Overall, 54 % of Europeans perceive life as fair. Going beyond the average, a more nuanced picture emerges: for low-income earners, individuals with comparatively low levels of education and older people, the EU does not resemble a land of fairness.

Growing disparities on multiple socio-economic dimensions have contributed to a sense of unfairness and discontent in Europe. The JRC report on Fairness, written before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, analyses some of the most pertinent dimensions of fairness in relation to the agenda for a fair, inclusive and social European Union. Income inequality, educational inequality and the challenges facing existing welfare state arrangements are discussed from a pre-crisis perspective.