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Estonian Human Development Report

Estonian Human Development Report - Eesti Koostöö Kogu

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Pieper, A. Sixsmith, Care related quality of life in old age. Concepts,<br />

models, and empirical findings. New York: Springer: 153–167.<br />

11. Saks K., Tiit E.-M., Käärik E. (2000) Eesti eakate elanike toimetuleku-<br />

ja terviseuuring 2000 [Study of the Coping and Health<br />

of Estonia’s Elderly], (http://www.egga.ee/)<br />

12. TALSINKI study 2004. Manuscript.<br />

13. Tiit E.-M., Leppik L., Võrk A., Leetmaa R. (2004) Euroopa Liidu ühiste<br />

pensionieesmärkide mõju Eesti pensionisüsteemile. [The Effect of the<br />

Common Pension Goals of the European Union on the <strong>Estonian</strong> Pension<br />

System], (http://www.sm.ee/est/HtmlPages/pensioniuurimus_2004/)<br />

14. Tiit, E-M., Saks K. Tartu seenioriuuring 2002. [Study of Tartu<br />

Seniors 2002], https://tartu.ee/index.php?page_id=58&lang_<br />

id=1&menu_id=6&lotus_url=/uurimused.nsf/Web/teemad/C<br />

6372FBF01167434C2256BD800416DC7. 23.10.2008.<br />

15. Vaarama, M., Tiit, E.-M. (2008) Quality of life in older homecare<br />

clients. (eds) M Vaarama, R. Pieper, A. Sixsmith, Care.<br />

related quality of life in old age. Concepts, models, and empirical<br />

findings. New York: Springer: 168–195.<br />

16. WHOQOL group (1998) <strong>Development</strong> of the World Health<br />

Organization WHOQOL-BFER quality of life assessment. Psychological<br />

Medicine, 28, 551–558.<br />

3.7. Quality of life in Estonia in the<br />

European context<br />

Estonia’s fast economic growth during the 2000s has significantly<br />

improved Estonia’s ranking among European<br />

countries in terms of GDP per capita. While in 1997, Estonia’s<br />

GDP per capita constituted 41.8% of the EU average,<br />

placing Estonia 23 rd among EU member states and candidate<br />

countries (ahead of only Latvia and Lithuania), in<br />

2007 the corresponding figure had risen to 70.6% (20 th<br />

among EU countries, behind only Slovenia and the Czech<br />

Republic among Central and Eastern European member<br />

states). Meanwhile, satisfaction and happiness studies<br />

indicate that general satisfaction with life is low in Estonia<br />

and we lag behind most European countries in international<br />

comparisons.<br />

Quality of society and individual quality of life. In<br />

terms of studying quality of life, it is important to understand<br />

the nature of the individual and social factors that<br />

affect individual quality of life. Several authors (Veenhoven<br />

1999; Böhnke 2004; Delhey 2004) have concluded<br />

that individual quality of life is related to the general<br />

quality of the society, i.e. its livability. The livability of a<br />

society is influenced by many different factors. The quality<br />

of a society is indicated by its sustainability (conservation<br />

of natural and human capital) and social coherence<br />

(closeness and strength of bonds between social<br />

groups, the avoidance of all types of social exclusion,<br />

inequality and alienation; general security, solidarity<br />

and trust).<br />

Indexes of individual and social quality of life were<br />

developed in order to measure the current level of the <strong>Estonian</strong><br />

society and the quality of life of its population in the<br />

context of European countries. The individual quality of<br />

life index was compiled proceeding from Allardt’s (1993)<br />

approach to well-being. Six indicators based on the 2006<br />

European Social Survey data were included in the individual<br />

quality of life index. These indicators were material<br />

satisfaction, job satisfaction, assessment of the security<br />

of one’s living environment, assessment of one’s state<br />

of health, self-assessment (am optimistic about future +<br />

have a positive self-image), and whether or not one has the<br />

opportunity to discuss personal and intimate issues with<br />

someone.<br />

The quality of society index comprises a total of nine<br />

indicators. The economic means of the society are defined<br />

through purchasing power parity-adjusted per capita<br />

GDP compared to the EU average, while the situation of<br />

the country’s labour market is characterized by the overall<br />

level of unemployment. The relative poverty level is used<br />

as an indicator of income inequality (60% of the median<br />

equivalent income). The objective state of the health of<br />

members of a society is measured by the average expectancy<br />

of a healthy life in the given country, while the social<br />

security system is defined through the relative importance<br />

of social expenditures in the GDP. The educational situation<br />

is expressed by the number of people aged 18–24 who<br />

are not participating in the educational system (are not<br />

studying). The physical security of the country as a living<br />

environment is indicated by the number of homicides for<br />

every 100,000 inhabitants. Solidarity between members of<br />

the society is measured through two indicators (trust in<br />

people and the tendency to help others). The quality of a<br />

society is also characterized by the satisfaction of the people<br />

with their government, the economic situation and the<br />

functioning of democracy (these indicators are combined<br />

in the institutional satisfaction sub-index).<br />

All indicators have been included in the index at equal<br />

weights. The data were weighed according to the comparative<br />

technique used in calculating the UN <strong>Human</strong><br />

<strong>Development</strong> Index, according to which the index value<br />

is determined by comparing a country’s indicator with the<br />

minimum and maximum values of the given indicator.<br />

The index compiled according to this method varies from<br />

zero to one, with a value of 0 being attributed to the country<br />

where the given indicator is the lowest and the value of<br />

1 to a country where the indicator is the highest (for example,<br />

our society’s wealth sub-index value of 0.11 indicates<br />

that Estonia’s per capita GDP is 11% higher than the per<br />

capita GDP of the country with the lowest corresponding<br />

indicator (Poland) and 89% lower than that of the country<br />

with the highest corresponding indicator (Norway)).<br />

The composite index of individual and social quality of life<br />

consists of the arithmetic mean of the values of the subindexes.<br />

The sub-index values of the individual quality of<br />

life index and the quality of society index have been presented<br />

in Tables 3.7.1. and 3.7.2.<br />

Estonia in the context of Europe. Estonia lies among<br />

the countries with the lowest quality of life in Europe both<br />

in terms of individual quality of life and social quality of<br />

life, outpacing only Latvia in the case of quality of society<br />

and both Latvia and Slovakia in the case of individual<br />

quality of life (Figure 3.7.1.). All other Central and Eastern<br />

European countries (excluding Slovenia) and Portugal<br />

belong to the same group of countries as Estonia. The<br />

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