“How is life?” is a question raised by the Office for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to compare countries’ overall standard of living. The answer is found in the OECD’s Better Life Index, created in 2011 and updated biennially, which compares thirty-seven developed nations’ standards of living. The current results are summarized in “How’s Life? 2020,” 2.5 minute informative video.
Interestingly, inequality is being considered as an important metric to add to the Better Life Index. Composed of 80 indicators in broad categories, this index is important because the Gross National Product (GNP), a traditional economic measure, disregards many factors that determine a better life—housing, income, job security, community, education, environment, governance, health, happiness, safety, and work/life balance.
Fascinatingly, most of the Better Life Index metrics overlap with Blue Zones principles—work/life balance, purpose, friends, and family. Creating an environment in which policies nudge people to reconnect with each other and their environment—also a Blue Zones tactic—is a proposed improvement method from OECD.
Since the inception of the Better Life Index in 2011, household income increased 6 percent, employment rate rose 4.8 percent, life expectancy added 14 months, and life satisfaction improved 2.8 percent. On the downside, overcrowding worsened by 2.6 percent, longer working hours became more prevalent by 1.7 percent, and strikingly the homicide rate grew 27 percent. All these statistics are pre-COVID-19, raising anticipation for the next biennial report due in 2022.
Financial insecurity has worsened, with one in three people within three months of poverty if their income were to be interrupted. Average household wealth has decreased 4 percent since 2010. People are interacting with friends and family about a half hour per week less. And one in eleven people do not have friends or family to count on in times of need.
Despair is more prevalent than joy in a typical day. Deaths of despair—suicide, overdose, and alcoholism—are three times higher than road deaths. Maldistribution of income and wealth distribution continue to spread. The top 20 percent earn five times that of the bottom 20 percent. Education correlates with life expectancy. College educated men and women live 7.6 and 4.8 years longer, respectively, than those with only a primary education. Gender inequity is highlighted by women working an average of 25 minutes longer per day on paid and unpaid duties such as caring for family and doing household chores.
America ranks #10 of 40 in the Better Life Index (three were added since 2011). Norway, Australia, and Iceland take the top three spots. Columbia, Mexico, and South Africa hold the bottom. Details can be found at the OECD Better Life Index.
Metrics are always interesting and necessary to reach a diagnosis and follow progress. However, developing and implementing a plan for improvement is a necessary next step to get beyond admiring a problem. When all developed nations share concerns and solutions, the best practices that emerge can be distributed for everyone’s benefit. OECD’s facilitation of this noble goal is admirable and presumably can keep America focused not only on national but also international progress.
