How's Life: The OECD Better Life Index
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Transcript of How's Life: The OECD Better Life Index
HOW’S LIFE? Measuring Well-Being
The OECD Better Life Initiative
Building on almost 10
years of OECD work
under the Global Project
Now moving to measuring
what matters most in
PEOPLE’s life
OECD@50: Better policies for better lives
OECD Better Life Initiative
How’s Life? (report)
Your Better Life Index (interactive web tool)
Focus
• Households and people, not just GDP
• Outcomes, not inputs or outputs
• Assessing inequalities alongside averages
• Including both objective and subjective aspects of
well-being
Scope
Well-being here and now
– Quality of Life
– Material Living Conditions
Well-being in the future
– Sustainability
The framework
Measurement approach
Relevance of indicators
- face-validity
- easily understood, unambiguous interpretation
- amenable to policy changes
- possibility of disaggregation by population groups
Quality of supporting data
- official and well-established sources; non-official data used as place-holders
in a few cases
- comparable/standardized definitions
- maximum country-coverage
- recurrent data collection
Significant documentation and testing
No Composite Index
An evolutionary process
• Now:
– Evidence based on existing data; all indicators reviewed by
National Statistical Offices
– But not all indicators satisfy all quality criteria equally well
How’s Life? identifies the statistical agenda ahead
• In future: – New and improved indicators as results from OECD work,
research and other initiatives become available
– More than just environmental sustainability
(economic, human and social)
Selected findings from How’s
Life?
No country performs best in all dimensions
Average country performance by dimension
Num
ber
of
gre
en l
ights
out
of
22
hea
dli
ne
ind
icat
ors
Number of red lights out of 22 headline indicators
60%
Source : OECD calculations
Strengths and weaknesses differ among
countries
0
2
4
6
8
10
Income and wealth
Jobs and earnings
Housing
Work and life balance
Health status
Education and skills
Social connections
Civic engagement and governance
Environmental quality
Personal security
Subjective well-being
United States
France
Source : OECD calculations
Inequalities in well-being : income
Large income inequalities in many OECD countries…
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
Gini coefficient, 2008 or latest year available
Source : OECD Income distribution and poverty database
Inequalities in well-being: income
Point changes in Gini coefficient, from mid-1980s to late-2000s
… which have increased in many of them
Source : OECD Income distribution and poverty database
-0.04
-0.03
-0.02
-0.01
0.00
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
Inequalities in well-being: health
Low-income people report lower health status
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Highest income quintile
Lowest income quintile
Source : OECD Health Data; EU-SILC
Inequalities in well-being: social
connections
… weaker social ties…
… and lower trust in others
Percentage of people reporting that they have someone
to count on in times of need, 2010
Percentage of people reporting trusting others, 2010
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Primary Secondary Tertiary 1 2 3 4 5Axis Title
Education Incomequintile
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
Primary Secondary Tertiary 1 2 3 4 5Axis Title
EducationIncomequintile
Lower-educated and lower-income people also have…
Source : Gallup World Poll
Inequalities in well-being: jobs
Long-term unemployment much higher among youth
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
25-54 15-24
Long-term unemployment rate, 2010
Source : OECD Labour force statistics database
Inequalities in well-being:
work-life balance Satisfaction with work-life balance is lower for working women and
goes down with the number of children
Percentage of workers satisfied with their work-life balance in Europe, 2007
28.5
24.8 24.723.3
27.3
23.4
2120.2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
No child 1 child 2 children 3 or more children
Male Female
Source : Second European Quality of Life Survey
Other people matter for one’s subjective
well-being Life satisfaction goes up with social ties
Avera
ge L
ife S
atis
fact
ion
2
3
4
5
6
7
8With friends to count on
Without friends to count on
Source : Gallup World Poll
Environmental sustainability
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
OECD Other major economies
Production Demand
Production-based and demand-based CO2 emissions,
Rate of change per year, 1995-2005
Demand-based CO2 emissions grew faster than production-
based emissions in the OECD area
Source : OECD, Towards Green Growth: Monitoring Progress – OECD Indicators
Involving the public
• Engaging with civil society has been one of the
goals of the OECD-hosted Global Project
• How’s Life? is accompanied by interactive web
tool (Your Better Life Index) aimed at
involving the public
Your Better Life Index
What matters most to people ?
7.50%
8.00%
8.50%
9.00%
9.50%
10.00%
10.50%
11.00%
All
Male
Female
Male 63%
Female 37%
Source : OECD calculations
Age makes a difference
Health, Governance and Environment become
more important with age
7.5%
8.0%
8.5%
9.0%
9.5%
10.0%
10.5%
11.0%
15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 >65
Housing
Income
Jobs
Community
Education
Environment
Governance
Health
Life satisfaction
Safety
Work and Life balance
While income, jobs and work-life balance
become less important
7.5%
8.0%
8.5%
9.0%
9.5%
10.0%
10.5%
11.0%
15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 >65
Housing
Income
Jobs
Community
Education
Environment
Governance
Health
Life satisfaction
Safety
Work and Life balance
Users
weig
hts
Use
rs w
eig
hts
Source : OECD calculations
What’s next (1)
OECD committed to deliver on How’s Life?
measurement agenda
Developing guidelines on subjective well-being
Integrating inequalities in National Accounts
Developing standards for measuring household wealth and joint
distribution of income, consumption and wealth
Measures of household non-market production
Green Growth Indicators; Human and social capital
In collaboration with National Statistical Offices and
other international organisations
What’s next (2)
• Extending the well-being agenda to developing
countries as part of the new OECD Development
Strategy
• Promoting effective use of new measures for
policy-making
• Continued engagement with civil society 4th
OECD World Forum in India in October 2012
Thank you