Pessimistic as usual

According to the latest survey about EU indexes by the Gfk Csoport, Hungarians are the least optimistic about their future prospects among citzens of new EU states. Two out of three Hungarians feel that their jobs are less secure as opposed to an average of 37 per cent for nine countries. While 43 per cent of people in the nine countries say that the quality of health care has not changed since accession to the EU, 57 per cent of Hungarians feel that it has become worse. In 2006, one out of four people in the nine countries thought that the standard of living improved with accession, but in Hungary 67 per cent said that their standard of living fell since accession. Compared to the average, Hungarians also seem to be more pessimistic about job security, health care and the standard of living to be expected in five years' time.