Measuring Hope For The Future & Quality Of Life.

As the events of September 11 approach their one year anniversary, and with concern among nations over their economies and world events, a 12-country survey by Ipsos replicates and compares the findings of a survey conducted in the United States, Canada, Australia, the U.K., France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, and the Ukraine, prior to the events of September 11, 2001. The resulting comparable findings examine citizens’ ratings of their hope for the future (culminating in Ipsos’s Hope Index, developed for and tracked in Ipsos’s World Monitor) and perceived quality of life.

The most significant finding of the results is that despite a traumatic year for Americans, comparisons made with the survey results conducted pre-9/11 using the same questions and methodology show almost the identical findings in a post-9/11 environment.

The key highlights include:

In terms of hope, Americans are the 12-country frontrunners (61% have the highest hopes for the future, defined as a “6” or “7” on a 7-point scale), despite the 9/11 trauma they endured just one year ago, ongoing speculation about being committed to another conflict in the Middle East, and a stagnant economy.

Australians (45%), Canadians (43%), and Britons (42%) trail the Americans, but significantly outdistance the French (29%) and especially the Germans (15%).

In Eastern Europe, roughly 4 in 10 Hungarians, Romanians, and Ukrainians are optimistic about the future (“6” or “7”), which is near the level of optimism among Canadians and Britons.

By contrast, just 23% of Russians and 22% of Poles are hopeful about the future (“6” or “7”). However, this is still less despondent than Germans’ predictions.

Quality of Life Assessed

Americans indicate the highest levels of satisfaction in their quality of life compared to the other 11 countries surveyed: 64% give their current quality of life a “6” or “7” on a 7-point scale.

Australians (58% highly satisfied), Britons (53% highly satisfied), and Canadians (45% highly satisfied) form the next-most satisfied tier.

The French trail the surveyed Anglophone nationalities: 36% consider themselves highly satisfied.

But Germans drop off in their assessments of quality of life to levels near the Eastern European range: only 28% are highly satisfied, with the Czechs next at 22%.

Only 10% of Russians rate their quality of life highly, with less than 1 in 10 Hungarians, Poles, and Ukrainians indicating the same.
Key Findings in Comparing the Hope and Satisfaction Measurements Pre- and Post-9/11

Measurements of both quality of life and the Hope Index in the United States taken before the 9/11 attacks (2nd Quarter, 2001) and after (2nd Quarter, 2002) show virtually the same results—the percentage-point differences are within the range of the margin of error.

Stable majorities of Americans have been giving high marks to their standard of living and scoring high on the Hope Index since tracking began in 1997.

Roughly half of Australians, Canadians, and Britons have, over the past 5 years of tracking, been giving their quality of life a “6” or a “7”. In terms of hope, these nationalities have either remained constant or become slightly more optimistic.

The French have reported moderately better ratings to their quality of life and hope for the future over the tracking period.

The German population scores have tumbled since 1998 (“6” or 7” scores have dropped from 50% in 1998 to only 28% in 2002).

The most significant change in the Hope Index tracking arises in Eastern Europe: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and the Ukraine post notable upward momentum in terms of hope in this 2002 survey wave. The survey was taken just before flooding hit the area, however, which may have cast a pall on this increased optimism.

Hope Index Components

“Over the next year, do you think your personal economic situation will improve, remain the same, or get worse?” (weight of 1)
“All things considered, do you think you will be better off or worse off in 10 years than you are today?” (weight of 1.5)
“All things considered, do you think your children will be better off or worse off than you?” (weight of 1.5)
Responses to the three questions are combined for each respondent to form an additive scale with a maximum value of 7 (i.e., very hopeful).

To view charts CLICK above on”More Images’.