Transcript BLI Presentation for Visits and Seminars Programme

Measuring what matters in people’s lives: the
OECD Better Life Initiative and beyond
Romina Boarini
OECD Statistics Directorate
Qatar Statistics Day Forum
Doha 10 December 2013
Presentation outline
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
1. The OECD framework for measuring well-being
> motivation, context, content
2. How the OECD framework has been applied
> Better Life Index, How’s Life?, country reviews
3. How the OECD framework can be extended to nonOECD countries
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework >Extending the framework
1. OECD framework for
measuring well-being
Why measure well-being?
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
OECD 50th anniversary: Better policies for better lives
How to measure better lives?
…addressing the well-known limits of traditional economic
measures, such as GDP per capita, for capturing wider
well-being and the progress of societies
The problem with GDP
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
• GDP never designed to measure people’s well-being:
 Counts only what has a price: goods and services exchanged on the market;
public services
 Offers an aggregate picture: does not on inform on how resources are
distributed across the population
 It is static: does not tell about well-being in the future
• GDP growth does not correlate with:
 People’s sense of well-being (e.g. Easterlin Paradox, life satisfaction trends
and the Arab Spring)
 Trends in household’s perceived living standards
 Evolution in other socio-economic outcomes
• The value of GDP:
 An indicator of macro-economic performance and in particular of the supply
potential of the economy
 Economic growth is “only” a means to Better Lives
Recent calls to go ‘beyond GDP’
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
• Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi report (2009)
• EU 2020 and Communication on “GDP and beyond”
• UN Resolution 65/309 (2012): “Happiness: towards a
holistic approach to development”
• Rio+20 “The Future We Want” declaration, June 2012
• Wide range of national initiatives
Well-being indicator projects - worldwide
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
OECD well-being framework
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
2. Applying the OECD well-being
framework: How’s Life? 2013
Wide (and growing!) range of applications
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
In-depth statistical reports:
How’s Life? 2011; 2013
Building well-being measures into OECD country
reviews: Economic Surveys (Austria, USA, Australia)
How’s Life in Israel? , Multidimensional Country
Reviews (Myanmar, Philippines, Uruguay)
Communicating with citizens and the media: Your Better Life Index
website www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org
Indicator selection: measurement goals
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
Key question: Is life getting better, and for whom?
 Focus on people rather than economic system or GDP
 Measure well-being outcomes rather than inputs and outputs
 Describe both averages and inequalities in well-being
 Capture both objective and subjective aspects of life
 Be relevant to well-being both today and tomorrow
Indicator selection: guiding principles
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
Relevance
- face valid
- easily understood
- policy relevant
Data considerations
- official or established sources; non-official place-holders
- comparable/standardized definitions
- maximum country-coverage
- recurrent data collection
- can be disaggregated by population groups
Just released: How’s Life? 2013
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
How’s Life at a glance:
25 headline indicators
The human costs of the financial
crisis
Job quality: Well-being in the
workplace
Gender gaps in well-being
How to measure the sustainability
of well-being over time
How’s life in 2013?
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
20% top performers
Canada
Germany
Greece
60% middle performers
20% bottom performers
The global financial crisis has had a profound impact on
people’s well-being
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
Life satisfaction dropped as unemployment increased
United States
OECD Euro area (selected countries)
Life satisfaction
Long-term unemployment rate (right hand y-axis)
Life satisfaction
Long-term unemployment rate (right hand y-axis)
7.6
3
7.5
3
7
7.4
6
7.2
7.4
7.3
2
5
7.0
6.8
7.2
2
7.1
4
6.6
3
6.4
7.0
1
6.9
1
6.8
6.7
7.6
6.2
2
6.0
1
5.8
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
0
5.6
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Source: How’s Life? 2013
X-axis: Life Satisfaction =average score on a 0-10 scale ; source: OECD calculations on the World Gallup Poll
Y-axis: Long term unemployment rate= % of the labour force unemployed for one year or more; source: OECD Labour Force Statistics
2012
0
The crisis also affected other aspects of life
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
Trust in governments declined
But new forms of solidarity emerged
Percentage of people reporting
to trust national government
OECD
JPN
55
Percentage of people reporting having helped
someone, 2007=100
OECD Euro area
USA
OECD
115
45
110
105
35
100
30
25
95
20
90
15
85
10
USA
120
50
40
OECD Euro area
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
80
2007
2008
Source: OECD calculations on Gallup World Poll
2009
2010
2011
2012
Communicating with media and citizens: the Better
Life Index
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
The Better Life Index: lessons so far
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
BLI users’ weights (50000 observations)
• 3 million people from all over the world
• Life satisfaction, health and education matter most
• Community and work-life balance more important for
women, income more important for men
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
3. Extending the well-being
framework to non-OECD
countries
Goals
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
• Does the How’s Life? framework resonate with the concerns of
non-OECD countries?
 Holistic view of progress and human development present in the vision of
many countries
 Many ongoing initiatives on measuring well-being in emerging economies
 The OECD framework covers universal aspirations for better lives
• What type of adjustments are necessary?
 Things that are taken for granted
 Data context
 Resources and capacity
• What applications are possible?
 How’s Life in country/region X?
 OECD Multidimensional Country Reviews
Methods
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
• Review of national and international practices in measuring
well-being and human development
• Develop a framework that builds on the How’s Life
dimensions and features but integrates non-OECD specific
well-being issues and indicators
• Output: Conceptual Guide on Measuring Well-Being for
Development
• Done by OECD Development Centre and Statistics Directorate,
possibly mainstreamed in the OECD Development Strategy
Towards an extended framework - well-being here and now
Dimensions
Issues (examples)
Indicators (examples)
Consumption
possibilities
Housing and
infrastructures
Material living standards, poverty, ownership
of assets and durables
Mean household disposable income, national poverty
rates (absolute and relative), etc.
Access, use and distance from basic amenities,
access to health care and schools
Jobs quantity
and quality
Lack of employment, informality, hours of paid
and unpaid work, free time
Health Status
Longevity, morbidity, disability, malnutrition
Education and
skills
Social
connections
Literacy, competencies of children, adolescents
and adults
Share in households living in dwellings without basic
housing services (water, sanitation, electricity, heating,
gas), etc.
Employment and unemployment rates;
underemployment; share of workers with no written
contracts; share of children engaged in child labour, etc
Infant, under-5 and maternal mortality rates; share of
children with below-standard heights and weights, etc.
Enrolment rates in pre-primary, primary and secondary
education; drop-out rates; students’ scores (PISA), etc.
Empowerment
Civil and political rights, access to accurate
information, responsive and accountable
institutions, sense of empowerment, cultural
identity
Risky behaviours, violence and criminal
victimisation, exposure to large scale risks
Vulnerability
Quantity and quality of social interactions,
social support, social isolation
Environmental
conditions
Indoor and outdoor pollution, water
contamination, noise, green space
Life evaluation
and feelings
Life evaluations, affective states, sense of
purpose
Share of individuals relying on private networks to find
jobs; share of people reporting they have someone to
rely in case of need, etc.
Share of people trusting institutions and local
governments; share of people satisfied with basic
services; summary measures of rights and governance,
etc.
Prevalence of substance abuse; incidence of unsafe sex;
prevalence of domestic violence against women and
children, etc.
Share of households lacking waste water treatment and
waste disposal; share of household using dirty fuel for
cooking and eating, etc.
Share of individuals satisfied with their life; share of
individuals experiencing various positive and negative
feelings, etc.
Towards an extended framework - well-being there and
then
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
Dimensions
Economic
Systems
Sociocultural
systems
Ecosystems
Issues (examples)
Economic capital, macroeconomic imbalances, foreign
indebtedness, transparency
and stability of the financial
system
Human capital, cultural
heritage (languages,
traditions), social norms,
cultural and language diversity
Deforestation, desertification,
loss of biodiversity, natural
landscapes and heritage
Indicators (examples)
Stock of net foreign liabilities; stock
of produced assets; stock of net
public and private debt, measures of
illicit flows and tax evasion,
infrastructural capital
Measures of human capital based on
life-time income estimates; indicators
of adequacy and efficiency of health
care systems; etc.
Terrestrial and marine areas
protected, etc.
OECD well-being framework > Applying the framework > Extending the framework
Thank you!
to learn more about our work:
www.oecd.org/progress
www.oecd.org/howslife
www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org
[email protected]