New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) India has the most closely knit society globally and Indians are most concerned about balancing their professional and family life, a survey conducted world wide has revealed. “Despite westernisation, India is still a close knit society and 20 percent (maximum globally) of Indians are most concerned about maintaining work-life balance,” said Sarang Panchal, of Nielsen Company which conducted the survey.

The respondents in 51 countries named the state of economy as their chief concern but for Indians it is the second biggest concern with 13 percent respondents voting for it.

“Demanding careers have dominated the lives of many young Indians for sometime now and it takes a toll on their family life. It is not a surprise then that most Indians consider work-life balance as their biggest concern,” Panchal told reporters here Monday.

The survey found that parent’s welfare and happiness emerged as the third biggest concern for Indians, the highest for any country in Asia.

“Unlike in the West, children in India do not start their own life the moment they reach adulthood; people grow old living with parents under the same roof. It is in the Indian culture to care about ones’ parents,” he said.

“We see that people in America have more monetary concerns while in Asia-Pacific there is more worry about emotional and physical well-being. Europe is concerned about the environment and the Middle East and Africa are grappling with issues concerning politics and terrorism,” Panchal said.

In the list of biggest concerns, 11 percent Indians are worried about their job security. Six percent mention health. But crime and terrorism rank low with just two and three percent respectively calling it their top concern.

The global online survey was conducted in April 2008 among 28,253 Internet users in 51 countries from Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and the Middle East.