Jean-Louis Lhéritier Insee 27 juin 2012 Beyond GDP, quality of life and sustainable development: implementing new measurements in France Measuring Well-Being

Jean-Louis LhéritierInsee

27 juin 2012

Beyond GDP, quality of life and sustainable development: implementing new measurements in France

Measuring Well-Being and Fostering the Progress of Societies – OECD 26-28 June

27 juin 2012

Beyond GDP, quality of life, sustainable development: implementing new measurements in France

The starting point in France: the Stiglitz report

1) Implementing the Stiglitz report in France (from sept. 2009)• Beyond GDP• Quality of life:

– Capabilities (Drivers) – Subjective well-being– Appreciation of personal activities

• Sustainable development

2) Playing an active role in different initiatives at international level on the progress of societies and quality of life

• Eurostat-Insee sponsorship with 4 Task Forces• Participation in OECD Working Groups

27 juin 2012


1 - Beyond GDP: adopting the point of view of households

1) Publication of Gross Disposable Income per Consumption Units

2) Household Accounts by category of households • Categories: standard of living, age, type of household,

profession, size of urban zone • Household accounts:

– Income, – Consumption, – Saving – Personal Wealth

• Reconciliation between National Accounts and household surveys (income/SILC, budget, housing, health, personal wealth) for 2003

27 juin 2012


1.1 - Beyond GDP : Inequalities between households in the national accounts

Average savings rate: 17%

Two estimates depending on the adjustments made on the information collected in the Household Budget Survey concerning income Scope: ordinary households resident in mainland France, excl. FISIM.Source: Insee, national accounts 2003, SILC 2004, Tax income 2003, Family Budget 2006, Housing 2002, Health 2002-2003 surveys.

Saving, in % of disposable income

The saving rate increases with relative income level

Income quintile

3%

8%10%

35%

5% 6%8%

33%

-13% 0%

-20%

-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5

Average saving rate: 17%

27 juin 2012


1.1- Beyond GDP: net Wealth by age (average amounts per household in euros)

AgeSource : Insee, National Accounts 2003, base 2005, and Wealth Survey 2003

-

50 000

100 000

150 000

200 000

250 000

300 000

350 000

400 000

Less than 30 yo 30 - 39 yo 40 - 49 yo 50 - 59 yo 60 - 69 yo 70 yo and more

27 juin 2012


1.2 - Beyond GDP: Valuing home-made services

3) Valuing home-made services (non-market activities)• The source used: Time Use Survey

– Households declare their personal activities every 10 minutes on a diary (description of the activity, duration of the activity)

• Valuation:– Selection of home-made services (child care, cooking, etc.)

• What definition: « Semi-leisure » (DIY, gardening) or commuting ?– Calculation of the times devoted to these services

• Between 15 to 27 hours a week: 42 to 77 billions of hours in France in 2010, ie twice the amount devoted to paid work

– Valuation with a hourly rate, ideally with the marginal willingness to pay. With the minimum wage: 19 to 35% of the French GDP

• Women: 60 to 72% of the value of home-made services• Weak reduction of income inequalities

27 juin 2012


2.1 - Quality of life (capabilities): synthetic indicators by dimension

• Using existing variables in surveys, mainly EU-SILC (French survey)

• Computation of scores by addition of binary items (deprivations) in the same dimension (method used for deprivations)

• A person cumulating many privations has a poor quality of life in the corresponding dimension:

the indicator equals « 1 » when the score exceeds a given threshold… with the question of the determination of the level of the threshold

About 10% of the individuals

27 juin 2012


2.1 - Quality of life (capabilities): comparison by income quartile

27 juin 2012


2.2 - Subjective well-being

1) Pilot Survey on (capabilities and subjective aspects of) quality of life (paper/web) – 10 000 persons persons 18 years or more - response rate : 38 %

– Covering almost all “Stiglitz” dimensions

– To determine at-risk populations

– To go fast: data collection during summer 2011 and first results at the end of 2011

An analysis of the results will be published very soon by Insee

27 juin 2012


2.2 - Subjective well-being

2) EU-SILC as from 2010

Introduction of new questionsOn a scale from 0 (not at all satisfied) to 10 (very satisfied), rate your satisfaction concerning:-Your dwelling-Your job (if employed)-Your leisure-Your relations with close relatives-Your current life

A more detailed drop-off questionnaire for 2 000 households

27 juin 2012


2.2 - Subjective well-being: average life-satisfaction

by living standard

Satisfaction level

Equivalised income decile

5

6

7

8

1er 2e 3e 4e 5e 6e 7e 8e 9e 10e

27 juin 2012


2.2 - Subjective well-being:

average life-satisfaction

by number of material difficulties experienced

Satisfaction level

Number of material difficulties

5

6

7

8

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 et+

27 juin 2012


2.3 - Appreciation of activities: the French 2010 Time-Use Survey

Time Use Survey 2009-2010:

A new variable added in the diary, for a subset of the household sample (1 700 respondents):

the affect i.e. the pleasant or unpleasant character of the activity (a scale from -3 to +3)

Each person surveyed should give his/her appreciation of the present activity in his/her diary (description of activities every 10 minutes during 24 or 48 hours):

27 juin 2012


2.3 - Appreciation of activities

0,5 0,7 0,9 1,1 1,3 1,5 1,7 1,9 2,1 2,3

Employment/Study

Travel

Household and family care

Personal care

Leisure

Mean

27 juin 2012


4 - Sustainable development

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

National territory Domestic demand

The carbon footprint for a French inhabitant is 40 % higher than the emissions in the national territory alone

6.4 tonnes of CO2 per person

8.9 tonnes of CO2 per person

Direct household emissions (cars and heating): 123

Direct household emissions (cars and heating):123

Emissions from national output to satisfy domestic demand:179

Emissions from national output to satisfy domestic demand:179

Emission associated with exports (excluding re-export imports): 95

Emission associated with net imports (excluding re-exported imports):250

In millions of tonnes of CO2

27 juin 2012


4 - Sustainable development

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5

CO2 emissions (tonnes per household)

Consumption per household

Everage level for all households

CO2 emissions are the highest for the richestBut CO2 emissions by euro spent is on average lower for the richest

Thank you for your attention !

ContactMr Jean-Louis LhéritierMail: [email protected]

Insee18 bd Adolphe-Pinard75675 Paris Cedex 14

www.insee.fr

27 juin 2012


1.1 - Beyond GDP: inequalities between households in the national accounts

Social transfers in kind reduce inequalities

-50

-30

-10

10

30

50

70

90

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5

Direct taxes and social contributionsSocial benefits and other transfers in cashSocial transfers in kind

% of primary income

Income quintileSource: National Accounts, Base 2000, Insee, 2003

27 juin 2012


EU-SILC: treatment of individual effects (not yet achieved)

• Individual effects: non observable variables (level of optimism, of risk aversion, of confidence in others, in the personal scales …)

• EU-SILC is a longitudinal survey: in France, the same households are surveyed for 9 years runningThis longitudinal dimension will permit to:– eliminate individual effects– give estimations on the consequences on life-satisfaction of a

heath problem, a job loss, a divorce, a fall of income ...

• We also drop off a self-administered questionnaire:– questions on attitude towards optimism, risk, trust in people, time

preference …– anchoring vignettes: scenarios to compare the respondent to

others (personal scales)

27 juin 2012


EU-SILC: an example of anchoring vignette on overall satisfaction of life

• Jacques is 40 years old. He is a middle-school teacher. He lives with his wife, who is unemployed, and their three children in a small apartment in the suburbs, purchased with a mortgage. The neighbors are fairly noisy. Even if his children do not lack anything, it's not always easy to make ends meet. Jacques has no health problems, but he has trouble sleeping because he has a difficult class this year.

• How would you rate Jacques's situation in terms of his life at the present time? (from 0 is the least favorable situation, and 10 the most favorable situation.)

0

10

20

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

%

score given

27 juin 2012


2.2 - Subjective well-being: Overall life-satisfaction (mean: 7/10)

0

10

20

30

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

satisfaction level

%

27 juin 2012


2.3 - Questionnaire of the French Time-Use Survey for 2010

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Jean-Louis Lhéritier Insee 27 juin 2012 Beyond GDP, quality of life and sustainable development: implementing new measurements in France Measuring Well-Being