Archive:Time for Member States to start debates on well-being
- Published in Sigma - The Bulletin of European Statistics, 2010/02
Enrico Giovannini, President of the Italian Statistical Institute, is experienced in high-level discussions on how to improve the measurement of economic and social progress. In the wake of the Stiglitz Report, he says that it is about time the EU Member States took action and launched broad debates to identify the factors most important for well-being.
Introduction
‘This is primarily not a statistical problem. It is a political question and it is important for the government of a modern society. We need to improve existing democratic institutions, engage people in round-table discussions on measures of societal progress and statistical measurement standards,’ said Mr Giovannini.
Already in 2004, Mr Giovannini, then Chief Statistician of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), organised the first OECD World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policy with the intention of promoting international research and information sharing and to allow countries to compare how they measure ‘progress’ in their societies.
Three years later, after the second OECD World Forum had attracted 1200 participants from 130 countries, Mr Giovannini realised that new measures of societal progress were of global concern, and the OECD established the ’Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies’.
Later that year, Mr Giovannini met with French authorities to discuss the establishment of an international commission to improve statistical information in this area.
The result of this meeting was the creation of the Stiglitz Commission, of which Mr Giovannini was also a member.
Defining indicators of well-being at a national level
The starting point for the Stiglitz Report, the European Commission Communication on GDP and Beyond, as well as the third OECD World Forum, was an awareness of the need to complement GDP with measures of equitability and sustainability, and of the fact that all dimensions of well-being were not covered by GDP. Together, these initiatives contributed to last year’s intense debate on how to measure well-being and social progress.
The Stiglitz Report identified eight ‘key dimensions’ which shape people’s well-being. These concern material living standards, health, education, personal activities, political voice, social connections, environment, as well as economic and physical vulnerability. Many of these dimensions are not included in conventional income measures.
‘The European Statistical System (ESS) is well advanced in most of these domains, except for political voice and social connections. But there are cross-cutting issues, such as equitability, sustainability and vulnerability that need to be developed further. It is also important that we have both subjective and objective indicators. We must start asking people how they perceive things,’ said Mr Giovannini.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- SIGMA - The Bulletin of European Statistics, 02/2010: GDP & Beyond; Focus on measuring economic development and well-being
- Sustainable development in the European Union - 2009 monitoring report of the EU sustainable development strategy
Database
- Indicators
Dedicated section
Other information
- GDP and Beyond: Measuring progress in a changing world (Commission Communication COM final 433/2009)