Over half of Romanians feel our country is on the wrong path, INSCOP says

Over half of the population feels Romania is headed in the wrong direction, with health being at the top of the list of things gone wrong, followed by income problems and the possibility of war in the area, an INSCOP Research poll reveals.

Of over 1,000 respondents, 51.5 percent believe the country is on the wrong track (up from 48.5 percent in September), while 35.9 percent believe the country is on the right track (down from 42.3 percent in September). The remaining 12.7 percent did not know or did not wish to answer (up from 9.2 percent in September).

INSCOP mentions that the study ended on November 1st, thus it does not include reactions following the Colectiv fire, which could accentuate “the chronic dissatisfaction of a large part of the population”.

“Moreover, subsequent events to the government’s resignation shows that the steady growth of dissatisfaction with the way things go in the country during the last half year is not explained by ‘erosion’ of governance, which was at the end of its mandate, but also chronic, systemic dissatisfaction,” Darie Cristea, INSCOP general director said.

Worsening health tops the list of worries, with 23.3 percent of the votes (up from 18.4 percent in September). A drop in income was next, falling to second place against September, when it topped the list. Sixteen percent of the respondents fear this, down from 18.6 percent in September. Another aspect that has dropped in points since September is the prospect for a conflict/war in the region, voted by 14.2 percent of the respondents (down from 18.4 percent in September).

Price increases, voted by 13.1 percent of respondents, went up from 9.7 percent in September, while the fear of losing their jobs dropped to 12.5 percent of voters from 13.2 percent in September.

Among less worrying factors are political instability — 8.7 percent (down from 10.5 percent in September), followed by the prospects for a natural catastrophe — 5.6 percent (up from 5 percent in September) and the deterioration of the environment — 1.5 percent (down from 2.6 percent in September). On the other hand, 4.1 percent of the respondents say they worry about other problems, while non-answers stood at 1 percent.

At the same time, 49.8 percent of Romanians say living in Romania is the same as one year before (down from 50.3 percent in September), 28.1 percent say living is worse than one year ago (down from 29 percent in September), while 19.5 percent say they live better than one year before (up from 19 percent in September). A larger share (2.6 percent) of the respondents did not know/did not answer that in September (1.7 percent).

The poll was conducted October 23 — November 1, on a sample of 1,098 persons, carrying a maximum margin of error of plus/minus 3 percent, for an accuracy rate of 95 percent.