How's Life? 2017
Measuring Well-being
How’s Life? 2017 charts the promises and pitfalls for people’s well-being in 35 OECD countries and 6 partner countries. It presents the latest evidence from 50 indicators, covering both current well-being outcomes and resources for future well-being, and including changes since 2005. During this period there have been signs of progress, but gains in some aspects of life have been offset by losses elsewhere. This fourth edition highlights the many faces of inequality, showing that gaps in people’s achievements and opportunities extend right across the different dimensions of well-being. It exposes divisions according to age, gender, and education, and reveals pockets of inequality in all OECD countries. It also brings to light the many well-being disadvantages that migrants face in adapting to life abroad. Additionally, the report examines governance as seen from the citizen’s perspective, revealing gaps between public institutions and the people they serve. Finally, it provides a country-by-country perspective, pinpointing strengths, challenges and changes in well-being over time in 41 country profiles.
How’s Life? is part of the OECD Better Life Initiative, which features a range of studies and analysis about people’s well-being and how to measure it, and includes the interactive Better Life Index website.
Migrants' well-being: Moving to a better life?
Better understanding the lives of migrants is key to ensuring both their well-being and their successful integration. This chapter builds on previous OECD work to explore the meaning and measurement of migrants’ well-being. On average, migrants experience greater poverty, lower levels of income and wealth, and more exposure to poor environmental and housing conditions relative to non-migrants. They also find it harder to access decent work: they are more likely to be overqualified for their jobs, experience more in-work poverty and work more atypical hours. While migrants tend to be less satisfied with their lives in OECD countries, in many cases they still report higher life satisfaction than the peers they left behind in their country of origin. Data on health, social connections, trust in government and attitudes towards migrants are also featured in the chapter. However, a number of important gaps in the evidence remain, and more accurate, timely and granular data on migrants’ well-being are needed.
Also available in: French