The report is based on results of a survey designed by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND) and conducted by experts of the Ivo Pilar Institute and the Institute of Public Finance, who interviewed 1,000 respondents.
The survey shows that in the monitored five-year period the financial situation in Croatia deteriorated, living standards were lower than in EU countries, unemployment and job insecurity increased, and one-third of respondents, mostly elderly people and people with lower qualifications, said that they were having trouble meeting their basic needs.
However, the quality of housing and family life improved, citizens were more satisfied with health services and their subjective feeling of well-being improved as well.
The survey also measured citizens' trust in public institutions, revealing their extremely low level of confidence in the judiciary, media, police and institutions like the parliament and government. Trust in other people was lower than the European average as well, and tensions between the rich and the poor increased.
As for confidence in public institutions, on a scale of 1 to 10, the legal system scored worst. The parliament was given a mark of 3, while in the EU the average mark was 5. The government was given a mark of 3, and equal marks were given to the HDZ-led government of 2007 and the SDP-led government of 2012.
Ivo Pilar Institute deputy director Ljiljana Kaliterna Lipovcan, one of the authors of the report, said the unexpected optimism Croatians demonstrated in 2012 was owing to expectations related to the country's EU accession.
The increase in satisfaction was reported among groups least expected to be optimistic - the jobless, elderly citizens and people living in rural areas, who probably expected a lot from the EU, she said.
This conclusion is supported by a survey covering 1,000 people, conducted by the Ivo Pilar Institute, which shows that the subjective feeling of satisfaction in 2014 was down to the level of 2007.
As many as 56% of the respondents in 2012 said they were optimistic about the future, 4% more than the EU average. Croatia was one of the few European countries where the subjective feeling of satisfaction increased in 2012 compared to 2007.
In the countries which joined the EU between 2004 and 2007, personal satisfaction and happiness in 2012 remained the same as five years before or declined, which was the case in Romania and Bulgaria.
Another important reason that contributed to personal satisfaction in Croatia are medical services, namely their availability, notably the introduction of e-health, a programme for ordering medicines and making medical appointments online.
Satisfaction with medical services in the said period doubled, and satisfaction with family and social life increased as well.
However, the area of work and employment was dominated by extremely negative trends such as an increase in the number of job-seekers and pensioners and a trend of early retirement. The survey showed that workers in Croatia are exposed to greater stress due to lack of job security, long working hours and inability to balance their family and work.
For example, the average working week in the EU was 39 hours, and in Croatia 44. In addition to that, Croatians spent an average ten hours a week more than their colleagues in the EU doing extra jobs.
Considering the survey results, the relevant authorities in Croatia should work to improve living standards, labour legislation, the legal system, and the transparency of public institutions, Kaliterna Lipovcan said, adding a new survey on the quality of life would be conducted in 2016.