Hows Life? 2013 : Focusing on People Key findings Martine Durand - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

How’s Life? 2013 : Focusing on People Key findings Martine Durand OECD Chief Statistician and Director of the Statistics Directorate European Economic and Social Committee Brussels, 4 December 2013

Context : Going beyond GDP • GDP is a key measure to monitor macro-economic activity but it is not a metric of people’s well-being • GDP/economic growth is an important means to people’s well-being but it is not the ultimate goal • In 2011, the OECD launched its Better Life Initiative as part of its new mission to achieve Better Policies for Better Lives • The Better Life Initiative is very much in line with other similar “beyond GDP” initiatives: – Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi report – EU 2020 ; Eurostat sponsorship – UN Resolution calling for “holistic approach to development” to promote sustainable happiness and well-being – Rio+20 Sustainable Development Goals – Many national initiatives for measuring well-being

The OECD well-being framework � People rather than economic system or GDP � Outcomes rather than inputs and outputs � Both averages and inequalities � Both objective and subjective aspects � Both today and tomorrow 36 countries � OECD countries � Brazil � Russia

Contents of How’s Life? 2013 Measuring what matters in people’s life The human costs of the financial crisis Well-being in the workplace Gender gaps in well-being

How’s life in 2013? No well-being champion but some countries do better than others Australia Canada Denmark Norway Top 20% performers Sweden Switzerland United States Czech Austria Belgium Finland France Republic Germany Iceland Ireland Israel Italy 60% middle performers New Japan Korea Luxembourg Netherlands Zealand Slovak United Poland Slovenia Spain Republic Kingdom Chile Estonia Greece Hungary 20% bottom performers Mexico Portugal Turkey Source: How’s Life? 2013 – Unweighted averages across all well-being dimensions

How’s life in 2013? Denmark Germany Greece

The global financial crisis has had a profound impact on people’s well-being Life satisfaction dropped as unemployment increased United States OECD Euro area (selected countries) Life satisfaction Life satisfaction Long-term unemployment rate (right hand y-axis) Long-term unemployment rate (right hand y-axis) 7,6 3 7,6 7 7,5 7,4 6 3 7,4 7,2 5 7,0 7,3 2 6,8 7,2 4 2 6,6 7,1 3 6,4 7,0 1 6,2 2 6,9 6,0 1 1 6,8 5,8 6,7 5,6 0 0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 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

Economic well-being declined Strong decline in household disposable Housing conditions deteriorated income Around 20% of US households OECD Euro Area, 2007 = 100 moved in with other households Household disposable income per capita GDP per capita 102 In the Euro area, the share of the population with total housing costs 100 greater or equal to 40% of disposable income rose 98 Owner with mortgage or loan 10 96 9 94 8 92 7 90 6 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 5 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Source: OECD National Accounts Database Source: OECD calculations on US SIPP and EU-SILC

The crisis also affected other aspects of life Trust in governments declined But new forms of solidarity emerged Percentage of people reporting Percentage of people reporting having helped to trust national government someone, 2007=100 OECD OECD Euro area USA OECD OECD Euro area JPN USA 120 55 50 115 45 110 40 105 35 100 30 95 25 90 20 15 85 10 80 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Source: OECD calculations on Gallup World Poll

Full impact may become visible only later Youth bore the brunt of labour Unmet medical needs increased in some market adjustments European countries OECD Euro area employment rates of different Percentage of people reporting unmet medical groups relative to that of the overall population needs for financial reasons 2008 Q1=100 Youth (aged 15/16-24) OECD Europe GRC ITA FRA Older workers (aged 55-64) Low-skilled (aged 25-64) 7 High-skilled (aged 25-64) 120 6 5 110 4 100 3 2 90 1 80 0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Source: OECD Labour Force Statistics Source: OECD calculations on EU-SILC

The working environment matters a lot for well-being… Important to balance job demands and resources - Work pressure Job Demands - Emotional demands - Physical health risk factors - Workplace intimidation - Work autonomy - Learning opportunities Job Resources - Task clarity - Supportive management practices - Colleagues’ support Strained jobs: High demands and Low resources

… in particular for workers’ health Strained jobs impair workers’ health …and affect firms as well Proportion of European workers reporting that Number of annual days of sick leave, work impairs their health, 2010 Europe, 2010 12 50 10 45 40 8 35 30 6 25 20 4 15 10 2 5 0 0 High job High job Low job Low job High job High job Low job Low job demands demands demands demands demands demands demands demands and low job and high job and low job and high job and low job and high job and low job and high job resources resources resources resources resources resources resources resources Source: OECD calculations on the European Survey on Working Conditions

Economic reward from work is important for employment quality In many countries work is not an antidote to poverty Poverty rates among individuals living in households with at least one worker, 2010 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Source: OECD Income Distribution Database

Gender differences in economic and other aspects of well-being remain large Declining but persistent wage gaps Women still confronted with the double day burden Gender wage gaps Gender time gaps ( Men minus Women/Men ) (Women minus Men) Number of weekly hours of unpaid work 2010 or latest available year 2000 or first available year 25 50 20 40 15 30 10 20 5 10 0 0 Source: OECD Employment Database Source: OECD calculations based on national time-use surveys

It’s not just a women issue Women are the primary target of intimate violence and have greater fears about their safety On average in the OECD, 25% of women say they have been victim of intimate violence from their partner Women are under-represented in top management and political positions On average in the OECD, only 27% of parliamentary seats are occupied by women BUT… Women live 5 years longer than men Young women are more educated than young men

Women have different values and attitudes Men turn to friends to find a job while Women are as satisfied with their job as women turn to their partners men, but for different reasons Proportion of men and women relying on partner/spouse Women value and friends if they needed help when looking for a job, flexibility of work Europe, 2007 schedule, social relations and Partner / spouse Friend meaningfulness of 22 tasks most 20 18 16 14 Men value 12 money most 10 Men Women Source: OECD calculations on European Quality of Life Survey

Well-being tomorrow � Measuring the stocks of resources that can sustain well-being for future generations � The choices governments make today can have an impact on the levels of well- being in the future Natural Economic capital capital Social Human capital capital

OECD work on improving the measurement of well-being • Moving forward the statistical agenda: – Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-Being – Framework for Measuring Income, Consumption and Wealth; Inequalities in the National Accounts – Guidelines for measuring Household Wealth; wealth distribution dataset – Measures of Social Capital – Green Growth Indicators • From cross-country to country-specific analysis to provide the country with a framework for conducting a “ well-being diagnosis ”

From measurement to policy • Analytical work to identify well-being interrelationships and understand the determinants of well-being outcomes • Two OECD horizontal projects will make use of these findings for policy: – NAEC (New Approaches to Economic Challenges): how to manage complex trade-offs and synergies in a multidimensional policy decision framework building on country experiences – Inclusive Growth: how to deliver economic and non-economic benefits of growth fairly across social groups and over time

THANK YOU! For any question, contact progress@oecd.org www.oecd.org/measuringprogress www.oecd.org/howslife www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org