european economic and social council brussels, 26 january 2012 martine durand oecd chief...
TRANSCRIPT
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
Your Better Life Index
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/
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