According to a recent survey by Intrum Justitia, a Swedish credit management services company, Estonians are the most optimistic nation in the European Union.
The survey found that only four per cent of Estonians think their children will be financially worse off than themselves. “This makes Estonia the most positive country when it comes to expectations on the next generations’ economy,” the report says.
The European average in this issue is 18%, which makes the Estonian response considerably lower. Even in Denmark, nine per cent of people think their children will be financially worse off than themselves.
According to news website Quartz, when Americans were asked a similar question in January 2016, 56% thought the next generation would be financially worse off.
And even in the EU, not all countries have a rosy outlook on their children’s future. For example, 43% of the Greeks think their children will be worse off, while in France the number is 33%. Even in Finland, one of Estonia’s role models, 11% of the people are pessimistic about their kids’ future. In Sweden, 12% think the same.
Interestingly enough, Quartz points out that Estonians may these days “be feeling a little less optimistic since the survey was conducted. Conflicting views on how to improve the economy resulted in the government collapsing on Nov.9, after the prime minister lost a confidence vote in parliament. The country’s new prime minister, Jüri Ratas, comes from party with links to Russia,” the online news magazine says.
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Cover: Sledding in Estonia (the image is illustrative/photo by Kaarel Mikkin/courtesy of EAS.)
Seems legit.