Japan's life index imbalance
(From The Japan Times June 5 issue)

日本の幸福度指標

Last month the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development cataloged Japanese dissatisfaction in a survey of Japan and the 33 other members of the OECD. The compiled results in OECD's Your Better Life Index show that despite the relatively good aspects of life in Japan, many more parts of Japanese life desperately need change.

The new OECD index surveyed citizens of the member countries about 11 aspects of life, such as housing, income, community, education and work-life balance. Japanese reported very low life satisfaction, with only 40 percent of people satisfied with their lives, compared with the OECD average of 59 percent.

Japan was just below South Korea and far below the most highly satisfied countries of Denmark, Canada and Switzerland. Even worse, Japan was third from the bottom in its evaluation of work-life balance, just above Turkey and Mexico.

In their evaluation of their government, Japan ranked in the bottom third, together with Mexico and Hungary. As for the environment, Japan was in the bottom third, just above Israel and Spain, but after the Tohoku disasters, which occurred after the survey data was gathered, Japan would likely drop to the very bottom.

On the positive side, Japan ranked first in safety, fourth in education and among the top third in jobs. Despite the economic slowdown, Japanese income was eighth. Those positive factors were not enough for Japanese to see their lives as satisfactory, however.

The government needs to start improving the quality of life while the country reconsiders its way of life in the wake of the recent disasters. Changing out-of-date workplace practices, expanding gender equality and building social trust are key starting points.

The better life index was designed to compare life among the OECD member countries to influence best practices in public policy. Subjective evaluations of the quality of life really do matter. They form the basis for renewal and provide the foundation for future improvements.

OECDは日本を含む加盟国34ヵ国の生活の豊かさを示す「より良い暮らし指標」を発表、日本人が不満を持つ分野が明らかになった。

指標は、住宅、収入、共同体、教育、仕事と生活の調和など、暮らしの11分野について国民に調査したもので、日本は生活の満足度が40％と、OECD諸国平均の59%を大幅に下回った。

「仕事と生活の調和」や｢ガバナンス」ではワースト3位。「環境」もワースト3位だったが、東日本大震災で最下位になる可能性もある。

一方で「安全」は1位、「教育」4位、「雇用」3位、さらに不況でも「収入」は8位だ。

震災で生活が見直されるなか、政府はその質の向上に努めねばならない。職場の習慣の改革、男女平等の促進、社会的信頼構築が第一歩だ。

生活の質に対する主観的評価は、再生と向上の基盤となる。