Estonian Human Development Report

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Table 3.2.4. An assessment of the economic situation of households by income groups (%) Well-to-do at the current income level Able to cope at the current income level Difficult to cope at the current income level Very difficult to cope at the current income level Up to 3000 kroons 3001–5000 kroons Source: Integration of Estonian Society: Monitoring 2008. 5001 kroons and over 4.4 6.7 23.4 41 54.5 63.2 38.3 27.6 11.0 16.3 11.2 2.3 Table 3.2.5. Subjective assessment of the economic situation (%) 1994 1999 2004 2006 2008 Rich 0.1 Materially satisfied Making ends meet 11.1 66.7 Poor 22.1 Not rich, live well Neither rich nor poor On the verge of poverty/ poor 11,1 59 30 Living comfortably on present income Coping on present income Difficult on present income Very difficult on present income 5.5 9.1 13.1 49.9 60.7 56.5 31.5 22.5 22 13 7.7 8.4 Source: Estonian living conditions surveys, 1994 and 1999; European Social Surveys, 2004 and 2006; Integration of Estonian Society: Monitoring 2008. Figure 3.2.1. Satisfaction with income in 2004 and the increase of satisfaction as of 2008 by age groups, ethnicity, level of education, and actual income level (%) Average High income Low income Higher education Secondary education Basic education Russianspeaking population Estonianspeaking population 60–75 40–59 25–39 15–24 55.4 14.1 30.9 24.1 73.5 13.1 67.9 11.2 51.0 16.8 50.6 15.2 42.8 18.3 60.2 13.5 50.1 7.7 51.6 16.3 62.3 12.8 63.0 14.1 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 2004 2008 Source: European Social Survey 2004 and Integration of Estonian Society: Monitoring 2008. material situation over the past 14 years. Regardless of the different wording of the question asked with the aim of determining the subjective material situation throughout the years, it can still be argued that satisfaction with one’s income has generally increased and the percentage of people who feel that their situation is problematic has decreased. However, subjective assessments provided by individuals regarding their own incomes have been relatively stable over the years, since the increase of opportunities related to personal well-being has resulted from a general economic growth and the relative level of the individuals’ well-being (e.g. compared to others or the average level of the society) has not changed. The following section will provide an overview of how assessments regarding the sufficiency of incomes have changed among various groups based on age, education, income and ethnicity (Figure 3.2.1.). Compared to 2004, people’s satisfaction with their income level in 2008 has increased on average and nearly 70% of respondents are of the opinion that they are doing well or are able to cope at their current income level. As can be expected, the people with the highest incomes exhibit the highest level of satisfaction with the economic situation (86.5%). However, the sense of economic security of people with lower incomes has experienced a rapid growth (24 percentage points) in recent years. The improvement of the quality of life of people with lower incomes and the homogenization of levels of coping also increase the society’s general quality of life. People with a higher education feel the most economically secure (nearly 80%), but the faster growth of the sense of economic security among people with a secondary and basic education refers to a tendency of homogenization. This can also be confirmed by comparing the economic security of different ethnic groups. However, the assessments of the Russian-speaking population vary clearly according to whether or not the respondent is a citizen of Estonia, with non-citizens and citizens of Russia expressing the least amount of satisfaction (see Kasearu & Trumm 2008; Trumm & Kasearu 2008). Differences in the sense of economic security are still evident among different age groups. Three quarters of persons aged 15–24 feel economically safe, compared to less than 60% of the elderly. It is also significant that these differences have increased rather than subsided between 2004 and 2008. Consumption opportunities. The increase in the population’s consumption opportunities in 2008 serves as proof of the improvement of the economic aspect of the quality of life (Figure 3.2.2.). Nearly 80% of the respondents reported that their families had enough money to cover housing costs and feed themselves properly. Less than one fifth of the respondents reported that sometimes they have been short of money to cover housing costs and eat adequately. Primary necessities can also be considered to include expenses related to maintaining one’s health. Financial reasons have caused 6% of the respondents to avoid such expenses. While 45% of the respondents have enough money to buy clothes, the percentage of respondents who feel that they have had to avoid entertainmentrelated expenses for financial reasons has increased significantly (23%). More expensive activities, such as travelling or repairing and furnishing one’s dwelling is affordable for 10% and 17% of the respondents, respectively. | 58
Figure 3.2.2. Financial means of households, 2008 (%) Travel Furnishing and/or repairing one’s dwelling Entertainment, e.g. theatre, concerts, hobbies, e.g. sports, photography, etc. Buying clothes Medicine, taking care of one’s health 10.9 29.6 44.7 14.8 17.1 37.8 36.1 9.0 28.7 37.5 23.8 10.0 45.2 39.7 12.2 2.9 58.6 27.5 6.2 7.7 Housing costs, heating, water, etc. 79.7 17.1 1.9 1.3 Eating adequately 77.9 18.7 3.4 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Usually enough Sometimes enough, sometimes not Source: Integration of Estonian Society: Monitoring 2008 Not enough, have been forced to do without Do not need it, do not spend money on it Compared to the earlier period, however, the financial means of the Estonian population have improved considerably. For example, in 1994 a quarter of the respondents had to give up eating meat and fish products more than once a week (see Einasto 2002:105), while in 1999 the same was true for 12.9% and in 2006 for 10% of the respondents. To conclude, there have been no great changes in the structure of consumption opportunities in recent years. During the early 1990s’ shortage economy, the quality of life depended, to a great extent, on the availability of primary goods and the ability to satisfy basic needs, while nowadays the opportunity to spend one’s vacation away from home can be considered an important indicator of quality of life. In 2006, 33% of the respondents were able to afford a week-long vacation away from home without any problems, in comparison with 19% in 1999. Employment A satisfying job and job security play a significant role in one’s quality of life. According to labour market statistics, the employment rate has grown in the 2000s, and unemployment has dropped from 13.6% in 2000 to 4.7% in 2007. Through the years, men aged 15–24, non-citizens, the residents of Ida-Viru county and rural regions in South-Eastern Estonia have been at the highest risk of unemployment (see Kasearu & Trumm 2008). As a result of the economic recession, the unemployment rate has grown again during the past year (according to Statistics Estonia, the number of people who have been unemployed less than 6 months grew from 12,400 to 20,000 during the second quarter of 2008) and it appears likely that the deterioration of the labour market situation may worsen people’s work-related quality of life. Job security. In addition to the unemployment rate, it is important to look at subjective perceptions of the labour market situation. Similar to the drop in unemployment, there has been a decrease in the level of concern regarding job loss. In 1994, half of the respondents were not concerned about losing their jobs; in 2006, more than three quarters of the respondents were certain that they would not lose their jobs (Figure 3.2.3.). This means that job security has increased significantly during the monitored period and the differences between social groups have Figure 3.2.3. Percentage of respondents who are not afraid of losing their jobs 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 60 69.4 79.6 56.8 48.6 15–24 25–49 50–64 Age 1994 1999 85.2 2006 56.4 51.2 81.2 Source: Estonian living conditions studies, 1994 and 1999; European Social Survey 2006. grown smaller. According to the Integration of Estonian Society: Monitoring 2008, 41% of Estonians and 29% of non-Estonians were certain that they could find a suitable job in Estonia if necessary. However, the current economic downturn will probably diminish the general sense of job security. Job satisfaction. Low pay, working at night (Tausig & Fenwick 2001), overtime (Crompton and Lyonette 2006; Dex and Bond 2005; Grzywacz and Marks 2000; Voyandoff 2004) and the accompanying problems related to reconciling work and family life may decrease job satisfaction and quality of life. In 2008, 72% of the population were satisfied with their jobs, and 23% of the population expressed high satisfaction with their jobs. Job satisfaction is closely connected to the improvement of professional knowledge and skills: 55% of people who participated in self-education programs during the last six months are completely satisfied with their jobs. Meanwhile, half of the people who have not taken part in any training/schooling programs during the last ten years are very dissatisfied with their jobs. However, the relatively high level of job satisfaction is eclipsed, by the large difference in opinions among different social groups. Job satisfaction is higher in the case of people with higher income (80%, while the job satisfac- 59 |
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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
Page 9: Preface This year, the Estonian Hum
Page 12 and 13: CHAPTER 1 Estonian Human Developmen
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Page 56 and 57: CHAPTER 3 Quality of life and life
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Figure 5.2.4. Indexes of environmen
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Table 5.3.1. Comparison of countrie
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Figure 5.3.3. Comparison of types o
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Table 5.3.5. Connections between po
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Table 5.4.1. Who and what are the f
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Table 5.4.3. Young people’s asses
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Figure 5.4.6. Time spent on the con
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Table 5.4.6. The perception of prob
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5.6. Summary To briefly summarize t
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Table 6.2.1. Objective and subjecti
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Figure 6.2.4. Relationship between
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Figure 6.2.7. Difference between th
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Figure 6.3.1. GDP, government secto
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Figure 6.3.3. Employed 15-74-year-o
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Figure 6.3.8. Percentage of social
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References 1. Aaviksoo, A., G. Paat
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Figure 6.4.1. Labour market flexibi
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Figure 6.4.3. Creations of jobs ind
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Figure 6.4.5. Public expenditures o
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Figure 6.4.6. Ratio of the particip
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6.5. Cities as development engines
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Table 6.5.2. Existence of developme
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have been underfinanced or are not
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Table 7.1. Factors that favour and
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Table 7.2. Potential economic devel
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Authors Chapter 1 Ene-Margit Tiit,
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Margit Keller (PhD) is a Senior Res
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Special prizes Estonian Human Devel
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Estonian Human Development Report H
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Estonian Human Development Report H
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Honorable mentions Estonian Human D
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Estonian Human Development Report P
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Estonian Human Development Report A
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