference for high unemployment support of short duration or low unemployment support for a longer time; attitude to the rights and duties of the unemployed regarding rejecting jobs available and further education; assumed reduction of the number of unemployed rom reduction of support. 3. Older people and retirement questions: most important problems of older people; attitude to older people (scale); expected development of the retirement age and retirement income; increase in the welfare state with increased support for older people; desire for equal treatment of men and women regarding retirement age, pension fund contributions and pensions; assessment of appropriate participation of older people in politics, in social activities and in the media; attitude to permitted paid occupation of the retired; perceived discrimination of older people in professional life; attitude to legal protection against age discrimination; appropriate consideration of the interests of older people by public agencies; preferred level of guaranteed minimum income for older people; preference for care in a home or for people in need of care to remain in their home environment; looking after members of the family or friends in need of care; most able care-giver; attitude to a flexible age limit; appropriate amount of a survivor´s pension; attitude to rights to a pension for raising children and care of old family members or those in need of care; attitude to reduction of pension with work income; self-assessment of level of standard of living; assessment of general amount of pension; preference for compulsory, employer-related or private retirement insurance as well as for compulsory or private nursing care insurance. Demography: self-classification on a left-right continuum; union membership; marital status; age at end of education; sex; age; size of household; number of children in household; possession of durable economic goods; occupational position; weekly number of working hours; employment in the civil service or private enterprise (company sector); person managing household; head of household; occupation of head of household; self-assessment of social class; residential status; degree of urbanization; religiousness; monthly household income; city size; region. Indices: opinion leadership (cognitive mobility); postmaterialism; status in profession; media usage. The following questions were also posed to pensioners: retirement age; appropriateness of pension. The following questions were posed correspondingly to non-pensioners: preferred retirement age; concerns in view of retirement; anticipated appropriateness of pension payments. Interviewer rating: presence of other persons during interview; willingness of respondent to cooperate. Also encoded were: date of interview; start of interview and length of interview; identification of interviewer.