european economic and social council brussels, 26 january 2012 martine durand oecd chief...
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European Economic and Social CouncilBrussels, 26 January 2012
Martine Durand OECD Chief Statistician and Director of Statistics
Measuring well-being and the progress of societies : the OECD’s perspective
Contents1.Background
2.OECD’s Better Life Initiative
3.The policy link
4.Involving the public
1. Background
Background • Gap between the official statistics and people’s
perceptions of their own conditions– ‘Felt’ inflation; Pouvoir d’achat; averages vs distribution
• Credibility of official statistics, and ultimately public policies and the functioning of democratic processes
• Partly, this disconnect reflects over-reliance on GDP as the measuring rod for living standards and quality of life
• OECD started to work on these issues around 2004• Discussion about limits of GDP not new but now
high- level political interest
Well-Being and the Crisis• Crisis has put focus back to economic
growth and jobs
• However, Beyond GDP agenda more relevant than ever if past mistakes are not to be repeated– What kind of growth and for whom? – More than just growth: quality of life,
democratic voice, sustainability • from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street and Los
Indignados…
• Remains a high priority for the OECD5
2.
6
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
Scope• Well-being here and now
–Quality of Life–Material Living Conditions
• Well-being in the future–Sustainability
• Complementary: OECD work on Green Growth
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
The OECD well-being framework
An evolutionary process• Now:
– Indicators under each dimension based on existing data; all indicators reviewed by National Statistical Offices
– But not all indicators satisfy all quality criteria equally well and many gaps remain How’s Life? identifies a large unfinished statistical agenda for the future
• 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 Highlights from How’s Life?
No country performs best in all dimensions
Average country performance by dimension
Num
ber o
f gre
en li
ghts
out
of 2
2 he
adlin
e in
dica
tors
Number of red lights out of 22 headline indicators
60%
Source : OECD calculations
Strengths and weaknesses differ among countries
Source : OECD calculations
0
2
4
6
8
10
Income and wealth
Jobs and earnings
Housing
Work and life balance
Health status
Education and skillsSocial connections
Civic engagement and governance
Environmental quality
Personal security
Subjective well-being
United States
France
Well-being is both objective and subjective
For every person assaulted there are ten who feel unsafe
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
self-reported victimisation
feelings of insecurity
Percentage of the population, 2010
Source : UNODC and Gallup World Poll
Environmental sustainability
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
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
OECD Other major economies
Production Demand
Inequality…a cross-cutting issue in How’s Life?
A few examples
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, 2010
Inequalities in well-being: income
Point changes in Gini coefficient, from mid-1990s to late-2000s
… which have increased in a number of them
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
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
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 TitleEducation Incomequintile
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
Primary Secondary Tertiary 1 2 3 4 5Axis Title
Education Incomequintile
Lower-educated and lower-income people also have…
Inequalities in well-being: jobs
Long-term unemployment much higher among youth
Long-term unemployment rate, 2010
3. The policy link
The policy link • Major challenge: outcome perspective
makes it more difficult to identify most effective policies– need multi-dimensional, integrated approach that
takes into account interdependencies and trade-offs -> difficult and ambitious endeavour
• Some country experience emerging– Well-being policy frameworks in Australian Treasury;
New-Zealand Treasury– United Kingdom: Measuring National Well-Being
follow-up; Green book on valuing social impacts…
• Key role of elected assemblies and civil society
4. Involving the public
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
What matters most to people ?
What’s next?
• Extending the well-being agenda to developing countries as part of the new OECD Development Strategy
• Actively promoting effective use of new measures for policy-making: developing well-being policy frameworks at regional, national and international level
• Continued engagement with civil society – 4th OECD World Forum in India in October 2012
Thank you
http://www.oecdbetterlifeinitiative.org/
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/
30
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