The Quality-of-Life Research Group of the University of Debrecen Faculty of Health
Sciences has been examining various dimensions of the quality of life of the residents
of Nyíregyháza through regular data surveys since 2008. The results from the most
recent study completed in 2023/2024 focused on indicators that fundamentally determine
the quality of life - economic activity and employment, income situation and income
inequalities, housing conditions, social problems and support systems. This approach
was taken because the research group interprets the quality of life as a complex concept
and considers these indicators to be decisive from a sociological perspective.Even
though the proportion of the employees is very high in the city, significant differences
were found based upon education and the perception of working conditions. Employment
is a determined factor in income and while the average income has increased in recent
years, the values of income inequality indicators also show an increase. There has
been improvement in housing both in quantity and quality for those living in privately
owned apartments. On the other hand, those who do not have sufficient resources to
purchase a home, have to face increasing rental prices and a decreasing number of
municipal rental apartments. One out of five households have household expense burdened
by debt.Regarding support systems, this research shows that the poor and the less
educated have smaller and less resource-rich networks than those of the better-off
and more educated. Material and relational exclusion are typically intertwined, which
can further exacerbate the negative effects of social exclusion.
