Euro-Barometer 34.0: Perceptions of the European Community, and Employment Patterns and Child Rearing, October-November, 1990

The Eurobarometer (EB) survey series is a unique programme of cross-national and cross-temporal comparative social science research. Since the early seventies representative national samples in all European Union (EU) (formerly the European Community (EC)) member states have been simultaneously interviewed in the spring and autumn of each year. Starting with EB 34.1 (autumn 1990), separate supplementary surveys on special issues have been conducted under almost every EB number. The EB is designed to provide regular monitoring of public social and political attitudes in the EU through specific trend questions. More information about the series may be found on the Zentralarchiv fuer Empirische Sozialforschung (ZA - Central Archive for Empirical Social Research, University of Cologne) Eurobarometer Survey Series web pages. Background Work on European survey series began in early 1970, when the Commission of the European Community sponsored simultaneous surveys of the EC. These surveys were designed to measure public awareness of, and attitudes toward, the Common Market and other EC institutions, in complementary fashion. They also probed the goals given top priority for each respondent's nation. These concerns have remained a central part of the EC's research efforts - which were carried forward in the summer of 1971 with another six-nation survey that gave special attention to agricultural problems. The nine EC member countries were then surveyed again on the same topic areas in September 1973. After 1973, the surveys took on a somewhat broader scope in content as well as in geographical coverage, with measures of subjective satisfaction and the perceived quality of life becoming standard features of the EC public opinion surveys. Over time, the member states of the EC/EU have increased in number, and the coverage of the EB surveys has widened accordingly. In 1974, nine countries were surveyed: France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland and Luxembourg. Greece has been included since the autumn 1980 survey (EB 14) onwards, Portugal and Spain since autumn 1985 (EB 24), the former German Democratic Republic since autumn 1990 (EB 34), Finland since the spring of 1993 (EB 39), and Sweden and Austria since the autumn of 1994 (EB 42). Norway has been included in some surveys since 1991, from EB 36 onwards. In 2004, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU, and in 2007, Bulgaria and Romania (some of these countries participated in the Candidate Countries Eurobarometer survey series (see under GN 33343) before full accession). Some surveys are also conducted in Turkey, and in the Turkish Cypriot Community (Northern Cyprus). The Eurobarometer public opinion surveys are conducted on behalf of and co-ordinated by the European Commission, DG Press and Communication - Opinion Polls Sector (European Commission Public Opinion Analysis). Special topic modules are carried out at the request of the responsible EU Directorate General. Main Topics: This round of Euro-Barometer surveys focused on how current social and cultural conditions affected the lives of individuals and households. Respondents were asked to assess general economic conditions and the current and future financial situations of their own households. They were also asked to comment on the degree of satisfaction they perceived in their lives and to describe personal interests and the types of voluntary associations to which they belonged. Related queries investigated knowledge of European Community policies and perceptions of how such policies might affect the lives of respondents. Assessments were sought on the pace of European unification, the prospective establishment of a Single European Market in 1992, the possible formation of a European Community police force for combatting terrorism and drug trafficking, which areas of policy should be decided by national governments and which by the Community, the rights of noncitizens in Community countries, the role of the Community in cultural matters, and the position that the Community should assume in reacting to upheavals in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Persian Gulf. An additional set of questions focused on major problems facing European youth, the qualities parents should try to encourage in their children, knowledge and use of different languages in the home, and the importance of foreign languages in general. Another section of the survey probed individual employment patterns. Respondents were asked to describe their employment histories, how changes in their family lives affected their working lives, times of unemployment, reasons for starting work again after a period of unemployment other than money, and occupation. The role of child-rearing in family employment patterns was also probed: respondents were asked to describe their experiences with child care, the distribution of household duties within the family, and their attitudes toward raising children in general. As in previous Euro-Barometers, questions on political party preference queried respondents about which party they felt closest to, how they voted in their country's last general election, and how they would vote if a general election were held tomorrow. Additional information was gathered on family income, number of people residing in the home, size of locality, home ownership, trade union membership, region of residence, occupation of the head of household, and the respondent's age, sex, education, religion, religiosity, subjective social class standing, socio-professional status, and left-right political self-placement.