Estonian Human Development Report

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have been underfinanced or are not effective for other reasons. At the same time, Estonia’s expenditures on social protection have also been low and the unemployment insurance system has been comparatively rigid. • While the central issue in Estonia during the next few years will probably be the state of industry and industrial employment, our future in the longer term will depend primarily on how successfully we are able to move in the direction of a modern knowledge region model. The realization of this model will play a key role for cities that are able to seize new, primarily service-related, functions for themselves in the international division of labour. It is extremely important that the Tallinn and Tartu metropolitan areas be able to concentrate employment in knowledge-intensive high-tech services, to gain international recognition and become well-networked knowledge regions. Some prerequisites, primarily the high percentage of employees with higher education, already exist, while some still need to be created. One of the preconditions for the development of a knowledge city/knowledge region is the attractiveness of the environment to talented people and the ability of the urban environment to support and encourage creativity. Thus movement towards the creation a knowledge city also means aspiring to realize a creative city model. However, this creates a need for treating culture and cultural prerequisites differently in a contemporary context in order to develop modern economic structures that function through international communications; to expand the mentality of the city and increase its creativity; to develop a symbiosis of culture and enterprise (creative economy); and to make the urban environment more attractive by implementing the ideas of creative people. | 152
CHAPTER 7 Human development and social risks in Estonia in the context of the economic crisis How would you rate the social sustainability of the Estonian society in its current state of development, where growth has turned into decline? When we analyze human development in Estonia in the context of the current economic crisis, we inevitably focus on questions that are different from those asked a year ago. During the period of economic growth, the fact that human development lagged behind economic development was at the centre of our attention as proof that we needed to invest more resources in social development. Although the gap between Estonia’s level of economic development and, for example, public health has not narrowed during the past year, we now have much more reason to see human development as a resource that allows (or does not allow) a society to survive difficulties. What have been the results of the rapid economic growth during the period 2004– 2008 with regard to the material and social quality of life of the Estonian population? Looking back, many of the authors who participated in preparing the chapters of the Human Development Report agree that the years 2004–2008 marked an unprecedented period in Estonian history in terms of the fast growth in people’s well-being, which was reflected in the high levels of satisfaction with life. On the on hand, there was a slight decrease in income disparity and a smaller number of people lived in poverty or were at risk of poverty. On the other hand, an increasingly large percentage of the society reached a quality of life comparable to that of wealthy countries in terms of their level of consumption. It can be said that the economic growth of recent years was accompanied in Estonia by an increased sense of security among the middle class. People’s social self images were affected more and more by the attitudes and opportunities characteristic of an information and consumer society. Meanwhile, there was also an increase in carefree consumerism, importance attributed to items as well as social passiveness. Furthermore, the gaps between the quality of life of the older generation and the younger generation grew, as did the gaps between the quality of life in different regions. The disparity between the opportunities for self-realization that existed between the Estonia-speaking population and the Russian-speaking population persisted. What are the greatest social risks and weak points that endanger human development at this stage of development in the Estonian society? The most significant problem that poses a serious danger to the quality of life of the Estonian population is low life expectancy, especially in the case of men, which is primarily the result of social and behavioural causes, as well as the scarcity of healthy and active life years available for both men and women. Despite women’s longer life expectancy, their period of active participation in society is, on average, as short as that of men, as they become dependent on welfare services and the health care system relatively early in their old age. Careless health behaviour, described in the Human Development Report as a cause for the loss of life and working years and the resulting effect on the development of the Estonian economy, is one of the most topical problems in Estonia. The goal for the next decade is to increase the average lifespan of men and women in Estonia as well as to support the active participation of the elderly in the society. It is time to mobilize the entire society for the achievement of this goal, including state institutions, health and education systems, civil society, as well as all families and communication networks. We have sufficient information on the dismal situation and know how we should act. We need the state and the public to strive towards a common goal and to be able to take specific steps in order to make Estonia a healthier living environment, despite economic difficulties. The problems related to public health are related to a wider set of issues regarding values, lifestyles, human relations, upbringing, and culture. Thus, another risk area, in addition to health, is the variety of problems related to young people’s lifestyles and values as well as their quality of life. The latter has been shaped by the sudden increase in the availability of material opportunities and has resulted in the spread of social risks that seriously threaten the social sustainability of the Estonian society during the next decades. The facts presented in the Human Development Report regarding alcoholism, school bullying, the lack of contacts between young people and the older generation point to the inability of the youth’s socialization environment (which includes family, school, recreational environment outside 153 |
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Estonian Human Development Report
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Estonian Human Development Report T
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4.2. Ethnic differentiations in sat
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Preface This year, the Estonian Hum
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CHAPTER 1 Estonian Human Developmen
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Figure 1.1.3. Life expectancy in co
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Figure 1.2.2. Life expectancy at bi
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to reality. The greatest inaccuracy
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Figure 1.2.9. Internal migration ev
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12. Marksoo, A. 1992. “Dynamics o
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Table 1.3.1. PISA 2006 study result
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Table 1.3.2. Number of students in
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1.4. The gross domestic product and
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Figure 1.4.3. Estonian GDP (right a
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1.5. Changes in the Estonian Human
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2.2. Health of Estonian residents i
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Table 2.2.4. Differences in life ex
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Figure 2.4.1. Healthy life years of
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Figure 2.4.4. Various accidents, tr
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2.5. Lifestyle and behaviour as a s
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Figure 2.5.5. Smoking in Estonia in
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Figure 2.6.1. Overview of the compo
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Table 2.6.2. Use of specialized med
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dren. The majority of services are
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Figure 2.8.2. How much a health dis
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2.10. Policy recommendations aimed
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CHAPTER 3 Quality of life and life
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Table 3.2.1. Characteristics of liv
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Table 3.2.4. An assessment of the e
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Figure 3.2.4. Difference in the job
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Table 3.2.6. Agreement with stateme
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Figure 3.3.1. Satisfaction with lif
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Figure 3.3.4. Percentage of people
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Figure 3.4.1. Types of quality of l
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Figure 3.5.1. Percentage of teenage
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Figure 3.5.4. Percentage of respond
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Arieh A., Conti C., Kutsar D., Nicg
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Figure 3.6.2. Subjective quality of
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Pieper, A. Sixsmith, Care related q
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Figure 3.7.1. The placement of Euro
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Figure 4.2.1. Life satisfaction by
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Table 4.2.1. Factors forming genera
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Annexes Annex 4.2.1. Socio-demograp
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Figure 4.3.1. Changes in the assess
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Figure 4.3.4. Attitudes of the Esto
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olds considered themselves to be pa
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Table 4.4.3. Agreement of the Russi
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Table 4.5.2. The prospects of non-E
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Figure 4.5.4. Certainty of Estonian
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mote equal opportunities. At the (e
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Page 128 and 129: Table 6.2.1. Objective and subjecti
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Page 140 and 141: References 1. Aaviksoo, A., G. Paat
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Page 156 and 157: Table 7.1. Factors that favour and
Page 158 and 159: Table 7.2. Potential economic devel
Page 160 and 161: Authors Chapter 1 Ene-Margit Tiit,
Page 162 and 163: Margit Keller (PhD) is a Senior Res
Page 164 and 165: Special prizes Estonian Human Devel
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Page 172 and 173: Honorable mentions Estonian Human D
Page 174 and 175: Estonian Human Development Report P
Page 176 and 177: Estonian Human Development Report A
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Estonian Human Development Report

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