Commissioned by communications firm Publicis Groupe, its collaborative research lab FreeThinking and Ipsos/CGI were commissioned to examine the effects of the five-year-long recession on the ordinary European citizen.

The two studies outlined the contours of Europe’s economic and social landscape including citizens’ personal economic situations, how hard the recession hit them, what they consume and how, and their fears and hopes for the future.

Ipsos/CGI conducted a quantitative study across six of the most symbolically vital countries of the European Union: France; Germany; UK; Italy; Spain; and Poland, while FreeThinking held a qualitative online study to look at five communities in France; Germany; UK; Italy; and Spain.

Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe Maurice Lévy said: “This study is disturbing – and thus extremely useful – in many different ways.”