What Are We Working Towards?

Much of human life is organised around the pursuit of security. Education promises opportunity. Employment provides income. Income can provide independence, stability and the ability to support those who depend on us. For generations, this progression has shaped our understanding of success and for good reason.

Financial security protects us from uncertainty. It allows us to meet essential needs, prepare for the future and exercise greater control over our circumstances. For those who have experienced financial hardship, these are not abstract achievements. They can transform everyday life. Yet prosperity looks different depending on where we stand. People living within the same economy may experience vastly different levels of financial freedom. What one person considers an ordinary expense may represent a difficult decision for another. These differences extend beyond necessities, shaping the opportunities people have to participate in society, pursue interests and maintain relationships.

Our understanding of success has become closely associated with the ability to make a living. The experience of living well deserves equal attention.

The Pursuit of Happiness

Happiness is one of humanity’s most enduring ambitions, yet one of its most difficult to define. For some, it is financial freedom. For others, accomplishment, independence, companionship or simply peace of mind. Its meaning varies, but certain needs appear fundamental to human experience.

Psychologists Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary (1995) proposed that the desire to form and maintain meaningful relationships is a basic human motivation. Belonging is not merely an enjoyable addition to life; it is something people are deeply motivated to seek. Financial resources can create opportunities for security and independence. Yet a meaningful life also involves the relationships we build, the activities we engage in and the satisfaction we derive from them.

This investigation explores those dimensions through five measures from Eurostat’s 2022 income and living conditions data, across six European countries. From financial access to everyday social experiences, it gradually moves towards the less visible dimensions of human wellbeing. The investigation begins with something remarkably ordinary: the price of being able to say yes.

The Price of Saying Yes

Employment creates income. It does not always create freedom.

Employment occupies a central place in our understanding of independence. A job provides income, responsibility and often a sense of purpose. But employment alone reveals little about the financial choices available after essential expenses have been met. Two people may work in the same city, contribute to the same economy and experience entirely different levels of financial flexibility.

For one, meeting friends for a meal is an ordinary decision. For another, it competes with household expenses, family responsibilities or money reserved for the future. These gatherings can matter for reasons beyond entertainment. Shared meals create opportunities for conversation, companionship and maintaining relationships. Their value may lie as much in the people present as in the meal itself. The affordability of these experiences is therefore about more than the price of food.

Eurostat measures the proportion of people unable to afford meeting friends or family for a drink or meal at least once a month. In Spain in 2022, 18.8% of the lowest-income fifth reported being unable to afford such a gathering, compared with 1.4% of the highest-income fifth. Even among employed people in the lowest-income fifth, the figure was 14.9%.

These figures do not establish loneliness or describe actual social participation. They reveal a financial barrier that can persist despite employment. Having a job, achieving financial security and being able to participate in ordinary social life are not necessarily the same thing. Our first visualisation reveals how the barrier differs across income groups, countries and employment circumstances.

Figure 1. Line chart comparing the percentage unable to afford monthly social gatherings across five income fifths and employment groups. The country selector changes the country.

A Life Beyond Responsibilities

The freedom to pursue what lies beyond necessity.

Responsibilities give structure and meaning to our lives. Providing for a family, pursuing education, developing a career and preparing for the future can be deeply fulfilling. Yet they also demand time, energy and financial resources. What remains is often reserved for personal interests. Music, sport, art, community activities and other recreational pursuits may not fulfil an immediate necessity. Their importance lies elsewhere: in enjoyment, personal growth, expression and connection.

Psychologists Richard Ryan and Edward Deci (2000) identified autonomy, competence and relatedness as important psychological needs. The freedom to make meaningful choices, develop abilities and connect with others contributes to wellbeing. Leisure activities can provide opportunities for all three. Yet such opportunities are not equally accessible. When financial resources are limited, necessities take priority. Personal interests become negotiable, postponed or abandoned. The cost of financial constraint is not only what people must sacrifice, but also the opportunities that remain beyond their reach.

Our second Eurostat measure examines the inability to afford regular participation in leisure activities. In Belgium in 2022, 28.6% of the lowest-income fifth reported being unable to afford regular leisure participation, compared with 0.4% of the highest-income fifth. A difference of 28.2 percentage points. These figures do not measure free time, enjoyment or the value individuals place on particular activities. They describe financial access to regular leisure.

Financial resources shape both the necessities people can obtain and the opportunities they have to pursue interests beyond obligation. The first chapter revealed the cost of occasional participation. The second reveals the barriers to making such experiences a regular part of life. Yet even independence and opportunity cannot eliminate our reliance on others.

The Limits of Independence

When self-sufficiency is not enough, human support becomes essential.

Independence is widely regarded as a personal achievement. The ability to support ourselves, make decisions and navigate difficulties without constant assistance represents an important form of security. But human life has never been built on complete self-sufficiency. Families, friendships and communities exist through the exchange of knowledge, care, trust and support.

Financial independence does not eliminate uncertainty, illness, grief or circumstances that exceed an individual’s ability to manage alone. During such moments, dependable relationships become a different kind of resource. Money can provide services, assistance and practical solutions. It does not replace trust, care or the presence of someone willing to help. Personal security extends beyond what we can provide for ourselves. It also involves the support available when our own resources are insufficient.

Our third Eurostat measure examines whether people report having someone to rely on in case of need. In Italy in 2022, 74.2% of the lowest-income fifth reported having someone to rely on, compared with 86.1% of the highest-income fifth. A difference of 11.9 percentage points.

The figures cannot establish why this difference exists. Income, household circumstances, health and social networks may be related in complicated ways. They do, however, reveal differences in reported access to support across income groups. Financial independence and interpersonal security are distinct resources, each contributing something different to everyday life. The availability of support brings us closer to understanding belonging. But the presence of relationships does not fully describe their quality.

Figure 3. Line chart comparing the percentage reporting someone to rely on across five income fifths in six countries.

The Quality of Connection

The presence of relationships does not determine their meaning.

Social relationships cannot be fully understood by counting them. A large social circle does not guarantee closeness. Practical assistance does not necessarily imply emotional understanding. And a small number of meaningful relationships may provide greater satisfaction than a much larger network. The World Health Organization (2025) distinguishes between the structure, function and quality of social connections. Having people around us, having people we can depend on and feeling satisfied with those relationships are different experiences.

Our previous graph examined the availability of support. The fourth moves beyond availability and investigates how people evaluate their personal relationships. Eurostat records relationship satisfaction on a scale from 0 to 10. In Belgium in 2022, the lowest-income fifth reported an average score of 7.5, compared with 8.2 among the highest-income fifth. The difference was 0.7 points. Similar comparisons across the other countries reveal gaps of varying sizes.

These averages do not explain the experiences of individual respondents or establish why income groups differ. They measure something more subjective than the presence of support: people’s own satisfaction with their relationships. Belonging is not simply about whether relationships exist. It is also about how those relationships are experienced.

Figure 4. Paired-dot chart comparing average relationship satisfaction, on a 0 to 10 scale, between lowest- and highest-income fifths by country.

The Pursuit Without a Finish Line

Prosperity and life satisfaction do not follow a single formula.

Financial security is often imagined as a destination. Greater income can reduce hardship, expand choices and create opportunities that might otherwise remain inaccessible. Its benefits are real. Yet overall life satisfaction reflects more than any single material circumstance. Health, relationships, expectations, personal achievements and financial conditions may all contribute to how people evaluate their lives. Their relative importance varies.

Our final visualisation brings together two measures: the percentage unable to afford monthly social gatherings and average overall life satisfaction. The comparison reveals broad patterns, but also notable differences between countries. Higher-income groups generally report fewer financial restrictions and often greater life satisfaction. Yet similar levels of satisfaction can exist alongside very different affordability conditions. Belgium and Sweden provide a revealing contrast.

In 2022, 23.1% of Belgium’s lowest-income fifth reported being unable to afford a monthly gathering. In Sweden’s corresponding income group, the figure was 3.6%. A difference of 19.5 percentage points. Yet both groups reported the same average overall life satisfaction score: 7.0 out of 10, rounded to one decimal place.

These are separate group-level estimates. They do not describe the life satisfaction of the specific individuals facing affordability restrictions and do not imply that financial hardship has no consequences for wellbeing. A substantial difference in one aspect of financial circumstances does not necessarily translate into an equally large difference in overall life satisfaction. Financial advantage can improve important conditions of life without fully explaining how that life is experienced. The final graph brings our investigation back to its beginning: the relationship between material prosperity and the broader experience of living well.

Figure 5. Scatter plot of inability to afford monthly social gatherings versus average overall life satisfaction for country income groups. Sweden and Belgium lowest-income groups are highlighted. The aggregates do not establish causation.