Prague, Feb 15 (CTK) – Czechs are specially sensitive to political instability, which may be a reason why their satisfaction with various aspects of their own lives and the country’s condition is record high now, Silvie Lauder writes in weekly Respekt out on Monday.
She writes that the turbulent atmosphere caused by the migrant crisis might make the impression that the Czechs are watching the future with big apprehension.
However, the results of public opinion polls conducted of late show a record high satisfaction.
A positive answer to the question of “overall satisfaction with life” asked by the CVVM agency in its regular poll last week was given by two thirds of people, the highest number from 2000, Lauder writes.
She writes that the current level of satisfaction with the economic situation was not so high from the end of the 1990s.
Other polls have shown that people are happy about their savings, salaries, the overall working conditions and personal lives, Lauder writes.
Businesspeople also give the best assessments of their situation and the outlook for many years, which was shown by a regular poll by the CSOB bank conducted on 500 small- and medium-sized businesses that form the backbone of the economy, Lauder writes.
She writes that according to the bank’s analysts, this assessment is due to the predictable exchange rate of the crown, no dramatic tax changes being prepared and low interest rates.
The businesspeople’s opinions are also influenced by satisfied customers who are more poised for spending their money, Lauder writes.
She adds that the firms’ satisfaction can vice versa influence their employees. Almost a half of the firms addressed said they plan to raise salaries and make further investments.
One of the factors behind all this is that the Czech Republic has the lowest unemployment in the EU [6.4 percent in January] and quite a solid economic growth [estimated at 4.6 percent last year and 2.7 percent projected for this year], Lauder writes.
This is important because Czechs are more afraid of losing their jobs than other Europeans, she writes.
However, to only explain the generally good mood with the economy would amount to overlooking other trends in society, Lauder writes.
Emotions, particularly fears, connected with radical reforms are one of the factors that influence the mood in Czech society, Lauder writes.
She writes that when rightist governments ruled the country [2006-13], Czechs were losing their good mood usually when the ministers were announcing or introducing major changes, for instance, a pension reform.
Another factor that the Czechs perceive most negatively is instability according to public opinion polls, Lauder writes.
She writes that the incumbent centre-left coalition government of Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) has ruled without any great dramas for two years since January 2014, while the previous decade saw nine ruling teams.
The public opinion polls’ results show how theoretic the Czechs’ apprehension about migration is. In the polls focused specially on it, they express great fears of foreigners, but when it comes to their everyday life, they do not obviously bother about them too much, Lauder writes.
