Investing in fairness.
Date: 2025-06-13
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Subjects: EU Member State, anti-discriminatory measure, education, employment policy, equal treatment, living conditions, population statistics, social policy, sustainable development

SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 559 (cid:29) JANUARY(cid:29)FEBRUARY 2025

Investing in fairness

The European Union aims to build a fair and inclusive 
Europe that protects its citizens and creates opportunities. 
An overwhelming majority of Europeans believe in the importance of learning new 
skills to ensure a fair green and digital transition. They also support skills 
development and social inclusion programmes.

What are Europeans’ main worries for the future of their country?

88%
The daily 
cost of living

82%
Aﬀordability 
of housing 

87%
Reduced quality of 
public services 

81%
Quality of 
education

84%
Child poverty, and too few 
people escaping poverty

77%
Climate 
change 

What are Europeans’ main worries for their professional careers?

72%
Not receiving a 
fair salary 

64%
Lack of job 
opportunities 

59%
59%
Work skills becoming less valuable 
Work skills becoming less valuable 
because of digital change
because of digital change

Despite their worries, 
most European are satisﬁed 
with their current job

Also, 8 in 10 Europeans think it is 
important to receive training

28%
Very satisﬁed
57%
Fairly satisﬁed
13%
Not very satisﬁed
2%
Not satisﬁed at all

To develop their digital skills 
86% 
To equip them for future 
job opportunities
82% 

In case they lose their job
80% 

Support programmes funded by the EU,
Member States, or the regional and local level can 
help people thrive in our society and economy. 

More than 8 in 10 Europeans think people would beneﬁt from...

Skills development programmes
that provide:

Social inclusion programmes
that ensure access to:

85%

Guidance, training or counselling to 
re-enter the job market 

83%

87%

Early childhood 
support 

86%

Personal budget to complete 
a training during your career 

Support to young people to ﬁnd a job, continue 
education, start apprenticeships or traineeships

80%

Training for people to 
work in green industries 

83%

Aﬀordable housing 
for young people 

A personal training budget is a tool to support people 
in learning new and additional skills.

A big majority of 
Europeans would 
likely use it, in 
particular:

72%
of those 
currently 
working

76%
of those 
unemployed 
or inactive

83%
of those 
studying and 
not working

The European Union’s employment and social policies ensure that 
Europe’s social model remains aﬀordable, thanks to a competitive economy. 

The Union of Skills, for instance, is a plan to improve high quality 
education, training, and lifelong learning. It will empower people by 
enhancing their basic education and their skills to access quality jobs and 
succeed in the green and digital economy and labour market.

EU funding supports Member States in implementing EU policies and in driving social 
innovation. The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is the EU’s main instrument for 
investing in people, with a budget of €142.7 billion for the period 2021-2027 
(of which €95.8 billion is from the EU budget).

Linguistic version: English | Output format: PDF Web | Catalogue Number: KE-01-25-101-EN-N | ISBN: 978-92-68-26010-4 | DOI: 10.2767/5246994