1 social indicators in taiwan bureau of statistics, dgbas jao, chih- chien

1

Social Indicators in Taiwan

Bureau of Statistics, DGBAS

JAO, Chih- Chien

Social Indicators in Taiwan2

Contents

1. Progress of Social Indicator Development in Taiwan

2. People’s Life Indicator (PLI) compound index

3. Future Prospect4. Conclusion


1. Social Indicator Development in Taiwan —

Past and Present


(1) In Academia

(2)In Government

1975 1980 1984 1995 1996 2000

1975:CEPD worked on the Annual Social Welfare Indicators

1980:Academia Sinica organized 3 seminars on social indicators

Taiwan’s Social Indicators development History

1979:DGBAS embarked on the Annual Social Indicator Report

1990:Compile “Social Indicator Compound Index” (11 areas 248 indicators)

1995:Compile “People’s Life Indicator compound index” (9 areas 55 indicators)

Compile Social Indicator Annually


2. People’s Life Indicator (PLI) compound index


Social

Indicators Compound

index1990-

People’sLife

Indicators(PLI)

1995-

QoL

Social Indicators Yearbook1979-

The objective( measuring overall social development) is too broad to explain and it has no direct relations with real feeling of life.


Framework of PLI (2001 Revised)Framework of PLI (2001 Revised)

9 Divisions 、 24 The Sub-divisions 、 47 Statistics Items 、 55 Statistical Indicators

Objective IndicatorsPersons Aged 65 Years and Over Living

with RelativesAbandoned Infants RateSingle Parent Rate Crude Divorce Rate Children Mistreated as % of Total

Population under 12 Percentage of Population under 18 That

Has Left Home Average Living Space for Each Person House Rent as % Family Disposable

Income

Subjective IndicatorsSatisfaction with Taking Care Of ParentSatisfaction with Rearing and

Educating Children Satisfaction with Marriage

Satisfaction with Relationship between Parent and Child

Satisfaction with Living Space

Satisfaction with Loan or Rent for House


Composite Indices of PLIComposite Indices of PLI

PLI Division ↓ Subdivision ↓ Statistics Items ↓ Objective indicators

Survey on the Importance of PLI

↓Importance Satisfication └─┬─┘ Demand ↓ Weight

└────┬────┘ Composite Indices


Composite Indices of Division

1996 = 100

92

94

96

98

100

102

104

Health*

Environment

Safety

Economics Condition*

Family*Work

Learning

Social Participation*

Culture and Leisure*

19911992 data for family

1996=100

2002*2001 Data

Long-Term TrendLong-Term Trend


CommentThrough constant improvements and consulting with academic scholars, the quality of social indicator in Taiwan has been advanced. However, since our society is changing fast, the social indicator system and compound indexes are lagging behind in integrating important social issues and related theoretical frameworks. That’s what we have to improve in future.


3. Future Prospect


OECD – Social Indicator Program

Human Wellbeing Perceptions

Good Health

Warm Family …

Optimal Leisure

Social Indicators

Health Family … Culture & Leisure

Areas of concernAreas of concern


(1) Areas of concern

To determine areas of concern for a specific region, depends on the long-term observation of the local social conditions and development. It also relies on the application of social theories to formulate region-specific indicators.

These should be modified or changed according to social development.


Comparing “Areas” in TWN and AUSTaiwan Australia

1.Population and Community 1.Population

2.Social Participation 2.Family and Community

3.Health 3.Health

4.Education and Research 4.Education and Training

5.Employment 5.Employment

6.Economic Conditions 6.Economic resources

7.Public Safety 7.Crime and Justice

8.Culture and Leisure 8.Culture and Leisure

9.1 Living Environment 9.Housing

9.2 Living Environment –

(Human sustainable develop.)

10.Social Welfare

11.Trans. and Communication


ABS - Key Questions of Social Indicators System

What is Wellbeing?

1. Areas of concernHealth; family and

community; education and training;…

What factors affect wellbeing and in

what way?

2. Factors affect wellbeingIndividual factors (disability; education attainment; income; life transitions).Social and other factors (social capital; transactions; social change; economic conditions)

What are living conditions of population?

Getting better or worse?

3. Social Indicators‧current wellbeing status;‧change in status over

time‧direction of change

What are pressing social issues that

need to be informed?

4. Social IssuesPoverty; unemployment; crime; homelessness; literacy

(2) Factors affecting wellbeing


Key Questions of Social Indicators System (Continued)

What groups are at risk of

disadvantage? Is the wealth of our nation distributed

fairly?

5. Population groupsaged; unemployed; low income; indigenous; children; retirees

What units of measurement will result in effective social indicators?

6. Counting UnitsPeople; families; households;

How can we organize our

collection and analysis of data?

7. Statistical FrameworksMap the conceptual terrain; show relationships; identify gaps; classify counting units.


ABS - Key Questions of Social Indicators System

What is Wellbeing?

1. Areas of concernHealth; family and

community; education and training;…

What factors affect wellbeing and in

what way?

2. Factors affect wellbeingIndividual factors (disability; education attainment; income; life transitions).Social and other factors (social capital; transactions; social change; economic conditions)

What are living conditions of population?

Getting better or worse?

3. Social Indicators‧current wellbeing status;‧change in status over

time‧direction of change

What are pressing social issues that

need to be informed?

4. Social IssuesPoverty; unemployment; crime; homelessness; literacy


Factors affecting wellbeing

Social

Wellbeing

Areas of concern

Factors of

influence

Individual factors

(disability;

education attainment;

income;

life transitions).

Social and other factors

( social capital ;

transactions;

social change;

economic conditions)

. mutual trust, responsibility …

( increase in confidence for police and judicature,

equality between genders, consensus in environmental

protection, etc. )


(3) Social Indicators

In fact, any statistic, either simple or derived, may be viewed as a social indicator if it reflects a social issue or idea or tells you something about social conditions, [but] a guide to selecting effective social indicators is provided opposite.

～”Measuring Wellbeing: Framework for Australian Social Statistics ”


Suitable Social Indicators

reflective

meaningful and sensitive to changes

summary in nature

able to disaggregated

easily interpreted

available as a time series


OECD Social Indicators Model

state-response model ， SR

social context-status-response model ， CSR


Definition (biggest concerns)

Social Shock

921 Earthquake (Taiwan,1999)

911 Terrorist attack (NY,2001)

Social Movement

Gender equality

Improves areas such as family, job,

income, social order and education

Gender Equality in Employment Law

Pay For Housemakers Law

(4) Social Issues


4. Conclusions

Social indicators development in Taiwan for the past two decades greatly contributes to the depiction and interpretation of social circumstances.

Future job of social indicators in Taiwan is to develop its own theoretical framework by learning from the experiences of advanced countries, and adjusting them according to its social conditions.


4. Conclusions (Cont.)The government must continue its cooperation with the academia to update theories, to improve quality and to examine functions so as to maintain the flexibility and continuous progress of social indicators.

With all these efforts, social indicators will be able to truly depict the society and faithfully disclose the status of well-being.


Comments welcome

Topics for discussion:

1.The latest trends and developments of social indicators.

2.What kind of social indicators are needed to reveal social development in the future.


The end

Thank you

1 social indicators in taiwan bureau of statistics, dgbas jao, chih- chien

Documents

social development

quality of social indicator

social indicator system

regionspecific indicators

annual social indicator

important social issues

local social conditions

application of social