DEVELOPMENT
The pdf-version - Eesti Koostöö Kogu
The pdf-version - Eesti Koostöö Kogu
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
a uniform composite indicator has not be created, and<br />
why the various dimensions of life quality are analysed<br />
separately (Eurofound 2012). It is better to make country<br />
clusters , with similar levels of life quality, , or to compare<br />
countries on the bases of specific indicators. Here, we use<br />
the final product of the OECD’s statistical calculations,-<br />
expressed in scale values between 0 and 10 points, where<br />
10 is the highest and 0 the lowest level.<br />
Country groupings<br />
Of the 36 OECDcountries, the top countries (7.5–8.0<br />
points) are Switzerland, Norway, Canada, the U.S., Sweden,<br />
Denmark, and the Netherlands. The next group (7.0–7.5<br />
points) is primarily comprised of Western European states<br />
– Belgium, Finland, Great Britain, Iceland, Ireland, Austria,<br />
Germany, and New Zealand. The group of with a score<br />
slightly above average (6–7 points) is geographically and<br />
politically the most diverse – France, Spain, Italy, Slovenia,<br />
Japan, Poland and the Czech Republic. A common trait<br />
is the relatively short span of an open democratic society,<br />
which applies to all, except France. Estonia belongs to<br />
the next group, where the level of quality of life is below<br />
average (ca. 4.5), and which also includes Hungary, Brazil<br />
and Chile. At the same time, Russia, Mexico, and especially<br />
Turkey, lag considerably behind others.<br />
According to the European Quality of Life Survey<br />
(EQLS), the countries with the higher quality of life are<br />
located in Northern and Western Europe, while the level<br />
in the Eastern and Southern countries is lower. Although<br />
in some base indicators differences between countries<br />
are decreasing, in general theyare still large. The Central<br />
and Eastern European countries have not caught up with<br />
the old Member States, but rather, the quality of life has<br />
weakened in some old Member States, especially in the<br />
Mediterranean countries. Since the EQLSdoes not make<br />
generalised indicators, it is compliated to speak about<br />
clusters here. More broadly, it is not typical for the European<br />
Union to rank states, as the OECD does.<br />
3.4.4<br />
Country rankings in separate indicators<br />
Based on the individual indicators of the Better Life Index,<br />
Estonia’s position in the ranking is somewhat surprising.<br />
Estonia has similar rankings with countries that we usually<br />
do not consider as being similar to us (Table 3.4.3).<br />
Estonia is most similar to Poland, but also to Slovakia,<br />
Hungary, Italy and Spain. Moreover, the similarities are<br />
not limited just to the indicators of material well-being,<br />
but also to social capital and subjective well-being.<br />
Another unexpected finding is that the Scandinavian<br />
countries do not comprise a uniform group. A very<br />
high level of well-being and quality of life can be found in<br />
the various regions of the world – in the heart and on the<br />
edges of Europe, in North America, Australia and Asia.<br />
It is also worth noticing that one particular country has<br />
achieved the highest score in a maximum of two indicators<br />
out of ten. Dispersion, not convergence seems to be<br />
the current trend in global human development.<br />
Based on the European Quality of Life Survey, in<br />
many indicators of material well-being, Estonia is similar<br />
to Hungary and Latvia, but also to Poland, the Czech<br />
Table 3.4.3<br />
The position of countries in the OECD Better Life Index<br />
(2011),according various inidcatora; the reference states<br />
are shown in bold<br />
3.4.5<br />
Strengths and weaknesses of Estonian<br />
quality of life<br />
Estonia’s low position in the overall ranking of the OECD<br />
Better Life Index (31 st position out of 36countries)rises the<br />
question, “Which indicators are the ones that significantly<br />
increase ourposition, and which decrease it?” This question<br />
is also important because, in the states with higher<br />
quality of life, the level of various indicators are relativelysimilar,<br />
which demonstrates a balanced development.<br />
Estonia however,demonstrates uneven levelof develop-<br />
Components<br />
Income and<br />
wealth<br />
Jobs and<br />
wages<br />
Housing<br />
Health<br />
Work-life<br />
balance<br />
Community<br />
Education<br />
Civic<br />
engagement<br />
Environment<br />
Safety<br />
Life<br />
satisfaction<br />
Measures<br />
Household net-adjusted<br />
disposable income<br />
Household financial wealth<br />
Employment rate<br />
Long-term unemployment rate<br />
Personal earnings<br />
Job security<br />
Rooms per person<br />
Dwelling with basic facilities<br />
(% of people with WC)<br />
Housing expenditure<br />
Life expectancy;<br />
Self-reported health<br />
Employees working very long<br />
hours (over 50 hours per week);<br />
Time devoted to leisure and<br />
personal care (incl. sleep)<br />
Quality of support system<br />
Years in education;<br />
Student skills (average performance<br />
of students aged 15)<br />
Voter turnout;<br />
Consultation on rule-making<br />
Air pollution<br />
Water quality<br />
Assault rate<br />
Homicide rate<br />
States<br />
similar to<br />
Estonia<br />
Slovakia,<br />
Poland,<br />
Hungary<br />
Slovakia,<br />
Spain<br />
Hungary,<br />
Chile,<br />
Poland<br />
Korea,<br />
Turkey<br />
Brazil,<br />
New Zealand,<br />
Canada,<br />
Great Britain<br />
Poland, Brazil,<br />
Italy, Czech<br />
Republic<br />
Korea,<br />
New Zealand,<br />
Poland,<br />
Sweden<br />
Israel, Russia<br />
Spain, Italy<br />
Russia, Israel,<br />
Belgium<br />
Republic and Lithuania. However, greater social involvement,<br />
institutional trust and optimism about the future<br />
make Estonia totally different from other Eastern European<br />
countries. Thus, the Estonian population’s perception<br />
of life quality continues to be transitional – the prevailing<br />
thinking is “things are tough today, but the future will<br />
be better”. This optimistic attitude is not typical to other<br />
post-communist states, which makes Estonia quite unique.<br />
State with<br />
the highest<br />
indicator<br />
USA<br />
Switzerland<br />
USA<br />
Switzerland<br />
Denmark<br />
Iceland<br />
Finland<br />
Australia<br />
Sweden<br />
Japan<br />
Self-reported life satisfaction Greece, Poland Denmark<br />
Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013<br />
131