Social indicators revisited

1. Social indicators revisited J P Roos Department of Social Policy, University of Helsinki J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

2. Previous attempts • UNRISD Jan Drewnowski • Level of Living Study Sten Johansson • Having-loving-being Erik Allardt • Happiness research Ruut Veenhoven • And many more (even my thesis 1973)... J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

3. New impetus for change • global warming and other drastic environmental changes require indicators which not only measure economic development but also its consequences • it is even clearer now than 40 years ago that the GNP is a very misleading indicator of human development • Becoming more rich is very harmful, especially when there are too many rich people! J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

4. Theoretical background • Maslowian need hierarchy was most common • Fell in disrepute because in sociology we believe that needs socially constructed • However, this is not true: there IS a universal human nature and needs have limits (or continuous fulfilling of them causes harm) • The social constructionist thinking quite harmful J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

5. Examples • Alcohol use: good in small quantities • Tourism: very harmful if not contained • Mobile phones: a need that always has existed! • Snowmobiles: a good indicator of what can happen if everybody who can afford it can buy and use it J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

6. Four worlds • A very good distinction • We should strive to reach the Real paradise and avoid Real hell • But this is always a mix in real life • Example: Kerala Why do people seem to be so happy there? J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

7. Acceptability criteria and GNP • Is it relevant YES • Easy to understand NO • Reliable and valid Yes • Politically unbiased Yes? • Easy to obtain and update Yes • Comparable Yes • Objective or subjective NO • Positive or negative NO • A constituent/determinant of wellbeing YES and NO • Attributable to individuals or groups YES • Obtained through open, transparent process NO • Contibutes to coherent and comprehensive view of wellbeing NO J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

8. Happiness • Very insensitive • No change over time • Difficult to compare • We need a composite index here, too • I.e. A battery of ten questions relevant to happiness J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

9. Well-being and Misery • We need measures of well being and misery which react to economic and social changes sensitively • Poverty and misery can increase together with economic growth • Finland a good example: lowering of the alcohol price caused 2000 deaths (and a lot of misery)! J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

10. Alternatives? • Concentrate on poverty and misery: this is the real task of social policy! • I.e alleviate Real and Fools’ Hells! • Develop very sensitive indicators of well being, whose movements can be traced to actual policies • Follow cumulative changes, not changes over time J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

11. Follow regularly what has happened to people’s well-being Count increases and decreases and their importance Well-being does not change much over time but it is much better if we have had more positive than negative events! Eventually a life history prespective! I think this is a useful idea: J.P.Roos University of Helsinki

12. Thanks to Alex and Jussi for very inspiring papers! J.P.Roos University of Helsinki