Europeans’ quality of life has deteriorated amid the worst economic crisis the continent has seen since World War II. That’s expected. What’s not is that more Eastern Europeans—from Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania—report their lives are improving, or that they are “thriving,” compared to the same Gallup poll last year. Of course, these results are relative, as overall, Eastern Europeans remain pretty poor compared to their western counterparts, and their lives appear to be just marginally better while the latter categorize theirs as much worse. Across Europe, 37% of residents felt they were thriving this year, while 54% say they’re struggling, and 10% are suffering.
The hardest hit? The Greeks and the Spaniards say the quality of their lives has declined the most since 2008.
