Slovenia

Key findings in 2016

Percentage of respondents that agree or strongly agree with the following statements	Slovenia	Transition region average	Germany	Italy
Economic situation better than 4 years ago	13	24	33	7
Political situation better than 4 years ago	6	28	17	9
Household lives better than 4 years ago	19	29	28	10
There is less corruption than 4 years ago	8	23	16	10
Satisfied with personal financial situation	36	31	55	33

Satisfaction with the situation at the country level and with personal circumstances

Only 13 and 6 per cent of respondents believe that the economic and political situation in Slovenia was better in 2016 than four years prior to the survey. Both figures are below the corresponding averages for central Europe and the Baltic states (CEB), the transition region, and Germany. Moreover, only 8 per cent of Slovenian respondents believe that corruption declined in the four years preceding the survey, the lowest figure in the transition region.

Of those surveyed, 19 per cent believe that households in their country lived better in 2016 than they did four years prior to the survey. Moreover, 36 per cent of Slovenian respondents report that they are satisfied with their current financial situation, a figure in line with the average for the CEB region (39 per cent) and above the averages for the transition region (31 per cent) and Italy (33 per cent).

Slovenia is the second-happiest country in CEB, with 69 per cent of its respondents reporting that they are satisfied with their life as of 2016, up from 60 per cent in 2010. Life satisfaction is also higher than in Italy (42 per cent) and the transition region as a whole (43 per cent) and is comparable to that of Germany (72 per cent). Life satisfaction levels are higher among the middle and upper income groups while there exists little variation across age categories.

Optimism and confidence in a better future for the younger generations has declined by 7 percentage points, from 20 per cent in 2010 to 13 per cent in 2016. This is the lowest figure in the transition region and also lower than the corresponding German and Italian levels of optimism. There is almost no variation in the level of optimism reported by respondents of different age or income groups: pessimism in Slovenia turns out to be widespread across the board.

 

Attitudes towards democracy and the market economy

Support for democracy and the market economy have increased slightly since 2010. The proportion of Slovenian respondents who choose the response option “democracy is preferable to any other form of political system” has risen by 2 percentage points since the last survey, from 54 per cent in 2010 to 56 per cent in 2016. In addition, 45 per cent of respondents favour the market economy over any other alternative, a figure that is higher than the averages for CEB, the transition region and Italy (38, 37 and 35 per cent, respectively). However, when asked a hypothetical question about whether they would rather live in a country with full political liberties but weak economic growth (country B), or in a country with limited freedoms and stronger growth (country A), about 82 per cent of Slovenian respondents report that they would prefer to live in country A.

When asked which democratic institutions exist in the country, 70 per cent of respondents mentioned peace and stability, followed by freedom of speech, free elections and gender equality at 62, 55 and 53 per cent, respectively. The extent to which Slovenians agree that other basic democratic institutions are in place varies but it is typically lower. For instance, only 36 per cent of respondents believe that Slovenia has a strong political opposition, while as little as 14 per cent think the court system treats all citizens fairly and equally. Overall, Slovenia fares worse than Germany according to all indicators.

 

Priorities for government spending

35 per cent of Slovenian respondents think the main priority for extra government spending should be health care, followed by assisting the poor (23 per cent), pensions (13 per cent) and education (10 per cent). Additional analysis of the LiTS III data shows that 44 and 63 per cent of Slovenians would be prepared to pay more taxes in order to have better public health care and assist the poor, respectively.

 

Sources of information

The main daily sources of information for Slovenians are the television and the radio, used each day by 70 per cent of the population, and discussions with family, friends or colleagues, mentioned by 63 per cent of respondents. Internet and social media are the information sources that experienced the largest increase in daily usage since 2010, rising from 48 to 51 per cent of all respondents. Newspaper readership decreased from 37 per cent in 2010 to 26 per cent in 2016, a figure that is nevertheless still considerably higher than the averages for CEB and the transition region (12 and 9 per cent, respectively).

 

Self-assessed health

About 61 per cent of Slovenian respondents report a positive health self-assessment, a percentage that is higher than the averages for the transition region and Italy (both 54 per cent) but slightly below the German figure (68 per cent). Unsurprisingly, self-assessed health is positively correlated with income and negatively associated with age: only 37 per cent of respondents aged 60 or over report to be in good health, as opposed to 82 per cent of those aged 18 to 39.

 

Quality of public services

Around 90 per cent of Slovenian respondents report being satisfied with the quality of public services in their country, the only exception being the local road network, which is deemed to be of sufficient quality by only 47 per cent of those surveyed. Satisfaction with local roads in Slovenia is still slightly higher than in the transition region as a whole (45 per cent) and comparable to the number for Italy (47 per cent), but below the CEB average (67 per cent) and the German one (86 per cent).

 

Social and economic mobility

When respondents were asked from a list of options what they thought were the most important factors for success in life in their country, 38 per cent of Slovenians chose “effort and hard work”, while 27 per cent opted for “political connections”. Lastly, 18 and 16 per cent chose “breaking the law” and “intelligence and skills”, respectively, as the most important factors for success.

 

Attitudes towards women

In Slovenia, 97 and 92 per cent of female and male respondents, respectively, believe that women are as competent as men to be business executives, two of the highest figures in the transition region. Furthermore, only 22 per cent of Slovenians think that men make better political leaders than women, a number comparable to the CEB average and below the Italian (29 per cent) and transition region (50 per cent) averages. Only 29 per cent of the population seem to prefer a traditional family arrangement where the man works and the woman takes care of the family, the third-lowest figure in the transition region. However, 51 per cent of respondents (both male and female) think that a woman should do the household chores, even if her husband is not working. Lastly, 52 per cent believe it is important for their daughter to achieve a university education, the third-lowest figure in the transition region, and a relatively low percentage when compared with the transition region average of 70 per cent.