Europeans' confidence in political institutions has dropped precipitously since the onset of the Euro-crisis in 2009. The decline in trust in government varies across countries and occupational and educational groups. Economic factors explain much of the cross-national and over-time variation. The baseline level of trust is influenced by a person's position in the labor market: across European countries, citizens with more education and higher levels of skills trust government more than those educational and occupational groups that have benefited less from European integration. Residents of debtor countries with high unemployment rates are also much less likely to trust national government than those in creditor countries that have fared better during the economic crisis, while the unemployed have lost faith in government to a greater degree than other parts of the population. Cultural, ideational, and political factors remain important for baseline levels of trust, but cannot explain the acute, asymmetrical decline in citizen trust observed over the last decade.

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European support for integration is shaped by a range of economic, cultural, and political factors. However, in recent decades, scholars have argued that utilitarian calculations have become less important as European integration has advanced, and political entrepreneurs have mobilized nationalist identities. We analyze 24 years of responses to the Eurobarometer (1995–2018) to assess the influence of economic factors on public attitudes toward European integration. We find strong evidence that utilitarian factors are important across the entire panel. The performance of the macro-economy, as measured by unemployment, and an individual’s position in the labor market, are consistent predictors of public support for and satisfaction with the European Union. Collective identity is also associated with attitudes toward the European Union. However, an individual’s identity is also shaped by economic circumstances.