How's life? 2015 : measuring well-being / OECD.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Well-being.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (264 pages)

Place of Publication:

Paris : OECD, [2015]

Summary:

How's Life? describes the essential ingredients that shape people's well-being in OECD and partner countries. It includes a wide variety of statistics, capturing both material well-being (such as income, jobs and housing) and the broader quality of people's lives (such as their health, education, work-life balance, environment, social connections, civic engagement, subjective well-being and safety). The report documents the latest evidence on well-being, as well as changes over time, and the distribution of well-being outcomes among different groups of the population. This third edition of How's Life? develops our understanding of well-being in new ways. There is a special focus on child well-being, which finds that not all children are getting a good start in life, and those living in less affluent families face more risks to their well-being. The report introduces new measures to capture some of the natural, human, social and economic resources that play a role in supporting well-being over time. A chapter on volunteering suggests that volunteer work can create a virtuous circle: doing good makes people feel good, and brings a variety of other well-being benefits to both volunteers and to society at large. Finally, the report looks at inequalities in well-being across different regions within countries, demonstrating that where people live can shape their opportunities for living well. How's Life? is part of the OECD Better Life Initiative, which features a series of publications on measuring well-being, as well as the Better Life Index, an interactive website that aims to involve citizens in the debate about what a better life means to them.

Contents:

Intro

Foreword

Editorial: Better lives, today and tomorrow

Table of contents

Reader's guide

Executive summary

Chapter 1 Well-being today and tomorrow: An overview

Introduction

Figure 1.1. The OECD framework for measuring well-being

Box 1.1. The OECD approach to measuring well-being

Current well-being: How's life in OECD countries?

Table 1.1. Headline indicators of current well-being

Strengths and weaknesses in well-being at different levels of GDP per capita

Box 1.2. Assessing comparative strengths and weaknesses in well-being at different levels of GDP per capita

Figure 1.2. Well-being strengths and weaknesses in OECD countries with the highest GDP per capita

Figure 1.3. Well-being strengths and weaknesses in OECD countries with intermediate GDP per capita

Figure 1.4. Well-being strengths and weaknesses in OECD countries with the lowest GDP per capita

Going beyond the average: How are well-being outcomes distributed?

How's life changed in the past few years?

Material well-being has been getting better for some, but worse for others

Changes in quality of life since 2009 have been mixed

Resources for well-being in the future

Which aspects of well-being matter the most, and to whom?

Box 1.3. The Better Life Index: How it works

Figure 1.5. The Better Life Index

Figure 1.6. Well-being priorities among Better Life Index users in OECD countries

Box 1.4. Measuring what matters to people

Measuring and using well-being data: an update on OECD and partner activities

Box 1.5. The OECD Job Quality Framework

Box 1.6. Bringing well-being statistics into OECD policy advice

Box 1.7. Sustainable Development Goals and the post-2015 development agenda

Notes

References

Annex 1.A Well-being strengths and weaknesses at the country level.

Figure 1.A.1. Relative well-being strengths and weaknesses, by country

Annex 1.B Better Life Index user ratings, by age

Figure 1.B.1. Better Life Index user ratings of education, income, life satisfaction and work-life balance, at different ages

Figure 1.B.2. Better Life Index user ratings of environment, health, civic engagement and safety, at different ages

Chapter 2 How's life? in figures

Income and wealth

Figure 2.1. Household net adjusted disposable income

Figure 2.2. Household net financial wealth

Figure 2.3. Mean and median net wealth per household, including non-financial assets

Box 2.1. Measuring household income and wealth and their distribution

The distribution of income and wealth

Figure 2.4. Gini index of income inequality

Figure 2.5. Inter-decile income share ratio (S90/S10)

Figure 2.6. The distribution of household net wealth

Jobs and earnings

Figure 2.7. Employment rate

Figure 2.8. Long-term unemployment rate

Figure 2.9. Probability of becoming unemployed

Figure 2.10. Average annual gross earnings per full-time employee

Measuring job quality: The OECD Job Quality Framework

Figure 2.11. Job quality in OECD countries

Box 2.2. Measuring jobs and earnings

The distribution of jobs and earnings

Figure 2.12. Differences in long-term unemployment rates for young and prime-aged workers

Figure 2.13. Changes in long-term unemployment from 2009 to 2014, by age

Figure 2.14. Gender differences in long-term unemployment rates

Housing conditions

Figure 2.15. Rooms per person

Figure 2.16. People living in dwellings without basic sanitary facilities

Figure 2.17. Housing expenditure

Box 2.3. Measuring housing conditions

Health Status

Figure 2.18. Life expectancy at birth

Figure 2.19. Perceived health status

Box 2.4. Measuring health status.

The distribution of health outcomes

Figure 2.20. The gap in perceived health between high and low income groups

Work-life balance

Figure 2.21. Employees working very long hours

Figure 2.22. Time devoted to leisure and personal care

Box 2.5. Measuring work-life balance

The distribution of work-life balance outcomes

Figure 2.23. Time spent on leisure and personal care for men and women

Education and skills

Figure 2.24. Educational attainment of the adult working-age population

Figure 2.25. Cognitive skills of 15-year-old students

Box 2.6. Measuring education and skills

Figure 2.26. Competencies of the adult population

The distribution of education and skills

Figure 2.27. Educational attainment among younger and older adults of working age

Social connections

Figure 2.28. Perceived social network support

Box 2.7. Measuring social connections

The distribution of social connections

Figure 2.29. Differences in social support among different age groups

Civic engagement and governance

Figure 2.30. Voter turnout

Table 2.1. Government stakeholder engagement when developing regulations

Figure 2.31. Changes in government consultation on rule-making over time

Box 2.8. Measuring civic engagement and governance

The distribution of civic engagement

Environment quality

Figure 2.32. Annual exposure to PM2.5 air pollution

Figure 2.33. Population exposed to PM2.5 air pollution, by different thresholds

Figure 2.34. Satisfaction with local water quality

Box 2.9. Measuring environmental quality

Personal security

Figure 2.35. Deaths due to assault

Figure 2.36. Self-reported victimisation

Box 2.10. Measuring personal security

Figure 2.37. Feelings of safety when walking alone at night

The distribution of personal security.

Figure 2.38. Deaths due to assault among men and women

Figure 2.39. Feelings of safety among men and women

Figure 2.40. Feelings of safety among people of different ages

Subjective well-being

Figure 2.41. Life satisfaction and feeling life is worthwhile

Figure 2.42. People's evaluations of their lives as a whole

Figure 2.43. Positive affect balance

Box 2.11. Measuring subjective well-being

The distribution of subjective well-being

Figure 2.44. Life evaluations among people of different ages

Figure 2.45. Positive affect balance among people of different ages

Chapter 3 Resources for future well-being

Box 3.1. Measuring the capital stocks that support well-being over time

Figure 3.1. Capital stocks featured in the How's Life? framework for measuring well-being

Table 3.1. Illustrative indicators to monitor resources for future well-being, as shown in Chapters 2 and 3

Natural capital

Box 3.2. Illustrative indicators for measuring natural capital

Figure 3.2. Forest area

Figure 3.3. Greenhouse gas emissions from domestic production

Figure 3.4. Total renewable freshwater resources

Figure 3.5. Freshwater abstractions

Figure 3.6. Threatened species, latest available year

Human capital

Box 3.3. Illustrative indicators for measuring human capital

Figure 3.7. Educational attainment among 25-34 year olds

Figure 3.8. Educational expectancy

Figure 3.9. Smoking prevalence

Figure 3.10. Smoking prevalence among men and women

Figure 3.11. Obesity

Figure 3.12. Obesity among men and women

Social capital

Figure 3.13. Trust in others, European countries

Box 3.4. Illustrative indicators for measuring social capital

Figure 3.14. Trust in public institutions, European countries

Figure 3.15. OECD average trust in governments over time

Economic capital.

Figure 3.16. Household debt

Figure 3.17. Net fixed assets per capita

Box 3.5. Illustrative indicators for measuring economic capital

Figure 3.18. Gross fixed capital formation, OECD average volume

Figure 3.19. Intellectual property products

Figure 3.20. Investment in R&D

Figure 3.21. Financial net worth of the total economy

Figure 3.22. Leverage of the banking sector

Figure 3.23. Financial net worth of general government

Chapter 4 How's life for children?

Introduction: Why child well-being matters

Box 4.1. International and national initiatives on measuring child well-being

Measuring child well-being

How to define child well-being?

Box 4.2. Defining child well-being: insights from the academic literature

Dimensions of child well-being and selection of indicators

Table 4.1. Dimensions and indicators of child well-being

Box 4.3. International surveys on children's quality of life

Box 4.4. Correcting for non-response biases in survey data

Figure 4.1. Overweight children

Measurement challenges

Box 4.5. New international surveys on child well-being

Evidence on child well-being

Comparative analysis of various aspects of child well-being

Figure 4.2. Disposable income per child

Figure 4.3. Child poverty rate

Figure 4.4. Children living in workless households

Figure 4.5. Children with a long-term unemployed parent

Figure 4.6. Average rooms per person in households with children

Figure 4.7. Children living in households without basic facilities

Figure 4.8. Children living in poor environmental conditions

Figure 4.9. Infant mortality

Figure 4.10. Children born underweight

Figure 4.11. Teenagers reporting poor health

Figure 4.12. Children who are either overweight or obese

Figure 4.13. Child suicide rates.

Figure 4.14. Teenage birth rates.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9789264255296

926425529X

9789264238176

9264238174

OCLC:

1024256599