International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life

Richard J. Estes
M. Joseph Sirgy Editors

The Pursuit of
Human Well-Being
The Untold Global History
International Handbooks
of Quality-of-­Life

Chair of the Editorial Board

Graciela Tonon, Universidad Nacional de Lomas de Zamora and
Universidad de Palermo, Argentina

Editorial Board
Alex Michalos, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
Rhonda Phillips, Purdue University, USA
Don Rahtz, College of William & Mary, USA
Dave Webb, University of Western Australia, Australia
Wolfgang Glatzer, Goethe University, Germany
Dong Jin Lee, Yonsei University, Korea
Laura Camfield, University of East Anglia, UK
Aims and Scope
The International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life Research offer extensive bibliographic resources.
They present literature reviews of the many subdisciplines and areas of study within the growing field
of quality of life research. Handbooks in the series focus on capturing and reviewing the quality of life
research literature in specific life domains, on specific populations, or in relation to specific disciplines
or sectors of industry. In addition, the Handbooks cover measures of quality of life and well-being,
providing annotated bibliographies of well-established measures, methods, and scales.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8365

Richard J. Estes  •  M. Joseph Sirgy
Editors

The Pursuit of Human

Well-Being
The Untold Global History
Editors
Richard J. Estes M. Joseph Sirgy
School of Social Policy and Practice Pamplin College of Business
University of Pennsylvania Department of Marketing
Philadelphia, PA, USA Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State
University (Virginia Tech)
Blacksburg, VA, USA

ISSN 2468-7227          ISSN 2468-7235 (eBook)

International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life
ISBN 978-3-319-39100-7    ISBN 978-3-319-39101-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016960752

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or
part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way,
and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software,
or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in
this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor
the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material
contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
This book is dedicated to Harry Halloran and Joseph “Tony”
Carr—two remarkable visionaries who appreciate the rich
contributions made by quality-of-life and well-being scholars.
Without their investment and dedication to the science
of well-being, this work would never have been possible.
Foreword

Developing a history of human well-being has been a passion and core belief
of mine for years. As a businessman, I have been fortunate to be associated
with colleagues who are committed to making our world a better place. I
believe strongly that people want to improve their lives for themselves, their
families, and their communities. It is with these beliefs that I, along with my
lifelong friend Tony Carr, began Halloran Philanthropies. Our mission was
then, and continues to be, “creating the world we all want”—a world different
from the one we live in today.
As we began in 2007 to set in motion the vision of Halloran Philanthropies,
we knew early on that we wanted to focus on and support innovation and
remarkable innovators who demonstrated a wide range of visions to improve
the human condition across various areas of health, education, and livelihood.
As this strategy unfolded, I realized that creating a plan for the future of well-­
being required a deep understanding of the history of well-being. We needed
to look at change with a wider, more inquisitive lens. As we investigated
further the concepts of human well-being and quality of life, we found a
dearth of research specifically centered on the history of human experience.
By the latter, I mean an analysis that transcends the academic definition of
good economies, good trade, good incomes, and good governance. How can
we move forward in our thinking and doing without a comprehensive under-
standing of how human happiness and well-being have evolved? How can we
design our strategies and our collective global agenda for raising the bar for
the greatest number, when our opinions, thoughts, and feelings are shaped
largely by the media—media that fail to champion a systematic focus on
research and analysis?
Let me reflect for a moment on why Halloran Philanthropies decided to
fund this project. I have been unimpressed and uninspired by the lack of per-
spective of the popular media. By lack of perspective, I mean the failure of
the media to report stories and events in the context of a well-researched,
complete picture of what is really going on in the world. Unfortunately, pol-
icy makers and the public depend primarily on the mass media for informa-
tion and analysis of world events. Although there are certainly many
exceptions, what keeps the media alive is their ability to sell negative stories,
but not necessarily balanced critical thinking. The media often have neither

vii
viii Foreword

the money nor the orientation to do the research required and to do justice to
the many complex social issues that confront humanity. And we have all
heard the expression, good news does not sell.
I take a contrarian and a “change-maker” view about the human condition
and the improvements in the world. I am challenged by the question: Are
things improving in health, education, and human welfare in a few
regions of the world, many regions of the world, or all regions of the
world? The answer to this question has a lot to say about the ideal goals for
the future: How do we get to the world that we all want? Or, as Buckminster
Fuller would say, the “100 % world,” where 100 % of humanity enjoys the
“good life.”
The question “… are things improving in the world?” has become the
driving force behind my commitment to support this research led by the
extraordinary editorial team of Professors Richard J. Estes and M. Joseph
Sirgy. Our editors selected well-respected specialists from every major region
of the world to examine the questions from a common point of departure,
agreed upon from the beginning as the basic indicators of the Human
Development Index. With the HDI indicators as the starting point, each team
was “challenged to explore the extensive data that underlie the rich fabric of
human experience documented in this research.” Through analysis we uncov-
ered a complex tapestry that integrates Western, Near Eastern, and Eastern
philosophical conceptions of what it means for humans to live “well”; our
editors examined in detail the socioeconomic, political, and historical experi-
ences of every region, incorporating the major religions and the historically
disadvantaged populations. Above all, every aspect of this project is rooted,
to my delight, in data.
In every corner of the world, in both objective and subjective arenas, the
core questions about the scope of improvements in human development hold
a vital key to our collective future. For me, this is paramount for the following
reason: If life is improving in a few, many, or all of the regions of the world,
particularly over the last 70 years or so, then getting to the “world we all
want” in these regions or all regions will be a lot more probable than if we
find that life is deteriorating in core areas of health, education, and welfare in
the regions we have studied. In such a scenario, forging a path ahead will
obviously be far more difficult. If we find the former scenario to be true, con-
firming that well-being is improving in all regions of the world, this outcome
for me is nothing short of a revelation that can create optimism that human
progress and betterment are being achieved. It may be a revelation that we
can enthusiastically stand behind and strongly support. Whatever one’s faith
tradition, I believe that we are all connected by a common force for good with
a desire for continued improvement.
I will not give away the conclusions of this research journey here or the
richness of what I have learned; I invite all readers of this work simply to
benefit from the amazing opportunity for immersion and learning that this
book represents. We plan to update this body of research every 5 years to
determine whether the trends we have discovered endure, and we will do so
with all the humility and good faith set in place by our editors. We will
endeavor to tell this story widely, to share the outcomes of this robust body of
Foreword ix

research, and to translate the information into as many literal and visual forms
as possible for the benefit of all who care to read it. This book provides the
untold story of human well-being: the truth about our experience as human
beings in our search to create the world we all want.

Halloran Philanthropies Harry Halloran

West Conshohocken, PA, USA

Chuvisco—a man’s memory of his childhood farm and the wall he is not sure he had ever
climbed over (© Brian Fernandes-Halloran. Used with permission)
Preface

Organized human history has been unfolding for more than 40,000 years.
Indeed, evidence exists that Homo sapiens has been a major force on the
planet for at least as long as 6–8 millennia, albeit many scholars suggest even
longer. In either case, “modern” men and women are of comparatively recent
origin and postdate the period of the great dinosaurs by millions of years.
Homo sapiens appeared around the beginning of the current global ice age,
the Pliocene-Quaternary glaciation, an ongoing period that is largely respon-
sible for the creation of a broad range of social, political, economic, and tech-
nological innovations (especially those designed to keep the people living in
northern countries warm). The current ice age, with all of the challenges that
it presented and continues to present to humanity, has compelled people
throughout the world to live in highly interdependent communities; to share
in advancing the well-being of one another, but especially that of their fami-
lies and local communities; and to create forms of housing, energy sources,
transportation sources and networks, and communication systems that keep
people in close proximity to one another.
This volume covers developments in human well-being that have taken
place worldwide over the past 3000 years. We have limited our focus to this
time period, given the absence of written or other interpretable records prior
to 2500 before the Common Era (BCE). We do, of course, have archeological
evidence of human well-being prior to 2500 BCE, but many of those records
are only fragments of more complete documents that have been lost to history
or, as of now, remain largely uninterpretable. Future generations of scholars
are expected to gradually extend the boundaries of the history of well-being
beyond what is known today, but, as of now, only the major centers of these
most ancient of civilizations are known to us, e.g., the Olmec people of
Central America (Fig. P.1) (1500 BCE to about 400 BCE centered on the San
Lorenzo Tenochtitlán site near the coast in southeast Veracruz in Central
America), as well as the Sumerians of Mesopotamia (the portion of modern
Iraq situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) (c. 5500 BCE and 4000
BCE), long considered to be one of the progenitors of human civilization
(Fig. P.2) (Running Reality 2015). More specifically, we have drawn on the
component measures of the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI)

xi
xii Preface

Fig. P.1  San Lorenzo Monument 3 (also known as Colossal Head 3), from San Lorenzo
Tenochtitlan, 1200–900 BCE (Museo de Antropologia de Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico)
(Photo by Maribel Ponce Ixba; Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license; https://
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/San_Lorenzo_Monument_3.jpg)

Fig. P.2  The statues, known collectively as the Tell Asmar Hoard (Early Dynastic I–II, ca.
2900–2550 B.C.), were unearthed in 1933 at Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar) in the Diyala
region of Iraq. Despite subsequent finds at this site and others throughout the Greater
Mesopotamian area, they remain the definitive example of the abstract style of Early
Dynastic temple sculpture (2900 BC–2350 BC) (Photo source unknown; https://onefuri-
ousllama.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/sumerian-gods.jpg.)
Text (covered by Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license) from:
Tell Asmar Hoard. (2015, October 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.
wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tell_Asmar_Hoard&oldid=684416774

as the basis for framing our analysis—human advances over the long term
related to improvements in the quality of and access to health and health care,
education, and income.
Preface xiii

The book is divided into five parts. Part I focuses on the history of well-­
being as expressed by the world’s major and most influential philosophical
and religious traditions: Western traditions of well-being beginning with
the ancient Greeks; South Asian, mostly Hindu traditions of well-being;
well-­being as viewed from an East Asian perspective, mostly Confucian,
Daoist, and related religions; and Islamic traditions of well-being begin-
ning with the seventh century forward. Part II discusses the conceptual
framework, types of data, and levels of analysis used in Parts III and IV.
The largest and most detailed portion of the book is Part III, which analyzes
the history of well-­being since the end of the Second World War to the pres-
ent for each of the world’s major geopolitical regions, namely, sub-Saharan
Africa, Latin America, North America, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast
Asia, Europe, Oceania, countries that are the successor states to the former
Soviet Union, North Africa and West Asia, and the geographically large but
sparsely populated transpolar Arctic region. Part IV deals with transre-
gional population groups (girls and women) and with the critical contribu-
tion to well-being made by technology. Part V concludes with a summary
of the major national, regional, and transregional findings reported else-
where in the book. Part V also introduces new content into the analysis and,
most importantly, pulls together all of the human development themes and
patterns discussed in Parts I–IV.
The book concludes with a series of appendixes that focus on particular
aspects of well-being of special interest to both general and specialist readers.
Appendix A, for example, reports national and regional scores on the HDI for
the 15-year period 1980–2014. These data permit the reader to identify HDI
scores and changes in these scores over time, for countries of special interest
to them. Appendix F contains a supplemental reading list. Readers also will
find Appendixes B, C, D, and E of interest, given that they identify and
describe major objective and subjective measurement tools used to assess
well-being across most of the world’s nations.
Finally, throughout the book, we have published a series of commissioned
Maya paintings that depict the first 5 days of the Maya calendar. Our artist,
Lylia Carr, did a phenomenal job in capturing the essence of these numerals.
The use of Maya numerals to separate the book’s five sections is appropriate
in a volume that details history of well-being from ancient to modern times.
The Maya civilization reached its peak around the sixth century in the area of
modern Guatemala, Belize, and southeastern Mexico. The Mayans were a
highly religious people, and many of the stone buildings in Maya cities had
religious significance. Maya people continue to exist and, in the main, com-
prise large portions of the populations of Central and South America, i.e., the
region of Latin American referred to as Mesoamerica.
We hope that you will find the material in this book useful in understanding
the varied conceptions of human well-being and capturing the state of human
xiv Preface

well-being in various world regions and population groups. We believe that

much of the information reported in this book can be useful not only for edu-
cational purposes but also in public policy decision making.
Happy reading!

Philadelphia, PA, USA Richard J. Estes

Blacksburg, VA, USA M. Joseph Sirgy

Reference
Running Reality. (2015). Timeline of human history. http://www.runningreality.org/?gclid
=CKyZoJKd0MoCFccYHwodNcUKuw#01/01/1700&42.83330,12.83330&zoom=5.
Accessed 29 Jan 2016.
Reviewers and Consultants

Ali-Dinar, Ali B., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Arthur, Shawn, Forest Wake University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
Boelhouwer, Jeroen, Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, The Hague, Netherlands
Carr, Tony, Halloran Philanthropies, West Conshohocken, PA, USA
Clark, Andrew, Paris School of Economics, Paris, France
Cummins, Robert, Deakins University, Melbourne, Australia
Eckermann, Elizabeth, Deakins University, Melbourne, Australia
Estes, Richard, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Fried, Pamela, ProText Editorial Services, Devon, PA, USA
Glatzer, Wolfgang, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Halloran, Harry, American Refining Group and Halloran Philanthropies,
West Conshohocken, PA, USA
Howell, Ryan, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA., USA
Inoguchi, Takashi, University of Niigata Prefecture Tokyo, Japan
Kagotho, Njeri, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Land, Kenneth, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Mangahas, Mahar, Social Weather Station, Quezon City, Philippines
Mazumdar, Krishna, Calcutta Statistical Institute, Calcutta, India
Michalos, Alex, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George,
BC, Canada
Møller, Valerie, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
Rahtz, Don, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA
Rojas, Mariano, Mexico City, Mexico
Schmitthenner, Peter, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University,
Blacksburg, VA, USA
Selian, Audrey, Halloran Philanthropies and the Fletcher School, Tufts
University, Geneva, Switzerland
Shek, Daniel, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Shrotryia, Vijay, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
Sirgy, M. Joseph, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia
Tech), Blacksburg, VA, USA

xv
xvi Reviewers and Consultants

Spooner, Brian, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Sreenivasan, Ramya, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA
Tiliouine, Habib, University of Oran 2, Oran, Algeria
Veenhoven, Ruut, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Netherlands
Walker, David, Freelance Consultant on Graphics and Information
Technology, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Wills-Herrera, Eduardo, University of the Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Acknowledgments

This book project was an enormous undertaking. The success of this project
cannot be attributed to the editors alone but to the combined efforts of the
project’s entire team. The team of contributors included the editors, the
authors, the reviewers, the consultants, advisory board members, support
staff, the publisher, and above all the philanthropy that provided the inspira-
tion, vision, and financial resources required to complete this Herculean task.
We, the editors, Richard J. Estes and M. Joseph Sirgy, would like to acknowl-
edge each of these individuals and institutions by name and the exact role
each played in this project.
First and foremost, we would like to express our profound gratitude to the
Halloran Philanthropies team. This book was envisioned by Harry Halloran,
a generous philanthropist who dedicates his life to the enhancement of well-­
being. Halloran Philanthropies has a magnanimous record of supporting
many projects designed to enhance well-being in different walks of life. We
were fortunate that this book project was selected for support among his
many other humanitarian projects. Harry Halloran has provided not only the
financial resources but also the vision and inspiration. Joseph Anthony (Tony)
Carr, president of Halloran Philanthropies, was also an inspiration to us. He
helped translate Harry’s vision into a set of concrete guidelines that shaped
the nature of the project. Audrey Selian, the program officer at the foundation,
further translated much of Harry’s and Tony’s vision and guidelines into an
operational plan. She worked very closely with us to make this project bear
fruit. Audrey has considerable expertise in technology and well-being
research. She rolled up her sleeves and provided us with useful input that
helped better shape the chapters into a coherent whole—an untold story about
the history of human well-being worldwide. Audrey also coauthored two
chapters—Chap. 6, “How We Measure Well-Being,” and Chap. 19,
“Technology and the History of Well-Being.” Her contribution to this project
cannot be overestimated.
Next, we owe profound gratitude to the authors who wrote the chapters.
They not only produced chapters that captured the history of well-being but
also endured the pain and hardship that is customarily inflicted by editors
with high expectations. They had to revise and re-revise their manuscripts to
meet the high standards of the reviewers and the demands we placed on them

xvii
xviii Acknowledgments

to revise, revise, and again revise with no time to spare. We tip our hats to our
authors. They have done a fantastic job, and they deserve our heartfelt
­gratitude. Thanks and many thanks again. The authors of the chapters are the
following:
• One of the editors, Richard J. Estes, authored the introductory chapter,
“The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times.”
• Alex C. Michalos and Dan Weijers coauthored the chapter “Western
Historical Traditions of Well-Being.”
• Shawn Arthur and Victor Mair coauthored the chapter “East Asian
Historical Traditions of Well-Being.”
• Isabelle Clark-Decés and Frederick M. Smith coauthored the chapter
“Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report.”
• Mohsen Joshanloo authored the chapter “Islamic Conceptions of
Well-Being.”
• Audrey Selian joined us (M. Joseph Sirgy and Richard J. Estes) to coau-
thor the chapter “How We Measure Well-Being.”
• Valerie Møller and Benjamin Roberts coauthored the chapter “New
Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
• Mariano Rojas and Jose de Jesus Garcia coauthored the chapter “Well-­
Being in Latin America.”
• Kenneth C. Land, Alex C. Michalos, and Rhonda Phillips joined us
(Richard J. Estes and M. Joseph Sirgy) to coauthor the chapter “Well-
Being in Canada and the United States.”
• Takashi Inoguchi joined Richard J. Estes to coauthor the chapter “The
History of Well-Being in East Asia.”
• Vijay Kumar Shrotryia and Krishna Mazumdar coauthored the chapter
“The History of Well-Being in South Asia.”
• Mahar Mangahas and Edilberto C. de Jesus coauthored the chapter “The
History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia.”
• Wolfgang Glatzer and Jürgen Kohl coauthored the chapter “The History
of Well-Being in Europe.”
• Robert Cummins and Tanja Capic coauthored the chapter “The History of
Well-Being in Oceania.”
• Carol Graham and Aurite Werman coauthored the chapter “Well-Being in
the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former Soviet
Union: The Challenges of Change.”
• Habib Tiliouine and Mohammed Meziane coauthored the chapter “The
History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).”
• Birger Poppel authored the chapter “Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic
Peoples: The Quest for Continuity.”
• Elizabeth Eckermann authored the chapter “The History of Well-Being
and the Global Progress of Women.”
• Audrey Selian and Lee McKnight coauthored the chapter “The Role of
Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market
Phenomena Over Time.”
• Back to the editors, Richard J. Estes and M. Joseph Sirgy coauthored the
epilogue chapter “The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective.”
Acknowledgments xix

Our gratitude also extends to our support staff. Pamela Fried played two
roles in this project—copyeditor of the entire book and technical production
manager. She has done a great job managing these roles. David Walker also
played two roles—that of graphics designer and that of webmaster. He cre-
ated all of the graphics and has done a wonderful job. He also excelled at
developing the Web site for the project (click on History of Well-Being in
MIQOLS’ Web site at www.miqols.org). Pamela A. Jackson and Emmaline
G. Smith provided the administrative talent. Pamela oversaw the finances of
the entire project and Emmaline managed the day-to-day administrative
aspects. Also, Emmaline contributed to the book by doing library research to
help create several of the appendices. We couldn’t have completed the project
efficiently and on time without their invaluable administrative skills.
We also have to express our gratitude to members of the editorial review
board, the advisory board, and consultants. Advisory board members helped
with the envisioning process and chapter reviews. They include Andrew
Clark, Elizabeth Eckermann, José de Jesús García, Wolfgang Glatzer,
Takashi Inoguchi, Kenneth C. Land, Krishna Mazumdar, Alex C. Michalos,
Valerie Møller, and Habib Tiliouine. Editorial review members and consul-
tants helped us with the review process. Members of the editorial review
board include Ryan T. Howell and Brian Spooner. Consultants (i.e., ad hoc
reviewers) include Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Jacqueline Njeri Kagoth, Don R. Rahtz,
Daniel Shek, Vijay Kumar Shrotryia, Peter Lee Schmitthenner, Ramya
Sreenivasan, Eduardo Wills Herrera, and Jeroen Boelhouwer.
Our gratitude and special thanks also go to our publisher team at Springer.
The publisher team includes Esther Otten, Hendrikje Tuerlings, Myriam
Poort, and the production team, particularly Ms. S. Madhuriba, Project
Manager, SPi Content Solutions—SPi Global. Esther Otten played a promi-
nent role in the development of the book prospectus and heralding it through
Springer’s executive committee.
We would also like to recognize the contribution of our benefactor, Harry
Halloran, for writing the Foreword; Kevin Halloran, for providing the sec-
tional quotes in the book; Neil Halloran, for providing a graphic illustration
of the historical trend of violent death resulting from wars; Lylia Carr, for
providing the original artwork used to separate Parts I through V; and Brian
Halloran, for providing an original photograph of sculpture that follows the
book’s Foreword.
This project was administered through the Management Institute for
Quality-of-Life Studies (MIQOLS; www.miqols.org) with some assistance
from the Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI at bfi.org). MIQOLS is a think
tank devoted to the generation of knowledge related to the science of human
well-being and the dissemination and utilization of such knowledge by soci-
etal institutions worldwide. BFI also supports an international network of
Fuller-inspired innovators through the maintenance of a comprehensive
information clearinghouse on R. B. Fuller’s work on sustainable design.
Much of the data used in this book came from international statistical bod-
ies such as the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund, the World Values Survey, and the Social
xx Acknowledgments

Weather Station, among many others. We are much indebted to these institu-
tions for collecting data at regular intervals on human well-being.
Last but not least we would like to recognize the support of our academic
institutions (University of Pennsylvania and Virginia Tech) and of course
that of our own spouses (Gail Luyster Estes, wife of Richard Estes, and
Pamela Jackson, wife of M. Joseph Sirgy). We couldn’t have done this proj-
ect without their moral support and encouragement. Thank you! Thank
you! Thank you!
Contents

Part I  Historical Conceptions of Well-Being over the Long Term

1 The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient
to Modern Times............................................................................ 3
Richard J. Estes
2 Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being............................... 31
Alex C. Michalos and Daniel Weijers
3 East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being........................... 59
Shawn Arthur and Victor H. Mair
4 Well-Being in India: A Historical and 
Anthropological Report................................................................. 83
Isabelle Clark-Decès and Frederick M. Smith
5 Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being............................................... 109
Mohsen Joshanloo

Part II  Domains of Well-Being

6 How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind
the History of Well-Being.............................................................. 135
M. Joseph Sirgy, Richard J. Estes, and Audrey N. Selian

Part III Regional Analyses of the History and Contemporary

State of Well-Being Since World War II
7 New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being
in Sub-Saharan Africa................................................................... 161
Valerie Møller and Benjamin Roberts
8 Well-Being in Latin America......................................................... 217
Mariano Rojas and José de Jesús García Vega
9 Well-Being in Canada and the United States.............................. 257
Richard J. Estes, Kenneth C. Land, Alex C. Michalos,
Rhonda Phillips, and M. Joseph Sirgy

xxi
xxii Contents

10 The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global

Conflict to Global Leadership...................................................... 301
Takashi Inoguchi and Richard J. Estes
11 The History of Well-Being in South Asia..................................... 349
Vijay Kumar Shrotryia and Krishna Mazumdar
12 The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia............................... 381
Mahar Mangahas and Edilberto C. De Jesus
13 The History of Well-Being in Europe........................................... 409
Wolfgang Glatzer and Jürgen Kohl
14 The History of Well-Being in Oceania.......................................... 453
Robert A. Cummins and Tanja Capic
15 Well-Being in the Transition Economies
of the Successor States of the Former Soviet Union:
The Challenges of Change............................................................. 493
Carol Graham and Aurite Werman
16 The History of Well-Being in the Middle East
and North Africa (MENA)............................................................ 523
Habib Tiliouine and Mohammed Meziane
17 Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples:
The Quest for Continuity.............................................................. 565
Birger Poppel

Part IV Special Issues Related to the Well-Being of Nations

and Population Groups
18 The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress
of Women........................................................................................ 609
Elizabeth Eckermann
19 The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being:
Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time......................... 639
Audrey N. Selian and Lee McKnight

Part V  Epilogue
20 The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective........................ 691
Richard J. Estes and M. Joseph Sirgy

Appendices.............................................................................................. 743
About the Authors

Shawn Arthur  is assistant professor with the

Department for the Study of Religions, Wake Forest
University, Winston-Salem, NC. His research inter-
ests include religious dietary practices; intersections
of religion, culture, and the body; religion and body
modifications; method and theory in the study of
religions; the interdisciplinary analysis of religion;
Chinese medicine; nature-oriented religions; and
contemporary paganism and Wicca. Shawn’s first
book, Early Daoist Dietary Practices: Examining
Ways to Health and Longevity (Lexington Books 2013), focuses on a fifth-­
century Daoist text that contains recipes for achieving immortality. In addition
to looking at the religious content and issues present in the text, he also uses a
range of scientific, nutritional, medical, and parasitological studies to analyze
the text’s physical regimens and their likely outcomes. His current research
focuses on contemporary popular religion in China and how lay practices and
perspectives can contribute to our understandings of “religion” and how these
differ from authoritative traditions and official presentations. E-mail: arthursd@
wfu.edu

Tanja Capic  received her bachelor of arts with

distinction from Deakin University in Melbourne in
2012, along with first-class honors in psychology,
in 2014. Her research topic is in the area of subjec-
tive well-being (SWB), in particular, SWB set
points within the context of homeostasis theory of
SWB. She was awarded a publication write-up
scholarship for her thesis and in 2015 submitted her
thesis for publication in a scientific journal. Tanja
currently works as a research assistant on the
Australian Unity Wellbeing project at Deakin
University. Her role includes maintaining the dataset comprising all Australian
Unity Wellbeing Surveys conducted since 2001 and publishing annual reports
based on these data. E-mail: [email protected]

xxiii
xxiv About the Authors

Isabelle Clark-Decès  is professor with the

Department of Anthropology, Princeton University,
Princeton, New Jersey. She received her PhD from
the University of California, Berkeley, in 1995. Dr.
Clark-Decès’ research interests are in South Asia,
with a research focus on the Tamils of South India.
Her first three books focus on Tamil ritual and the
series of conceptual, existential, theoretical issues it
opens up: Religion Against the Self: An Ethnography of Tamil Rituals; No
One Cries for the Dead: Tamil Dirges, Rowdy Songs, and Graveyard Petitions;
and The Encounter Never Ends: A Return to the Field of Tamil Rituals. She
has edited a volume of essays that explore recent trends in the anthropologi-
cal study of India (A Companion to the Anthropology of India). Her recent
study of preferential marriages to close kin in Tamil Nadu presents a focused
ethnography of a waning marriage system: its past, present, and dwindling
future (The Right Spouse: Preferential Marriages in Tamil Nadu). She teaches
courses on India, ritual, kinship, anthropological theory, and ethnography and
directs the program in South Asian studies. E-mail: [email protected]

Robert A. Cummins  was appointed professor

emeritus in 2014, after holding a personal chair in
psychology with Deakin University from 1997 to
2013. He holds postgraduate degrees in physiology
and psychology from the University of Queensland
and the University of Western Australia. Professor
Cummins is an international authority on quality-
of-life research and a fellow of the Australian
Psychological Society and of the International Society for Quality-of-Life
Studies. He is on the editorial board of 15 journals and is an editor of the
Journal of Happiness Studies. In 2000, Prof. Cummins founded the Australian
Centre on Quality of Life as a virtual center within Deakin University as a
resource for students and researchers. Professor Cummins supervises post-
graduate students, for which he has received several awards. He has an
h-index of 50 and has published over 350 books, book chapters, papers, and
reports and is a popular speaker. E-mail: [email protected]

Edilberto C. De Jesus  holds a BA honors course

in humanities, from Ateneo de Manila University,
and MPhil and PhD degrees in history, from Yale
University. He was president of Far Eastern
University (1995–2002), University of the
Cordilleras (2008–2009), and the Asian Institute of
Management (AIM) (2009–2012), which he first
joined in 1972 and where he is now professor emeri-
tus. Initially seconded by AIM in 1987 to President
Corazon Aquino’s administration, he served as deputy peace commissioner
(1987–1992) and in her cabinet as presidential adviser on rural development
(1988–1992). He rejoined AIM as associate dean for research and established
About the Authors xxv

its Policy Center (1992–1995). He was president of the Philippine Association

of Colleges and Universities until appointed secretary of education (2002–
2004). He served as president of the Council of the Southeast Asian Ministers
of Education Organization (2003) and as its secretariat director (Bangkok)
(2005–2007). He is on the Advisory Committee of the Philippine Business for
Education and the Asia-Europe Education Hub. He writes on public policy
and political developments in the Philippines and the ASEAN region. E-mail:
[email protected]

Elizabeth Eckermann  professor of medical soci-

ology with Deakin University (Australia), is a con-
sultant for the World Health Organization and an
editor of Health Promotion International. She was
vice president of development on the board of
directors of the International Society for Quality-
of-Life Studies and was made a distinguished
research fellow of the society (2006). She was a
member of the Australian delegation to the United
Nations Commission on the Status of Women; in 2007 she won the Zonta
International Outstanding Achievement Award for commitment to the
advancement of women’s health in Lao PDR. Her current field research
focuses on quality-of-life indicators in Lao PDR and Sabah, Malaysia. Her
research grants and publications cover quality-of-life indicators, gender and
well-being, maternal health, gender-based violence, and health promotion
including the book, Gender, Lifespan and Quality of Life: An International
Perspective (2014); “Living Alone and Living Together: Their Significance
for Wellbeing,” Global Handbook of Quality of Life (2015); “Elizabeth (Liz)
Eckermann: A Pioneer in Gendered Understandings of Quality of Life,”
Applied Research in Quality of Life (2015); and “From Health Impact
Assessment to Quality of Life Impact Assessment,” Health Promotion
International (2013). E-mail: [email protected]

Richard J. Estes  is professor emeritus of social

work and social policy in the School of Social
Policy & Practice of the University of Pennsylvania.
He specializes in international and comparative
social welfare, social policy, and social develop-
ment. He has been the recipient of many awards
and prizes for his contributions to comparative
social development. In addition to the present vol-
ume, his books include The Social Progress of Nations, 1984; Trends in
World Social Development, 1988; Health Care and the Social Services,1984;
Towards a Social Development Strategy for the Asia and Pacific Region (with
Edward Van Roy), 1992; Social Development in Hong Kong: The Unfinished
Agenda, 2005; Medical, Legal and Social Science Aspects of Child Sexual
Exploitation, 2007; Advancing Quality of Life in a Turbulent World, 2007;
The State of Social Progress of Islamic Societies: Social, Economic, Political,
and Ideological Challenges (with Habib Tiliouine, Dordrecht NL: Springer),
xxvi About the Authors

2016; The Pursuit of Human Well-­Being: The Untold Global History (with
M. Joseph Sirgy, Dordrecht NL: Springer); and Advances in Wellbeing (with
M. Joseph Sirgy, London: Rowan and Littlefield), in preparation, 2017.
E-mail: [email protected]

José de Jesús García Vega  is CEO of Servicios

Integrales Gama, a petrochemical firm in Ciudad
Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico. He was formerly a
professor of economics at Universidad de
Monterrey, Mexico, where he lectured on business
forecasting, microeconomics, managerial econom-
ics, and international economics. He was a visiting
professor in Mexico and overseas. He was director
of the Center of Well-Being Studies, doing research
on subjective well-being and quality of life in
Mexico. He published a book on happiness and values in Monterrey and
coauthored an article in the Handbook on the Economics of Happiness,
among other publications. His most recent project involved measuring qual-
ity of life at the national and state levels. He contributed to The World Book
of Happiness (http://www.theworldbookofhappiness.com/en) and served on
the editorial review boards of the Journal of Applied Research in Quality of
Life, the Social Indicators Research Journal, and the Encyclopedia of Quality
of Life and Well-Being Research. Jose has an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in
accounting from the Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas in Tampico,
Mexico, and a PhD in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University.
E-mail: [email protected]

Wolfgang Glatzer  holds a diploma in sociology,

social policy, and economics from Goethe
University at Frankfurt and a PhD from the
University of Mannheim. Most of his working life
he spent as a professor of sociology in the depart-
ment for Gesellschaftswissenschaften (social sci-
ences) at Goethe University, Frankfurt. His lifetime
research focuses on social structural and cultural change, quality of life and
well-being, the welfare state, and household production. He has published
several books, including Rich and Poor, Challenges for Quality of Life in the
Contemporary World, and Global Handbook of Quality of Life. He is the
author or editor of several hundred scientific articles in 12 languages and of
contributions to broadcasting and television. He held key positions in the
Special Research Department, Microanalytical Foundations of Society. He is
a founding member of the international research group, Comparative Charting
of Social Change. He is a former president of the International Society for
Quality-of-Life Studies. He was invited to be a fellow at the Hanse-­
Wissenschaftskolleg. His recent research interests emphasize global well-
being and quality of life. E-mail: [email protected]
About the Authors xxvii

Carol Graham  is the Leo Pasvolsky senior fellow

with the Brookings Institution and College Park
professor at the University of Maryland and has
served as a vice president at Brookings. She is the
author of, most recently, The Pursuit of Happiness:
An Economy of Well-Being (Brookings, also pub-
lished in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese) and
Happiness Around the World: The Paradox of
Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires
(Oxford, also published in Chinese and Portuguese) and has published in
journals including the World Bank Research Observer, Health Affairs, the
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and Health Economics.
Her work on well-being has been reviewed in Science, The New Yorker, and
the New York Times. In 2014, Graham was awarded the International Society
of Quality-of-Life Studies Distinguished Research Fellow for substantial
contribution to the field. She has a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton
University, a master of arts degree from Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD
from Oxford University. E-mail: [email protected]

Harry R. Halloran Jr.  is the chairman and chief

executive officer of American Refining Group. He
is also the chairman and CEO of ARG Resources.
Mr. Halloran is a graduate of the University of
Pennsylvania with a degree in civil engineering.
After graduation, he entered the Augustinian
Seminary for 4 years and earned an MA in theol-
ogy. Mr. Halloran is founder and CEO of Energy
Unlimited, Inc., a company involved in the renew-
able-energy field, and has served on the board of
the American Wind Energy Association. Other past positions include trustee
of Villanova University, College of Commerce and Finance, and trustee of the
Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. He is also the founding trustee
of the Enlightened World Foundation and the Halloran Foundation. He is a
member of the Caux Round Table and serves on the board of the Journal of
Ecumenical Studies. Mr. Halloran founded Halloran Philanthropies in 2007
with the belief that business is one of the most powerful drivers for positive
social change. The purpose of Halloran Philanthropies is to help create a
healthier world community that promotes economic development through
microfinance, global business ethics, and community service to revitalize
low-income neighborhoods.
xxviii About the Authors

Takashi Inoguchi  has a PhD from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is pro-
fessor emeritus with the University of Tokyo, for-
mer assistant secretary general of the United
Nations, president of the University of Niigata
Prefecture, and a prolific author and editor and
coeditor of books and articles on political theory,
comparative politics, and international relations.
He recently published The Quality of Life in Asia: A Comparison of Quality
of Life in Asia (Springer 2013). He has been director of the AsiaBarometer
project since 2002 and is the founding editor of three journals: Japanese
Journal of Political Science (Cambridge University Press), International
Relations of the Asia-Pacific (Oxford University Press), and Asian Journal of
Comparative Politics (Sage Publications). In 2014, he was awarded the
International Society of Quality-of-Life Studies Distinguished Research
Fellow for his substantial contributions to the field. E-mail: [email protected]
tokyo.ac.jp

Mohsen Joshanloo  holds a PhD from Victoria

University of Wellington, New Zealand (2013). He
did his postdoctoral work at Chungbuk National
University, South Korea, and is currently assistant
professor with Keimyung University, South Korea.
His main research interests are well-being, culture,
values, world views, emotions, and motivation. He
advocates culturally inclusive research into well-
being and has recently published a number of con-
ceptual and empirical articles on mental well-being in non-Western cultures.
E-mail: [email protected]

Jürgen Kohl  is professor emeritus of sociology

with the Max Weber Institute of Sociology,
University of Heidelberg, Germany. He holds a PhD
from the Department of Social Sciences, University
of Mannheim. Professor Kohl was a visiting profes-
sor at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (1991–
1993), and a senior researcher at the Mannheim
Centre for European Social Research (1993–1995).
He was a Jean Monnet fellow at the European
University Institute in Florence in 1989–1990 and
held fellowships at the Hanse Institute for Advanced Studies and the Marsilius
College, University of Heidelberg, where he collaborated in the interdisciplin-
ary research project “Perspectives of Ageing in the Process of Social and
Cultural Change.” His main research interests are in social structure and social
change and in political sociology. He specializes in comparative welfare state
and social policy research and has published extensively on poverty, pensions,
health and labor market issues, and European social policy. E-mail: juergen-
[email protected]; [email protected]
About the Authors xxix

Kenneth C. Land  received his PhD in sociology

and mathematics from the University of Texas,
Austin, in 1969. He did postdoctoral work in math-
ematical statistics at Columbia University in
New York City and was a staff member of the
Russell Sage Foundation for 3 years. He taught at
the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and
the University of Texas, Austin, before joining the
Duke University Sociology Department as chair
(January 1986–August 1997) and John Franklin
Crowell professor (1990–2014). In July 2014, he became professor emeritus
and research professor in the Duke Social Science Research Institute. His
main research interests are contemporary social trends and quality-of-life
measurement, social problems, demography, criminology, organizations, and
mathematical and statistical models and methods for the study of social and
demographic processes. He was elected a fellow of the American Statistical
Association (1978), the Sociological Research Association (1981), the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (1992), the
International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (1997), and the American
Society of Criminology (2004) and, in 2014, was elected to the Southern
Sociological Society Roll of Honor. He directs the Child and Youth Well-
Being Index (CWI) project, which produces periodic studies and annual
reports on trends in the well-being of America’s children and youth. E-mail:
[email protected]

Victor H. Mair  received his PhD from Harvard

University in 1976. He also holds an MPhil degree
from the School of Oriental and African Studies
(University of London). He has been teaching at the
University of Pennsylvania since 1979. Professor
Mair specializes in Buddhist popular literature as
well as the vernacular tradition of Chinese fiction
and the performing arts. Among his chief works in
these fields are Tun-huang Popular Narratives
(Cambridge University Press, 1983), Painting and Performance: Chinese
Picture Recitation and Its Indian Genesis (University of Hawaii Press, 1988),
and T’ang Transformation Texts: A Study of the Buddhist Contribution to the
Rise of Vernacular Fiction and Drama in China (Harvard University Council
on East Asian Studies, 1989). He is a frequent contributor to Language Log
and is the founder and editor of Sino-Platonic Papers. E-mail: vmair@sas.
upenn.edu
xxx About the Authors

Mahar Mangahas  holds an MA from the

University of the Philippines and a PhD in econom-
ics from the University of Chicago. He was profes-
sor of economics with the University of the
Philippines, vice president for research of the
Development Academy of the Philippines, and
UNICEF consultant on social indicators for the
governments of Malaysia and Indonesia. In 1985,
Mangahas cofounded and has since been president
of Social Weather Stations (SWS) (www.sws.org.
ph), the Philippines’ leading institute for quality-of-life monitoring, opinion
polling, and social survey archiving. He has done research on rice economics,
land reform, poverty, hunger, income inequality, quality of life, governance,
and public opinion. Among his awards are the Helen Dinerman Award (2001),
the highest award of the World Association for Public Opinion Research, for
championing rights and freedoms of survey researchers in the Philippines, the
University of Chicago Alumni Award for Public Service (2011), and the
Distinguished Research Fellow Award of the International Society for
Quality-of-Life Studies (2014). Social Weather Stations, Quezon City 1101,
Philippines. E-mail: [email protected]

Krishna Mazumdar  is a former professor of eco-

nomics with the Indian Statistical Institute. She
obtained her MA and PhD (in economics) from
Calcutta University. She joined the Indian Statistical
Institute in 1980. Since then, she has been actively
engaged in research and teaching. She has published
around 50 papers in different national and interna-
tional journals. She authored five books and has par-
ticipated in a number of national as well as
international conferences. She is professor emeritus
of the Economic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, India.
E-mail: [email protected]

Lee McKnight  is Kauffman professor of entrepre-

neurship and innovation and an associate professor
in the iSchool (the School of Information Studies),
Syracuse University, New York. Professor Lee is
principal investigator of the National Science
Foundation Partnerships for Innovation Wireless
Grid Innovation Testbed (WGiT) project and is
recipient of the 2011 TACNY Award for Technology
Project of the Year. Lee is the inventor of edgeware,
a new class of software for creating ad hoc overlay
cloud-to-­edge applications. Dr. McKnight’s
research focuses on virtual markets and wireless grids, the global information
economy, national and international technology policy, and Internet gover-
nance and policy. Professor McKnight’s five books on his groundbreaking
About the Authors xxxi

research were in press during 2014–2015 at Imperial College Press/World

Scientific Press, London and Singapore. Professor McKnight received a PhD
in 1989 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; an MA from the
School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, in
1981; and a BA magna cum laude from Tufts University in 1978. E-mail:
[email protected]

Mohammed Meziane  is dean of the Faculty of

Social Sciences, University of Oran 2, Algeria. He
has an MS in organizational psychology from San
Diego State University, CA and an EdD from
United States International University, San Diego,
CA. Research interests include motivation at work,
organizational engagement, psychological con-
tracts, quality of education in Algerian universities,
and quality of life. He has held various leadership
positions, including president of the Laboratory of
Education and Development and president of the
Scientific Council, Observatory of the Pedagogy Didactic, University of Oran
2. He has numerous publications in his areas of interest. E-mail: meziane-
[email protected]

Alex C. Michalos  is professor emeritus in politi-

cal science from the University of Northern British
Columbia, Canada. He has a PhD in philosophy
from the University of Chicago; he founded and
edited Social Indicators Research from 1973 to
2013, won the Secretary of State’s Prize for
Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research in
Canadian Studies (1984) for writing his five-vol-
ume North American Social Report, and edited the
12-volume Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and
Well-Being Research (2014). He is a member of the
Order of Canada and received the Gold Medal for Achievement in Research
(2004) from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
(the council’s highest honor). E-mail: m
­ [email protected]

Valerie Møller  is professor emeritus of quality-

of-life studies with Rhodes University, South
Africa, holds a PhD in sociology (University of
Zurich), and has held research positions at the uni-
versities of Zimbabwe (1970s), KwaZulu-Natal
(1980s/1990s), and Rhodes (1998 to date) in South
Africa. She has published 200 plus articles on
South African quality-of-­life issues, including liv-
ing conditions and national pride. With colleagues,
she developed the first survey instruments in the
1980s to measure perceptions of personal well-
xxxii About the Authors

being among South Africans, a study that has been updated regularly. Select
publications: Møller, V, Roberts, B. (2014). South Africa, Quality of Life. In:
Michalos A. C. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being
Research. Dordrecht, NL: Springer, pp. 6218–6223; Møller, V. (2013) South
African quality of life trends over three decades, 1980–2010. Social Indicators
Research 113(3), 915–940. E-mail: [email protected]

Rhonda Phillips  is dean of Honors College,

Purdue University, in Indiana. She holds a PhD in
city and regional planning; an MS in economics,
Georgia Institute of Technology; and an MS in eco-
nomic development, University of Southern
Mississippi. Rhonda is committed to interdisciplin-
ary learning experiences, combining teaching,
research, and engagement opportunities. Her
research focus includes community planning and
development and indicator and evaluation systems
for monitoring progress toward community well-
being, quality of life, and economic development revitalization goals. Rhonda
is a two-time Fulbright recipient and was awarded the 2012 International
Society for Quality-of-Life Studies Distinguished Research Fellow. She is
author or editor of 18 books, including Introduction to Community
Development, and serves as editor for the series, Community Development
Research and Practice (Routledge) and Community Quality of Life and Well-
Being (Springer). She holds professional certification from the American
Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and has held faculty positions at
Arizona State University and the University of Florida. Rhonda serves as the
president of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS).
E-mail: [email protected]

Birger Poppel  is project chief emeritus of the

Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA)
at Ilisimatusarfik (University of Greenland). He
holds an MA in economics. He served as chief stat-
istician from 1989 to 2004 and since 2004 has been
affiliated with Ilisimatusarfik. He has published pri-
marily within areas reflecting his main research
interests, which include living conditions of the
indigenous peoples of the Arctic, most recently
SLiCA: Arctic Living Conditions—Living
Conditions and Quality of Life Among Inuit, Saami
and Indigenous Peoples of Chukotka and the Kola
Peninsula (2015), and the mixed economic, socioeconomic, and demographic
developments of the Circumpolar North. He recently contributed to the
Global Handbook of Quality of Life, Arctic Human Development Report II,
and Arctic Social Indicators (ASI II). He has been member of the editorial
board of Social Indicators Research since 2004. E-mail: [email protected]
About the Authors xxxiii

Benjamin Roberts  is senior research manager

with the Human Sciences Research Council’s
Democracy, Governance and Service Delivery pro-
gram and coordinator of the South African Social
Attitudes Survey (SASAS), Durban, South Africa.
He helped develop the SASAS series in 2002 with
the assistance of the late Prof. Roger Jowell and has
coordinated each annual round of surveying since
its inception in 2003. His research interests and
areas of expertise include attitudinal measurement
and social change, subjective well-being and qual-
ity of life, poverty and inequality, and social cohesion. Recent publications
include, with Gordon, Møller, and Struwig, “Shadow of the Sun: The
Distribution of Wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa” (2015) (in Glatzer et al.
(Eds.), The Global Handbook of Quality of Life, Dordrecht, NL: Springer)
and “Beliefs About Inequality and Redress Preferences in South Africa”
(2014) (Social Indicators Research, 118, 1167–1190). E-mail: broberts@
hsrc.ac.za

Mariano Rojas  holds a PhD in economics from

Ohio State University and is professor of econom-
ics at the Latin American Faculty of Social
Sciences, Mexico City, and at the Universidad
Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, Mexico.
He is a member of Mexico’s National Research
System. He has published more than 90 papers and
book chapters. He acts as a coordinator of the ini-
tiative “Measuring the Progress of Societies: A
Perspective from Mexico.” He is president-elect of
the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies. His main research areas
are subjective well-being, conceptions of progress, happiness, quality of life,
and economic development. E-mail: [email protected]

Audrey N. Selian  holds a PhD in technology pol-

icy and development studies from the Fletcher
School and degrees from the London School of
Economics and Wellesley College. In 2003–2004,
she was a doctoral fellow with Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government. She has been
active in the impact investing sector since 2006 and
works for an investment advisory called Rianta
Capital Zurich, with an advisory role at Halloran
Philanthropies. Her concentration in these roles has
been on the development of an impact investment portfolio (through an initia-
tive called “Artha”) focused on high-impact social enterprises at the “base of
the pyramid” in India. Since 2000, Audrey has worked as a consultant/sub-
contractor for both the International Telecommunication Union at the United
Nations and USAID, in areas ranging from e-government research and analy-
xxxiv About the Authors

sis, to trends in telecoms, national/local innovation systems, ICTs, and human

rights, to the evolution of 3G mobile standards. Audrey has a background in
management consulting from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Her entrepreneurial
experience includes several years spent in business development at an NSF-
funded startup called Wireless Grids, as well as the launch of a tech startup
called Artha Networks Inc., focused on the creation of network architecture
designed for shared due diligence and transaction cost management between
investors. She currently serves as a trustee for several nonprofit organizations.
E-mail: [email protected]

Vijay Kumar Shrotryia  is a professor of HR at
the Department of Commerce, Delhi School of
Economics, University of Delhi, India. He was pro-
fessor and head of the Department of Commerce,
School of Economics, Management and Information
Sciences, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong,
Meghalaya, India. He was a faculty member at
Bhutan’s premier educational institution, Sherubtse
College, for 9 years; he taught commerce and con-
ducted survey research on the quality of life in
Eastern Bhutan. He has done follow-up studies for
the last 15 years. He received the Young Researcher Award from the Indian
Accounting Association and is a fellow of the Indian Commerce Association.
He has published more than 40 research papers and articles. His research
interests include happiness and well-being, satisfaction, and organizational
strategies. He is on the editorial board of several journals and a referee for
others. He has recently written “Organizational Happiness: A Winning
Strategy for Sustainability”; “Culture, Gross National Happiness and
Disasters: Strategies for Preparedness and Management of Disasters in
Bhutan”; “Reconfiguring Priorities: GDP vs. Human Well-Being”; and
“Culture, Industrialization and Multiple Domains of Employees’ Job
Satisfaction: A Case for HR Strategy Redesign in India.” He is currently
working on developing the constituents of organizational happiness. E-mail:
[email protected]

M. Joseph Sirgy  is a management psychologist

(PhD, University of Massachusetts, 1979), Virginia
Tech Real Estate Professor of Marketing with
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(Virginia Tech). He has published extensively in the
areas of marketing, business ethics, and quality of
life (QOL). He is the author/editor of many books
related to quality-of-life and well-being research.
In 1998, he received the Distinguished Research
Fellow Award from the International Society for
Quality-of-Life Studies, which in 2003 honored
him as the Distinguished QOL Researcher for research excellence and a
record of lifetime achievement in QOL research. In 2012, he was awarded the
About the Authors xxxv

EuroMed Management Research Award for outstanding achievements and

groundbreaking contributions to well-being and quality-of-life research.
E-mail: [email protected]

Frederick M. Smith  is professor of Sanskrit and

classical Indian religions with the Departments of
Religious Studies and Asian and Slavic Languages
and Literature, University of Iowa, Iowa City,
IA. He received his PhD from the University of
Pennsylvania in 1984. His work includes studies of
texts and performances of Vedic sacrificial ritual
from antiquity to the present; studies of religious
experience in India, with a primary focus on the
history and phenomenology of deity and spirit possession; the writings of
Vallabhācārya, the founder of the sect of Krishna devotion called Puṣṭi Mārga
(Path of Grace) in the early sixteenth century, and his successors; and India’s
great epic, the Mahābhārata. He is currently completing a book-length trans-
lation of part of the Mahābhārata and is under contract to write a general book
on the Vedas (with George Thompson). He teaches all levels of Sanskrit,
Indian (and other South Asian) religion, comparative religion, and ritual stud-
ies. He has lived and studied in India for 17 years and has traveled widely in
Tibet and China. E-mail: [email protected]

Habib Tiliouine  is professor of social sciences

and founder of the Laboratory of Educational
Processes and Social Context (Labo-PECS) of the
University of Oran 2 in Algeria. His expertise and
publications include quality of life in Islamic coun-
tries, well-being research, child development and
education, education reform and management, and
training and distance learning. He has collaborated
with UNICEF and many international research
institutions and groups. He publishes in English,
Arabic, and French and has 28 years of experience in university undergradu-
ate and postgraduate teaching and research. In 2015, he received the
Distinguished Research Fellow Award from the International Society for
Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) for his contributions to quality-of-life
research. E-mail: [email protected]
xxxvi About the Authors

Daniel Weijers  completed a PhD and postdoc-

toral work in philosophy at Victoria University of
Wellington, New Zealand. Dan is a Lecturer in the
philosophy department at the University of
Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, and a founding
coeditor of the International Journal of Wellbeing.
He researches interdisciplinary happiness studies,
normative ethics, and the ethics of new technolo-
gies. Recent publications include “Aversion to
Happiness Across Cultures” (with Mohsen Joshanloo) in the Journal of
Happiness Studies, “The Science of Happiness for Policymakers” (with
Aaron Jarden) in the Journal of Social Research and Policy, and “Nozick’s
Experience Machine is Dead, Long Live the Experience Machine!” in
Philosophical Psychology. E-mail: [email protected]

Aurite Werman  is a financial analyst in banking

and supervision at the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve. Prior to joining the Federal
Reserve, she was a research assistant in the eco-
nomic studies program of the Brookings Institution.
Aurite received her master of public policy degree
from the University of Maryland, where she spe-
cialized in international economic policy, in 2014.
The research that she conducted for the history of well-being project was
completed during her graduate work with Dr. Carol Graham in the global
economy program of the Brookings Institution. Prior to joining Brookings,
Aurite worked in the International Affairs Office of the US Treasury, for the
city of Boston, and at the Stern Business School at NYU. She holds an under-
graduate degree from Brandeis University in economics and French. E-mail:
[email protected]
 Part I
Historical Conceptions of Well-Being over
the Long Term

Now such a thing happiness, above all else, is held to be; for this we choose always for
self and never for the sake of something else, but honour, pleasure, reason, and every
virtue we choose indeed for themselves (for if nothing resulted from them we should still
choose each of them), but we choose them also for the sake of happiness, judging that by
means of them we shall be happy. (Aristotle – Aristotle. (1996). Nicomachean Ethics. In
D. Felty (Ed.), Classical Selections on Great Issues, Series 2, Vol. 4, Faith and Moral
(p. 88). Lanham, MD: University Press of America.)

It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.
(Jeremy Bentham – Bentham, J. (1988). A Fragment on Government (p. 3). In J. H. Burns
& H. L. A. Hart (Eds.). Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought. Cambridge,
UK: Cambridge University Press.)
2 I  Historical Conceptions of Well-Being over the Long Term

Imix’ -  First day of the Maya calendar. Mixed media on paper—22″ × 30″. © 2015. Lylia Forero Carr. Used with
permission.
 The Search for Well-Being:
From Ancient to Modern Times 1
Richard J. Estes

The past is never dead. It’s not even past.

(Faulkner 1950)

1.1 Introduction elusive one. But is this understanding of the

nature of well-being the same for all people liv-
The search for well-being is central to the pro- ing today and for those who have lived in the
cess of becoming a more fully developed human past? Is the fundamental nature of well-being the
being. At the center of well-being is a deep sense same the world over or are there important differ-
of peace, personal satisfaction, and happiness ences in the way that people living in different
within ourselves and in our relationships with societies and cultures experience well-being?
others. All four of these states of being—peace, Has the conception of well-being changed over
personal satisfaction, happiness, and well-­ time, and how do the data we have support the
being—are outcomes achieved through a combi- truth about our collective trajectory in attaining
nation of personal reflection and interpersonal well-being? Does the nature of well-being differ
exchanges. They also are associated with the by age, gender, race, religious beliefs, cultural
often complex interplay of the social, political, traditions, income level, and the like? Is well-­
economic, religious, ideological, and other forces being a continuous process or is it a state of being
that surround us. Hostile environments, for that, once attained, remains the same? How does
example, typically breed fear, suspicion, a height- our search for well-being influence others who
ened sense of self-protectiveness, and isolation are important to us—our spouses, children,
from others. Mutually supportive and nurturing friends, and others? In what ways does their
environments, on the other hand, add to our own search for well-being influence our own? Are
efforts at self-consciousness that enhance our there alternative pathways to the attainment of
capacity for attaining progressively higher levels well-being or is there a time-tested, single, well-­
of well-being. Thus, our experience of well-being trodden path that all of us need to follow to
results from a combination of the varied internal achieve it? What happens if our search for well-­
and external experiences that impact our lives being proves uneventful and we do not succeed in
each day. achieving the levels of peace, harmony, and bal-
The process of attaining well-being is on-­ ance that we seek? And within the context of
going and, for many, frequently proves to be an societies worldwide, to what extent have leaps
forward been made in our collective well-being,
especially since the end of the two great wars that
R.J. Estes (*)
School of Social Policy and Practice, University
dominated much of the twentieth century?
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA This book is an attempt to answer these and
e-mail: [email protected] other questions related to the nature of well-being

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 3

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_1
4 R.J. Estes

over the long expanse of human history and to nature of well-being as it is understood today,
identify our collective successes and challenges among people living across many regions of the
in attaining well-being over the centuries. Thus, world.
the focus of the book is both historical and con- We purposefully avoid making assumptions
temporary and draws heavily from alternative regarding elements that should be regarded as
conceptions of well-being formulated by people either essential or mandatory for attaining well-­
who lived during earlier time periods and under being. Nor do we assume that the nature of well-­
very different social, political, economic, reli- being is the same for all people living now and in
gious, and ideological circumstances. We are par- the past, nor that well-being is the same for peo-
ticularly interested in documenting similarities ple living under different social conditions. We
and differences in well-being between men and hope, however, that the book provides consider-
women, children and adults, those living at the able objective evidence concerning both the
center of society and those that survive only nature and dynamics of well-being within our
along its periphery, and those characterized by diverse human family.
different racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orienta- We know for sure that the pursuit of well-­
tion, and other identity-defining characteristics. being continues to be a major goal of people
The book examines the history of well-being throughout the world. We also know with cer-
over a long period and gives particular attention tainty that the various pathways that have been
to those individuals and groups characterized by followed to attain well-being are not a singular
sociodemographic characteristics over which reality but, instead, are correlated with different
they have little or no control and that serve as the approaches to and different levels of the attain-
basis for discrimination, e.g., age, gender, race, ment of well-being. We believe that all people
physical impairment, and the like. The intellec- experience some measure of well-being but that
tual journey we take in this book is a fascinating comparatively few experience the deep sense of
one and frequently contains some surprises. joy that accompanies the attainment of the high-
Our goal is to provide insights into the varied est level of well-being. That level of well-being
forces that contribute to a sense of well-being for appears to be reserved for those who attain
people living everywhere in the world. We seek remarkable levels of consciousness, self-­
to identify the accomplishments and obstacles awareness, and compassion for others. Some of
revealed by our collective history toward the these persons are identified in this chapter, but
attainment of well-being and, as possible, to use most, owing to the absence of written documen-
the wisdom of the ages to inform us about how tation, will never be known to us. Indeed, for
national and international achievements in well-­ most people, their experience of well-being is an
being can be furthered. This book, however, is internal one that is reflected in the quality of the
not a self-help book. Rather, it is based on serious relationships with their children and friends and
scientific inquiry into the nature and state of well-­ in the quiet contributions they make to the lives
being as far as it can be discerned from a wide of others who cross their paths.
range of past and contemporary perspectives.
The major ideas contained in this book reflect
ideas concerning the nature, dynamics, and 1.2 Organizing Questions
potentials associated with well-being. We draw
our ideas from all areas of the arts and sciences,
the humanities and philosophy, the performing
A strange passion is moving in my head.
arts, and from different faith traditions. The book My heart has become a bird which searches
is also based on historical analysis of the major in the sky. Every part of me goes in different
themes that have informed our contemporary directions. Is it really so that the one I love
ideas concerning well-being. At the same time, is everywhere? (Rumi 1996)
the book is contemporary in that it examines the
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 5

The purpose of this book is to apply a histori- have been historically disadvantaged on the
cal lens to the most significant well-­ being basis of age, race, ethnicity, language or
changes that have occurred over the long expanse accent, religious beliefs, sexual orientation,
of history. In doing so, we bring together a large region or country of origin, and the like?
body of empirical data related to changes in five • On the balance, what have been the major
critically important sectors of well-being that are gains in well-being experienced by people
universally considered to be among the most over the long expanse of human history as
important: health, education, social welfare, reflected in both subjective and objective mea-
income and wealth distribution, and subjective sures of well-being but especially with respect
assessments of well-being. We examine these to health, education, income, social welfare,
data from the perspective of the world as a whole and subjective assessments of personal and
as well as with respect to particular regions, collective well-being?
countries, and population groups within coun-
tries and regions. In doing so, we have drawn on
the contributions made by eminent scholars con- 1.3 Our Analytical Framework
cerning the nature and meaning of and the path-
ways to well-being as reflected across time, Throughout the book, we pursue a number of
geographic space, culture, and philosophical and closely interrelated questions pertaining to well-­
faith traditions. We have asked our scholars of being. First, we explore the major conceptions of
well-being to address, among others, the follow- well-being associated with different philosophi-
ing questions: cal and religious traditions. We identify the
ancient philosophies of Eastern (mostly
• What are the key points of data that capture Confucian) and Southern Asia (mostly Hindu,
the journey of well-being in your area of study, Islamic, and Buddhist) related to well-being as
especially within the context of the major well as the equally ancient conceptions of well-­
indicators captured by the United Nations being associated with Western societies (mostly
three-item Human Development Index? Greek and modern Europe). We discuss Islamic
• What is well-being and what is its relationship views of well-being and cover the full period of
to other much sought-after states of being— Islam’s development since the death of the
life satisfaction, fulfillment, and, ultimately, Prophet in 632 Common Era (CE). Together,
happiness? these chapters provide a rich introduction to the
• How would one recognize well-being when it many conceptual perspectives that have informed
does exist? How would one recognize its our understanding of well-being from the past to
absence? the present. They also identify the origins of the
• What do various philosophical and faith tradi- many similarities and differences that exist in our
tions teach us about well-being and the path- understanding of well-being across philosophical
ways that should be followed in seeking its and religious traditions, cultures, and geographic
attainment? location.
• Have the historical meanings associated with Second, we trace the historical development
well-being remained constant over time? Or of the concept of well-being over time. We dis-
have they fluctuated in response to the unique cuss the similarities that exist between the vari-
social, political, or economic conditions that ous conceptions of well-being discussed in Part I
have characterized people and their societies of the book and other concepts that are used to
at particular moments in their history? capture more or less comparable states of being,
• Does well-being differ for different popula- e.g., quality of life, life satisfaction, and happi-
tion groups, i.e., for men versus women, for ness. The meanings associated with each of these
children versus the elderly, for the poor versus concepts vis-à-vis the concept of well-being have
the rich, or for groups that nearly everywhere not remained frozen in history but have shifted in
6 R.J. Estes

response to the changing social, political, and Fifth, we discuss the role of technology and
economic realities that have existed for people at technological innovation in shaping well-being
different points in history. Thus, it may be more in the distant past, the recent past, and today.
productive to think of well-being, quality of life, Imagine today’s world without electricity, puri-
life satisfaction, and happiness as states of inter- fied water, indoor plumbing, immunizations,
nal being that are continuously evolving in electronic telecommunications, tightly woven
response to the dynamic interaction of internal transportation systems, and the like. The world
and external forces. Certainly there is nothing in would be far more austere without the presence
the historical record to suggest that well-being is of these innovations that were introduced during
a prize that, once attained, remains fixed and only the past 100 or so years. We continue to live
immutable. in a world of scientific and technological innova-
Third, we attempt to bring new ideas to the tions that are emerging at a pace far more rapid
understanding of well-being and its attainment than most of us can absorb. The prospects are that
by examining contemporary patterns that exist in newer and even more quickly introduced tech-
different world regions and among different pop- nologies and technological innovations are just
ulation groups. Indeed, the largest number of around the corner—in the near celestial speed of
chapters in the book is devoted to discussions of microprocessors, the mapping of the human brain
worldwide historical changes in well-being that and genome, DNA sequencing and editing, nano-
have occurred largely since the end of the Second technology, the use of drones, ultra-efficient
World War. Within these chapters, much of the forms of wind and solar energy, the commercial-
discussion focuses on changes in well-being that ization of space, the creation of new and more
are still emerging. Some chapters are devoted to private smartphones, among many others.
contemporary reports of well-being for only a Comparable technological advances are also
small number of countries, such as those for occurring in our social architecture as evidenced
North America and Oceania, but most focus on by the rapidly increasing urbanization of the
regional groupings of substantially larger num- world’s population (including the development
bers of countries. Another chapter focuses on of urban population megacenters), the emergence
well-being for one half of the world’s population, of new family and community patterns arising
women, whereas another examines the contribu- from population migration, and the extension of
tions of technology and technological innovation more participatory forms of political governance
in shaping well-being both today and in the past. to an ever-increasing percentage of the world’s
Fourth, we examine the ever-changing well-­ peoples. Even our economic and monetary sys-
being status of the many population subgroups tems are changing rapidly, with the result that
that make up every society. As editors, we were cash and currency will be used less and less in the
especially interested in the differences and simi- conduct of financial transactions. We can easily
larities in the experience of well-being of people see the benefits of these technological innova-
grouped on the basis of their age, gender, race, tions in substantially longer average years of life
ethnicity, language, religious beliefs, sexual ori- expectancy, improved preventive and curative
entation, and the like. The rich data related to health care, more advanced levels of basic and
these population groups help provide a well-­ advanced education, the steadily increasing
defined picture of the changes in well-being that extension of basic human rights and protections
have taken place within these groups during our to larger numbers of the world’s vulnerable popu-
own time. For some population groups, we can lations, and improved and more cost-efficient
pinpoint exactly when changes in well-being social safety nets for children, the elderly, per-
occurred; for other groups, we can identify sons with severe disabilities, and others who can-
changes in well-being only in terms of changes in not provide fully for their own needs, e.g.,
society as a whole. persons who are chronically ill, the millions of
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 7

people who each year become refugees from and financial secure family influences one’s own
national and regional wars. assessment of his or her well-being.
Sixth, we discuss the implications of the find- Country and regional reports of subjective
ings reported in the first four parts of the book forwell-being were collected through sample sur-
accelerating the pace of the attainment of well-­ veys and polls, conducted as part of the World
being for a steadily increasing share of the Values Survey and of the worldwide Gallup polls,
world’s population. Though this topic is not the that examine virtually every aspect of personal
primary focus of the book, our purpose in doing and collective well-being. The question most
so is to focus on three sets of interrelated issues typically asked in these self-assessment polls of
that reflect both historical and contemporary real- well-being is some variation of “Taken all
ities: (1) to aggregate and summarize the major together, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you
advances and challenges to well-being observed with your life as a whole these days?” Thus, the
throughout history and in our own time; (2) to chapters contain reports of both the objective
formulate a set of principles concerning well-­ conditions needed to achieve well-being and of
being and its attainment that emerge for those the subjective well-being experiences of people
analyses; and (3) to construct an initial frame- organized at different levels of analysis. We have
work reflective of historical patterns that may be made every effort to help the reader see the rela-
used by others for accelerating the pace of indi- tionships that exist between subjective measures
vidual and collective well-being for steadily of well-being and their objective counterparts,
increasing numbers of people. All three purposes such as average years of life expectancy, trends in
are key outcomes focused on by all of the book’s infant and child mortality rates, income levels
authors. and disparities between the very rich and the very
poor, and the contribution of education to both
objective and subjective well-being.
1.4 Our Point of Departure Much of the content of the following chapters
is supported by rigorous scientific research. Some
Our point of departure in exploring the history of of the analyses, especially those in Part I, are tex-
well-being is that associated with the three com- tual. Other analyses draw on a wide range of
ponent elements that make up the United Nations’ quantitative and qualitative social indicator data,
Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI is which are presented as simply as possible. Most
the new GDP (gross domestic product) of sorts of the tables, charts, and figures, for example,
and reports changes in country and world pat- provide easily understandable visual representa-
terns of well-being in health, education, income, tions of the varying states of well-being that char-
and wealth distribution—all factors that are con- acterize people and societies at different moments
sidered to be core, though not complete, elements in time. Readers are invited to join with the
of well-being. We have also added a fourth book’s authors in reviewing the wide range of
dimension to the mix—that of subjective well-­ objective and subjective data that reflect ­historical
being, or individuals’ self-assessments of their and contemporary milestones in attaining
personal sense of well-being within the context well-being.
of family, community, and large social entities
such as nation-states and geopolitical regions.
This approach recognizes that personal well-­ 1.5 Personal and Collective
being is highly dependent on the overall sense of Wisdom of the Ages
well-being of the larger social units of which
individuals are a part, e.g., having a seriously ill Though it has been undertaken under different
spouse or children experiencing great difficulty names—life satisfaction, quality of life, happi-
impacts directly on the individual’s sense of well-­ ness—the pursuit of well-being has been one of
being in much the same way that a happy, healthy, the most enduring quests of human civilization.
8 R.J. Estes

Fig. 1.2  Saint Augustine of Hippo (354 CE– 430 CE).

(Painter: Antonio Rodríguez; public domain; https://com-
Fig. 1.1  Socrates (470/469 BCE–399 BCE). (Photo by
mons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antonio_
Wilson Delgado; bust of Socrates in the Vatican Museum;
Rodr%C3%ADguez_-_Saint_Augustine_-­_Google_Art_
public domain; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
Project.jpg)
File:Vatsoc.jpg)

In this section, we identify some of the major

The search for well-being permeates our philoso- thought leaders throughout time and across all of
phies, religions and religious traditions, rituals the regions of the world who have given consid-
and rites of passage, music, visual arts, and, of erable attention to the nature of and factors that
course, the performing arts in all their varieties. It contribute to well-being. Though many of these
is reasonable to suggest that all human beings ideas are presented as simple declarative state-
have sought at least some measure of well-being ments, they actually constitute questions about
and others have regarded its pursuit as a central the nature and meaning of and the historical path-
life interest. The ancient Greek philosopher ways leading to the attainment of well-being. We
Socrates (470/469 Before the Common Era do not assume that the answers provided apply to
[BCE]–399 BCE), writing nearly 2500 years ago, people everywhere in the world or for all people
taught us that “the unexamined life is not worth that have ever lived. We certainly do not consider
living.” This statement is particularly powerful them to be complete answers to the riddle of
inasmuch as he suggests that lives characterized well-being. Rather, we introduce them as part of
by the absence of self-reflection and self-analysis the body of wisdom concerning the human spirit
are significantly impoverished (Fig. 1.1). Saint that has been passed on to us by persons now
Augustine of Hippo (354 CE–430 CE) (Fig. 1.2), ­living as well as those who have preceded us. We
living some eight centuries after Socrates, urge you, the reader, to keep these qualifications
expressed more or less the same dilemma con- in mind as you and we begin to unravel the mys-
cerning well-being and the human condition teries associated with well-being described
(Augustine of Hippo 2009): throughout the book. Use these observations and
Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of moun- data analyses to challenge the ideas presented in
tains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long the text but also to put together your own thoughts
courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the on the course of and state of well-being and
ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they examine their accuracy or validity in terms of
pass by themselves without wondering.
your own life experience.
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 9

1.5.1 A
 re Peace, Harmony, one part of a much larger, ever-expanding uni-
and a Refined Sense verse. Respect for life and existence in all of its
of Balance Central to Our forms is essential to the attainment of true inner
Attainment of Well-Being? peace and harmony. The avoidance of violence
toward other living things is also at the heart of
Lord Buddha (c. 480 BCE–400 BCE) (Fig. 1.3), “Buddha consciousness,” inasmuch as violence
in seeking personal enlightenment some 2400 and peace are understood to not be able to coexist
years ago, taught us that to be at peace with one- with one another.
self is to be at peace with the world and to be at Husband and wife musical team Jill Jackson
peace with the world is to make the world a more and Sy Miller expressed the sentiments conveyed
peaceful place (Estes 1998). For Buddha, the by Buddha even more simply in the lyrics of their
attainment of consciousness, or awareness in a song, “Let there be peace on earth. And let it
more general sense, involves the suppression of begin with me” (1955). Tenzin Gyatso (Fig. 1.4),
egoistic wants, needs, desires, and demands. In the 14th and current Dalai Lama, reinforced the
their place, Buddha emphasized quietude, still- importance of the peace, harmony, and balance
ness, a lack of personal desire, and an absence of message of Buddha as prerequisites for attaining
the need to control the actions of others. Most well-being by affirming that these principles
fundamental of all is the recognition of our one- need to be carried over into our daily lives and
ness with all elements of the universe in whatever into our interactions with others (Dalai Lama
form those elements or beings exist. Each of us XIV 1989):
and, in turn, each element of the search for well-­ Because we all share this planet earth, we have to
being constitutes a part of the whole in much the learn to live in harmony and peace with each other
same way that we, in our short life spans, are just and with nature. This is not just a dream, but a

Fig. 1.3  Statue of Buddha located near Belum Caves,

Andhra Pradesh, India (Photo by Purshi; Creative Fig. 1.4  Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and current Dalai Lama
Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license; (1935–). (Photo by Christopher; Creative Commons
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/ Attribution 2.0 Generic license: https://commons.wikime-
Buddha%27s_statue_near_Belum_Caves_Andhra_ dia.org/wiki/File:Dalailama1_20121014_4639.jpg#/
Pradesh_India.jpg) media/File:Dalailama1_20121014_4639.jpg)
10 R.J. Estes

Fig. 1.6  Fred Rodgers (1928–2003). (Photo: http://www.

Fig. 1.5  Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948). (Photo: http:// memorialmatters.com/memorials.php?page=Fred-­
flickr.com/photos/55638925@N00/255569844/: public Rogers&section=bio; Creative Commons Attribution-­
domain) Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

necessity. We are dependent on each other in so anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That
many ways that we can no longer live in isolated deep part of you that allows you to stand for those
communities and ignore what is happening outside things without which humankind cannot survive.
those communities. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises trium-
phant over war, and justice that proves more pow-
Even the reluctant revolutionary and Indian erful than greed.
political and spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi
(1869–1948) (Fig. 1.5), emphasized through his Thus, peace, harmony, and a sense of balance
words and deeds that “happiness is when what in thought and actions are essential elements in
you think, what you say, and what you do are in the search for personal and collective well-being.
harmony” (Michelli 1998). Confucius (c. 551 Many scholars of well-being believe that we nat-
BCE–479 BCE), writing long before Lord urally gravitate toward such qualities through a
Buddha, also taught us (Confucius n.d.a), process borrowed from biology referred to as
To put the world in order, we must first put the homeostasis (Cummins 2014). Minds and lives
nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must that are in disarray or that are filled with distrac-
first put the family in order; to put the family in tions beyond any semblance of order rarely can
order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we achieve a heightened sense of well-being. To
must first set our hearts right.
attain that goal requires a high degree of intro-
The popular children’s television host and spection, self-reflection, focus, and the ability to
Presbyterian minister, Fred Rodgers (1928–2003) place the daily events of one’s life into a mean-
(Fig. 1.6), in his book, Important Things to ingful context. These internal capacities for con-
Remember, wrote (Rogers 2003): sciousness raising constitute one branch of the
When I say it’s you I like, I’m talking about that pathway to progressively higher levels of
part of you that knows that life is far more than well-being.
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 11

1.5.2 D
 oes the Attainment no longer able to change a situation, we are
of a Heightened Sense of Well-­ challenged to change ourselves.” Frankl clearly
Being Require Introspection understood the need to confront oneself with the
and Self-Reflection? contradictions that we face and, as a result, he
integrated this core understanding of the human
Well-being is not something that is revealed to us personality into his perspective of philosophi-
or experienced at a given moment in time without cal, psychological, and even therapeutic
effort on our part. Nor is it a physical object or inquires. Confucius (n.d.b) perceived the same
some “thing” that, once possessed, can be reality and recognized the importance of self-
admired, polished, and tucked away for safekeep- reflection as the first and most important step to
ing. Rather, our awareness of well-being results be taken in attaining well-being: “There are
from a process of continuous introspection, self-­ three methods to gaining wisdom. The first is
reflection, and thoughtful analysis. Inner quiet- reflection, which is the highest. The second is
ness, rational thought, and an openness to the limitation, which is the easiest. The third is
experience of well-being are prerequisites for experience, which is the bitterest.”
attaining it—if, at times, only for brief moments. All four of these essential ingredients for
Indeed, the process is not unlike that associated attaining a heightened sense of well-being—
with the Islamic concept of the personal struggle internal struggle, balance, self-reflection, and the
against hedonistic wants and needs in favor of attainment of inner peace—are life affirming and
meeting the needs of the larger Ummah of which are located centrally within ourselves and, to a
the individual was a part. great extent, are amenable to change. Viewed
Viennese psychiatrist and concentration from a philosophical perspective, these processes
camp survivor Viktor Frankl (1905–1997) (Fig. simply “are.” As such, they can be cultivated and
1.7), in his widely read book Man’s Search for strengthened for use in pursuing progressively
Meaning (1946), put it this way, “When we are higher states of well-being. Indeed, many of
these qualities are at the center of our existence as
conscious beings who are continuously engaged
in sensing, observing, analyzing, and organizing
our inner and outer experiences so as to give
them meaning within a coherent psychophilo-
sophical framework. Even those who are the
most materially deprived among us possess these
qualities in abundance and can achieve high
states of well-being, albeit their state of material
deprivation may also be high.

1.5.3 D
 oes a Heightened Sense
of Well-Being Depend
on Our Ability to Be Present
in the Moment and a
Willingness to Act Within
Those Moments with
Intentionality and Purpose?
Fig. 1.7  Viktor Frankl (1905–1997). (Photo by Prof. Dr.
Franz Vesely; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike
The Spanish-born stoic Roman philosopher and
3.0 Unported license Germany; https://upload.wikimedia. dramatist, Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BCE–65
org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Viktor_Frankl2.jpg) CE), wrote,
12 R.J. Estes

True happiness is to enjoy the present, without life is something that can be lived only in the
anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse
immediacy of the moment. All else is just past
ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest sat-
isfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he memories, however painful or unwanted the
that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of events that led to the memories may have been.
mankind are within us and within our reach. A The solution to this dilemma, as identified by
wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may
Rank, is to move from the past to the present
be, without wishing for what he has not (Seneca
1803/2010). using the well-honed emotional skills that are
already available to us—sometimes unseen, but
Lord Buddha, teaching some 500 years before present nonetheless. Past pains and grievances
Seneca, instructed us on the central importance are just that—they are of the past, not of the pres-
of living, thinking, and feeling in the present so ent. Past pains may form scars, but the scars,
as to be able to unite past and future in the imme- though often unattractive, reflect healing, not a
diacy of the moment. According to Buddha, “The continuation of injury. Similarly, the attainment
secret of health for both mind and body is not to of well-being requires that we use the opportuni-
mourn for the past, worry about the future, or ties available to us in the here and now to move
anticipate troubles but to live in the present forward toward our ultimate goals.
moment wisely and earnestly” (Buddha 2014). Lord Buddha also recognized that the only
Viennese-born psychoanalyst and initial des- things we can change in life are those of the pres-
ignated intellectual heir to Sigmund Freud, Otto ent inasmuch as the past is already history and
Rank (1884–1939), emphasized the importance the future has not yet arrived. In the larger scheme
of the present moment in his treatment of patients of life, what matters most is how we experience
trapped in neuroses that Freud and others consid- ourselves in the present, albeit the quality of our
ered to be rooted in the patients’ pasts. Citing present actions can benefit substantially from an
from the entry that appears for Rank in Wikipedia understanding of our past lives, that is, our per-
(Rank 2014), the authors remark: sonal histories as well as those of others.
According to Rank, all emotional life is grounded A powerful example of these principles is to
in the present. In Will Therapy (1929–1931), Rank be found in the life of Mother Teresa of India.
uses the term ‘here and now’ for the first time in Working each day with the terminally ill and
the psychotherapeutic literature: ‘Freud made the dying on the streets of Calcutta, Mother Teresa
repression historical, that is, misplaced it into the
childhood of the individual and then wanted to (1910–1997) taught through her deeds and words
release it from there, while as a matter of fact the that, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet
same tendency is working here and now’ (Rank come. We have only today. Let us begin.” (Mother
1929–31: 39). Instead of the word Verdrängung Teresa, n.d.)
(repression)…Rank preferred to use the word
Verleugnung (denial), which focused instead on Famed American scholar of myths and
the emotional will to remain ill in the present: ‘The mythology, Joseph Campbell (1904–1987),
neurotic lives too much in the past [and] to that emphasized the importance of the present
extent he actually does not live. He suffers … moment in man’s search for “bliss,” a variation of
because he clings to [the past], wants to cling to it,
in order to protect himself from experience the state of well-being, a bit differently. Speaking
[Erlebnis], the emotional surrender to the present” in an interview in the television series The Power
(Rank 1929–31: 27). of Myth with journalist-clergyman Bill Moyers,
Campbell (1988) said,
These are powerful insights into human nature People say that what we’re all seeking is a mean-
and do, indeed, offer important clues into the ing for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really
dynamic nature of the relationship that exists seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an
between the past, the present, and the pursuit of experience of being alive, so that our life experi-
ences on the purely physical plane will have res-
well-being. Rank’s insights are especially helpful onances with our own innermost being and
in clearing the path on which we must travel in reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of
pursuing well-being freely and openly. For Rank, being alive.
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 13

These remarkable Western and Eastern schol-

ars of the distant and recent past all agree that the
attainment of well-being is predicated on our abil-
ity to be fully alive in the present moment. They
do not suggest that we forget the past nor do they
recommend that we put our hopes for the future
on hold. Instead, each of them suggests that we
consciously use our past and our hoped-­for futures
to inform today’s thoughts, feelings, and actions
with deliberateness and intentionality.
Further, none of the thought leaders identified
here was deterred from his or her own search for
bliss (well-being) by the events of daily life,
however challenging those events may have been.
Instead, most welcomed the challenges of daily
living as the source of energy needed to propel
forward their movement to the goal of a height-
ened sense of well-being. Each writer and activist
met the challenges that confronted him or her in Fig. 1.8  Desmond Tutu (1931–). (Photo by Libris Förlag;
a different way but all agreed on the importance https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Desmond_Tutu#/media/
File:Desmond_Tutu_2013-10-23_001.jpg; Creative Com­
of moving forward in the immediacy of the
mons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)
moment to achieve what otherwise would not be
attained. The richness of the encounter with the
past, present, and future in the same moment is have injured us. Human feelings are there, and
discussed at length by French Buddhist Matthieu they will not be denied. Only true forgiveness,
Ricard (Action for Happiness 2011). His views undertaken out of a sense of compassion for the
have also been captured on a series of videotaped other (and for ourselves), can relieve the human
lectures that are now easily accessible on the being of the sense of anger, hatred, and feelings
Internet at YouTube.com. of disappointment that consume many.
Episcopalian archbishop emeritus of Cape
Town and 1984 Nobel laureate for peace,
1.5.4 I s Forgiveness an Essential Desmond Tutu (Fig. 1.8), has given a lot of
Component of Well-Being? thought to the relationship between forgiveness
and well-being. Not only from his long years as a
Forgiveness of others for wrongs that have been priest and bishop to the poor and oppressed in
committed against us is not a natural or easy pro- South Africa, but also in his years of service as
cess; indeed, forgiving others for their offenses head of that country’s Truth and Reconciliation
toward us is extremely difficult. In an effort to Commission following the collapse of apartheid,1
forget or minimize the pain caused by these Tutu listened repeatedly to literally thousands of
events, many people attempt to put their feelings requests for amnesty from White, Black, and
of anger in an emotional “black box”—seem-
ingly safely hidden from others and themselves. Apartheid was a system of state-sponsored and enforced
1 

But such efforts ultimately fail inasmuch as even racial segregation introduced into South Africa at the end
deeply suppressed feelings of anger ultimately of World War II. The system seriously curtailed the civil
find expression. Often, our feelings of disap- liberties and political freedoms of the country’s majority
black inhabitants and others through the use of strictly
pointment are inappropriately projected onto oth- enforced identity cards, cruel punishments, torture,
ers, which in turn only compounds the difficulties imprisonment, and state-sponsored executions and mur-
involved in granting forgiveness to those who ders of dissident leaders (Apartheid 2014).
14 R.J. Estes

“Colored” South Africans for the brutal crimes involves self-forgiveness, a process that is infi-
they committed against their fellow citizens dur- nitely more complex and more emotionally
ing the period of apartheid (1948–1994). The lit- draining than that associated with the forgiveness
any of the variety of ways in which men seem of others. Forgiving the self means forgiving our
capable of torturing, murdering, and otherwise imperfections, our transgressions, and other neg-
oppressing their neighbors seemed to be without ative acts committed against others, our failure to
limits and outside the capacity of most people to carry out our responsibilities appropriately, and
grasp. What made the nature of these crimes even our unwillingness to assist others who sought our
worse was the fact that nearly all of them were help in solving difficult problems or situations
sanctioned by the state and initiated against its they were confronting.
own citizens, including against Tutu himself. Feelings of guilt, shame, embarrassment, and
Ultimately, Tutu, much like Nelson Mandela humiliation frequently are associated with self-­
(1918–2013) before him, determined that for- forgiveness. But such feelings must be acknowl-
giveness, rather than punishment, was the most edged, confronted, and resolved if we are to
effective approach for helping victims and their achieve a heightened sense of well-being.
victimizers rebuild their lives in a new, more plu- Holding on to such feelings only gives them more
ralistic, society. Concluded Tutu (n.d.a): power over our lives than they deserve.
Forgiving is not forgetting; it’s actually remember- The recently deceased American poet and
ing—remembering and not using your right to hit social observer, Maya Angelou (1928–2014)
back. It’s a second chance for a new beginning. (Fig. 1.9), a victim of child sexual assault by her
And the remembering part is particularly impor- mother’s boyfriend, spoke touchingly of the con-
tant. Especially if you don’t want to repeat what
happened. nection that exists between forgiveness of others
and the forgiveness of one’s self. In an interview
Elsewhere Tutu (n.d.b) elaborated on the com-
plexities involved in taking the path of forgive-
ness in seeking to come to terms with those who
have injured us:
Forgiving and being reconciled to our enemies or
our loved ones are not about pretending that things
are other than they are. It is not about patting one
another on the back and turning a blind eye to the
wrong. True reconciliation exposes the awfulness,
the abuse, the hurt, the truth. It could even some-
times make things worse. It is a risky undertaking
but in the end it is worthwhile, because in the end
only an honest confrontation with reality can bring
real healing. Superficial reconciliation can bring
only superficial healing.

1.5.5 D
 oes Forgiveness Also
Necessitate Forgiving
Ourselves for Our Own
Imperfections
and for the Injustices That
We Have Inflicted on Others? Fig. 1.9  Maya Angelou (1928–2014). (Photo by York
College ISLGP; https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Maya_
Angelou#/media/File:Maya_Angelou_visits_YCP_
The act of forgiveness does not just involve for- Feb_2013.jpg; Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
giving others for their misdeeds. Forgiveness also license)
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 15

with Linda Harris of the Context Institute,

Angelou (Wolf, 1995/1996: 45) reflected,
I don’t know if I continue, even today, always lik-
ing myself. But what I learned to do many years
ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for
every human being to forgive herself or himself
because if you live, you will make mistakes—it is
inevitable. But once you do and you see the mis-
take, then you forgive yourself and say, ‘Well, if I’d
known better I’d have done better,’ that’s all…and
then you say to yourself, ‘I’m sorry.’ If we all hold
on to the mistake, we can’t see our own glory in the
mirror because we have the mistake between our
faces and the mirror; we can’t see what we’re capa-
ble of being…The real difficulty is to overcome
how you think about yourself.

For neither Bishop Tutu nor Dr. Angelou does

a separation exist between well-being and for-
giveness. Both states of being are understood to
be intertwined, much like the two sides of a coin
are integral to its properties as a coin. Both pro-
cesses are mutually reinforcing. But the process Fig. 1.10  Greek philosopher Epicurus of Samos (341
of forgiveness must be undertaken if we are to BCE–270 BCE). (Photo by Keith Schengili-Roberts; bust
relieve ourselves of the feelings of blame, anger, of Epicurus, from the Pergamon Museum, Berlin; https://
hatred, guilt, shame, and humiliation that are so es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicuro#/media/File:Epicurus-­
PergamonMuseum.png; Creative Commons Attribution-­
intricately tied to the absence of forgiveness. Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)
Holding on to such feelings only disadvantages
us in the search for well-being and, for many,
may prevent its attainment entirely (Worthington have roses.” Writing more than 2200 years ear-
et al. 2007). lier, the Greek philosopher Epicurus of Samos
(341 BCE–270 BCE) (Fig. 1.10) urged us, “Do
not spoil what you have by desiring what you
1.5.6 I s Gratitude an Essential have not; remember that what you now have was
Component of Well-Being? once among the things you only hoped for.” For
Epicurus, the purpose of life was to attain a
Gratitude has only recently been recognized as happy, tranquil, and peaceful existence character-
an essential element in our search for well-being ized by aponia, i.e., the absence of pain and fear
(Emmons 2013; Toussaint and Friedman 2009). and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by
Referring to our feelings of thankfulness and friends (Epicurus 2014). To have achieved this
appreciation for that which we already have—life state of comfort was more than sufficient for
itself, family, friends, being able to contribute to attaining well-being. For Epicurus, it was well-­
events larger than ourselves, the beauty of the being itself.
environment that surrounds us, and so on—grati- Cicero (2013), writing two centuries after
tude acknowledges and reinforces the positives Epicurus (c. 106 BCE–43 BCE), told us,
that occur in our lives. French journalist, critic, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but
and novelist Alphonse Karr (1808–1890) noted the parent of all others.” Iconic American poet
in his collection of essays A tour round my gar- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), writing
den (Karr 1856/2008), “Some people grumble 2000 years later, enjoined us to, “Cultivate the
that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns habit of being grateful for every good thing that
16 R.J. Estes

comes to you, and to give thanks continuously.

And because all things have contributed to your
advancement, you should include all things in
your gratitude.” (Emerson, as cited in Goodreads,
2015). The martyred German Lutheran pastor
and theologian Christian Dietrich Bonhoeffer
(1906–1945), in his Letters and Papers from
Prison (Bonhoeffer 1953), written only months
before his execution at the hands of his Nazi jail-
ors, told us,
In normal life we hardly realize how much more
we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich
without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate
the importance of our own achievements compared
with what we owe to the help of others.

Continuing in the same tradition as Bonhoeffer

and the Ancients, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and
current Tibetan Dalai Lama (n.d.), instructs his Fig. 1.11  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882).
followers: (Photo of a painting by P. Krämer published by Friedrich
Bruckmann Verlag München Berlin London; reproduced
Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortu-
by Günter Josef Radig; public domain)
nate to be alive, I have a precious human life. I am
not going to waste it. I am going to use all my ener-
gies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to that make possible movement toward heightened
others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of
all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts states of well-being. Though sometimes slow to
towards others, I am not going to get angry or think manifest themselves, such forces are nonetheless
badly about others. I am going to benefit others as present and at work within us. They are never
much as I can. passive.
The nineteenth century American poet Henry
Gratitude, then, is an essential building block Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) (Fig. 1.11)
in constructing our internal sense of well-being. commented on the interactive nature of gratitude,
To feel otherwise is to miss out on many of the forgiveness, intentionality, and purpose as
wondrous experiences that life offers us on a ­elements of well-being by referring to the sense
daily basis. of emotional coldness, or aloofness, that some
people project in their relationships with others.
Wrote Longfellow, “Every man has his secret
1.5.7 T
 o What Extent and in What sorrows which the world knows not; and often
Ways Do Gratitude, times we call a man cold when he is only sad”
Forgiveness, Intentionality, (Longfellow 1988). In the context of our discus-
and Purposefulness Combine sion, the sadness that Longfellow refers to ema-
to Increase the Likelihood nates from repeated disappointments in life. It
of Attaining a Heightened also results from the frustrations we feel in false
Sense of Well-Being? starts toward the quest for well-being, life satis-
faction, and happiness.
The interactions that occur between these four Of importance, too, is that these frustrations
cornerstones of well-being join with the need for are related to our unwillingness to let go of past
purposefulness and intentionality in advancing disappointments. Ultimately, though, all of these
toward steadily higher levels of well-being. It is feelings must be put aside if we are to advance in
the variations that emerge from these interactions our search for well-being. The more of these
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 17

seemingly “magical” ingredients that we can

bring together in the immediacy of the moment,
the less sadness we will feel and, in turn, the
greater the likelihood of our success in attaining
heightened levels of well-being. Longfellow’s
sad man need not be an archetype or character-
ization of ourselves, but we must clearly work at
it not becoming so.

1.5.8 C
 an One Be Selfish and,
at the Same Time, Attain
Progressively Higher Levels
of Well-Being?

Indeed, selfishness is associated with the imma-

ture behavior of children and, most often, is
abhorred in communities of adults. Selfishness is
recognized widely to be the antithesis of well-­ Fig. 1.12  Tennessee Williams (1911–1983). (Photo by
being even in highly competitive, individualized, Orlando Fernandez, World Telegram staff photographer;
and consumption-centered societies. Societies reproduction rights transferred to Library of Congress
simply cannot function as effectively when some through Instrument of Gift)
members of the community insist that their needs
are greater than the needs of others and must be case of two people who love intensely enough to
satisfied first. Societies would simply crumble burn through all those layers of opacity and see
under the weight of personal expectations. each other’s naked hearts.
Mature societies do not function this way, espe-
cially if there is to be an essential level of organi-
zation and orderliness in the ways they conduct 1.5.9 I s Benevolence, Rather
their public affairs. In due course, everyone’s Than Selfishness, the Currency
needs can be expected to be met—from the sim- of Well-Being?
plest to the most complex—but not at the same
time, in the same way, and without steady infu- If not selfishness, then what must be the guiding
sions of new resources to finance the meeting of principles upon which to organize our search for
those needs. a heightened sense of well-being in our relation-
American playwright Tennessee Williams ships with others? The answer to this question is
(Kazan 1988: 326) (Fig. 1.12) addressed the poi- straightforward—charity, benevolence, and a
sonous aspects of selfishness in collective life in willingness to postpone the satisfaction of our
this way, “wants” until the “needs” of other are first met.
Nobody sees anybody truly but all through the Irish playwright and bon vivant Oscar Wilde
flaws of their own egos. That is the way we all see (1854–1900) wrote (Wilde 1909):
. . . each other in life. Vanity, fear, desire, competi-
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live; it is
tion—all such distortions within our own egos—
asking others to live as one wishes to live. And
condition our vision of those in relation to us. Add
unselfishness is letting other people’s lives alone,
to those distortions to our own egos the corre-
not interfering with them. Selfishness always aims
sponding distortions in the egos of others, and you
at uniformity of type. Unselfishness recognizes
see how cloudy the glass must become through
infinite variety of type as a delightful thing, accepts
which we look at each other. That’s how it is in all
it, acquiesces in it, and enjoys it.
living relationships except when there is that rare
18 R.J. Estes

In stressing the need for benevolence in human already had a relationship. A similar expectation
relationships, English evolutionary biologist is expressed in the Qur’an as revealed to the
Richard Dawkins (1976) wrote, “Let us try to Prophet Mohammed by the angel Gabriel
teach generosity and altruism, because we are between 610 and 632 of the Common Era,
born selfish.” Martin Luther King Jr. (1929– If you give charity in public, it is worthwhile (for it
1968), in addressing a civil rights gathering in will persuade others), but if you hide and deliver it
March 1963, said, “Every man (and woman) to the poor in secret that is (far) better for you. And
must decide whether he will walk in the light of Allah will remove from you some of your sins (due
to this charity). And Allah is Aware of all that you
creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive do” (Al-Baqarah 2:271).
selfishness” (King 1963). Aristotle (384 BCE–
322 BCE), in writing about the importance of The expectations associated with religiously
benevolence in strengthening social solidarity inspired charity, especially private or anonymous
between the different classes of people found in charity, are stated over and over again in Jewish,
every society, taught us in the Politics (Aristotle Christian, and Islamic sacred texts as well as in
356 BCE), the summaries of the life and teachings of the
Yet the true friend of the people should see that Prophet contained in the Sunnah. All Abrahamic
they be not too poor, for extreme poverty lowers religions teach that it is far “better to give than to
the character of the democracy; measures therefore receive,” even in situations in which what we
should be taken which will give them lasting pros- have to give is very little. The lesson of the wid-
perity; and as this is equally the interest of all
classes, the proceeds of the public revenues should ow’s mite in the New Testament amply illustrates
be accumulated and distributed among its poor, if this point.3
possible, in such quantities as may enable them to All three Abrahamic traditions have formulae
purchase a little farm, or, at any rate, make a begin- concerning the percentage of an individual’s
ning in trade or husbandry.
wealth that is to be shared with the poor and with
So important is the commitment to selfless- the community at large (tithing). The Islamic
ness and benevolence in community life to our ­tradition of the zakat also requires that charitable
attainment of well-being that their centrality has donations be made for the building of mosques
become enshrined in the religious teachings of all and to support religious clerics and religious
major faith traditions. The twelfth century rabbi, schools (madrasas) (Zakat 2014). The expecta-
philosopher, and physician Moses Maimonides tion also exists for Islamic giving in support of
(1135–1204), living in Islamic Spain, for exam- the mandatory journey of Muslims to Mecca at
ple, reflected on the importance of charity least once in their lifetime (the haj) and to sup-
(Tzedakah) toward others and identified an eight-­ port the collection and redistribution of reli-
level hierarchical system of more preferred and giously prepared food (halal) to poor people
less preferred forms of charitable giving. He living in areas where it otherwise would not be
identified the second most pure form of charity available in the quantities needed. All of these
(literally “love”) as anonymous gifts made by voluntary, though prescribed actions, increase the
anonymous benefactors to anonymous beneficia- individual’s sense of well-being and raise the
ries (Tzedakah 2014).2 Gifts to the unknown level of well-being for the Muslim community as
stranger were preferred over gifts made to inti- a whole.
mates and others with whom the benefactor Charitable giving in Buddhism, Taoism,
Hinduism, and other major faith traditions also
2 
For Maimonides, the first, or purest, form of charity reflects more or less the same principles, albeit
entailed “Giving an interest-free loan to a person in need; with the prescriptions that even larger shares of
forming a partnership with a person in need; giving a
grant to a person in need; finding a job for a person in
need; so long as that loan, grant, partnership, or job results The lesson of the widow’s mite is presented in the
3 

in the person no longer living by relying upon others” Synoptic Gospels (Mark 12:41–44, Luke 21:1–4), in
(Tzedakah 2014). which Jesus is teaching at the Temple in Jerusalem.
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 19

one’s wealth should be given to the poor and oth- in the world devote the bulk of their fortunes to
ers engaged in religious pilgrimages of various socially productive investments and philanthropy
types. The same principles that inform Abrahamic (Bellah et al. 2007).
traditions of benevolence inform these faith tradi- We know from social science research that
tions as well: “Again I tell you, it is easier for a wealth and well-being are positively correlated
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for with one another, at least up to a point. Beyond a
someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of certain level of accumulation, however, more
God” (Matthew 19:24). wealth contributes little or almost nothing to our
Thus, religiously inspired charitable giving sense of well-being (Easterlin et al. 2010).
leads to a heightened sense of spiritual well-­ Indeed, too much wealth, combined with over-
being that in turn leads to more generalized well-­ consumption, can actually diminish our prospects
being for the alms givers as well as for those who for attaining a heightened sense of well-being
benefit from the giving. This dynamic part of the inasmuch as so much of our energy is poured into
reciprocity requirement for well-being fits com- acquiring and managing assets. This situation is
fortably with societal norms and expectations especially apparent when we substitute “things”
concerning individual and collective acts of char- for “people” and, in the process, attempt to con-
ity. The experience of well-being, even happi- vince ourselves that things matter more than
ness, that many of us have in giving to others in quality interpersonal relationships.
need is instructive of the central role that giving Wealth can also frequently serve as a negative
plays in our journey toward a heightened sense of force in our relationships with others by placing a
well-being. And these feelings are associated distance between them and ourselves or by the
with more humanitarian giving as well, espe- attraction of others to us for the wrong reasons.
cially for persons who do not adhere to particular Many wealthy people accommodate to this situa-
faith traditions. tion in one of three ways: (1) devaluing the
importance of wealth as wealth and, instead,
looking on wealth as a measure of their social
1.5.10 Is Personal Wealth standing among their peers; (2) overconsuming
a Guarantee of Well-Being? their wealth to the point that whatever they own
or possess has comparatively little meaning
Preeminent star of the American musical theatre, thereafter (after all, how many houses can one
Sophie Tucker (1884–1966), is widely quoted as live in or how many luxury cars can one drive?);
saying (Tucker n.d.), “I have been rich and I’ve or (3) redistributing the wealth to others—includ-
been poor. Rich is better.” A popular slogan ing to family and friends, persons known to them
appearing on posters in college dorm rooms who are in special need, or by becoming philan-
states, “Poverty sucks!” (The poster also typically thropists who support major community projects.
portrays a man dressed to the hilt in horse riding The latter activity is especially popular as wealthy
clothing holding a glass of champagne, with his people age and wish to (1) divest themselves of
foot lifted onto the bumper of a Rolls Royce.) On the fortunes they have accumulated; or (2) use
a more serious note, Plato (c. 428/427 BCE– their wealth to do good on behalf of the commu-
348/347 BCE) wrote in the Republic (2005), “No nity, e.g., supporting charitable organizations,
wealth can ever make a bad man at peace with building extensions to hospitals and universities,
himself.” Aristotle, writing in Book 6 of the endowing scholarships for promising young peo-
Politics noted, “Poverty is the parent of revolution ple, or investing in social entrepreneurs whose
and crime” (Aristotle 356 BCE). In each case, and work will substantially increase the value of the
by implication, wealth is something that is to be initial investments. Viewed from the perspective
managed on behalf of others. Wealth holders of well-being, the possession of great wealth can
experience a great sense of responsibility in this pose significant challenges to the well-being of
regard, and many of the richest men and women the wealth holders.
20 R.J. Estes

The situation for poor people is quite differ- this phenomenon as the “wealth paradox”
ent. English poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, lit- (Easterlin et al. 2010). Other major thinkers in
erary critic, biographer, editor, and lexicographer the happiness studies field—psychologists
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) wrote (Johnson Robert Cummins (2014), Ed Diener (Diener and
1782): “Resolve not to be poor: whatever you Biswas-Diener 2008), Joseph Sirgy (2012), and
have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to Ruut Veenhoven (2014)—refer to it as a state of
human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, “eudaimonia,” i.e., a contented state of being
and it makes some virtues impracticable, and oth- happy and healthy and prosperous first identified
ers extremely difficult.” by Aristotle.
As illustrated by Johnson, well-being for the
poor is contingent on possessing at least the mini-
mal levels of wealth needed to meet their most 1.5.11 Are Socially Constructed
basic needs and wants. Beyond that threshold, Forms of Discrimination
increasing levels of income or wealth may or may Obstacles to Well-Being?
not positively affect their sense of well-being.
Of interest, too, is that much of the “wealth” The practice of apartheid in South Africa and the
of the poor is not in money or material posses- Nazi persecution of the Jews during the Second
sions but rather in the nature, extent, and quality World War were among the most onerous forms
of their social relationships with others, but espe- of discrimination to manifest themselves during
cially with family members and kinship systems. the century that just ended. But they were not the
Research has shown repeatedly that many poor only large-scale atrocities that occurred during
people have huge stores of “social” capital even the century. Indeed, the century began with the
in the absence of “fiscal” capital. Of the two brutal cleansing in 1915 of Christian Armenian
types of capital, the former, as reflected in the minorities from much of Ottoman Turkey, culmi-
recent award-winning film directed by Roko nating in the century’s first genocide in which
Belic, Happy (2011), is perceived to be more more than 1.5 million people perished. Others
important. This view likely accounts for the high have occurred, and some, such as those currently
rankings reported by Gallup and other polls on taking place in the name of Islam in Syria and
measures of happiness, life satisfaction, and Iraq, are still emerging as this book is being writ-
well-being reported by people living in societies ten. All are deeply rooted in regional historical
with only low to moderate income levels (Clifton realities and a general lack of acceptance of the
2012; Veenhoven 2014). Money and material differences that exist between people. In all cases,
possessions simply do not matter as much to discrimination and persecution to the point of
these people relative to the importance they place genocide (largely on the basis of factors over
on the strength of emotional attachments to fam- which people have no control—age, gender, race,
ily, friends, and the larger community (e.g., their nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation), are life-­
churches, schools, and credit unions). denying forces for all involved. Discrimination
On balance, then, one should not expect that on the basis of factors over which people can
large sums of money are going to result in pro- exercise a degree of control, but should not be
portional increases in happiness levels or in a asked to do so, is also life-denying, e.g., religion
heightened sense of well-being. One’s material and religious beliefs, language and dialect. All of
needs will be more than amply met but, still, each these practices severely limit our capacity for
of us must embark on an internal journey that is attaining the level of well-being that we seek.
far less materialistic. Money is important for rich The American novelist, essayist, playwright,
and poor alike but only to an extent and always in poet, and social critic James Baldwin (1924–
ways that reflect those things and people about 1987) (Fig. 1.13) captured the inherent contradic-
which the rich and poor care most deeply. tions of discrimination and well-being for the
American economist Richard Easterlin refers to oppressor in his 1965 essay White Man’s Guilt:
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 21

Fig. 1.13 James Baldwin (1924–1987). (Photo by

Allan Warren; https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/b/b8/James_Baldwin_37_Allan_Warren.jpg;
Fig. 1.14  Anne Frank (1929–1945). (Photo by TEDx
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
NJLibraries; https://www.flickr.com/photos/tedxnjlibrar-
license)
ies/4609595373/; Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Generic license)

This is the place in which, it seems to me, most

white Americans find themselves. They are dimly, all this suffering and if there are still Jews left,
or vividly, aware that the history they have fed when it is over, then Jews, instead of being
themselves is mainly a lie, but they do not know doomed, will be held up as an example. Who
how to release themselves from it…This incoher- knows, it might even be our religion from which
ence is heard nowhere more plainly than in those the world and all ­peoples learn good, and for that
stammering, terrified dialogues white Americans reason and that reason alone do we have to suffer
sometimes entertain with that black conscience, now. We can never become just Netherlanders, or
the black man in America. just English, or representatives of any country for
The nature of this stammering can be reduced that matter; we will always remain Jews, but we
to a plea: “Do not blame me. I was not there. I did want to, too.
not do it. My history has nothing to do with Europe
or the slave trade. Anyway, it was your chiefs who Eventually more than 11 million people would
sold you to me.”
perish in this unimaginable holocaust (1939–
Other authors have also reflected on the con- 1945), the majority of whom were European
tradictions that exist between overt forms of dis- Jews of Czech, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Polish,
crimination and the attainment of well-being. Russian, Ukrainian, and even German extraction.
One such reflection is that voiced by a 16-year Others who perished during this holocaust were
German Jewish girl hiding from Nazi persecution members of sexual minority groups, persons with
in the carefully hidden space of an Amsterdam mental illnesses and other disabilities, the
home. Writing in her diary just months before her impaired aged, Catholics, and political dissi-
capture and subsequent death in a concentration dents. The list of “social undesirables” under
camp, Anne Frank (1929–1945) (Fig. 1.14) wrote Nazi administration was long and continuously
(Frank 1944/1952), increased to include new groups of people until
Who has inflicted this upon us? Who has made us virtually no group lived without fear of becoming
Jews different from all other people? Who has a target of genocide.
allowed us to suffer so terribly up till now? It is The Jewish holocaust of the Second World
God that has made us as we are, but it will be War followed on the heels of the brutal Armenian
God, too, who will raise us up again. If we bear
genocide that took place in Ottoman Turkey in
22 R.J. Estes

1915. The then U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman 1.5.12 What Are the Contributions
Empire, Henry Morgenthau Sr., commented in of Choice and Decision
1919 concerning his reflections on the to Well-Being?
genocide,
When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for The steps that must be taken toward attaining a
these deportations (of the Armenians from Turkey), heightened sense of well-being are neither pas-
they were merely giving the death warrant to a sive nor submissive. One must repeatedly and
whole race; they understood this well, and, in their actively seek well-being in a manner that requires
conversations with me, they made no particular
attempt to conceal the fact…I am confident that the discipline and persistence. In doing so, we engage
whole history of the human race contains no such in all of the elementary steps already identified as
horrible episode as this. The great massacres and well as those that have not yet been introduced.
persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant The multifaceted processes involved in attain-
when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian
race in 1915. ing well-being are not unlike those we engage in
when seeking higher levels of life satisfaction or
Discriminatory behavior toward others, espe- happiness. Each involves many people each con-
cially the mass murders or systematic acts of tributing something that is unique to the process.
violence directed at entire population groups, is And the outcomes of these efforts result in unique
contradictory to collective well-being. Such well-being profiles—some more complex and
behavior also impedes personal well-being, elaborate than others. The internal and social
given the enormous sense of guilt that many skills available to individuals to carry out this
perpetrators of such violence experience. The process also are unique, albeit their most general
English preacher, essayist, and poet, John pursuit shares many characteristics that are held
Donne (1572–1731), captured the essence of in common. The task can be made simpler and
this contradiction in the opening lines of his fre- richer, of course, when others join with us in
quently cited poem “No Man Is an Island” seeking mutually beneficial levels of well-being.
(Donne 1995): Indeed, the interactive nature of the search for
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a well-being is one of its most common features
piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a cloud among people worldwide, especially when the
be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as most basic steps are expressed in the form of reli-
well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor gious practices or cultural rituals. Such commu-
of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s
death diminishes me, because I am involved in nal experiences can effectively launch us on our
mankind, and therefore never send to know for own, more personal, search for heightened levels
whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. of well-being, a pattern that is typical for people
everywhere and is frequently referred to as a
Donne clearly understood at least two features “quest journey” or even “the search for identity.”
of the human personality: (1) that ultimately all The pattern of personal searches undertaken
of us are joined together through our common alone or in combination with communal searches,
humanity; and (2) what good or ill we do toward or both, has always typified the search for well-­
others ultimately will come back to us. Thus, in being, life satisfaction, and happiness. Indeed,
Donne’s words, no man is an island unto himself such searches form the substance of our most
and none of our actions are taken in isolation enduring mythologies and stories from Gilgamesh
from others. All have direct consequences for our to Odysseus of ancient times, to the search for the
sense of well-being, life satisfaction, and the Holy Grail of the Middle Ages, to the cross-laden
extent of happiness that we share with others. To pilgrimages undertaken by Christians walking in
the extent that we poison these relationships the steps of Christ along the streets of the Via
through intolerance of others, we poison Dolorosa, to the public rituals engaged in by
ourselves. young people conferring them with adult status.
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 23

All of these personal quests, searches, sacrifices, situations in which others are able to join with us
and forms of public recognition have the pursuit in carrying out the prescribed tasks needed to
of a heightened sense of well-being as their prin- achieve the desired levels of well-being. None of
cipal objective. these choices can be exercised under conditions
Common to all of the preceding actions is the of controlled freedom or in situations where per-
role of personal choice in meeting the challenges sonal freedoms are denied entirely.
that confront us. The challenges are real, as are
the choices. Each has profound consequences for
our pursuit of well-being. The same patterns exist 1.5.13 Is the Attainment of Well-­
among the Aboriginal people of Australia, the Being a Solitary Journey?
pygmies of Central Africa, and the young Native
Americans of Canada and the United States who The search for well-being is not a solitary jour-
are engaged in their own quest for recognition ney. Even persons living in cloistered communi-
and a heightened sense of well-being in the eyes ties seek to attain well-being in relationship with
of their families and the larger community. The other members of their communities. Certainly
search is a universal one, albeit many qualities there is a time and a place for solitude in advanc-
necessarily are adapted to the unique needs, pref- ing well-being, but isolation only sets the frame-
erences, and choices of local cultures. The out- work that is needed for introspection and the
comes sought in all situations, though, are the development of an enlightened sense of gratitude.
same, i.e., a heightened sense of well-being, life The latter, as we shall learn, is an especially
satisfaction, and happiness. The work of the important element in the quest for well-being. All
Australia-based International Wellbeing Group of these “inward-looking” processes are carried
(2015) has been particularly instrumental in iden- out in the context in which each of us makes a
tifying the common and different psychological discrete contribution to the well-being of others.
dimensions of well-being across many societies. The importance of “the other” in our search
Each society has found its own communal for well-being is reflected in the African philoso-
gateway to help people gain or restore the condi- phy of Ubuntu, which teaches us that ­“…indi-
tions that are necessary for achieving well-being viduals become real only through their
within the context of their own sociocultural real- relationships with others, in a community or
ities. Undertaking the Haj to Mecca, for example, group” (Okolo 1992). That is to say, personhood,
is one socially sanctioned approach to attaining the Ubuntu ultimate expression of humanity, can
spiritual well-being for Muslims everywhere in only be achieved through meaningful relation-
the world. In India, the world’s second most pop- ships with others. Such persons have given us
ulous country after China, fully a third of the life, functioned as our families, served as fellow
country’s population lives along the banks of the members of our more or less closed communi-
Ganges river—the river of life, death, and renewal ties, and have transferred to us the norms, values,
in Hindu religious tradition. To die in Benares traditions, and history of our people as a collec-
(Varanasi) is one of the major milestones in life tive. They were our teachers, our doctors, our
to which many religious Hindus aspire. To do so, caregivers when young or sick and, in the end,
families frequently make many extraordinary will be the persons who dispose of our mortal
sacrifices to travel to Benares with their near-­ remains following death. Our families and com-
dead relatives so that they can die there and have munities have even given us the name by which
their cremains join with those of thousands of we are known to others. Everywhere in the world,
others in the swift currents of the Ganges River even in the anonymity of impersonal urban areas,
(McBride 2014). the communities that we create perform many of
All of these actions require intentional per- the same functions as families and kinship sys-
sonal choices to realize. And those choices are tems in more rural communities. The attainment
possible only under conditions of freedom and in of a heightened sense of well-being is possible in
24 R.J. Estes

either situation inasmuch as each one can provide between ourselves and others varies consider-
the quality of emotional relationships needed to ably. The prescribed formula for attaining well-
advance our maturation. being may differ in some respects by locale but,
But relationships in large communities depend in the end, the sense of well-being draws on the
less on formally prescribed hierarchical roles and same set of internal and interpersonal coping
more on the sense of equality that characterizes skills. Ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (c.
much of life in larger communities. 604 BCE–531 BCE) (Fig. 1.16), in discussing
Writing from this perspective, the French more or less the same phenomenon, cautions us
existentialist philosopher and Nobel laureate for to “Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity,
literature, Albert Camus (1913–1960), in a quote Reduce selfishness, Have few desires” (Tzu
often attributed to him, remarked, “Don’t walk 1913). Thus, the end purpose of all of these
behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of interactions with others, whatever their nature, is
me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be precisely the same, i.e., to suppress the personal
my friend” (Camus n.d.). Even the German exis- supremacy of our own egos to permit others into
tentialist Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) our lives. The critical social contributions that
(Fig. 1.15) tells us that, “It is not a lack of love, are made by each party to the relationship are
but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy mar- precisely “the stuff” of which well-being is
riages” (Nietzsche n.d.). Both Nietzsche and made.
Camus are tapping into the same elementary
forces necessary to attain well-being albeit the
level of intimacy involved in the relationships 1.5.14 To What Extent Is
the Attainment of Well-Being
a Reciprocal Process
Between Ourselves
and Others?

Viewed from the perspectives already identified,

that which others gave freely to us—love,
­nourishment, caring, protection—in due course
is expected to be returned. Those to whom we
give those gifts, of course, are not likely to be the
same persons that gave them to us originally
inasmuch as many will have passed away as we
mature. Instead, most of us will pass on those
gifts to the members of the families that we form
(spouses, children, and others), to the organiza-
tions that we join, and to the communities in
which we live. Many will return the gifts through
exceptionally productive careers whose activi-
ties benefit others in ways that are both seen and
unseen. Still others will engage in recurring acts
of benevolence undertaken on behalf of persons
unknown to them and whom they will never
meet. All of these “gift exchanges” can be
Fig. 1.15  Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900). (Photo taken expected to add measurably to our sense of well-­
at studio Gebrüder Siebe, Leipzig, around 1869; scan pro-
cessed by Anton, 2005; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
being and, for many of us, the returns received
Friedrich_Nietzsche#/media/File:Nietzsche187c.jpg; often are far greater than those originally given
public domain) to us.
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 25

Fig. 1.16  Lao Tzu (c. 604 BCE–531

BCE). (Photo by Grace Wong; some
rights reserved by tom@hk; https://
www.flickr.com/photos/
gracewong/2175595214/sizes/o/;
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Generic license)

The author is frequently reminded of the heightened sense of well-being as a result of

unique nature of the relationship that takes place these exchanges.
when we give blood to others. What gift can be
more unique and life giving than that of blood to
a person in need. British social policy specialist, 1.5.15 To What Extent Is the Pursuit
Richard Titmuss (1907–1973), wrote extensively of Well-Being a Linear or
on this topic and always recognized it as one of Curvilinear Process?
the most selfless acts in which people can engage
(Titmuss 1970). The same relationship exists Life is too full of surprises to permit anything as
between organ donors and the recipients of those important as the attainment of well-being to be
organs. The relationships are highly unique and realized without taking into account the obstacles
can only be appreciated through the eyes of those that occur in all of our lives—sickness, disability,
who have received these life extending gifts— broken relationships, the death of loved ones.
often as a result of the death of another. Organ The process of attaining well-being also requires
gifts from live donors are especially valued and that we take into account the almost always
contribute substantially to the well-being of both uncontrollable, social, political, and economic
the living donor and the living recipient, includ- patterns that exist in the wider environment.
ing those situations in which neither party is Recurring civil conflict, wars, major natural
known to the other. disasters, and even expressions of discrimination
The successful pursuit of a high level of well-­ slow dramatically our attainment of a heightened
being is indeed reciprocal. The reciprocity may sense of well-being. Each in its way either con-
take place between people who are known to one tributes to or inhibits our progress toward
another but, more frequently, neither the giver well-being.
nor the receiver is known to the other, as occurs In addressing the fluctuating nature of human
in acts of charity, benevolence, and philanthropy progress, American entrepreneur and professor
that are made through intermediaries who bring of marketing, Tim J. Smith (2003), wrote,
the resources donated together with the persons Progress is highly non-linear and sometimes non-­
and institutions most in need of those resources. existent. Onlookers may have trouble identifying it
Both benefactors and recipients experience a and, justifiably, may discount that progress is being
26 R.J. Estes

made. It often looks more like a hodgepodge of self-sufficiency from parents. Most leave the
confusion or activities without tangible results.
home of their family of origin entirely, thereby
Referring to historical events, each of us takes
pride in the blossoming of knowledge associated freeing couples to invest more in themselves and
with the Renaissance but find many to blame for their delayed aspirations. The disparity between
the fall of Rome. After Rome fell the concept of resources and consumption also occurs during
zero and negative numbers, introduced to the col-
the later stages in the adult life cycle as couples
lective human knowledge by ancients of
Mesopotamia and India, became non-existent in age, leave the economically active work force,
Europe until the rebirth of knowledge in the and begin to live on what are for most people lim-
Renaissance. If it weren’t for northern Africa and ited, increasingly meager, savings acquired over
Islamic culture, (we) might have lost this knowl-
a lifetime of earnings.
edge altogether during the European Dark Ages.
Conversely, the pressures associated with the
Smith’s observations are equally applicable to life-cycle squeeze are at their lowest among sin-
the many “ups” and “downs” associated with the gle people, employed couples without children,
search for well-being. For every peak experience and couples whose children have left home.
that we achieve there is often a concomitant val- Periods of life-cycle squeeze are especially
ley, or even a series of valleys, resulting in sig- intense among the very elderly (80+) in most
nificant interludes between peak experiences of societies—persons who have survived the depar-
well-being. However, the search for heightened ture of children, the death of close friends, and
levels of well-being must continue even if such often the death of their spouse. This stage is also
experiences do not occur in a predictable and when many very elderly persons have all but
orderly manner. exhausted their life’s savings and are living on
Scholars in the social sciences describe the minimal, even subsistence level, incomes (mostly
up-and-down pattern of attaining well-being as pensions and, for some, episodic support from
being either U-shaped (Graham 2012) or their children).
S-shaped (Estes and Wilensky 1978). The shapes The ups and downs associated with each stage
represented by the letters U and S reflect changes of the adult life cycle are more or less predict-
that occur in well-being over the course of the able. Obviously, couples with greater social and
human life cycle. The mismatch in our attain- financial resources can use these resources to
ment of well-being is greatest when the demands help absorb the emotional and financial shocks
for personal and family consumption are at great- associated with periods of life-cycle squeeze.
est odds with the availability of resources to meet They can do so with more equanimity and self-­
those demands. This period typically occurs fol- respect. Most can also sustain relatively high lev-
lowing marriage and the appearance of children, els of morale for long periods of time or until
albeit many couples today choose to have chil- other, more overwhelming, emotional, economic,
dren without the institution of marriage. Pressures or health shocks occur in their lives (Zolli and
to find secure work, to obtain affordable housing, Healy 2013).
and to generate sufficient cash flows to meet the The great majority of people, however, endure
ever-increasing demands for health care, child- the shocks associated with periods of life-cycle
care, and the like are greatest during this stage of squeeze with less composure; they seek, instead,
the adult life cycle. to cope “as best they can.” Some handle the
Not surprisingly, this stage is also when cou- stressful situations with calm, equanimity, and
ples fall into increasing levels of indebtedness perseverance whereas others never fully recover
(mortgages and consumer debit), all of which from life-altering experiences such as the death
further intensify the mismatch between resources of a spouse or the depletion of their financial
and consumption. This developmental trend, or resources. Those persons characterized by gener-
life cycle “squeeze,” continues for about two ally positive attitudes prior to major life-altering
decades during which time children gradually events are more likely to retain a high sense of
mature and attain an emotional and economic well-being—referred to as “resiliency”—
1  The Search for Well-Being: From Ancient to Modern Times 27

Fig. 1.17  Bobby McFerrin performing at the February

28–March 4, 2011 TED Conference. (Photo by Steve
Jurvetson at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson;
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license)

whereas others feel crushed by major life events

and experience agitation, anger, or depression
(Frisch 2006; Lickerman 2012).
In approaching the on-going challenges and
struggles associated with life, a quote frequently Fig. 1.18  Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). (Photo by Al
attributed to the American writer and cartoonist, Ravenna, World Telegram staff photographer, from
Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel (1904–1991), seems Library of Congress: New York World-Telegram & Sun
particularly appropriate. “Don’t cry because it’s Collection. Reproduction rights transferred to Library of
Congress through Instrument of Gift; https://commons.
over,” teaches Dr. Seuss, “smile because it hap- wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carl_Sandburg_NYWTS.jpg)
pened.” Similarly, the popular American jazz-­
influenced vocalist and conductor Bobby
McFerrin (Fig. 1.17) also is instructive on how to Writing from an equally more positive per-
keep potentially negative forces from crushing us spective, American thought leader Christian
during periods of high stress or incapacitation D. Larson (1874–1962) wrote (Larson 1912):
(Clempson et al. 1988). Simply said in his popu-
lar 1988 song, McFerrin told us “Don’t worry, be Promise yourself
To be so strong that nothing
happy…when you worry you make it double, can disturb your peace of mind.
don’t worry, be happy.” To talk health, happiness, and prosperity
Legendary American poet Carl Sandburg’s to every person you meet.
(1878–1967) (Fig. 1.18) quiet observations on To make all your friends feel
the nature of happiness also add to our apprecia- that there is something in them
tion of the naturally occurring cycles of life and To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.
their relationship to happiness. Wrote Sandburg
(1916), To think only the best, to work only for the best,
and to expect only the best.
I asked the professors who teach the meaning of To be just as enthusiastic about the success of
life to tell me what is happiness. And I went to others
famous executives who boss the work of thousands as you are about your own.
of men. They all shook their heads and gave me a
smile as though I was trying to fool with them. And To forget the mistakes of the past
then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along and press on to the greater achievements of the
the Desplaines River. And I saw a crowd of future.
Hungarians under the trees with their women and To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
children and a keg of beer and an accordion. and give every living creature you meet a smile.
28 R.J. Estes

To give so much time to the improvement of substitutes for the equally exciting inner discov-
yourself
eries that lie ahead for each of us. Our journey
that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too toward a heightened state of well-being ulti-
strong for fear, mately will prove as challenging as our journey
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble. to the stars. Certainly, the attainment of such
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact inner discoveries will be essential to our continu-
to the world, ous development into a more fully actualized col-
not in loud words but great deeds. lective of happy human beings.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side
so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

References

1.5.16 To What Extent Is Well-Being A brief history of “Let there be peace on Earth, and let it
begin with me”. (n.d.). Big Sur: Jan-Lee Music. http://
the Same for All People www.jan-leemusic.com/Site/History.html. Accessed 7
Everywhere in Both Jan 2016.
the Present and the Past? Action for Happiness. (Producer). (2011). Matthieu
Ricard on Happiness—part 1. [Video]. https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=NFS0dZSTPLg. Accessed 7
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bound by different cultures or different economic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid. Accessed 7
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Aristotle (356 BCE). Book 6. In B. Jowett (Trans.),
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University Press Classics.
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 Western Historical Traditions
of Well-Being 2
Alex C. Michalos and Daniel Weijers

What is the highest of all the goods achievable in action? ….

most people … call it happiness, …
But they disagree about what happiness is …
(Aristotle 1934)

2.1 Introduction understanding well-being as a broad concept that

involves subjective and objective qualities of life.
This chapter provides a brief historical overview This chapter presents a selection of the major
of Western philosophical views about well-being notions of well-being from the known history of
or quality of life from the eighth century before the Western world. Although this review is nec-
the Common Era (BCE) to the middle of the essarily incomplete, we discuss some of the most
twentieth century. A comparison of the views salient and influential contributions from ancient
discussed here with Eastern views described by Greece: the aristocratic values that were consid-
Joshanloo (2014) reveals a number of similari- ered central to leading a good life, notions of per-
ties. However, since there has not been an enor- sonal and more expansive harmony as the key to
mous amount of cross-fertilization between well-being, and the idea that the experience of
Eastern and Western conceptions of well-being, pleasure is all we should really care about. We
the topics are discussed separately in this vol- also explain some of the major religious concep-
ume. We present diverse views of a family of tions of the good life and their progression
well-being concepts emanating from questions through the Middle Ages and beyond. More
about the best sort of life to lead, the best sort of recent secular conceptions of well-being include
person to be, the general world views from which several views on the importance of personal and
these questions arise, and the best sorts of paths public happiness. Finally, we discuss views to the
put forward leading to the desired goals. Because effect that happiness is not enough for the good
well-being itself is a complex concept, we begin life and that we should strive for loftier goals.
by explaining how well-being and its cognates
are related. Then, we introduce a framework for
2.1.1 Family of Well-Being Concepts

Since at least the fifth century BCE, the family of

A.C. Michalos (*) concepts connected to ideas of well-being has not
University of Northern British Columbia, been well-defined. From the earliest recorded
Prince George, BC, Canada
e-mail: [email protected]
writings of the most notable scholars in the
Western world until the twenty-first century, a
D. Weijers
Department of Philosophy, California State
wide variety of terms have been used with an
University, Sacramento, CA, USA equally wide variety of explicit or implicit defini-
e-mail: [email protected] tions. Indeed, leading scholars and policy makers

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 31

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_2
32 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

continue to disagree about the most basic con- Some scholars think that the term subjective
ceptual distinctions, such as whether health is a well-being is more precise than the term happi-
component of well-being or various forms of ness. But, an unpublished survey of 74 leading
well-being constitute health (Michalos 1969). researchers led Robert Cummins to conclude that
For example, the widely cited Constitution of the subjective well-being was understood in a wide
World Health Organization preamble says that variety of ways, including contradictory ones.
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental Diener (2006: viii) noted that “The term well-­
and social well-being and not merely the absence being is often used instead of subjective well-­
of disease or infirmity” (World Health being because it avoids any suggestion that there
Organization 1946). But, there are good reasons is something arbitrary or unknowable about the
for not treating health as a synonym of well-being concepts involved.” On the other hand (there is
or quality of life. Michalos et al. (2005; 2011) almost always another hand), some scholars use
provide empirical evidence that most people well-being and quality of life as rough synonyms.
would not identify good health with a good life. It For these scholars, the idea of using well-being to
is enough to point out that identifying health with designate only subjective well-being would be a
well-being or quality of life would mean that it huge mistake because well-being has many rela-
would make no sense to ask “What is the impact tively objective as well as subjective features. As
of health on a person’s quality of life?” Yet, ordi- Diener (2006: ix) wrote, some scholars use qual-
narily, this question makes as much sense as ity of life in a broad sense “to include not only the
“What is the impact of wealth on a person’s qual- quality of life circumstances, but also the per-
ity of life?” or “Regarding the quality of a per- son’s perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and reac-
son’s life, is it more important to be healthy, tions to those circumstances.” For these scholars
wealthy, wise or morally good?” (e.g., Michalos 2003), well-being and quality of
Recognizing the great variety of meanings life are essentially synonyms and require subjec-
assigned to basic terms in research on subjective tive and objective indicators for adequate
well-being, Diener (2006) tried to bring some measurement.
order and consistency to standard usage. Fifty We use well-being and quality of life in this
scholars endorsed his short text. However, most broad sense to mean what makes a person’s life
of those who endorsed it only did so when accept- go well for him or her or what makes the lives of
able caveats were added to proposed definitions members of a group go well for them. Therefore,
or characterizations. There were so many caveats when we discuss health, happiness, or other good
that order and consistency were not brought to features of lives, we take pains to be clear about
the field. Following is an example from his whether they should be understood as one of
guidelines: many components of well-being, as the one and
Happiness has several meanings in popular dis- only component of well-being, or as a synonym
course, as well as in the scholarly literature. For for well-being.
example, happiness can mean a general positive
mood, a global evaluation of life satisfaction, liv-
ing a good life, or the causes that make people
happy, with the interpretations depending on the 2.1.2 A Framework
context. For this reason some researchers avoid for Understanding Quality
using the term altogether. Scholars in some fields of Life
use the term frequently because of its important
historical and popular roots, whereas scholars in
other fields prefer to use more specific terms for One may think of the quality (or qualities) of life
the different aspects of well-being (Diener 2006: of an individual or community as a function of
viii–ix). (All Diener quotes are used with kind per- two variables: the actual conditions of that life
mission from Springer Science + Business Media: and what an individual or community makes of
Journal of Happiness Studies, Guidelines for
national indicators of subjective well-being and ill-­ those conditions. What a person or community
being. 7(1), v–xii; Diener, E.) makes of those conditions is in turn a function of
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 33

Given the fragmented remains from the work

Subjective Features of Life of many of the writers considered here, it is
impossible to rigorously apply this fourfold set of
distinctions to everyone’s views. Nevertheless,
Good Bad we use this framework to elucidate the views dis-
cussed in this chapter when we think it appropri-
ate. By so doing, it is easier to understand where
Real
Fool’s Hell various thinkers located the determinants of well-­
Objective Features of Life

Paradise being: in our heads or in our circumstances.

Good

Fool’s
2.1.3 Historical Records
Real Hell
Paradise Choices must be made regarding exactly which
historical records about well-being or the good
Bad

life should be included and how they should be

Fig. 2.1  Possible ways to describe or explain well-being
interpreted. Because literacy rates were very low
compared to contemporary standards, what
records we have were produced by relatively dis-
how the conditions are perceived, what is thought tinguished, elite individuals. Then, as now, such
and felt about those conditions, what is done, and individuals tended to neglect socially disenfran-
finally, what consequences follow from what is chised groups like women, the poor, the elderly,
done. People’s perceptions, thoughts, feelings, the young, and foreigners.
and actions, then, have an impact on their own Dover (1974) wrote a fine book dealing with
and others’ living conditions. what he called “popular morality” in the time of
These two main variables (conditions of life Plato and Aristotle (around 428– 322 BCE). The
and what people make of them) can be combined historical records he used included “(i) forensic
to construct four scenarios that, with a little exag- oratory; (ii) political oratory; (iii) drama and epi-
geration, may be described as different kinds of deictic oratory; (iv) epitaphs and dedicatory epi-
paradise and hell. The scenarios are explained grams.” He deliberately omitted any discussion
below and the framework is depicted in Fig. 2.1. of philosophical works except for occasional
remarks made by philosophers in which the
1. If people’s living conditions are good, and masses of ordinary people were characterized. In
people accurately perceive and think about general, he thought (probably correctly) that phi-
them, feel good, and act appropriately, we losophers tended to talk mainly to other philoso-
describe that as Real Paradise. phers and mainly about relatively theoretical
2. If people’s living conditions are bad, and peo- issues concerning a good life, whereas authors
ple accurately perceive and think about them, from the four categories just noted more often
feel bad, and act appropriately, we describe talked to more ordinary people in less theoretical
that as Real Hell. language. One could not expect that the charac-
3. If people’s living conditions are bad, and peo- terizations of authors in the four groups were
ple inaccurately perceive and/or think about always more accurate than those of philosophers.
them, feel good, and act inappropriately, we After all, dramatists, lawyers, and politicians
describe that as the classical Fool’s Paradise. wrote for effect, often creating fictional charac-
4. If people’s living conditions are good, and ters and events designed to impress or persuade
people inaccurately perceive and/or think others. Granting the differences in historical
about them, feel bad, and act inappropriately, records used and the pictures painted by diverse
we describe that as a Fool’s Hell. groups of authors, we have drawn mainly from
34 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

the works of a highly salient, influential set of cuss views to the effect that happiness is not
philosophers. In principle at least, philosophers enough for the good life and that we should strive
aim to discover and say what is true, whether or for loftier goals.
not it is particularly impressive or persuasive.
Truth and persuasiveness are not necessarily
mutually exclusive, but we are following the 2.2.1 Aristocratic Values
footsteps of those whose aims are most similar to
our own. Among the writers of the Archaic Age (c. 750–c.
The literature review that follows is incom- 480 BCE), questions about the best life for an
plete and based on partial and imperfect sources. individual, or about the best kind of person to be,
In many cases, we only have fragments to go on, had paramount importance. The heroes of the
and many of those fragments are likely to have epic poems ascribed to Homer (eighth century
been translated from a paraphrase of a quotation BCE), the Iliad and the Odyssey, lived in societ-
that was based entirely on hearsay. Indeed, were ies governed by hereditary monarchies with the
it not for the excellent analyses of scholars like support of members of the aristocracy. They were
McKirahan (1994), McMahon (2006, 2013), and larger-than-life characters, born to and raised in
others cited here, this overview would have been privileged, noble, and wealthy families, occa-
greatly impoverished, especially in regard to the sionally boasting gods or goddesses in their fam-
views of the ancients. Finally, some passages ily trees, displaying physical attractiveness and
about the ancient philosophers in this treatise dexterity as well as the qualities of practical and
have been adapted from Michalos and Robinson wise leadership, strength of character, courage,
(2012). justice, generosity, and piety. These are the char-
acteristics and values of those aristocrats. The
best kinds of people were aristocrats, and the best
2.2 Major Philosophical kind of life was aristocratic. Enjoying all the
and Hypothetical advantages of nobility, such people would have a
Conceptualizations clear sense of noblesse oblige and act
of Well-Being accordingly.
It is important to note that, whereas the char-
In this section we review some major conceptual- acters and the general background stories that
izations of a good life, the good life, the quality Homer was working with were inherited from
of life, happiness, and well-being from Western centuries before (composed in a much more
historical tradition and provide specific examples straightforwardly aristocratic time), Homer him-
of scholarly writings illustrating each conceptu- self was writing at a time when society was tran-
alization. We begin by discussing ancient views sitioning to more democratic values. In Homer’s
of well-being, drawn mainly from before and time, people’s vision of a good life began to
around the times of Socrates in ancient Greece. change from that of competitive to cooperative
This discussion is focused on the aristocratic val- success.
ues that were considered central to leading a … the various strands of the Homeric heroic ideal
good life, notions of personal and more expan- began to unravel. In particular, good birth, wealth,
sive harmony as the key to well-being, and the and fighting ability no longer automatically went
idea that the experience of pleasure is all we together. This sort of situation forced the issue:
what are the best qualities we can possess? What
should really care about. Next, we explain reli- constitutes human arete [i.e., excellence, virtue or
gious conceptions of the good life, and their pro- goodness]? The literary sources contain conflicting
gression through the Middle Ages and beyond. claims about the best life for a person, the best kind
Then, we discuss secular conceptions of well-­ of person to be, and the relative merits of qualities
thought to be ingredients of human happiness
being, including several views on the importance (McKirahan 1994: 358).
of personal and public happiness. Finally, we dis-
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 35

The poems of Hesiod of Ascra (late eighth/ Committee (2007: 12) describes one of its
early seventh century BCE) provide assessments Fundamental Principles as follows: “The goal of
of what was thought to be good or bad. In his Olympism is to place sport at the service of the
Works and Days, along with some references to harmonious development of man, with a view to
the deities Peace, Famine, and Disaster, readers promoting a peaceful society concerned with the
are offered themes of the good life that are famil- preservation of human dignity.” Following are
iar and still attractive, i.e., flourishing and pros- nine views about harmony in some sense and a life
perous communities, populated by honest people, of good quality: (1) a soul’s harmony within itself;
living in peace, enjoying the fruits of their labors, (2) harmony among the nature of one’s species,
without worries about where the next meal will nature in general, and ideal law; (3) harmony as
come from, with an absence of disease, and with blending daimones with a Supreme Being; (4) a
justice for all. Later in the same poem, Hesiod harmonious balance among an individual’s inter-
describes the antithesis of a good society through nal atoms and the external atoms of his or her envi-
a kind of inversion of these themes. In contempo- ronment; (5) a harmonious balance among an
rary terms, one might say that Hesiod’s bad soci- individual’s particular constitution, humors, diets,
ety is one in which the institution of morality has exercises, geography, seasonal climates, heavenly
been totally undermined, including people’s bodies, and government; (6) a harmonious combi-
sense of justice, resulting in the total destruction nation of well-ordered souls in well-ordered cities;
of its social capital. (7) ascetic harmony with nature; (8) a harmonious
mixture of an active life with goods of the soul,
goods of the body, and external goods; and (9) har-
2.2.2 Harmony mony with nature through virtuous action.

Harmony (harmonia) is probably the most fre- 2.2.2.1 Soul’s Harmony with Itself
quently mentioned preferred feature of a good Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570–c. 490) BCE imag-
life in the period 550 to 250 BCE. Joshanloo ined that the universe, which he called the kos-
(2014: 477) remarks that “One of the fundamen- mos, was an “intelligible, ordered whole,”
tal differences in Western and Eastern notions of somehow held together or connected by harmo-
happiness and a good life is that in the former, nia, i.e., by some sort of principle of harmony,
attempting to change, master, and control the which he had shown was intimately related to
world (including various aspects of one’s life, numerical analysis (McKirahan 1994: 115). He
relationships, and nature) is praised, whereas in apparently believed that all animals have immor-
the latter, adjustment to the environment, achiev- tal souls that at death transmigrate among diverse
ing harmony with others and the cosmos is species, trading up or down as it were, depending
prioritized.” partly on each individual’s behavior and charac-
If one compares contemporary Western psy- ter. The aim of the relatively ascetic Pythagorean
chological theory with Eastern philosophical way of life was to bring increased harmony to an
theories, as Joshanloo did, the particular differ- individual’s soul, thereby improving that indi-
ence he describes in this passage is accurate. vidual’s chances for trading up rather than down
However, a comparison between Western ancient in the next life. The good life we seek is the
philosophical theories with Eastern philosophical unobservable harmony of that unobservable
­
theories reveals that diverse forms of harmony entity, the immortal soul. This notion of a harmo-
are common to both traditions. nious soul or a soul at peace with itself is to some
We have already seen harmony in the poets’ extent a feature of our contemporary popular psy-
references to peace. It appears in a variety of forms chology, as revealed in remarks about people
from most of the important philosophers across having or needing to “get it all together,” “pull
the whole period. In fact, harking back to the themselves together,” and “getting your heart and
games’ ancient roots, the International Olympic head together.”
36 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

2.2.2.2 Harmony Among the Nature orchestrated harmony producing a world in

of One’s Species, Nature which daimones are blended with a Supreme
in General, and Ideal Law Being.
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 540–c. 480 BCE) pos-
ited a world constantly undergoing changes while 2.2.2.4 Harmonious Balance
preserving identities, e.g., the Nile River remains Among an Individual’s Internal
the Nile River across time though its waters Atoms and the External Atoms
undergo continuous change. For any of his con- of His or Her Environment
temporaries interested in defining “the” good life, According to Democritus of Abdera (c. 460–c.
the descriptive and evaluative relativism of some 370 BCE; Fig. 2.2), the ultimate material b­ uilding
of his fragments would have been deeply disturb- blocks of the universe were atoms, which were
ing. Possibly the most disturbing of all would too small to be observed by human senses but
have been this one: “to God all things are beauti- were theoretically imagined to be unlimited in
ful and good and just, but humans have supposed number, shape, and size and to be constantly in
some unjust and others just” (McKirahan 1994: motion in an unlimited void. Human beings were
125). thought to be unique clusters of compounds con-
The good life is one lived in communities in sisting of body and soul atoms that were equally
which people willingly follow customs and obey material. According to his theory, good health
conventional laws that are consistent with an was a function of a kind of dynamic equilibrium
ideal law sometimes referred to as “the divine
law.” By linking behavior that is appropriate to
the conditions of the world and to one’s own
nature with ideal law, Heraclitus was perhaps the
first ancient philosopher to articulate the basic
premise of ethical naturalism (Michalos 1981).
The harmony he sought was not merely within a
person’s soul, but among a person’s nature, the
nature of the world, and a universal ideal law.

2.2.2.3 Harmony as Blending Daimones

with a Supreme Being
According to Empedocles of Acragas (c. 492–c.
432 BCE), human bodies were supposed to be
wrapped around daimones as “an alien garb of
flesh.” The daimones animating such bodies
function like souls but have a special status that is
grander than souls. Daimones are less exalted
than the gods, but much more so than mortal
flesh. Love and strife are names used to describe
cosmic forces that are not only physical but psy-
chological and moral as well. Love is sometimes
referred to as friendship, joy, and harmony. Love,
friendship, harmony, peace, social esteem and
self-esteem, and joy are all positively valued, Fig. 2.2  Democritus of Abdera (c. 460–c. 370 BCE).
whereas strife, quarrels, murder, war, and human Fresco transferred to canvas, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
originally from the home of Gaspara Visconti; now in the
distress are all negative. Most importantly, love is
Casa Panigarola, Milan: Crying Heraclitus and Laughing
a cosmic force that brings together the four ele- Democritus, 1477. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
ments (earth, air, fire, and water) in a kind of File:Bramante_heracleitus_and_democritus.jpeg
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 37

or harmonious balance among the internal atoms the four elements—earth, air, fire, and water.
of an individual and the external atoms of his or These cosmic elements were supposed to be con-
her environment. In short, all observable mental nected to four fluids called humors—fire to yel-
and physical disorders could be explained by low bile, air to blood, water to phlegm, and earth
unobservable disordered and discordant atomic to black bile.
activity, whereas observable well-being could be In contemporary terms, one could say that the
explained by unobservable orderly and harmoni- body of a man or woman was imagined to be like
ous atomic activity. The Real Paradise that one a cake whose appearance, texture, taste, and
aimed for required a harmonious balance among nutritional value depended upon each ingredient
an individual’s internal atoms and the external being of the right amount and proportionate to all
atoms of his or her environment. other ingredients, blending together into the
Democritus was the first philosopher to rec- whole cake in accordance with nature’s design.
ommend downward comparisons as part of a The default position of a human being was to be
strategy for attaining happiness, i.e., judge your disease-free and healthy, “the greatest human
well-being by comparing yourself to someone blessing,” according to one author of the Corpus.
worse off (Kahn 1998: 34–35). Insofar as he Emphasizing again the themes of harmony and
believed that this strategy was based on some balance, departures from health were the result of
aspect of human nature, Democritus’ view should departures from our natural formation and func-
also be regarded as an ancient root of downward tions. It is a wonderfully optimistic view of the
comparison theory as elucidated, for example, in natural state of things, a state offering a quality of
Wills (1981). Because this theory is a species of life that would be absolutely at odds with the
the more generic social comparison theory “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” life of
(Merton and Kitt 1950), Democritus may be con- one in the state of nature imagined by Thomas
sidered a pioneer of the latter as well. The idea of Hobbes (1588–1679). A good life required a har-
social comparison is to judge your well-being by monious balance among an individual’s particu-
comparing yourself to average people like your- lar constitution, humors, diet, exercise,
self or to people in general. geography, seasonal climates, heavenly bodies,
and government.
2.2.2.5 Harmonious Balance Because of the complexity of individuals’
Among an Individual’s constitutions, the diversity of foods, the seasons,
Particular Constitution, ailments, and so on, it was impossible to find suc-
Humors, Diets, Exercises, cessful treatments without “some measure.” As
Geography, Seasonal Climates, some contemporary proponents of subjective
Heavenly Bodies, well-being indicators and/or health-related qual-
and Government ity of life measures might have written today, “…
The views of the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates no measure, neither number nor weight, by refer-
of Cos (c. 450–c. 380 BCE), about the nature of ence to which knowledge can be made exact, can
well-being and ill-being are buried among the be found except bodily feeling [i.e., patients’
conflicting views of a variety of authors of the 60 self-reports]” (Hippocrates 1923: 27).
books included in what is now called the
Hippocratic Corpus (hereafter Corpus). There 2.2.2.6 Harmonious Combination
was no agreement on how many essential ele- of Well-Ordered Souls in Well-­
mentary building blocks the world required. Ordered Cities
Options ran from Thales’s single watery sub- Plato of Athens (427–347 BCE) is probably best
stance to Democritus’s infinite number of atoms known for his magnum opus, The Republic. The
and the void. Several authors of the Corpus drew central questions of The Republic are concerned
on the work of Empedocles, especially his idea with the nature of the best sort of life to live, the
that the basic building blocks of the world were good life, “the life that for each of us would make
38 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

living most worthwhile” (Plato 1930: 71) and, person desiring to become more godlike ought to
more precisely, whether “the life of the just man (morally and prudentially) try to eliminate his or
is more profitable” than that of the unjust man her needs and wants. The world is full of animals
(p. 83) or “whether it is … true that the just have that apparently live comfortable, happy lives by
a better life than the unjust and are happier” living in conformity or harmony with nature,
(p. 101). doing what comes naturally to them, without any
On the analogy of the nature of justice in the socially constructed conventions. So this is how
city, given the city’s structure and functions, he people should live, i.e., in an ascetic harmony
concluded that justice in the human soul must with nature.
occur when “each part is doing its own work” and
the rational part is allowed to rule, “since it is 2.2.2.8 Harmonious Mixture
really wise and exercises foresight on behalf of of an Active Life with Goods
the whole soul, and for the spirited part to obey of the Soul, Goods of the Body,
and be its ally” (p. 117). Justice in the city and in and External Goods
the human soul is the great harmonizer, bringing Aristotle of Stageira (384–322 BCE) accepted
disparate parts together so that they become the common sense understanding that a good life
“entirely one, moderate and harmonious,” and required as a determinant and/or a constituent
injustice is “a kind of civil war between the three “internal goods … of mind and body” and “exter-
parts” (p. 119). Such is the interdependent rela- nal goods … [like] noble birth, friends, wealth,
tionship between an ideal city and an ideal indi- honor.” “To these,” he wrote “we think should be
vidual that it is impossible for the latter to exist added certain capacities and good luck; for on
apart from the former. Well-being is constituted these conditions life will be perfectly secure.”
by the harmonious combination of well-ordered Goods of the mind include things like wisdom,
souls in well-ordered cities. This relationship is temperance, courage, justice, and pleasure,
about as much of a reconciliation between the whereas goods of the body include things like
interests of any individual and the public interest, health, beauty, strength, athletic talent, and a long
self and other, as one could hope to have. life with a good old age (Aristotle 1926: 47–49).
Answering the question “What is the highest
2.2.2.7 Ascetic Harmony with Nature of all the goods achievable in action?”, Aristotle
Diogenes of Sinope (c. 400–c. 323 BCE) believed famously wrote “As far as the name goes, most
that the best life was that lived according to, rec- people virtually agree; for both the many and the
ommended by, or in harmony with, nature. Such cultivated call it happiness [eudaemonia], and
a life would be a life lived well, thriving on virtue they suppose that living well and doing well are
and enjoying happiness (Diogenes Laertius 2000: the same as being happy. But they disagree about
67, 73). His most frequently used model for liv- what happiness is, and the many do not give the
ing according to nature is the familiar behavior of same answer as the wise” (Aristotle 1999: 3).
stray dogs. Such animals could flourish, appar- Regarding living well, Irwin (Aristotle 1999:
ently with the blessing of the gods, by eating, 175) wrote that it had the sense of “having a good
drinking, grooming, urinating, defecating, and life” and that it was intended to capture the idea
copulating in public without shame. So, contrary that eudaemonia “involves one’s life as a whole.”
to conventional understanding, he thought human Aristotle “did not find it natural to speak of some-
beings should be able to shamelessly engage in one being eudaemon for a few minutes and then
the same sorts of behaviors. Diogenes Laertius ceasing to be eudaemon,” i.e., happiness did not
(2000: 109) “used to say that it was the privilege designate a pleasant mood as it often does nowa-
of the gods to need nothing and of god-like men days. Rackham (Aristotle 1934: 10) remarked
to want but little.” He would have argued that if that his translation of “eudaemonia can hardly be
the gods are worthy of admiration and emulation avoided, but it would perhaps be more accurately
and if they are without needs and wants, then a rendered by ‘Well-being’ or ‘Prosperity’; and it
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 39

will be found that the writer [Aristotle] does not our control, but it also requires individual and
interpret it as a state of feeling but as a kind of communal initiative. A good or happy life,
activity.” according to Aristotle, consists of a harmonious
Regarding doing well (eu prattein), according mixture of internal and external goods in the first
to Irwin, Aristotle is saying that “eudaemonia … place, and regarding the former, an equally har-
consists in action.” Alternative English expres- monious mixture of reason, appetite, and
sions are “acting well” or “faring well.” Much emotion.
like the ordinary English expression, doing well
can be used in an active sense, as in “A job worth 2.2.2.9 Harmony with Nature
doing is worth doing well,” or in a passive sense, Through Virtue
as in “Generally, I am doing well, all things con- Zeno of Citium (c. 333–c. 261 BCE) was the
sidered.” In the contexts we are looking at, it is founder of the philosophy of Stoicism. For Stoics,
the active sense of doing well that Aristotle “An animal’s first impulse … is self-­preservation”
intends. The importance of Aristotle’s assump- and “pleasure … [is] a by-product … an after-
tion that happiness involves life as a whole has math comparable to the condition of animals
particular significance for contemporary schol- thriving and plants in full bloom.” Plants and ani-
ars. Because the most frequently studied and mals are by nature disposed to behave in ways
measured aspect of people’s lives in quality-of-­ that contribute to their well-being. Human beings
life research over the past 30 years has been sat- possess reason and “for them life according rea-
isfaction or happiness with life as a whole son rightly becomes the natural life.” For Zeno,
(Michalos 2005), we seem to have been follow- the proper end for humans was described as “life
ing an old, distinguished tradition. There is, how- in agreement with nature (or living agreeably to
ever, a difference in the connotation of “life as a nature) which is the same as a virtuous life, virtue
whole” for the ancients and for us. For the being the goal towards which nature guides us”
ancients, the phrase was used to provoke reflec- (Diogenes Laertius 2000: 193–195).
tion on the whole of one’s life from birth to death, In these passages we find the ethical natural-
whereas for us, it is used primarily to provoke ism of the Stoics in plain view, proceeding from
reflection on all of the salient domains or features an “is” to an “ought.” The word nature is used in
of one’s life as currently lived. It is possible that both a descriptive and an evaluative sense. We are
some respondents would mix the ancient with the by nature disposed to behave in certain ways to
contemporary connotation of “life as a whole” promote the well-being of ourselves and the uni-
and craft their responses to our question based on verse, and we ought to live virtuously or excel-
a somewhat different array of things from birth to lently to achieve the aims assigned to us by
death, but we do not recall seeing any evidence of nature. The good life we seek involves living in
this. harmony with nature through virtuous action.
All things considered, Aristotle’s character- In a passage attributed directly to the Stoic
ization of a good or happy life is the clearest Chrysippus (c. 280–c. 207 BCE) from his book,
example we have from the ancients of the view On the Means of Livelihood, the philosopher
that the quality of a person’s, or of a communi- boldly wrote that “virtue in itself is sufficient to
ty’s, life is a function of the actual conditions of constitute happiness” (Diogenes Laertius 2000:
that life and of what a person or community 297–299). Our translator, R.D. Hicks, treated vir-
makes of those conditions. Conceptually, tue, well-being, and happiness as synonyms,
Aristotle could clearly distinguish Real Paradise whereas health is treated as designating a more
and Real Hell from a Fool’s Paradise and a Fool’s specific additional good. Apparently, because a
Hell. Most importantly, he regarded human virtuous person knows what is good and what is
action as essential. A good or happy life is not evil, is disposed to and will choose what is good,
simply given by nature, God, or gods. It requires he or she will inevitably find happiness. Finding
internal and external gifts and good luck beyond happiness, then, implies that one is happy.
40 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

The most troublesome feature of Stoic views destroying. More precisely, provided that one
about goods concerns their treatment of things thinks “correctly,” one’s experiences of pleasure
that they regard as morally “neutral (neither good and pain ought to be regarded as nature’s reliable
nor evil)” and thus “indifferent” or “morally guides to appropriate human action. So, the best
indifferent” but nevertheless have value and are sort of person makes careful and accurate obser-
to be “preferred” because “they are typically vations of nature, thinks “correctly” about what
appropriate, fitting or suitable for us [as rational causes “distress” and “joy,” successfully appre-
agents]” (Baltzly 2004: 10). Many people might hends nature’s guides to a long and pleasant life,
grant that moral virtue cannot be measured and scrupulously follows those guides.
against or traded off with nonmoral virtue. For Consequently, such a person enjoys the best sort
example, such people would say that someone’s of life, i.e., a life filled with personal pleasure.
excellence (i.e., nonmoral virtue) at mathematics Protagoras of Abdera (c. 490–c. 420 BCE)
or painting cannot be used as a plausible reason was well-known for his skeptical relativism and
for allowing him or her to escape condemnation agnosticism. Of the few fragments reliably attrib-
for the morally wrong (i.e., morally evil) act of uted to him, the most famous is “A human being
killing an innocent person. Others might be will- is the measure of all things – of things that are,
ing to allow people who are extraordinarily bril- that they are, and of things that are not, that they
liant at something to get away with moral are not” (McKirahan 1994: 379). Although we
indiscretions. Comprehensive indexes of the have seen elements of skeptical relativism in
quality of life or well-being are called compensa- fragments attributed to philosophers before
tory if they allow all kinds of virtues or goods to Protagoras (e.g., in Heraclitus), this fragment is a
be traded off against all other kinds of goods and particularly bold statement of the relativity of all
evils. In fact, most indexes developed over the assertions, including those concerning what is
past 50 years are compensatory. The Stoics con- just or unjust, beautiful or ugly, and even true or
sidered here would have rejected such indexes. false.
Combined with the idea that whatever is
experienced as pleasant is life-enhancing and
2.3 Pleasure whatever is experienced as painful is life-
destroying, such principles suggest that the best
As a determinant and/or constituent, pleasure in life and the best sort of person to be are entirely
various forms is included or at least discussed in dependent on individual preferences guided by
practically all accounts of a good life coming experienced and anticipated pleasures and pains.
from the period 550 to 250 BCE. Below we Among pleasures and pains, Plato’s protagonist
describe four views: (1) a life of personal plea- Socrates thought that variations could only be
sure regardless of its impact on others; (2) a life assessed “when the one is greater and the other
of measured pleasures exceeding pains; (3) a life smaller, or when there are more on one side and
filled with experiences of particular, transient fewer on the other” (Plato 1924: 237). So, for
pleasures; and (4) pleasure in the form of peace example, weighing pleasures and pains, one
of mind and a healthy body. would naturally prefer greater and/or more plea-
McKirahan (1994: 396) considered Antiphon sures to smaller ­and/or fewer pleasures and the
of Rhamnous (c. 480–c. 411 BCE) as “possibly latter to pains of any size or numbers. He did not
the earliest advocate of hedonism in Greek phi- suggest that people should calculate what we
losophy,” i.e., the first recorded philosopher to now call discount rates according to which the
regard the pursuit of pleasure or a pleasurable life proverbial bird in hand might be worth two or
as the final end (telos) or good life for humans. more in the bush, but he did observe that regard-
Provided that things are “thought of correctly,” ing “size,” “thickness and number,” and
he claimed, what is pleasant is naturally, univer- “sounds,” things appear “greater when near and
sally life-enhancing and what is painful is life-­ smaller when distant” (p. 239). To address this
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 41

problem, he recommended precise measure- to conduct their affairs in the interest of achieving
ment. In language that would have warmed the the end supremely identified by those natures. So
hearts of hedonists from Bentham (2000) to far as they were concerned, the only end that was
Kahneman (1999) (not to mention number- intrinsically valuable and achievable was plea-
crunching social indicators researchers), he sure, not some sort of abstract, generic pleasure,
wrote, “Now if our welfare consisted in doing but concrete, particular pleasures of the sort we
and choosing things of large dimensions, and all experience. Hence, one might say that the
avoiding and not doing those of small, what epistemological views of Cyrenaics obliged them
would be our salvation in life? Would it be the art to pursue a good time rather than a good life
of measurement, or the power of appearance? Is because the latter presumed that there are rela-
it not the latter that leads us astray …. Would tively long-lasting personal selves existing across
men acknowledge, in view of all this, that the art time, selves of which they had no evidence. For
which saves our life is measurement, … [indeed, Cyrenaics, a good life was simply a life filled
not merely measurement but] knowledge of with particular, pleasant, and transient
measurement, … the salvation of our life experiences.
depends on making a right choice of pleasure Given their epistemological views, they could
and pain – of the more and the fewer, the greater not have any confidence in the existence of or see
and the smaller, and the nearer and the remoter – any value in past or future pleasures. For them, the
is it not evident … (Plato 1924: 239–241). proverbial bird in hand was not worth two in the
Creating space for faulty appearances versus bush, discounting an unobservable bird’s value by
reality, these remarks clearly reveal an apprecia- 50 %. For Cyrenaics, the discount value of birds
tion of the differences between a Fool’s Paradise in the bush, in the past or future, was 100 %.
or a Fool’s Hell and the real things. Of course, The idea that “happiness is the sum total of all
there is nothing here about applying measure- particular pleasures” of one sort or another has
ment to produce the greatest net pleasure, happi- been explored in the past 20 years under various
ness, or good for the greatest number as in the names, e.g., affective happiness (Helliwell et al.
utilitarians Bentham (2000) and Mill (1957), but 2012), momentary happiness (Howell et al.
a clearer defense of the role of “knowledge of 2011), hedonia (Deci and Ryan 2008), hedonic
measurement” in the pursuit of pleasure and a enjoyment (Waterman et al. 2008), hedonic hap-
good life could not have been made. The good piness (Seligman 2002), and objective happiness
life is a life lived with measured pleasures greater (Kahneman 1999). The pleasures are typically
than measured pains. regarded as time-limited or transitory and some-
Aristippus of Cyrene (“the Elder,” c. 436–c. how connected to particular feelings or experi-
356 BCE) was the founder of the Cyrenaic phi- ences. Although there do not seem to be any
losophy. Cyrenaics had a radically subjectivist contemporary researchers who would follow the
view of knowledge. They believed that all our Cyrenaics in disregarding other views of happi-
knowledge comes from transient experienced ness, momentary happiness seems to be regarded
affections that are unique and infallibly perceived as a legitimate species worthy of continued
by each individual. Thus, the only sort of well-­ research.
being or ill-being they could imagine would be Epicurus of Samos (c. 341–c. 271 BCE)
subjective well-being or ill-being, and the idea of believed that the chief end or aim of human
a Fool’s Paradise or a Fool’s Hell would make no beings was peace of mind or tranquility and a
sense to them. healthy body. For present purposes what has to be
Because the Cyrenaics believed that their emphasized is that he regarded scientific knowl-
knowledge was limited to transitory experiences edge and methods as the essential vehicles for the
or affections and that, so far as they knew, there journey to peace of mind and a healthy body. As
were no essential natures, they saw no point in did Democritus, Epicurus believed that both
reflecting on life as a whole and no point in trying human bodies and souls are composites of differ-
42 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

ent sorts of atoms and when people die their Laertius 2000: 665). For example, once one’s
atoms are totally dispersed. hunger or thirst is satisfied with food or drink, the
The peace of mind or tranquility that Epicurus pain of wanting both is removed, leaving one in a
insisted was the final aim for humans was in state of pleasure. If the pain of wanting anything
some ways similar to and in other ways different at all, mentally or physically, is removed, then
from all those who came before him. Diogenes one’s life would be “complete and perfect.” Once
Laertius (2000: 543) said that “in his correspon- one experiences freedom from physical and men-
dence” Epicurus “replaces the usual greeting, ‘I tal pain that is as good as it gets. Just as one has
wish you joy,’ by wishes for welfare and right liv- no interest in eating more or drinking more when
ing, ‘May you do well’ and ‘Live well’.” This one’s hunger and thirst are satisfied, one should
language is practically the same as that we saw have no interest in living more because extending
Aristotle using earlier, i.e., “the many and the the length of time one is in the state of being free
cultivated … suppose that living well and doing of physical and mental pain will not make it more
well are the same as being happy.” Aristotle’s pleasurable. It can only bring more of the same.
emphasis on “internal goods … of mind and If nothing else, this is a hardy view of human
body” and “external goods” like “wealth and mortality.
honor” is similar to views expressed by Epicurus.
What, then, is the nature and role of pleasure
in the good life envisioned by Epicurus? We have 2.4 Religion
seen that Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus often
refer to the final aim or end of life as happiness, Against the prevailing Ancient Greek view that
although the happiness they are referring to is not one’s well-being depends entirely on the will of
exactly the same thing. On the role of pleasure, the gods, most of the foregoing thinkers recast
there appears to be a fundamental difference well-being as something that individuals could
between the views of Plato and Aristotle on the influence through purposeful actions. But, the
one hand and those of Epicurus on the other. For extent to which one’s well-being could be influ-
the former, pleasure was at best a “handmaiden to enced was still limited by luck (not everyone
virtue” and never the final goal. However, in his lives in paradise), and the actions required to
Letter to Monoeceus, Epicurus claimed that “We achieve well-being were often too onerous to per-
call pleasure the alpha and omega of a blessed form consistently throughout one’s life (main-
life. Pleasure is our first and kindred good. It is taining one’s virtue while on the rack is doubtless
the starting-point of every choice and of every no easy task). The combination of these two stark
aversion, and to it we come back, inasmuch as we features of reality, which persisted through clas-
make feeling the rule by which to judge of every sical antiquity and have only begun to fade to any
good thing” (Diogenes Laertius 2000: 655). In noticeable degree in recent years, provided space
short, for Epicurus, the good life is a life filled for a new view of well-being that continues to fill
with peace of mind and good health. that gap. The rise of Christianity during the final
The clear implication of Epicurus’ remark that stages and collapse of the Roman Empire popu-
“By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the larized the views that true well-being was
body and of trouble in the soul” is that, contrary ­spiritual well-being and that it was only available
to the views of Socrates and Plato, there is no in Heaven (McMahon 2013).
neutral point between pleasure and pain. So far as In this section, we discuss the following reli-
the latter exists, the former does not, and vice gious views of well-being: (1) true well-being is
versa. Because people are not always in pain, full possession of God, something that is only
they must sometimes experience pleasure. What’s available in Heaven (Augustine); (2) in addition
more, one of Epicurus’ Authorized Doctrines to true well-being in Heaven, those who follow
says that “The magnitude of pleasure reaches its the religious path toward God will enjoy similar
limit in the removal of all pain” (Diogenes but less exalted experiences on Earth (Aquinas);
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 43

and (3) although true well-being resides only in ing a life in accordance with God’s wishes—the
Heaven, earthly well-being is characterized by path to God’s kingdom—was potentially attain-
the pleasant satisfaction of our desires (Locke able by both the lucky and the unlucky. So, for
1975). Augustine, life on Earth was a kind of Real Hell,
but a life lived correctly could lead to Real
Paradise in Heaven. This dour view of our pros-
2.4.1 Otherworldly Happiness pects for a good life on Earth persisted as the
as True Happiness dominant Christian view for hundreds of years
and lost its standing only when another great syn-
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430 Common thesizer of theology and Ancient Greek philoso-
Era [CE]) argued that otherworldly happiness phy reconsidered our chances for earthly
was true well-being. Augustine synthesized the happiness (McMahon 2006).
philosophy of Plato and other Ancient Greeks
with the Christian thought of his time. As a result,
he played an important role in shaping Western 2.4.2 Spiritual Well-Being on Earth
philosophy, Catholicism, and Western concep-
tions of the good life throughout the Middle Ages Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274 CE) com-
and, to a lesser extent, even today. Much like bined insights from Augustine and Aristotle to
Plato, Augustine argued that wisdom was the key emphasize the dual benefits of living well: imper-
to well-being. But, unlike Plato, Augustine fect beatitude, a positive but imperfect kind of
thought that wisdom came from God and that well-being available on Earth, and perfect beati-
hoping to live a good life on Earth was ill-advised. tude, a perfect kind of well-being that is only
Indeed, Augustine derided “philosophers [who] available in Heaven. Following Aristotle,
have wished, with amazing folly, to be happy Aquinas argued that the contemplation of truth is
here on Earth and to achieve bliss by their own the highest good (or virtue) for intelligent ani-
efforts” because he believed that our original sin mals (McInerny 1993). More specifically, and
prevented us from experiencing any kind of hap- unlike Aristotle, Aquinas referred to the perfect
piness on Earth and that “true happiness” was contemplation of truth as perfect beatitude and
only available in Heaven after we die (Augustine described it as “seeing” God directly with one’s
1984: 852). Wisdom was the key to well-being soul and experiencing “perfect pleasure—a more
for Augustine because he thought it kept our perfect delight of the senses than that which ani-
souls in equilibrium by steering them away from mals enjoy, since the intellect is higher than the
the transient earthly goods of riches and power senses” (Aquinas 1988: Book 3, Chapter 48). So
and toward God by encouraging us to live in for Aquinas, perfect beatitude and the perfect
accordance with His will (Augustine 1948). In contemplation of truth are more about knowing
essence, if you strive to reach God you will be God through direct experience than through
happy because you will be wise enough to want rationally thinking about God’s truths as set down
nothing more than your wisdom, and you will in scripture.
know you are on the path to true happiness (full Also following Aristotle, whom Aquinas
possession of God) in Heaven. referred to simply as “the philosopher”
In some ways, viewing the best kind of life— (McMahon 2006: 127), Aquinas held that humans
true happiness—as being available only in cannot hope to achieve godlike or perfect con-
Heaven seems likely to relieve some of the ten- templation of truth on Earth. However, and mov-
sions that the Ancient Greeks might have experi- ing away from the teachings of Aristotle, Aquinas
enced. Consider that Augustine’s view of believed that higher, but still imperfect, contem-
well-being explains why life was so hard during plation was achieved by following the teachings
the living of it, while simultaneously providing of Jesus and that perfect contemplation could
hope for living the good afterlife. Moreover, liv- only be achieved through the grace of God. God
44 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

may show his grace by blessing the righteous edly different from that of the majority
with the religious virtues of charity, hope, and (Schneewind 1994). So, Locke advised that gov-
faith, thereby enabling them access to Heaven ernments should provide their citizens with the
and the experience of perfect beatitude (perfect necessary freedoms to pursue their own brand of
contemplation of truth) in union with God. So, happiness. Nevertheless, Locke thought that the
for Aquinas, true well-being is otherworldly, but offerings of Heaven would suit everyone’s palate
we can also achieve an imperfect spiritual well-­ (Locke 1975), making religious freedoms partic-
being on Earth. ularly important.
The most notable difference between Aquinas Despite this similarity with Aquinas, Locke
and Augustine is that Aquinas saw the extent of had a different view of the nature of earthly well-­
the immediate benefits of following the dictates being. In his Essay Concerning Human
of the church that Augustine did not. Aquinas Understanding, Locke (1975) described earthly
thought that life on Earth could fall somewhere in well-being as happiness, constituted by a life of
between Real Paradise and Real Hell for those many pleasurable satisfactions and few painful
willing to live well, that is, to live a moral life in dissatisfactions. Locke argued that experiences
accordance with the right religious doctrines. and predictions of pleasure and pain effectively
This difference in view marks a steady change in drew us around the world by instilling desires in
Western thought from passively accepting earthly us. He described a cycle in which uneasy desire
suffering—which was viewed as necessary for leads to pleasurable satisfaction that, in turn,
salvation or at least inescapable—to viewing leads to a new uneasy desire, i.e., what some peo-
earthly suffering as a harmful thing that should ple now call the hedonic treadmill (Smith 2014).
be avoided where possible. For Locke, this cycle of desires was inexorable
for all people because either the current unease-­
causing desire is pleasurably satisfied, in which
2.4.3 Earthly Happiness case a new unease-causing desire looms into con-
from a Religious Perspective sciousness, or the current unsatisfied desire even-
tually fades from consciousness as it is replaced
The Aquinian notion that some kind of positive, by a new unease-causing desire. However,
but imperfect, well-being can be achieved on because different people experience more or less
Earth by living a morally good life in accordance pleasure and pain from the same stimulus, people
with religious teachings was adopted by many tend to be drawn in many directions and develop
important thinkers through the early modern idiosyncratic views on what will provide them
period. For example, the key Enlightenment fig- with a good life. For Locke, predictions of plea-
ure, John Locke (1632–1704 CE), who famously sure and pain were useful guides in this way,
espoused the individual right to pursue happi- because they illuminated each individual’s path
ness, hoped that people would use such a right to to happiness. Indeed, believing both our ability to
tread a Christian path to imperfect happiness on reason and our experiences of pleasure and pain
Earth and perfect happiness in Heaven. Locke’s to be God-given, Locke concluded that God
liberalism was motivated by his understanding wanted us to be happy on Earth and gave us the
that people have different tastes (“Cheese or lob- tools we needed to achieve earthly happiness
sters, … though very agreeable and delicious fare (McMahon 2006). Locke was concerned, how-
to some, are to others extremely nauseous and ever, that people too often made the mistake of
offensive”; Locke 1975: Book 2, Chapter 21, failing to use their reason by neglecting the
Section 55). He argued that forcing a particular immense pleasures of Heaven when presented
notion of the greatest good on a group of people with opportunities for immediate, but immoral,
detracts from the freedom of all to pursue their pleasures. For Locke, well-being is happiness
own notion of well-being and particularly pun- and happiness can be found in Heaven and, to a
ishes those whose view of the good life is mark- lesser degree, on Earth.
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 45

This more Lockean view of the positive life Enlightenment had a motto, it might have been
available on Earth as a pleasurable one rather what was engraved on the 1772 edition of the
than a contemplative one marks the gradual Encyclopédie: “If there is something you know,
resurgence in the West of the association of plea- communicate it. If there is something you don’t
sure and happiness with well-being. Indeed, of know, search for it.” Following the tradition of
the range of contemporary religious views in the many of the ancient writers, it was recognized
West, the ones that promote the pursuit of a mor- that knowledge and effective education to distrib-
alistic, but pleasurable, happiness on Earth seem ute that knowledge could promote well-being by
to be becoming more popular than those which debunking harmful superstitious beliefs, promot-
advocate suffering on Earth for the sake of per- ing material living conditions, improving health
fect well-being in Heaven (Ehrenreich 2009). As care, and even breaking the bonds of tyrannical
we shall see, the Enlightenment and its attendant power (McMahon 2006). It was also common
questioning of religion weakened the dominance during this period to view happiness as well-­
of the view that true or perfect well-being is not being. As we shall see, some disregarded any
available on Earth. However, many people in the notion of spiritual well-being and focused on the
West, and especially in the United States, still pursuit of personal happiness or public happi-
claim to hold something like this view (Exline ness, whereas others worried about the tensions
2003). Similarly, being able to practice their reli- between personal and public happiness.
gion is still important for many people in the More specifically, we explain the following
West, demonstrating that spiritual well-being is views: (1) that the possibilities for well-being are
an important component of earthly well-being for limited to happiness on Earth and that happiness
some Western people (Cohen 2002), although not is a preponderance of pleasure over pain (La
as important a component as it is in the East Mettrie and the utilitarians); (2) that true happi-
(Joshanloo 2014). Despite the superiority of ness is a tranquil state, much more dependent on
heavenly well-being professed by some, our avoiding pain than on experiencing pleasure, and
inability to know infallibly whether Heaven exists one that is hard to achieve for the greedy and the
while we live on Earth makes spiritual well-being immoral (Smith, Rousseau, and Jefferson); (3)
on Earth seem like the better social indicator for that public happiness should be maximized (the
any contemporary group of individuals. utilitarians); and (4) that some strategies for
We saw how, for Augustine, true well-being is increasing public happiness could make it harder
full possession of God, something that is avail- for individuals to achieve a tranquil and moral-
able only in Heaven. Similarly, Aquinas held that ized personal happiness (Smith, Rousseau, and
being in Heaven with God was the ultimate posi- Jefferson).
tive experience. However, unlike Augustine,
Aquinas thought that similar but less exalted
experiences were available on Earth for those 2.5.1 Sensory Pleasure
who followed the religious path toward God. Without Religion or Morality
Finally, Locke argued that, whereas true well-­
being resided only in Heaven, earthly well-being Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–1751 CE)
was characterized by the pleasant satisfaction of trained and worked as a physician, which led him
our desires. to perform many operations and autopsies on
humans and other animals (McMahon 2006).
Struck by both the similarity of human and non-
2.5 Happiness human animal organs and the mechanistic nature
of these organs and their subcomponents, La
During the Enlightenment, amassing and com- Mettrie argued that, just like non-human animals,
municating knowledge was seen as an important humans do not need souls to animate them
route to securing well-being. Indeed, if the because they are effectively “self-winding
46 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

machine[s]” (La Mettrie 1994: 30). In Treatise on traditions of scholarship on well-being; he

the Soul, La Mettrie (1996a) argued that, just as pointed out that virtue was not a necessary or sin-
in nonhuman animals, pleasure and pain, which gularly important route to happiness. Depending
combine to make up happiness, are the motivat- on their character, La Mettrie (1986) argued in
ing forces of the human machine. As a result of Anti-Seneca, some individuals would be happiest
these beliefs, La Mettrie saw happiness as the wallowing in filth, some reveling in depraved
natural state of all animals: “Nature has created debauchery, and others committing evil deeds:
us uniquely to be happy, yes every one of us, “Happiness is individual and particular, and may
from the worm who crawls, to the eagle who be found in the absence of virtue and even in
loses himself in the clouds” (1994: 53). La crime” (La Mettrie 1986: 263) Even more anti-
Mettrie was also a prudential hedonist; he viewed thetical to dominant historical views of the good
pleasure as the ultimate good in life. And, life, in System of Epicurus, La Mettrie (1996b)
although Epicurus was a major influence on him, disapproved of more than the necessary use of
La Mettrie understood pleasure as sensory plea- reason because he thought conscious deliberation
sure—luscious experiences of delight that arise diminished the capacity to experience concurrent
from the arousal and satisfaction of sensual pleasure. His disregard for these long-established
desires (Thomson 1996). Indeed, La Mettrie saw views about well-being might explain why secu-
the Lockean cycle of “desire to pleasurable satis- lar and religious critics alike openly mocked La
faction to new desire” as our greatest gift from Mettrie upon hearing that he might have died
nature because it provided constant opportunities young from hedonistic overindulgence; they
to experience the pleasures of satisfaction and were pleased that this peddler of repugnant ideas
anticipation. got his just deserts (McMahon 2006). So, for La
Believing pleasure to be the source of well-­ Mettrie, well-being is secular and amoral sensory
being and having rejected the existence of pleasure.
immortal souls, La Mettrie saw no need for
Heaven or God. La Mettrie rejected the existence
of Heaven and God because he believed that 2.5.2 P
 ublic and Personal
nothing could exist outside of the physical uni- Happiness
verse. Although antireligious sentiment was
growing during this stage of the Enlightenment, Like La Mettrie, several other Enlightenment
La Mettrie was one of the first to challenge the thinkers began arguing that happiness on Earth
contemporary theistic beliefs so strongly and per- was the most important good for humans and per-
haps provided the most articulate discussion of haps even our natural state. Voltaire claimed that
the implications of these antitheist claims for “Paradise is where I am” (2003: 295) and that
well-being (McMahon 2006). For La Mettrie, the “the great and only concern is to be happy” (c.f.
implications were clear: Even the religions that Craveri 2005: 258). Adam Smith argued that hap-
did not demand suffering on Earth still required piness is our “natural” or “usual” state (1982:
at least occasional toiling and foregoing of plea- 149). Jean-Jacques Rousseau saw happiness as
sure in this life to ensure true happiness in the the natural end of “every being which senses”
afterlife, but the promises of religion were empty, (Rousseau 1997a: 442). In effect, the
so foregoing pleasure on Earth would mean miss- Enlightenment saw a transition in the ultimate
ing out on the only chance one has for happiness. question from the religious “How can I be
Adherents’ religious beliefs and voluntary moral saved?” to the pragmatic “How can I be happy?”
restrictions were making a Fool’s Hell out of (Porter 2000). But the Enlightenment was also a
what might be a Real Paradise. time of social and political change and, as such, a
In addition to completely rejecting any God-­ time when some thinkers were also asking “How
given aspect of the good life, La Mettrie’s hedo- can we be happy?” Several Enlightenment think-
nistic views also broke with one of the oldest ers offered answers to this question, although
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 47

many also saw the inherent difficulty in bringing Essentially, Smith worried that the frivolous
about both private and public happiness. temptations of consumerism would appeal to our
The Enlightenment saw the fruits of the indus- natural “desire of bettering our condition” that
trial revolution begin to ripen alongside advances “comes with us from the womb,” and that we
in agriculture and trade (McMahon 2006). As a would succumb, chasing the illusion of happiness
result, wealth above subsistence levels was instead of enjoying the happiness that might
spreading to an increasingly large proportion of already be at hand (1981: 341). Smith had a very
society, and the associated disposable income different view of happiness from La Mettrie,
and increase in markets replete with a variety of describing it as a state of “tranquility and enjoy-
goods led to the “birth of consumer society” in ment,” and as our “natural” or “usual” state—
Europe (McKendrick et al. 1985). A growing what we revert to when our desires, fears, and
economy and more readily available goods would anxieties are resolved (1982: 149). Smith’s view
be viewed by most people (and especially econo- of happiness was more like a combination of the
mists) as beneficial for public happiness because views of Epicurus and the Stoics. He viewed hap-
these things can increase people’s ability to sat- piness as a rare but blissful state of being free of
isfy their most essential needs for things like (especially psychological) perturbations and of
food, clothing, and shelter. It should be no sur- not wanting for anything and as inherently bound
prise, then, that Adam Smith was a great propo- up with being virtuous. Also, like Epicurus,
nent of the commercialization that was occurring Smith saw pain as more important than pleasure:
during the Enlightenment. “Pain … almost always, depresses us much more
Adam Smith (1723–1790 CE) believed that below the … natural state of our happiness, than
governments should be valued to the extent that [pleasure] ever rises us above it” (1982: 44).
they “promote the happiness of those who live Smith also viewed wealth as much more impor-
under them,” because that “is their sole use and tant for mitigating pain than promoting pleasure,
end” (Smith 1982: 185). Apparently believing because, between the natural state of our happi-
that a society is minimally the sum total of its ness “and the highest pitch of human prosperity,
inhabitants, he declared that no “society can be the interval is but a trifle; [but] between it and the
flourishing and happy, of which the far greater lowest depth of misery the distance is immense
part of the members are poor and miserable” and prodigious” (1982: 45). For Smith, once a
(Smith 1981: 96). So, Smith argued for govern- basic-need-satisfying level of material wealth is
ments to aim for economic progress because reached, additional money (or power) makes lit-
increases in wealth would reduce suffering. In tle difference to happiness.
addition to this benefit, Smith strongly approved In his Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith
of the economic trends of the Enlightenment (1982: 113) set out what can help people achieve
because he thought that they were important driv- the “inward tranquility and self-satisfaction” of
ers of security and liberty (Smith 1981: 412). happiness. Smith thought “warranted praise from
Rasmussen (2006) argued that Smith likely others and self-approbation” (Rasmussen 2006:
thought of increasing security and liberty for 310) are the best sources of happiness because
people as the best way to improve well-being “the chief part of human happiness arises from
because living in a “continual state of war with the consciousness of being loved” (Smith 1982:
their neighbors, and of servile dependency on 41). Naturally, virtuous behavior goes much fur-
their superiors” (Smith 1981: 412) were causes ther to engender true appreciation from others
of great suffering to people. Nevertheless, Smith than amassing wealth and power. Given all of
was concerned that, although commercialized these views, Smith concluded “What can be
societies could raise living standards and reduce added to the happiness of the man who is in
misery (to the benefit of public happiness), they health, who is out of debt, and has a clear con-
also exacerbated an old barrier to attaining per- science? To one in this situation, all accessions of
sonal happiness. fortune may properly be said to be superfluous”
48 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

(1982: 45). For Smith, wealth or economic well-­ draw the resources he no longer finds in himself”
being was not a constituent, but a determinant, of (1994: 82). Rousseau recognized what Epicurus
well-being, one that loses most or all of its well-­ and the Stoics had argued for before him: If well-­
being-­generating effect at the level at which basic being requires something outside of oneself, then
needs are satisfied. So, although Smith was a pro- any brief achievement of happiness or success is
ponent of economic growth for reasons of public so tenuous that it brings anxiety about losing the
happiness (security and liberty from suffering), new-found good along with itself. In particular,
he was concerned that the resulting consumer well-being based on external goods (e.g., power
society might lead individuals to forego the hap- and wealth) was considered extremely tenuous
piness that was readily available to them in favor because the gods or other people were liable to
of the illusory happiness of wealth and power. disrupt their good fortune (Joshanloo et al. 2015).
A contemporary of Smith, Jean-Jacques Rousseau did not, however, believe that gods
Rousseau (1712–1778 CE), held several similar would undo earthly good fortune; He thought that
views, including on what happiness is and that his theory of social contract might allow us to
happiness is our natural end. Furthermore, and “form a new kind of being” by providing a blue-
contrary to La Mettrie, Rousseau was adamant print for building a society stable enough to
that “Happiness is not pleasure” (Rousseau 1994: vastly reduce the anxiety caused by living in
40). Rousseau argued that pleasure could not be proximity to our fellow humans.
equivalent to happiness or well-being because it In The Social Contract, Rousseau (1782)
would be absurd to put so much value in “a fleet- argued for various forms of democracy based on
ing state which leaves our hearts still empty and the idea that the only legitimate subjugation to
anxious, either regretting something that is past power is voluntary subjugation and only then
or desiring something that is yet to come” (1979b: when the volunteer is also a part of that greater
88). For Rousseau, happiness was “a single last- power. For Rousseau’s social contract idea to
ing state” (1997b: 88) in which Locke’s uneasi- work, everyone had to give themselves entirely to
ness was never felt, in which one was completely the state, which meant consciously to become a
immersed in one’s own momentary existence, part of one new being—the society—and to act
without a care in the world (cf, the concept of accordingly (i.e., with society’s interests in
flow in Csikszentmihalyi 1997). Like Smith, mind). In such an ideal society, force would only
Rousseau’s conception of the best possible life have to be used by the whole on the few if the few
was more similar to that of the Ancient Greeks had not fully given themselves to the state and
than to that of most of his contemporaries because were attempting to free ride on the many. With
he viewed happiness as a kind of permanent self-­ this security from oppression obtained, Rousseau
sufficiency—a state in which one wants for noth- thought that the benefits of large-scale ­community
ing (Rousseau 1997b). It is no wonder, then, that living might outweigh the desire-enticing con-
pleasure was insufficient for Rousseau. As La sumerist problems that came along with it:
Mettrie would have attested, there is no amount The passage from the state of nature to the civil
of pleasure that couldn’t be improved by adding a state produces a very remarkable change in man,
little more. by substituting justice for instinct in his conduct,
Compared to Smith, Rousseau was less posi- and giving his actions the morality they had for-
merly lacked …. Although, in this state, he
tive about the economic trends of his day. deprives himself of some advantages which he got
Rousseau viewed maintaining happiness in a from nature, he gains in return others so great, his
world that constantly presented new desirable faculties are so stimulated and developed, his ideas
possibilities and accoutrements as an extremely so extended, his feelings so ennobled, and his
whole soul so uplifted … (1782: Book 1, Section 8)
difficult task: “As soon as man’s needs exceed his
faculties and the objects of his desire expand and Furthermore, Rousseau (1994) believed that fully
multiply, he must either remain eternally unhappy giving oneself to society would make achieving
or seek a new form of being from which he can the tranquil state of happiness easier because it
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 49

would prevent the disquieting internal tensions realize that virtuous and socially beneficent
that result from being caught between our natural behavior would engender happiness in the indi-
tendencies and desires on the one hand and our vidual as well as for society. According to
duties and the watchful gaze of social institutions McMahon, Jefferson and his colleagues believed
on the other hand. Even for those who did fully that many of the main themes we have discussed
give themselves to the state, however, Rousseau would help prevent individuals from pursuing
believed that the government could not force its happiness in the way Smith feared they might in
citizens to be happy, concluding that “the best a consumer society, thereby preventing happi-
[government] puts them in a position to be happy ness: “In religion, in classical virtue, in the edu-
if they are reasonable” (1994: 41). cation of reason, and in the public-mindedness of
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826 CE) and the the moral sense, Jefferson and his contemporaries
signatories to the Declaration of Independence saw the forces that would perform this essential
were also aware of the importance of happiness: task, ensuring that the pursuit of private pleasures
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men did not veer off the thoroughfare of public good”
are created equal, that they are endowed by their (McMahon 2006: 330).
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that Unfortunately, Smith’s concerns appear to
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of have been realized in the nation that rushed to
Happiness.—That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving economic dominance because “No one could
their just powers from the consent of the gov- work harder to be happy” than its citizens, who
erned,—That whenever any Form of Government could not relax “for fear of missing the shortest
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of cut leading to happiness” (Tocqueville 1988:
the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government, laying its foundation on such Volume 1, 243). Still today, the United States is
principles and organizing its powers in such form, viewed as the land of abundance, but if happiness
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their surveys are anything to go by, it could not right-
Safety and Happiness. fully be viewed as the land of happiness.

This preamble to the Declaration uses the lan-

guage of rights, popularized during the 2.5.3 Utilitarianism
Enlightenment, and essentially claims that, as
willed by God, everyone is born with the freedom Utilitarians also thought they had the answer to
to pursue happiness in whatever way they wish. the question of how to engender public happi-
On the basis of this idea, the Declaration states ness, but they took a more direct route than that
that free individuals may choose to create a gov- taken by Jefferson. Like many Enlightenment
ernment so as to further protect these rights and thinkers, utilitarians were disposed to pronounce-
that if the government is not allowing the pursuit ments such as, “Every authority that is not exer-
of happiness as it should, then the people can dis- cised for the happiness of all can only be founded
solve or restructure it. These ideas, perhaps with- on imposture and force” (Chastellux 1772; c.f.
out the religious root, have doubtless played an McMahon 2006: 217). These pronouncements
important role in shaping the widespread con- were based on the increasingly widespread
temporary Western belief that governments Enlightenment belief that the proper role of legis-
should arrange institutions and manage condi- lation was to benefit people, but also on the still
tions in a way that makes it easy for people to contentious belief that happiness (variously
pursue happiness. But, which kind of happiness? defined, if at all) on Earth was ultimately the only
McMahon (2006: 330–331) has argued that thing of value for people. On the basis of these
Jefferson intended the newly anointed citizens of premises, Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832 CE) set
the United States of America to pursue both pub- out the principle of utility (more commonly
lic and personal happiness. He hoped, like known as the greatest happiness principle) to dis-
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, that they would cern whether the actions of individuals and gov-
50 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

ernments are moral: “By the principle of utility is suggested in Plato’s Protagoras. Bentham (2000)
meant that principle which approves or disap- laid out in detail the aspects of pleasure that con-
proves of every action whatsoever, according to tribute to its quantity. In essence, the quantity of
the tendency it appears to have to augment or pleasure felt at any moment could be calculated
diminish the happiness of the party whose inter- by summing the intensity of each of one’s con-
est is in question … I say of every action whatso- current pleasures; pain could be calculated in the
ever, and therefore not only of every action of a same way. Then, momentary happiness would be
private individual, but of every measure of gov- the total concurrent pleasure less the total con-
ernment” (Bentham 2000: 14). current pain. Notably, Bentham’s quantitative
Essentially, both individuals and governments hedonism allowed pleasure from different
morally ought to act in whichever ways seem sources to be of equivalent value if they had the
likely to bring about the most happiness for same intensity: “Prejudice apart, the game of
everyone concerned. The motivation behind utili- push-pin is of equal value with the arts and sci-
tarianism is simple enough: If every person and ences of music and poetry. If the game of push-­
institution acted in a way that created the most pin furnishes more pleasure, it is more valuable
happiness, then there would be much more hap- than either” (Bentham 1825: 206). The failure to
piness to go around. Furthermore, because utili- distinguish a difference between the value of sen-
tarians also believe that everyone’s happiness sual pleasures on the one hand and that of moral
should be afforded equal moral value (Weijers and intellectual pleasures on the other led
2011), the gains in happiness should not be con- Bentham and other quantitative hedonists to be
centrated among the elite few. In this way, utili- accused of peddling a philosophy of swine
tarians might be thought of as aiming for Real (Weijers 2011). Even Bentham’s protégé criti-
Paradise on Earth by encouraging individuals and cized him on this point.
institutions to create as much happiness as pos- John Stuart Mill (1806–1873 CE), who stud-
sible. However, because happiness was an ied under and was godson to Bentham, used a dif-
entirely internal state for most utilitarians, they ferent notion of pleasure in his version of
would prefer a Fool’s Paradise to Real Paradise if utilitarianism. Mill (1957) developed a qualita-
there was more pleasure to be had in the former. tive hedonism that was similar to Bentham’s
Nevertheless, these moral elements of utilitarian- quantitative hedonism, except that it also took the
ism made it much more palatable than La quality of pleasures into account when calculat-
Mettrie’s egoistic view of pursuing one’s own ing their value. For Mill, the quality of a pleasure
happiness. After all, who could argue with more had to do with how bodily or cerebral it was:
happiness for everyone? Well, that depends at Bodily or lower pleasures, such as those from
least on how happiness is understood. eating, were of a lower quality than higher plea-
Most utilitarians believe that happiness con- sures, such as those from acting virtuously or lis-
sists in a preponderance of pleasure over pain tening to opera. The following famous, but often
(Weijers 2011). Although it might seem myopic misquoted, statement from Mill demonstrates
to account for all that is good for people in terms this view: “It is better to be a human being dis-
of pleasure, utilitarians usually understand plea- satisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates
sure broadly, to include psychological pleasures dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool,
as well as sensual bodily pleasures. Indeed, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because
Bentham (2000) understood pleasure synony- they only know their own side of the question.
mously with satisfaction, bliss, ecstasy, well-­ The other party to the comparison knows both
being, and 50 other terms that roughly equated to sides” (Mill 1957: 9). For utilitarians, well-being
feeling good. Because Bentham (2000) was a is happiness, understood as a preponderance of
quantitative hedonist, increasing happiness meant pleasure over pain (broadly construed).
simply increasing the quantity of pleasure or For the thinkers discussed in this section,
decreasing the quantity of pain, along the lines well-being was earthly happiness. Like La
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 51

Mettrie, the utilitarians viewed happiness as a is mutual hostility” (1965: 148). At heart, Carlyle
preponderance of pleasure over pain, but they was bemoaning the past 200 years of earthly hap-
had differing views about what kinds of pleasure piness worship that had been eroding traditional
were more valuable. Smith, Rousseau, and values since Locke suggested that God wanted us
Jefferson held more tranquil and moralized con- to be happy on Earth. Carlyle pined for a return
ceptions of happiness that focused more on of the days when community, meaningful work,
avoiding pain than experiencing pleasure. All of and an intimate sense of God were the values that
the thinkers in this section were concerned with people held highest (McMahon 2006).
increasing happiness in the public sphere, but it After visiting the United States and observing
was mainly Smith, Rousseau, and Jefferson who the forefront of capitalism and consumerism, Max
saw how some strategies for increasing public Weber (1864–1920 CE) held many of Carlyle’s
happiness could make it harder for individuals to worries. By this time, Smith’s markets had done
achieve a tranquil and moralized happiness. much to raise living standards, but the cost of this
progress, according to Weber, was a disastrous
shift in societal goals. The happiness that was
2.6 Loftier Goals being pursued had lost its connotations of virtue,
religion, and meaning, and replaced them with
Although Mill’s qualitative hedonistic utilitarian- wealth. To an outsider, like Weber was, it looked
ism was more acceptable than Bentham’s quanti- like the American dream was to work hard in
tative version, many critics still worried that order to pursue the greatest good of wealth. In
happiness (whether defined as pleasure, satisfac- Weber’s view, Smith’s greatest fear about the
tion, or tranquility) was not the be all and end all commercialization of society had been realized:
of a good life. As we shall see, critics clamored “Man is dominated by the making of money, by
for morality, community, meaning, religion, and acquisition as the ultimate purpose of his life”
authenticity to be considered as essential aspects (Weber 1976: 53). Like Carlyle before him, Weber
of well-being as they had in ancient times. We lamented what he saw as an erosion of moral and
discuss the following views: (1) that there is more religious values in the United States, where “the
to well-being than happiness and that, as such, pursuit of wealth … [had] become associated with
public happiness should not be the goal of society purely mundane passions, which actually gave it
(Carlyle, Weber, and Huxley); (2) that moral, the character of sport” (Weber 1976: 181). Weber
social, and religious ends were more appropriate observed people working out of a sense of duty
goals for public policy (Carlyle and Weber); (3) but without knowing to what or to whom the duty
that meaningfulness and authenticity were better was owed; they just worked out of blind devotion
public goals than happiness (Huxley). to work itself. Without religious and moral moti-
vations, Weber thought both work and nonwork
activities were meaningless. Targeting the goal of
2.6.1 Morality, Community, public happiness (with its strong materialistic
Meaningful Work, and God connotation) as part of the problem behind these
events, Weber suggested that better legislation
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881 CE) lamented the would focus on what is valuable in humans: “I
public pursuit of happiness, shaped by utilitari- believe that we must renounce human happiness
ans in Great Britain, decrying utilitarianism for as a goal of social legislation. We want something
failing to appreciate the differences between else and can only want something else. We want
humans and beasts (Carlyle 1965). Carlyle also to cultivate and support what appears to us valu-
attacked the economic markets inspired by Smith able in man: his personal responsibility, his deep
for destroying morality: “Our life is not a mutual drive towards higher things, towards the spiritual
helpfulness, but rather, cloaked under due laws-­ and moral values of mankind …” (Weber
of-­war, named ‘fair competition’ and so forth, it 1804/1993: 339–340; c.f. McMahon 2006: 359).
52 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

Both Carlyle and Weber articulated views of plish these things by making a great effort and after
years of hard moral training. Now, you swallow
well-being that ran contrary to the increasingly
two or three half-gramme tablets, and there you
happiness- and wealth-centric views of their are. Anybody can be virtuous now …. Christianity
times, but neither was confident that there was without tears--that’s what soma is (Huxley 1932:
much hope for a return to the older conceptions 238).
of well-being that stressed the importance of vir-
tue and religion. Weber warned that everything As well as making individuals happy, the pla-
“opposed to the culture of capitalism was going cating and moralizing effects of soma also help
to be demolished with irresistible force” (c.f. keep society peaceful and stable. As Mustapha
Mommsen 2000: 105). What Carlyle in particular Mond makes clear, “The world’s stable now.
mused over, although without much success, was People are happy; they get what they want, and
the problem of how to get people to realize that they never want what they can’t get … And if
there was more to life than happiness as utilitari- anything should go wrong, there’s soma” (Huxley
ans defined it (McMahon 2006). Carlyle and 1932: 220). In this respect, soma ensures both the
Weber seemed to understand well-being as a life public security that Smith and Rousseau desired
full of morality, community, meaningful work, and the personal tranquility that results from
and God. being free of fear and anxieties. In the appropri-
ate dose, soma also provides the luscious plea-
sures that La Mettrie desired. Mill would likely
2.6.2 Unhappiness, Authenticity, not have held the lower pleasure provided by
and Meaning soma in very high esteem, but if quantitative
hedonistic utilitarians like Bentham were true to
In the process of writing Brave New World, their theory, they would certainly legislate in
Aldous Huxley (1894–1963 CE) came to share favor of this happiness-increasing and pain-­
Carlyle’s belief that happiness as pleasant satis- decreasing drug.
faction or tranquility must not be our main per- Of course, what Huxley achieved in Brave
sonal or societal goal (Huxley 1959). In Brave New World was to help us imagine what society
New World, Huxley (1932) depicts an advanced might be like if particular conceptions of well-­
society that has taken the greatest happiness prin- being were used as the goal of society. Indeed,
ciple to its logical extreme: All of its institutions Huxley himself was worried that the dominant
and technologies are geared toward engendering conceptions of well-being in the West would
a passive, contented, and pleasant populace. One result in the kind of society on which his story
of the most important technologies put to use in was based (Huxley 1959). Even though the offer-
the service of these goals is soma. ings in this futuristic society seem to satisfy the
Soma is a readily available drug that is used as well-being requirements of many of the thinkers
a reward to control the lower castes and as an discussed in this chapter, most would likely balk
antidote for whatever psychological ailments the at the opportunity to live in such a dystopic soci-
upper castes might experience. A small dose ety. But why?
relieves minor psychological perturbations and A key character in Brave New World shares the
produces pleasant feelings. A large dose provides view that the happiness-oriented society is dys-
a soma holiday—a complete escape from present topic. John the Savage was raised on a reserve for
troubles into a joyous dreamlike state. As the humans who did not wish to join the happi-
explained by World Controller Mustapha Mond, ness revolution. On the reserve, all modern tech-
soma not only makes the imbiber feel happier nology had been lost or abandoned, and life had
and less anxious, it also helps virtues to shine: reverted to a tribal and spiritual affair. John was
There's always soma to calm your anger, to recon- unusual because he was born to and raised by a
cile you to your enemies, to make you patient and civilized human who, after becoming pregnant,
long-suffering. In the past you could only accom- was left at the reserve. As a result, he was fairly
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 53

intelligent and could speak the language of civi- real and authentically meaningful life. Huxley
lized society. A certain turn of events led John to viewed well-being as a meaningful and authentic
experience the happiness-centric society first life, which may well require unhappiness.
hand, and he did not like it. In the end, John voiced Carlyle, Weber, and Huxley all argued that
his concerns about the brave new world through a there was more to well-being than happiness and
recognition of what he wanted that it could not that, as such, public happiness should not be the
provide: “I’m claiming the right to be unhappy … goal of society. In particular, Carlyle and Weber
the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; … thought that moral, social, and religious goals
the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant were more appropriate. In a similar vein, Huxley
apprehension of what may happen to-­ morrow argued that meaningfulness and authenticity
[sic]; … the right to be tortured by unspeakable were better goals than happiness.
pains of every kind.” (Huxley 1932: 240).
John wanted a real and interesting life, replete
with the whole range of states experienced in an 2.7 Summary and Discussion
unexpected way. There was something meaning-
less and inauthentic about a somafied life. It cer- As we have seen, Western thinkers have pre-
tainly lacked drama or a narrative worth retelling. sented a wide variety of conceptions of well-­
Because Huxley began increasingly to identify being. Although some conceptions seem to have
with John (Huxley 1959), it is clear that he died completely, many of the oldest conceptions
believed well-being to require a degree of mean- have gone in and out of fashion and still inform
ing and authenticity that was impossible in a life contemporary views. Following is a brief descrip-
filled only with happiness. Indeed, most readers tion of the major trends over the last two-and-a-­
of Brave New World are likely left with the half thousand years. A schematic visual
impression that the happy people in Huxley’s representation of this summary can be seen in
fantastic society are living in a Fool’s Paradise Fig. 2.3.
because they lack the basic freedom to be The ancient view of well-being as excellent
unhappy, to find their own way, and to pursue a personal traits and aristocratic trappings was less

500 BCE 0 BCE 500 CE 1000 CE 1500 CE 2000 CE

Aristocratic values Wealth

Harmony Meaning

Otherworldly happiness Earthly happiness

Spiritual well-being on Earth

Pleasure Pleasure

Policy goal

500 BCE 0 BCE 500 CE 1000 CE 1500 CE 2000 CE

Fig. 2.3  Schematic outline of Western views of well-being from ancient to modern times
54 A.C. Michalos and D. Weijers

prevalent in the Middle Ages but resurged in well-being (despite many translations of ancient
modern times. In the Middle Ages, excellent per- texts appropriating the word) until the
sonal traits were replaced mainly with religious Enlightenment. In contemporary Western soci-
virtues. In modern times, the emphasis has shifted ety, happiness is possibly the most common
more to the possession of wealth and power and understanding of well-being or at least the most
away from being a morally good person. commonly named component of it. However,
Ancient views of well-being as some sort of how to define happiness is still hotly contested,
harmony mainly went out of favor, except during especially because it has become a synonym of
the Enlightenment, when the balance between well-being in common usage. For these reasons,
public and personal happiness was being dis- measures of happiness that are worded generally,
cussed, and perhaps in notions of internal psy- or other generally worded evaluations of life as a
chological harmony, such as in Smith’s view of whole, might best represent the contemporary
personal happiness as pleasant tranquility. Western view of well-being.
Pleasure, a dark horse in ancient times and Despite this approach, and in line with
through to the end of the Middle Ages, was usu- Rousseau and Jefferson, the idea that a govern-
ally seen as a positive feature in a life, but never a ment would attempt to force people to be happy
very important or worthy one. From the times of is as much reviled today as it was then. This fact
Locke and La Mettrie onward, the spread of more at least partly explains our revulsion at Huxley’s
secular world views and more scientific views of brave new world in which society was arranged
the mind appear to have made valuing pleasure in such a way that there was literally no right to
more acceptable. The height of pleasure’s role in be unhappy and perhaps no chance to lead a
conceptions of well-being seems to have been at meaningful existence. Furthermore, the contem-
the time of British empiricism, when Bentham porary idea of governments measuring happiness
and his utilitarian colleagues held both academic and using happiness research to guide policy is
and political sway (Sumner 1996). Pleasure still likely unpopular among the older generations
plays an important role in conceptions of well-­ partly because their longer view of history has
being, although usually as part of happiness, taught them that being forced to be free is a much
which tends to be understood as “satisfaction with better guarantor of their well-being than any
life and a preponderance of positive over negative roughshod attempt to force them to be happy.
emotions” (Joshanloo and Weijers 2014: 718). State force has been abused so many times in the
Religion and, in particular, Christianity, which past (and even still now) that many people prefer
swept to dominance after the fall of the Roman that their governments provide them with the
Empire, only began to lose sway over philoso- tools they need to pursue their own view of well-­
phers and nonphilosophers alike during the being in their own way, a way that is meaningful
Enlightenment. As science continues to reveal to them. For this reason, useful proxy measures
the secrets of the universe and as economic prog- of well-being might be thought to be measures of
ress continues to reduce the number of people health, education, civil and political liberties, and
struggling, religious beliefs and religious con- wealth, because these are the basic enablers of
ceptions of well-being continue to fall slowly out the freedom to pursue well-being in all of its
of favor in the West (Diener et al. 2011). However, forms.
moderate religious views of well-being, such as Throughout this chapter, we have referred to
those of Locke, probably remain important the four-part taxonomy of the objective and sub-
because significant numbers of people in many jective qualities of life (Fig. 2.1). The most
Western nations still report being religious. important point regarding this framework is that
Happiness, usually understood in the rela- the classical notion of a Fool’s Paradise, which
tively utilitarian way as satisfaction with life and survives today, requires at least the sort of two-­
a preponderance of positive over negative emo- variable model mentioned in Sect. 2.1.2. This
tions, played only a minor role in the history of notion is based on the common sense view that
2  Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being 55

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 East Asian Historical Traditions
of Well-Being 3
Shawn Arthur and Victor H. Mair

[T]here are the five (kinds of) happiness (福 fu). The first is long life; the second is
prosperity; the third is soundness of body and serenity of mind; the fourth is the love
of virtue; and the fifth is ultimately fulfilling one’s destiny. Of the six extreme evils,
the first is misfortune shortening the life; the second is sickness; the third is distress
of mind; the fourth is poverty; the fifth is wickedness; the sixth is weakness.
(The Book of History, Shang shu 尚書 or Shu jing 書經, one of the ancient Chinese
Confucian classics, ch. 11.9, our translation; see Waltham 1971)

3.1  ast Asia as an Integrated

E participated in a common religious and intellec-
Macroregion tual discourse, with Confucianism providing a
foundation for sociopolitical thought, Buddhism
In general, East Asia encompasses the areas that fostering spiritual introspection, and Daoism
are now called China (a large continental coun- nourishing mystical insights.
try, including Tibet and Taiwan), Japan (an island Consequently, although their political bound-
nation), and Korea (a peninsular state that lies aries may have been, and still are, contested, and
between them). Though the boundaries and rul- they possessed unique cultural characteristics of
ing entities changed greatly through the centu- their own, China, Japan, and Korea nonetheless
ries, for the last three millennia, East Asia may be participated in a joint philosophical and social
thought of as having consisted of these three sphere. We find that China, Japan, and Korea
main cultural and political traditions. Although possess a common fund of conceptions and prac-
each had its own language, they shared the same tices with regard to well-being (Fig. 3.1). We
writing system—the Chinese characters (Ch. point out where the similarities lie but also note
hanzi 漢字, Jap. kanji, Kor. hanja)—during the the differences in the way ideas about well-being
medieval and late imperial periods until Japan are elaborated and realized.
created its own syllabaries (such as hiragana ひ
らがな and katakana カタカナ) and Korea
devised its own outstanding alphabet (hangul 한 3.2  ell-Being in China
W
자). Japan has continued to use characters along- and East Asia
side its syllabaries, and Korea still has a strong
cultural memory of the characters that deeply The concept of well-being seems fairly intuitive,
colors much of its vocabulary. Moreover, they but when directed to provide examples of well-­
being in East Asia—including the areas of China,
Japan, and Korea—one quickly recognizes the
S. Arthur (*)
Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
need for a good definition or at least a thoughtful
e-mail: [email protected] list of characteristics that one could examine. In
V.H. Mair
developing a set of such characteristics, we
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA turned to recent quality-of-life and subjective
e-mail: [email protected] well-being studies focused on East Asia. Clearly,

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 59

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_3
60 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

Fig. 3.1  Praying with incense. This group of people is on forming these actions in temples across East Asia are
kneeling cushions in front of a deity shrine hall offering praying for their well-being and that of their family
incense and praying to the god therein. Many people per- (Credit: Shawn Arthur, China 2013)

contemporary concerns do not correspond when interacting with others, and respect from
exactly with early historical periods in China; others (Li 2006: 223; Lu 2001: 407; Lu and Shih
yet, research on well-being issues can direct us to 1997: 1851). This range of data indicates that
a selection of perspectives that should be well-being encompasses multiple and complex
addressed in order to contribute to current dia- facets of life and cannot be simplified to one par-
logues about well-being through a discussion of ticular area of concern.
the history of East Asian ideas about well-being If we turn to Chinese historical sources, there
and quality of life. is a scarcity of data, as well as much variety of
Recent research in China indicates that there opinion, regarding how most people felt and
are a significant number of factors involved in thought about these issues (Poo 1998); it is only
people’s well-being, such as having safety, eco- recently that researchers and policy makers have
nomic security, an effective and noncorrupt gov- focused on well-being. We must rely on the data
ernment and legal system, wealth, affordable that are available to us, all of which were com-
health care, education, a clean environment, a piled by literate members of early societies,
fulfilling family life, a good job, happiness, satis-
fied material needs, harmonious social relation-
1 
ships, children with filial piety (i.e., respect for Due to limited space, only sources used multiple times or
provided as translation examples are cited and included in
their elders), pleasure, a satisfactory sex life, reli- the bibliography. All other relevant sources, along with
gious belief, moral integrity, a sense of self-­ additional items, are found in a supplemental
control, ease with life, kindness and helpfulness bibliography.
3  East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being 61

which means that we are only reading the per- tions of physical and mental health might well be
spectives of those wealthy enough to afford an the core of well-being in ancient China and
education. However, many surviving texts do Japan.
address issues of the common people and do dis- Other Korean equivalent terms include anny-
cuss ideas that would have been well-known by eong 안녕 (lit., to be peaceful and tranquil; Chi.
nonliterate members of the culture. anning 安寧) and pyeong-an 평안 (lit., peaceful
In fact, throughout China’s history, people and harmonious; Chi. ping’an 平安). Since the
have used a wide range of terms that Westerners early 2000s, South Koreans have been particu-
have more recently translated as well-being or larly enamored with the term welbing 웰빙, an
happiness, but each is somewhat more nuanced, imported word meaning wellness or more obvi-
and none directly corresponds to the Western ously well-being, which they use to refer to all
concept of well-being. One reason for this situa- manner of physical health circumstances such as
tion is that traditional East Asian terms that par- fad foods and exercise trends. In a 2004 cam-
tially overlap with well-being tend to be more paign to rid the language of foreign terms, the
objective or external in nature and tend to focus National Institute of the Korean Language (www.
on the person’s wealth, children, produce, and malteo.net), with the help of some Koreans, cre-
fortune, whereas Western conceptions tend to ated a new more accurate term, chamsari 참살이
focus more on subjective and internal states that (lit., a pure, good, life/living condition), which is
elicit how happy, content, healthy, and lucky one used to mean a morally and/or physically good
feels. For example, some of the best Chinese and life or lifestyle. However, people overwhelm-
Japanese equivalents for well-being are fuli 福利 ingly prefer welbing instead of the “official” term
(Jap. fukuri; Kor. bogli 복리) and fuzhi 福祉, (Mair 2014).
both of which refer to blessings, happiness, wel- Because this chapter focuses on the history of
fare, good fortune, and felicity. Other terms well-being in East Asia, however, we suggest
include the modern subjective ideas of shunshi framing our examination with foundational East
順適 (lit., agreeable or comfortable) or shunsui Asian concepts, as with our chapter’s opening
顺遂 (lit., everything is going well); the ancient quote that was first presented in the ancient
single character fu 福 (Jap. fuku; Kor. bok복), Confucian classic, the Book of History, which
which can mean blessing, blessed happiness, and was well-known across East Asia and Vietnam
auspiciousness; the popular term xingfu 幸福 by the third century C.E. and which discusses
(Jap. kōfuku), meaning happiness, eudaemonia, five sources of happiness: longevity, prosperity,
and good fortune; and haoshenghuo 好生活 (lit., good health and peace of mind, love of virtue,
having a good life). and seeking to fulfil one’s destiny (Great Plan,
The final three terms have the common thread ch. 11.9; see Waltham 1971). We address these
of integrating both sides of the Chinese person: markers of well-being in an altered order to facil-
the physical health and wealth of one character itate organization of our thoughts and the materi-
and the psychological and spiritual contentment als. Because concerns about wealth and virtue are
of the other character: ankang 安康 (lit., peace- found predominately within the construct of
ful/secure and in good health), anle 安樂 (lit., Confucian sociopolitical structures, we discuss
peaceful/secure and happy, or comfort and ease), them first. Second, we examine health ideals and
and their equivalent term kangle 康樂 (lit., the Chinese medical system, followed by Daoist
healthy and happy) are important for our discus- religious expansion of medical theories as a
sion. In fact, we find these last three terms in a means to achieve longevity and immortality.
range of early Chinese religious texts and dic- Finally, we address destiny and the Will of
tionaries, including Chinese Buddhist sources, Heaven. We contend that all of the well-being
where the terms came to mean relaxation, bliss, ideas and terms described above can be located
and harmony. Given the age and popularity of within this set of five concerns. Examining each
these terms in the ancient texts, their implica- indicator in turn, we can discuss the ways that
62 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

East Asian history has developed regarding its

idealized presentations of personal and social
well-being.

3.3 Prosperity and Wealth

Peoples’ key desires across all levels of East

Asian societies and histories have been prosper-
ity and wealth; but how were these measured? A
good indicator of prosperity was to have many
offspring, especially male descendants, and to be
able to have the extended family live in a single
compound or nearby, which is why many Chinese
villages and hamlets, for example, consisted of
people with a single surname who were all
closely related. To be able to live this way, how-
ever, required sufficient wealth, which was Fig. 3.2  The god of wealth. A contemporary god of
always an aspiration of Chinese families. wealth shrine on Mount Tai in Eastern China (Credit:
The importance of gaining wealth and afflu- Shawn Arthur, China 2013)
ence reified throughout Chinese society in many
ways, including repeating the traditional New whose name was Latinized by Jesuit missionaries
Year's greeting, Gongxi facai恭禧發財 in the sixteenth century to become Confucius.
(Cantonese: Konghei fatchoy; lit., Congratulations Because Confucianism became the official
and may you become wealthy); hanging colorful sociopolitical principle of China by 135 BCE,2
paintings of groups of male children playing education meant memorizing and applying mul-
amidst gold and silver ingots, which symbolize tiple so-called Classics3: the Book of History; the
the ideas of wealth, prosperity, and giving birth to Book of Odes (Shijing 詩經; Waley 1937/1996),
future generations; and displaying images of the with its poems, songs, and hymns; the Book of
God of Wealth in one’s home, in retail shops, in Rites (Liji 禮記), with its ancient rituals and eti-
business offices, and in all manner of religious quette directions; the Book of Changes (Yijing 易
temples. Even in a modern city like Hong Kong, 經; Ritsema and Karcher 1995), the ancient divi-
images of the God of Wealth are commonplace— nation manual based on the fluctuations of cos-
virtually every shop and restaurant has one, and
incense is seen burning in front of it (Fig. 3.2).
2 
One of the best ways for a family to become As a result of war, the despotism of earlier totalitarian
leaders, and the outcry of the larger public sphere, Han
wealthy was for one of its sons to pass the civil
dynasty leaders chose to adopt an approximation of the
service examination, which would ensure official teachings of Confucius in order to foster the growth of an
employment that in turn meant a steady, secure, ideal, harmonious, social state. Through trade, expansion,
and sufficient income for the whole family. But and other movements, the Chinese brought Confucianism
to Korea by the late second century CE and then to Japan
significant resources had to be spent on the edu-
by the third century CE, where it went through phases of
cation of the aspiring candidate if he was to pass acceptance, sometimes directed by military and political
the examination. Thus, among families who powers.
could afford it, there was a heavy emphasis on 3 
At least one version of each of these classics, including
education—which throughout East Asian history the Chinese characters as well as outdated but useful
translations in most cases, has been made public by the
has been based on learning the texts associated China Text Project at http://ctext.org/pre-qin-and-han and
with the Great Master Kong (Kong Fuzi 孔夫子, the Internet Sacred Text Archive at http://sacred-texts.
born Kong Qiu 孔丘, 551–479 BCE), the man com/cfu/index.htm.
3  East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being 63

mic and earthly energies; and the Spring and who were unable to accumulate large amounts of
Autumn Annals (Chunqiu 春秋; Legge 1872), wealth, there was always the larger cultural pre-
which chronicled many of the important events in cept that one should “be content with what one
Confucius’ home state of Lü from 722 until 481 has” to comfort oneself.
BCE. These examples are all from among the
ancient Confucian classics or canonical texts
whose origins lie in the period before the impe- 3.4 Love of Virtue
rial unification by the Qin (which gives us the
name China) in 221 BCE. Because the first 3.4.1 Confucian Virtues
emperor of the Qin hosted a massive burning of
books and because there were multiple editions Aside from education and diligence, another
of ancient texts from different areas, reliable dat- means to ensure well-being was to cherish virtue
ing of pre-Qin texts is difficult at best. and maintain moral integrity. The Confucian tra-
As China developed, Daoism and Buddhism dition taught that adhering to the ideals of benev-
became more prominent and influential and also olence and justice was instrumental for success in
gradually spread across East Asia and even south life. The ideal pattern for Confucian life was out-
into Vietnam. Confucian political leaders found it lined in one of the most famous passages of the
increasingly difficult to relate to people’s lives; as Analects when Confucius apparently claimed
a result, in the later part of the Song dynasty that his self-cultivation took the following
(960–1279 CE), Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200 CE) trajectory:
led a much needed reform to highlight the central The Master said: ‘At fifteen, I had my will set on
issues of the system and to regain focus on moral- learning. At thirty, I took my stand [in the world of
ity. Zhu’s Four Books became the curriculum of ritual propriety]. At forty, I was never conflicted
study to become an official or civil servant from [between virtue and circumstance]. At fifty, I
understood the Mandate of Heaven [and knew
this period until 1905: the Analects (Lunyu 論 social context while being open to novel circum-
語), the sayings and teachings of Confucius stances]. At sixty, my ear was attuned [to the
(Slingerland 2003); the collected conversations proper understanding and use of names as titles to
of the second most important Confucian scholar, guide meaningful relations]. At seventy, I followed
my heart’s desire without overstepping the line
Mencius 孟子 (372–289 BCE; Van Norden [because I had trained myself only to pursue what
2008); and two sections of the Book of Rites that was right and good for society].” (Analects, ch.
epitomized the importance of learning, self-­ 2.4; see Slingerland 2003)
cultivation, and obtaining perfected virtue
(Gardner 2007). Much has been written about Confucian vir-
Another way to build wealth, and therefore tues, and authors Yang and Cheng divide them
well-being, was through mercantile activity. This into four major groups relating to family respon-
goal usually involved travel and networking, sibilities and obedience; commitment to and
which accounts for the spread of Chinese com- acceptance of group norms, solidarity, and har-
munities throughout Asia and Southeast Asia. mony; commitment to hard work and education;
Even though, in the traditional scheme of social and the cultivation of a proper disposition includ-
classes—scholars, farmers, craftsmen, and then ing austerity, humility, self-control, and frugality.
merchants—merchants were looked down upon, Enacting these values during one’s life should
their ability to amass large fortunes meant that lead to happiness and well-being of self, family,
they could live well, and they were often the ones village, and society (as cited in Ip 2013: 699–700;
who were responsible for sponsoring theater per- see also Lu and Shih 1997: 183–184). In other
formances, the printing of mass literature, art, words, one could picture these groups as concen-
architecture, and so forth. The merchants were tric rings with the individual in the center—
also often the patrons of Buddhist monasteries although the individual was never a particularly
and Daoist temples. On the other hand, for those important feature of East Asian society; followed
64 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

by the family, the crucial center that formed ond major Confucian figure, Mencius, defines
­individuals into productive members of society; ren as “being human” (Mencius 7B16; see Van
followed by the larger family and village; and Norden 2008), and he argues that ren grows from
outward to the province and country. One learns the seeds of compassion, without which we could
to be virtuous in the family and practices what not be human (ren 人) (Mencius 2A6; see Van
one learns in one’s closest environment, with the Norden 2008).
intent that it becomes a universal tendency among Additional Confucian virtues include propri-
families throughout the country. Yet, one of the ety and etiquette (li 禮)—or properly putting
keys to this model is that it is supposed to work in benevolence into action—filial piety, trustworthi-
both directions. ness, wisdom, righteousness, loyalty, and hon-
Subsequently, the Chinese also have a viral esty, among others. Working privately and
concept of virtue in that it is supposed to spread publically to embody these principles and virtues
naturally from the person who is full of moral is the basis for Confucian self-cultivation and
power (de 徳)—the ruler, the gentleman, the per- becoming fully human, which will lead to one’s
fected person (male or female), and also the par- well-being and happiness, to the betterment of
ent—outward toward others, who ideally will one’s family, and to the overall improvement of
want to adopt virtues and morals for themselves society (see Lu and Shih 1997: 183). Moreover,
when they witness how genuinely happy, fortu- the fundamental Confucian orientation toward
nate, prosperous, and well-adjusted the person mutuality, respect, and propriety has continued
is—no matter their lot in life, current state of until today in the guise of strong social networks,
physical ability, lack of wealth, or closeness of relations, and connections: guanxi 關係, a term
relationship to the person. Ideally, if a virtuous so pervasive in China and throughout East Asia
ruler does his job well, his ministers and represen- that it has even become known outside the region
tatives in provincial and local governmental as an essential means for success.
offices should follow suit, as should the other offi-
cials who interact with them, all the way down to
local policemen and magistrates, who should be 3.4.2 Daoist and Buddhist Virtues
able to ensure harmony and well-being for the
local populous by acting with virtue, avoiding Although the happiness of virtue is grounded in
corruption, and deterring crime. As common peo- the Confucian sociopolitical system, moral integ-
ple see this model, ideally they should want to rity is also an important feature of Daoism and
emulate it because of the good it produces. Buddhism and is crucial to their teachings about
The core of Confucianism is its virtue ethics, reaching their desired goals. From the proto-­
which are based on mutual obligations and Daoism of the fourth to third centuries BCE to
respect between both sides of all relationships, the institutionalized Daoist religion beginning in
including the five main pairs: parent-child, the second century CE and continuing today,
husband-­ wife, older-younger sibling, friends, Daoist thinkers have always been concerned with
and ruler-subject. Confucian virtues begin with performing moral actions and maintaining virtu-
benevolence or humaneness (ren 仁), the most ous attitudes. Rather than the forced virtues they
important of the virtues because all other social associated with Confucianism, proto- and early
conventions are built upon this concern. When a Daoist teachings emphasized emulating the pat-
student asked Confucius what ren meant, he terns of the Dao 道 (literally, the Way that things
replied: “Those who are benevolent establish oth- proceed naturally; the Way the universe and local
ers in seeking to establish themselves and pro- environments work) to naturally embody and
mote others in seeking to promote themselves. enact the important virtues of equality, consider-
Understanding others by analogy to oneself can ation, respect of diversity, contentment, noncom-
be called the method of becoming benevolent” petitiveness, humility, patience, quietude, and
(Analects 6.30; see Slingerland 2003). The sec- simplicity (see Huang 2010).
3  East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being 65

As organized Daoism emerged in the second form the foundation of the indigenous medical
century CE, it used the ideas of proto-Daoist system of China, which subsequently became
thinkers and supplemented these with ideas about important throughout East Asia. After examining
morality and virtuous action being divinely man- concepts of well-being related to the Chinese
dated, with transgressions being punishable by a worldview and medical traditions, we turn to a
shortening of one’s life. Well-being for these discussion of wellness ideas related to peace of
groups grew to involve the virtues of perfecting mind in the Daoist and Buddhist religious
one’s health, nourishing and extending life, living traditions.
harmoniously, and reaping the benefits of uphold-
ing moral integrity yet not being limited by ever-­
changing social conditions and norms. Combined, 3.5.1 Correlative Cosmologies
these goals were meant to help advanced practi-
tioners achieve experiential union with the Dao, The ancient Chinese developed an understanding
the amorphous, undifferentiated potential that is of the cosmos that was based on patterns, cycles,
the essence of the cosmos. and interrelated facets that linked the myriad
Buddhism entered China in the first century aspects of life into a comprehensible whole. The
CE and began to spread and gain popularity in all most fundamental concept of the cosmos is the
strata of society by the second century Dao, the Way. The manifestation of the Dao is the
CE. Buddhism offered a different understanding most basic building block of this system: qi 氣,
of virtue than Confucianism and Daoism. Due to variously translated as breath, vapor, pneuma,
its popularity, some Confucian and Daoist think- energy, but better understood as the organic,
ers in the eleventh and tweleth centuries eventu- material energy that infuses the cosmos, moti-
ally integrated Buddhist ideas into their practices vates movements, and forms the basis of life.
and teachings. Buddhist virtue begins with the This theory stipulates that during the formation
first five precepts that laity and clergy take as a of the cosmos, primordial qi differentiated itself,
promise to uphold a moral life according to their began to move in patterned ways, and shaped the
circumstances, which include abstaining from myriad parts of the universe.
killing, stealing, lying, intoxication, and illicit The most basic patterned movements of qi,
sexual activities. These avoidances are the root of which became fundamental to Chinese thinking
self-control and the first step toward the cultiva- about life, are yin 陰 and yang 陽, which origi-
tion of virtue and emulating the example set by nally referred to the shady and sunny sides of a
the Buddha, who is thought to have understood hill, respectively. The cosmologist Zou Yan 鄒衍
the impermanent nature of his true self and thus (305–240 BCE), whose works are now only pre-
have gotten rid of egotism; become accustomed served as quotations in other texts, presented yin
to change; become free of delusional thinking; and yang as the quintessential manifestations of
and developed an abiding sense of well-being cosmic qi rather than as merely descriptions of
and happiness based upon contentment, compas- sun and shade. Zou argued that all aspects of the
sion toward others, equanimity, generosity, cosmos should be able to be categorized accord-
patience, and honesty. ing to their embodiment of yin or yang principles,
where yin signifies calming, conserving, and
tranquil energy movements, and yang signifies
3.5  ood Health and Peace
G active, producing, dynamic, and transforming
of Mind energy movements (see Arthur 2013: 18n3).
With this bimodal model, a cosmologist could
To describe the happiness related to good health ideally correlate, connect, and compare any
and peace of mind, we outline China’s cosmo- aspect of life; however, it was not sufficiently
logical correlative worldview and early under- nuanced to be particularly efficacious, so Zou
standing of the human and discuss how these Yan expanded this system to include five
66 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

Fig. 3.3  Rubbing the dragon

for health. In this temple
picture, lay visitors rub this
dragon’s head and hope to
transfer the auspicious, healing
energies of the dragon into
their own head (ears, eyes,
nose, jaw, teeth, forehead, and
neck) where they encounter
pains and illnesses (Credit:
Shawn Arthur, China 2013)

c­onstituents, the Five Phases (wuxing 五行; 3.5.2 Concepts of the Body

formerly translated as Five Elements): Wood
­
(minor yang), Fire (major yang), Earth (a bal- The ancient Chinese believed that the universe,
ance between yang and yin), Metal (minor yin), as well as the human body, consisted primarily of
and Water (major yin). Whereas yin and yang qi, the same organic, material energy of the previ-
had connotations of complementarity opposi- ous section, which provided the energy of move-
tion, the Five Phases are thought of as a model of ment and the ability to function by flowing
cyclical processes of transformations between through the body’s complex internal pathways. In
the five natural materials upon which life and this way, harmonious and balanced qi-flow could
well-being rely. One direction of this process lead to health and well-being, whereas disrupted
explains that wood burns to make fire, fire cre- and inharmonious qi-flow could lead to illness
ates ash that becomes earth, earth condenses to (Fig. 3.3). The oldest textual evidence that pro-
make metal, metal draws condensation to make vides details about the human body and illness
water, and water feeds plants to make wood. from an early medical viewpoint is found in the
This new map of the ordered cosmos evolved by fourth century BCE text, Zuo’s Commentary
the time of the Later Han dynasty (25–220 CE) (Zuo zhuan 左傳; Watson 1989), traditionally
into a more complex and comprehensive system written by Zuo Qiuming 左丘明. In the chapter
that included some 317 different categories of about the 10th month of Duke Zhou’s first reign
correlation based on a fivefold schema that made year in 540 BCE, the Marquis of Jin became ill
connections between the cosmos, the state, agri- and a physician discusses the origin of disease in
cultural concerns, the human body, its organs, terms of the six forms of atmospheric qi—yin,
emotions, the senses, colors, sounds, and many yang, wind, rain, darkness, and brightness—
other things (Arthur 2013: 9–10). Zou Yan’s cor- which are produced in excessive amounts that
relative cosmology influenced a wide range of disturb natural limits and cause illness. It claims:
traditions including astrologers, diviners, fang- The heavens have six forms of qi, which descend
shi 方士 (Masters of Esoterica or Recipe and produce the five tastes, issue forth and become
Masters), and the emerging tradition of medical the five colors, and call up the five sounds. When
specialists, “all of whom [interacted and] shared excessive, they produce the six illnesses. The six qi
are called yin, yang, wind, rain, darkness, and
a common interest in understanding natural phe- brightness. Separated, they become the four sea-
nomena and their consequences for humankind” sons, and ordered, they become the five festivals.
(Harper 1998: 10, 44). Exceeding the norm, they become calamitous.
3  East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being 67

Excess yin causes cold illness, excess yang causes absorbing it into the body from the heavens and
hot illness, excess wind causes illness of the
the environment, guiding it around the body,
extremities, excess rain causes abdominal illness,
excess darkness causes mental illness, and excess aligning internal qi with cosmological patterns,
brightness causes cardiac illness (see Needham and purifying it. The cosmicization and refine-
and Lu 2000: 42–43, 48). ment of qi are thought to lead the adept to store qi
The fourth to third centuries BCE witnessed in its more subtle form, spirit. Thus the Inward
further elaborations of ideas of the body, its vital Training provides a physiological basis to bio-­
functions, and techniques for cultivating health spiritual self-cultivation and links this directly to
and preserving life, as well as the early develop- cosmological phenomena by claiming that all
ment of the Chinese medical system and its phys- aspects of the cosmos are manifestations of the
iological theories about health and well-being. Dao. As a result, the text advocates a life of mod-
An important fourth century BCE text, the Inward eration, tranquility, and harmony in order to
Training (Neiye 內業, c. 350 BCE) chapter of the achieve a state of health and well-being.
Works of Master Guan (Guanzi 管子; Roth
1999), which contains the first reference to breath
control, is the oldest Chinese meditation text and 3.5.3 The Chinese Medical Tradition
also provides the earliest extant presentation of
fundamental medical theories about qi, blood, Awareness of the movements and patterns of qi
vital essence, spirit energy, heart/mind (xin 心; within the body and in the environment, as pro-
thinking and emotion were both rooted in the moted by texts such as the Inward Training,
heart organ, much like contemporary Valentine’s became fundamental to the development of both
Day sentiments), vessels, and qi-circulation Chinese medicine and longevity practices.
(Harper 1998; Roth 1991; see also Engelhardt Medical practices in pre-Han China were often
2000: 74; Lu and Needham 1980: 23). guided by recipes, incantations, magico-religious
The basic idea is that people are born with a rituals, and ascetic dietary regimens that were
certain amount of primordial, cosmic qi that they passed through familial lineages (Harper 1998:
use throughout their lives.4 This cosmic qi is 45, 56, 149). As the tradition began to coalesce in
stored in the kidneys as vital essence and is used the second century BCE, medical literature
by the body as base qi, which is circulated around emerged in four main categories: stories of ill-
the body with other fluids such as blood. Qi and nesses and their treatment, theories about physi-
vital essence can be lost through excessive activi- cal bodies and their relations to a variety of
ties and emotional agitation. To avoid their loss— correspondences, therapeutic speculation, and
a problem that leads to confusion, illness, and early pharmacological materia medica.
death—the text advocates calming the heart-­ By the second century BCE, rather than the
mind, which is associated with emotional and body only being divided into yin and yang
cognitive functions. According to the text, qi can aspects, new perspectives discussed six pairs of
be replenished through proper eating, breathing, organs and speculated about six main energy
and meditation techniques. Qi also can be manip- meridians that run on each side of the body.
ulated to bring about health and longevity through Additionally, acupuncture points—important qi
nodes on the surface of the body that can be stim-
ulated to cause changes in the qi flow throughout
When born, a person has a certain amount of qi from both
4 

the father and the mother, which allows for the gestation
the body—were recognized and correlated to the
of the embryo and its connection to primordial qi. constellations of ancient astronomy (Lu and
Different later Chinese medical and religious theories Needham 1980: 15). Curative therapies further
claimed that if the parents lived an unvirtuous life, then integrated herbs and other drugs that were being
this would affect the embryos of future generations and
could cause disability, a propensity for illness and weak-
compiled in pharmacopoeias such as the Divine
ness, misfortune, and poverty. Conversely, virtuous par- Farmer’s Pharmaceutical Classic (Shennong
ents could improve the destiny of their lineage. bencao jing 神農本草經; Yang 1998), which dis-
68 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

cusses the usage and efficacy of over 700 herbal the 12 internal organs5 that are connected to the
and mineral drugs. energetic meridian system; bodily functions and
In the Early Han dynasty (206 BCE–9 CE), processes; and multiple physical and psychologi-
the growing Chinese medical system began to cal aspects of the body, including the organ sys-
unify itself by integrating various therapeutic tems, the senses, emotions, mental aspects (such
methods and theories from around the country. as will, intellect, and spirit), bodily fluids, vir-
We have two major sets, among others, of evi- tues, movements, breathing styles, and others. In
dence of the results: the 14 medical and nourish- this way, the body becomes extremely complex,
ing life texts found in the Mawangdui tomb cache and perfecting its health requires that many sys-
dated to 168 BCE in Changsha (in south-central tems maintain satisfactory functioning, that
China) and the three volumes of the Yellow proper resonance (ganying 感應; mutual influ-
Emperor’s Internal Classic (Huangdi neijing 黃 ence between similar and opposing categories of
帝內經; Veith 1972). These texts illustrate a bur- phenomena) between correspondences is main-
geoning medical tradition that was supported by tained, and that individuals work to have bal-
the elites of this time, who interacted with, and in anced actions, thoughts, and emotions (Arthur
many cases actually were, physicians. 2013: 70; Kohn 2005: 76–77; see also Brindley
From the contents of the Mawangdui manu- 2006: 7n13).
scripts, it is evident that the authors approached The classical Chinese medical tradition that
longevity practices, early alchemical ideas, fang- emerged from this period is predicated on the
shi recipes, and medical techniques as part of a idea that the body’s internal order is dependent
single conglomeration of theories and practices upon the changing dynamics of qi-flow within
(Harper 1998: 7n1; Penny 2000: 111). Many the body: Stagnant or blocked qi, improper func-
Mawangdui texts describe, in much more detail tioning of the Five Phases within the body, inhar-
than any previous text, how to achieve well-being monious circulation patterns, pollution, and a
through popular techniques such as acupuncture, poor diet all cause illness; in comparison, bal-
moxibustion (burning artemesia vulgaris, mug- anced, strong, smooth-flowing qi along the
wort), dietetics, breath circulation, qi purifica- body’s energy pathways brings health, well-­
tion, virtue cultivation, gymnastic exercises, being, vitality, internal resilience, and an extended
hygiene techniques, and sexual practices, as well life expectancy. The tradition recommends not
as daily activities such as sleeping and cleansing only immediate cures via acupuncture, moxibus-
the physical body (Engelhardt 2000: 85). These tion, herbal remedies, and massage, but also
texts, although they had not yet incorporated yin-­ long-term adjustments in lifestyle through calm-
yang and Five Phases theories, do present rele- ing the spirit, regulating the diet, doing proper
vant physiological and pathological theories that exercise and breathing, limiting strong emotions,
later formed the foundation of acupuncture and avoiding excessive sexual activity (Arthur
therapy. 2013: 11).
The most important text of classical Chinese
medicine, however, is the Yellow Emperor’s 5 
Chinese medical theory understands the body’s most
Internal Classic, a dialogue between the mythical important organs (the liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kid-
Yellow Emperor and various medical masters neys) as yin-functioning storehouses for maintaining
healthy levels of qi, and its other organs (the gall bladder,
who instruct him in the proper ways of under-
small intestine, stomach, large intestine, and bladder) as
standing the body and of diagnosing and treating yang-functioning transformative organs of the digestive
illness. Founded upon earlier theories of the Dao, tract. To this they added two organs, the pericardium and
qi, yin-yang, and the Five Phases, this text syn- triple heater for symmetry. These are understood, not as
physical organs, but as internal nexuses of energy (“orbs”
cretizes correlative theories with more subtle per-
that correspond to specific bodily functions) that house
ceptions about the body’s internal cyclical qi-flow the body’s internal administration system (see Engelhardt
through meridians that run throughout the body: 2000, p. 98).
3  East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being 69

As Kohn argues: 方; Tamba et al. 1986), an extensive medical

As ‘to heal’ means ‘to make whole,’ [all the meth- tome of 30 chapters that cites 204 Chinese medi-
ods of the larger Chinese health care system] serve cal and longevity texts that were collected by the
to transform human beings from simple discrete court physician Tamba no Yasuyori 丹波 康頼
entities separate from the outside world into active (912–995) and presented to Japan’s emperor in
participants in the triad of heaven, earth, and
humanity. Chinese health methods not only cure 984 (Kohn 2012: 34–35). The collection includes
and vitalize people’s bodies and minds, but aim to many Chinese texts that were lost in China, yet
join them harmoniously with the larger cosmos. were influential in Japanese medicine.
Health accordingly does not just mean the absence There were some differences in the practices
of illness or symptoms, but is an integrated balance
of physical well-being, personal happiness, good of medicine related to well-being in these coun-
fortune, and harmony. (Kohn 2005: 3) tries, but, for the most part, they adopted Chinese
theories and practices about qi (Japan: ki, Korea:
Similarly, personal well-being and health com- gi, ki) and its manipulation. Korean adoption of
prise the first step to ensuring health and harmony Chinese medicine focuses more on prescribing
in the social and natural worlds, among families herbal medicines to support the manual qi-­
and the state, and with the cosmos. This idealized manipulation of acupuncture treatments to pro-
peaceful, orderly qi-flow is what the Chinese, duce a permanent state of healthy qi-flow.
especially Confucians and Daoists, call Great Medicine in imperial China and Japan, however,
Peace (taiping 太平). sees acupuncturists and herbalists as two com-
This medical tradition focused predominately pletely separate medical disciplines, and Japanese
on the care and cultivation of the body, ideas with medicine (Kanpo 漢方; lit., Methods of the Han)
which most of the elite would have been familiar emphasizes the use of herbal formulas.
(Harper 1998: 142–143, 147). However, through-
out much of China’s history, the illiterate peas-
ants and poor people would be much less familiar 3.5.4 Peace of Mind and Joy
with all of these theories; they would use folk
ideas passed down through the generations and The other major piece of the health-related hap-
would purchase remedies from the fangshi and piness of this section is having peace of mind.
the local doctors if they could afford them in des- This well-being concept, which involves content-
perate times. In the contemporary Western world, ment, serenity, stillness, and quietude, has been
we are so divorced from the natural world and are an important feature of Chinese thinking for most
reliant on the medical community, it seems hard of China’s history. Achieving peace began as an
to imagine that historically people, families, and individual endeavor but also relates to social and
villages had to deal with health issues themselves cosmic peace and harmony. By the late Warring
on the basis of their understanding of the body States period (third to second centuries BCE),
and their extensive knowledge of the healing Chinese thinkers began to formulate a range of
properties of the things in their environment. The ideas based on their belief that the heavens and
inability to turn to the elite medical community the earth originally existed in a state of natural
continues today for the poor and destitute who harmonious balance and that people’s greed, war,
are unable to afford their services. corruption, and overall yang excesses in life and
As the Chinese medical tradition became sys- emotion led to this harmony being disturbed. As
tematized by the end of the Tang dynasty (618– a result they began to search for ways to regain
906), travelers and merchant traders had already this loss and recommended that people live in
spread these ideas to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, calmer, simpler, less greedy, yin-like ways.
where they took root, flourished, and developed Yang Zhu 楊朱 (440–360 BCE) was a Chinese
according to indigenous concerns. The Japanese philosopher during the Warring States period
collected as many texts as were available to them who seemed to take a novel approach to content-
in their Essential Medical Methods (Ishinpō 醫心 ment and peace of mind. Appearing in the fourth
70 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

century BCE proto-Daoist texts the Liezi 列子 Why music? Interestingly, the Chinese term
(Graham 1960/1990) and the Zhuangzi 莊子 for music (yue 樂) is written with the same char-
(Ziporyn 2009), as well as in the Confucian acter as the word for joy or happiness (le 樂).
Mencius and a few other texts soon after his time, Here, music refers to more general audio-visual
Yang and his small group of followers taught a performances with music, dance, theater props,
form of ethical egoism and hedonism. Yang and entertainers—all of which is meant to elicit
strived for pleasure, beauty, and great happiness joy and happiness (Brindley 2006: 2n3). Proper
in this life because he espoused in the Liezi that, music should bring about a pleased mood, which
even though we could live a 100 years, very few is characterized by joy, delight, and peace of
people do so, and even if people could, half of mind, and should negate any negative feelings of
their time is spent in infancy and old age, half of anger, fear, worry, and hatred. This view could be
the rest is spent resting and sleeping, and the one reason why music was thought to elicit cos-
remaining half is wasted in pain, illness, and sor- mic peace: If music could rid people of dishar-
row. This calculation leaves some 10 or so years mony and anxiety, then cosmic peace would
for life. He questions who could live one moment spread throughout the social realm, and, through
of it without worry and concern for the many correlative thinking, the heavens should have a
social prohibitions and fears of punishments. In similar reaction. Might this be one reason for the
other words, Yang understood individual well-­ popularity of calming classical, devotional, and
being as the main purpose of life; he thought that New Age music in the West?
anything that contradicted this view should be We also see ideal forms of this experience of
avoided, yet any power or privlidge must be exer- peaceful well-being in the proto-Daoist texts the
cised responsibly and ethically so as to avoid Classic of the Way and Virtue (Daode jing 道德
harming others. Eventually Yang’s voice faltered, 經; aka, the Laozi 老子; Pine 2009) and Zhuangzi
and the Confucian tradition ascended with new 莊子 (Ziporyn 2009) from the Warring States
issues. period (c. 350 BCE), in which they advocate for
We find Confucian concern for cosmic peace a separation from the complexities and tempta-
and calm in the “Record of Music” (Yueji 樂記, tions of society and instead adopt a serene life-
in the Book of Rites; 3rd c. BCE, rewritten in 1st style with few desires and fewer stressors. Both
c. BCE, then lost) and in Xunzi’s Discourse on of these texts emphasize naturalness, ease of life,
Music (Yuelun 樂論; c. 3rd c. BCE; Watson joyfulness, balance, and nonforceful actions aris-
1963/1996), where the authors argue that proper ing from one’s direct experiential realization of
music and entertainment can bring about cosmic the Dao’s patterned manifestations (Higgins and
peace. For example, the “Record of Music” Zheng 2002: 227; Huang 2010: 1050, 1054; see
states, and Xunzi reiterates: “When [proper] Brindley 2006: 16).
music is in place, then one’s will is clear, the ears Other examples of peace of mind include its
and eyes are perceptive and clear, blood and qi function in the Chinese medical tradition as a
attain harmony and equilibrium, cultural environ- goal for the solution of psychological and emo-
ments and customs change, and all under heaven tional instability, which was described using a
is tranquil” (see Brindley 2006: 1, 32). The bio-psycho-social model based on a Five Phases
“Record of Music” seems to argue that proper worldview and treated as any physiological ill-
music can elicit the ideal emotional states of tran- ness (see Higgins and Zheng 2002: 227). In other
quility and peace of mind in people as well as words, psychological well-being, positive emo-
facilitate cosmic peacefulness. Brindley calls tional states, and avoiding excessive emotions are
music’s ability to create a long-lasting, peaceful linked to healthy function of the organ systems.
state in the cosmos and in the person a “psychol- Peace of mind is not only necessary for our
ogy of cosmic attunement” and a “psychology of body’s health, but it is also crucial for the larger
influence” (Brindley 2006: 7). social realm—especially during historical peri-
3  East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being 71

ods of unrest, civil war, and increased natural 3.6 Longevity

disasters —because the theory of resonance, or
mutual influence, implies that a large enough 3.6.1 Daoist Self-Cultivation,
group of like-minded individuals (with peace of Longevity, and Immortality
mind) could affect a smaller group of people
(who are corrupt or causing unrest) and even Health, well-being, and living a long life are
could affect the natural realm since natural disas- China’s oldest culturally focused aspirations. As
ters were thought to stem from human corrup- Lu and Shih argue, “in Chinese society, longevity
tion, greed, and fighting (Arthur 2013: 70; Kohn has always been regarded as a fuqi [福氣; bless-
2005: 76–77). ings or fortunate qi], almost as a virtue. Health as
For example, the Great Peace (Taiping) move- a source of happiness reflects this traditional
ment of the Late Han dynasty developed during a value” (1997: 185–186). According to prayers
time of significant social upheaval, widespread found on bronze inscriptions from the Western
epidemics, and alternating floods and droughts, Zhou period (1112–771 BCE) and themes in the
which were interpreted as an imbalance between Book of Odes (Waley 1937/1996), the most
the heavens, the earth, and the human realm that ancient desires of the Chinese people were for
desperately needed corrective measures. Terms longevity (shou 壽), prolonged life (changsheng
such as long happiness and endless pleasure 長生), and a natural death. During the Spring and
were fashionable during the Han dynasty as evi- Autumn Period (722–481 BCE), prayers for lon-
denced by the many mirrors and tiles that gevity evolved to include escape from old age,
included inscriptions to this effect. The Great nourishment of life (yangsheng 養生), preserva-
Peace movement was founded on the principle tion of the body, and “no death.” It was the emer-
that people should seek out and create peace of gence of this last term, “no death,” that marked
mind for themselves and for society by acting the appearance of Chinese beliefs about physical
morally and in tune with the patterns of the Dao. immortality (xian 仙; also translated as
Social harmony and peacefulness are fundamen- transcendence).
tal to the Chinese as Li argues: “The question of By the fourth century BCE, beliefs about
what is the ‘good life’ had been asked and physical immortality began to gain popularity,
answered in a philosophical sphere in China over especially in the north-eastern coastal areas
the centuries. For the Confucian thinkers, the where immortality was thought to be attainable
‘good life’ was to be found in a harmonious soci- from drugs found in nature or received from the
ety wherein individuals fulfilled the duties and immortals (xian 仙 or xianren 仙人) who lived
obligations inherent in their status” (Li 2006: on mythical islands in the eastern ocean.
217). Additionally, practical longevity-oriented texts
One additional area where peace of mind is began to emerge. For example, the previously
significant to the Chinese is in Buddhism, where discussed Inward Training is an early text that
the main goal is to calm the mind in order to see provides meditation instructions for refining
reality for what it really is. The meditations and one’s qi by advocating moderation of lifestyle
activities that Buddhists advocate tend to focus and diet, withdrawal from sensory overload,
on self-reflection and learning to be “at ease with seated meditation in an upright position, deep
oneself” (Lu 2001: 416). The serenity and qui- and regular breathing, engaging in tranquility and
etude offered in Buddhist settings are matched by clarity of mind, and a focus on harmonious and
the philosophical teachings about learning to deal balanced qi-flow throughout the body, which
with the suffering and dissatisfaction that we should lead to a state of profound peace, improved
encounter in our lives (see Zhang and Veenhoven health, and cosmic awareness (Kohn 2012:
2008). For Buddhism, well-being is grounded in 14–15; Roth 1999: 112–113). This classic ideal
peace of mind and tranquility of heart. of perfection claimed that “the only life worth
72 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

enjoying was the purified and tranquil sojourn on morals, Daoist rituals, and Chinese medical
earth in as much alignment and contact [as pos- practices.
sible] with the Dao, the spirits, and the potency of Not only did the methods for gaining immor-
Heaven and Earth” (Kohn 2012: 31). tality evolve; the idea of what it meant to be an
By 133 BCE, a protochemical “transforma- immortal developed as well. Pre-Han theories of
tion” of cinnabar into gold was discovered and immortality were worldly in orientation: Their
thought to be an effective immortality drug. At primary aim was to increase the length of the
this time in Emperor Wudi’s (r. 141–87 BCE) physical body’s life indefinitely. During the Early
Han dynasty court, the search for immortality Han period, immortality developed an other-
reached the peak of its popularity among the worldly aspect: The primary goal became one of
elites in China. It was believed that performing developing a spirit body that could transcend the
the appropriate rituals and eating from utensils mortal world to reside and work among other
made from alchemically created gold could immortals and gods in the celestial bureaucracy
bestow immortality. In his attempts to concoct an (Penny 2000: 110; Roth 1991: 641). This funda-
immortality elixir—an edible form of natural or mental transformation of the body was accom-
artificial gold that could be ingested in the hopes plished through ingestion of elixirs, internal
of bringing about transcendence—Emperor Wudi refining of one’s qi into spirit energy through
employed many fangshi方士 (Masters of visualization and breath techniques, and virtuous
Esoterica or Recipe Masters), who were well-­ action. Although virtue is humanistic and worldly
known for disseminating longevity and self-­ in character, according to Daoist tradition, the
cultivation recipes and techniques as they development of the spirit body is not attainable
wandered across China as doctors and magic without a virtuous mind. Additionally, following
workers selling their skills to aristocrats, mer- cosmic principles in alchemical practices
chants, and farmers, and anyone else who could includes emulating the virtuous nature of cosmic
afford the services. The fangshi advocated a wide processes. In fact, the significance of being virtu-
array of practices including medicinal arts, life ous for attaining immortality becomes central to
extension techniques, herbal and mineral elixirs, later texts such as the Scripture of Great Peace
qi-cultivation, breathing practices, ascetic dietary (Taiping jing 太平經; Hendrischke 2006) and
regimens, astrology, divination, magic rituals, The Master Who Embraces Simplicity (Baopuzi
sexual practices, and physical exercises all in the 保朴子; Ware 1966), which distribute knowledge
name of refining the body and its internal ener- about the reality of immortality by quoting con-
gies (Arthur 2013: 4). crete examples (Penny 2000: 109).
During the Qin and Han periods (221 BCE– With the growing popularity of thoughts of
220 CE), two major methods of attaining immor- immortality came further development of com-
tality were prevalent: the earlier method of plex medical and religious ideologies. By the sec-
finding an immortal who would provide an elixir ond century CE, the Daoist religion emerged as a
and a new method of using alchemical proce- relatively organized institution, and its adherents
dures to manufacture an elixir. The latter actively began to synthesize a wide array of exist-
approach required would-be alchemists to ing ideas and practices relevant to the pursuit of
renounce all ties to the social world, remove immortality. This integration involved ideas about
themselves to a private and quiet place in the cosmological correlation, medical theories,
mountains, perform ritual purifications, invoke alchemical symbolism, and a wide range of self-­
spirits for support, obtain the raw materials cultivation practices such as moderation in action
needed to form the elixir (which was often diffi- and emotion, meditation, gymnastic exercises,
cult), vigilantly maintain moral excellence, and and breathing techniques to nourish the qi, pre-
do complex meditative and protochemical activi- vent illness, and prolong life. In addition, people
ties based on cosmological correlative theory for began to practice techniques for self-massage,
up to a year—a practice that combined Confucian swallowing cosmic qi from their saliva or s­ oaking
3  East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being 73

it up from the sun’s light, ascetic dietary practices longevity-oriented theories and techniques into
such as grain avoidance and supplemented their religious practices. The Celestial Masters
fasting,6 sexual practices to unite and preserve the seem to have had two ultimate goals for practitio-
yin and yang energies within the body, and phar- ners: to gain influence and authority over spirit
maceutical practices that use the plant and min- beings associated with the celestial bureaucracy
eral elixirs deemed most effective for transforming and to cultivate spirit energy in order to become
and purifying the body’s qi (Arthur 2013). fully aware of the Dao. Both goals used similar
Longevity and immortality are, of course, ulti- practices: complex visualizations of the internal
mate goals of well-being; however, few people processes of the body, the avoidance of non-­
were able to fully realize these objectives because virtuous actions, prayers to Lord Lao and the
proper self-cultivation requires a great deal of celestial bureaucracy, the creation of talismans
effort and commitment. Rather, as Kohn argues, for protection and health, the performance of spe-
“most people become victims of the senses, get cialized rituals, control of the mind and emotions,
involved in social strife and competition, engage and the practice of longevity techniques
in excessive food and sex, give rise to the six (Engelhardt 2000: 76, 86).
destructive emotions—anger, hatred, worry, fear, This variety of techniques remained important
sadness, and euphoria—and thus in various ways for Daoist groups for a few centuries. When we
diminish their energy and squander their essence,” examine Daoism in the third to sixth centuries,
which leads to stress, emotional upheaval, we see further reflection on and expansion of
fatigue, moral shortcomings, unnecessary illness, these self-cultivation practices that were meant to
and an early death (2012: 164). lead adherents to a state of perfected well-being
The earliest of the organized and institutional- defined as having a refined and harmonious body
ized Daoist religious groups, the Celestial and mind; experiencing perfected health and lon-
Masters, was founded by Zhang Daoling 張道陵 gevity; being attuned to the rhythms and patterns
(34–156 CE) around 142 CE. The Celestial of the cosmos as manifestations of the Dao; being
Masters community in the southwestern region in communication with the gods; and facilitating
of China rapidly gained popularity, partly because balance between the heavenly, earthly, and
of their promise of health and longevity, bestowed human realms. One means by which many ascetic
by the newly deified Laozi and revelations about self-cultivation regimens, such as dietary prac-
a new pantheon of hierarchically arranged deities tices, claim efficacy is through asserting that fol-
and partly because they integrated medical and lowing them will cause an advanced practitioner,
either male or female, to regain their youthful-
6 
ness and beauty: White hair will revert to black,
Grains are replaced by pine bark, pine resin, sesame
seeds, roots of orchids, asparagus root, mushrooms, fun-
lost teeth will regrow, wrinkled and blemished
gus, water, and various other wild-picked ingredients (see skin will become smooth and clear, eyesight and
Arthur 2013). Zhuangzi writes that ideally, an immortal hearing will improve, better-quality strength and
eventually is able to subsist only on the qi from wind and balance will return, mental capacities will be
morning dew. Some reasons for eliminating grains include
the facts that grains, although part of a typical diet, are
enhanced, and the signs of aging will stop (Arthur
associated with bodily decay, immersion in an oppressive 2013: 61–91).
social structure, and the prevalence of intestinal parasites. These beliefs not only indicate how these
Supplemented fasting refers to radically decreased normal Daoists thought about well-being and how they
food intake—typically necessitated by individuals leaving
society and living in the wilderness alone or in small
presented this ideal—as a metaphor for holi-
groups because of significant civil unrest or engagement ness—to the people in their communities, but they
in religious-oriented practices—which works to avoid also indicate the serious nature of their concerns
many of the well-known negative side effects of starva- with mortality salience (Arthur 2013: 12, 62,
tion by including enough carbohydrates, proteins, vita-
mins, and minerals that the practitioner is able to live in
190). Additionally, the emphasis on idealized
relative comfort and health for long periods of time with beauty and youthfulness simultaneously can
little actual food intake (Arthur 2013: 173–174). indicate health, psychological well-being,
­
74 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

potency, vigor, ability, wealth, status, and legiti- (Kohn 2012: 138–139, 141). Then, in 1167, inter-
macy, which function not merely as physiological nal alchemy became the central feature of Wang
conditions but also as socioeconomic indicators Chongyang’s 王重陽 newly founded Complete
upon which people rely when looking for authori- Perfection School of Daoism, which also synthe-
tative figures and reliable informants. Clearly, sized earlier forms of Daoism with basic
many Daoist self-cultivation regimens are ori- Confucian moral and Buddhist meditation teach-
ented toward elderly, rather than young, adepts ings. The Complete Perfection School, which
who were interested in regaining lost aspects of emphasizes self-cultivation through internal
their lives, such as their appearance and health, alchemy in order to perfect oneself and become a
and who had sufficient funds to afford and leisure spirit immortal after death, remains the major tra-
time to devote themselves to the requisite prac- dition of Daoism in China and Taiwan today.
tices. Most of the well-known Daoist self-­
cultivation groups, such as the Numinous Treasure
School, were organizations run by wealthy aristo- 3.6.2 Buddhist Self-Cultivation
crats and retired elite members of society, not by
poor laypersons (Arthur 2013: 73). Other forms of Chinese self-cultivation practice
Eventually, the complex visualizations related include the aforementioned Confucian practices
to the internal processes of the body, their corre- of being benevolent, learning, and exercising
lation to cosmological phenomena, and the focus self-restraint, as well as Buddhist meditation
on manipulation and refinement of the energetic techniques for learning to control one’s mind,
aspects of the body overshadowed the creation of thoughts, and perceptions of reality. Whatever
chemical elixirs and became the central emphasis the actual practices, the ultimate goal of
for Daoist cultivation. This new iteration, called Buddhism is for people to improve their own
internal alchemy, had its foundation in earlier well-being. This goal stems from the Four Noble
practices, but became a viable alternative to Truths espoused by Buddhists: (1) people experi-
laboratory-­created elixirs due to a series of reve- ence suffering and dissatisfaction throughout
lations by members of the fourth century Highest their lives, and (2) their suffering is derived
Clarity School of Daoism, which admonished directly from the various craving, desires, and
followers to emphasize meditation and visualiza- attachments that people have. It stands to reason,
tion processes rather than chemical ones. By the then, that the other two Noble Truths claim that
Tang dynasty (618–906 CE), people began to (3) suffering could be eliminated from people’s
realize that alchemical elixirs could be hazardous lives (4) if they would just stop their incessant
to one’s health and well-being and thus began to cravings and thirsts using the Eight-fold Path to
shy away from elixir creation in favor of a focus guide them to develop morality, wisdom about
on inner realities. A famous Tang Dynasty physi- reality, and an ability to calm the mind and to
cian Sun Simiao 孫思邈 (581–682 CE) wrote keep it attentive through meditation.
many important medical and longevity texts that As Buddhism entered China and began to
led to him being venerated today across China as spread by the first century CE, its teachings
the Medicine King (Yaowang 藥王). His collec- became widespread and attractive to many com-
tions of medical information are still used by moners and elite alike, in part because the tradi-
Chinese physicians today, but he is also remem- tion claimed to be able to eliminate the suffering
bered for texts about achieving happiness and in people’s lives and to bring them long-lasting
preserving long life in which he discusses contentment and happiness. Rather than focusing
enhancing one’s lot in life, avoiding negative one’s self-cultivation efforts and prayers toward
karma (a Buddhist idea), being moderate in craving a longer life, Buddhists advocated a
action and lifestyle, and maintaining a virtuous detailed examination of reality through paying
attitude because he argues that health is, in large close attention to the inner workings of the mind
part, a function of happiness and good fortune as illuminated by meditation practices. What one
3  East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being 75

ideally finds is a realization that everything is to achieve nirvana—it could be gained over many
“empty” (shunyata) of a permanent, unchanging lifetimes. For those bodhisattvas who were
essence upon which our minds want to cling. thought to have done an exemplary job, however,
Everything changes, and watching one’s mind, the tradition treated these claims as did folk reli-
one can see how thoughts come into being, influ- gious practices: They made them into semi-­
ence one’s assumptions, and fade away when no divine savior beings, or cosmic bodhisattvas,
attention is paid to them. As one learns to let go who had generated such good merit while alive
of ingrained ways of thinking and to achieve an that after their physical death, they were reborn in
emotional balance, then one finds a way to gradu- the heavens where they could continue to help
ally decrease one’s suffering until one reaches a people in need. Following this development, the
point of no suffering and a more complete under- second change was an additional supernatural
standing of reality, a state known as nirvana (lit. element, the idea of a Pure Land, a place free of
to extinguish—as to blow out a flame) or bodhi suffering into which people with strong faith
(lit., awakening —to the Buddhist concept of could be reborn (see Poceski 2009). The most
reality). Buddhists claim that the resulting trans- well-known Pure Land is associated with the
formation of consciousness due to perceiving the “Buddha of Light and Life”—Amitabha (Chi:
world “as it really is,” without our typical mental Amituofo; Jap: Amida; Kor: Amita), who,
projections, can lead to enduring happiness according to legend, was originally a monk
(sukha) and a lasting state of perfected well-­ named Dharmakara who made a series of vows to
being (Ekman et al. 2005: 60; Poceski 2009; create a paradise where earnest seekers could be
Zhang and Veenhoven 2008: 431–432). Sukha is reborn in order to learn the Buddha’s teaching
one of over 20 Buddhist Sanskrit terms roughly without the interference of everyday suffering.
meaning happiness, comfort, well-being, and The laity could thus pray to the bodhisattvas and
bliss, and early Chinese translators used the the Buddha in search of assistance with life’s
aforementioned terms anle 安樂 and kangle 康樂 problems and to improve their well-being, while
to make sense of the Buddhist texts. the monastics focus on their ascetic practices—a
Learning and practicing this sophisticated set pattern that continues today.
of meditative concepts and the logic behind them
were traditionally the purview of monks and nuns
who had renounced the world in search of inner 3.7 Fulfilling Destiny
peace and tranquility. Yet, as Buddhism entered and Following the Will
China, it also opened up its temple doors to the of Heaven
laity, who were encouraged to engage with the
teachings and practices on whatever level they 3.7.1 G
 ood Family Life (Harmonious
were able. As a result, many original teachings Familial Relationships
evolved to address the needs of the laity who and Having Supportive
were ill-equipped to contend with sophisticated Children)
philosophical arguments about the “emptiness of
essences” and, instead, wished to focus on this-­ We can see many traditional concepts of happi-
worldly needs related to their immediate well-­ ness and well-being in the family when we listen
being, the alleviation of their suffering, and their to folk concepts and sayings about this issue. One
hopes for a better future. of the most central of these is the Confucian ideal
Two major doctrinal and ideological changes of five cardinal relationships: between oneself
occurred to address these needs. First, a new fig- and the ruler, one’s father, one’s spouse, one’s
ure emerged: the bodhisattva (lit., awakening siblings, and one’s friends. One’s family is of
being), which referred to a person on the path utmost importance because each individual
toward realization of Buddhist truths (see Poceski throughout East Asian history recognized and
2009). New schools taught that there was no rush was reminded regularly that they were merely a
76 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

continuation of their ancestors. Some well-­ breaks of pestilence and infectious diseases.
known, Confucian-based, folk sayings about the Bronze vessels from the same period through
family include admonitions about “the inheri- the fifth century BCE were inscribed with
tance of the family line,” “raising sons for one’s prayers to avoid illness and death. Illness was a
old age,” “having three generations living serious issue in the lives of the Chinese
together under one roof,” “happiness for the throughout history, and a mark of well-being
elderly is from their children pleasing them by was protection from disease and safeguarding
living with them,” and “harmony in the family is against parasitic infections.
the basis for success in any undertaking” (Davey As the population grew and expanded west
et al. 2009: 246–247; Li 2006: 226; Lu 2001: and south, the Chinese developed new farming
410, 420). Part of fulfilling one’s destiny, ming techniques for the new lands they acquired, to
命, is finding ways to live up to society’s expecta- meet their agricultural needs, and to become pro-
tions and standards, which include being filial to ficient growing a wider selection of crops, includ-
one’s ancestors, having filial children (which ing rice. Subsequently, irrigation farming in
means that the parents trained them properly), paddies exposed many people to new types of
being prosperous for one’s position in life, avoid- parasites and viruses that caused widespread ill-
ing disasters, maintaining one’s health and that of ness and death. Evidence indicates that millions
one’s family, being at peace, being relatively of people died in over 30 major epidemics across
happy, and avoiding upsetting any supernatural central and southern China from 208 to 565 CE
entities such as one’s ancestors, the Kitchen God, (Arthur 2013: 185–187).
or the local gods. Additionally, there were many rebellions,
Similarly, the emperor’s obligations included civil wars, invasions, and other natural disasters
looking after the well-being of his so-called throughout China’s history, and the textual
‘children’ (i.e., the people), ensuring an honest records express people’s concerns about their
government, and performing the proper rituals to safety and security in many ways, including
the gods. When the ancient kings and dynastic social, political, religious, and martial. Deng’s
emperors attended to their duties, historical docu- calculations show how the population fluctuated
ments report that the country lived in relative har- from 56.4 million in 157 CE to 18.5 million in
mony and prosperity because the ruler had earned 280 CE, then up to 46 million before falling to
the abstract Mandate of Heaven (tianming 天命) only 11.5 million at the end of the sixth century
from the heavens. If the ruler allowed for corrup- due to epidemics, wars, invasions, and natural
tion or became a greedy despot, he is said to have disasters (Deng 2004: 56–57). As a result, a wide
lost the Mandate of Heaven, which subsequently range of social and religious practices emerged
resulted in a loss of social harmony as well as a that sought to control the tumultuous circum-
rise in natural disasters such as floods, draughts, stances in which people found themselves,
forest fires, and earthquakes that disrupted agri- including political ideas about the Mandate of
cultural production thus causing further dishar- Heaven. Additionally, Daoist religious thinkers
mony among the populace. developed recipes and self-cultivation practices
oriented toward ridding the body of parasites and
intestinal worms; a talismanic tradition that
3.7.2 S
 afety—In Society, Travel, sought to magically protect people who sought
Wilderness, refuge from social upheaval in dangerous wilder-
and from Invasions, War, ness areas; and recipes that taught adepts how to
and Illness survive in the wilderness without a social support
network. Because life can be chaotic, developing
As far in the past as the thirteenth century techniques for averting chaos to ensure well-­
BCE, oracle bone divination evidence indi- being became important hallmarks of Chinese
cates that rulers were concerned about out- culture and religion.
3  East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being 77

3.7.3 Auspiciousness white, as long as it catches mice” (Tyler 1997;

and Good Luck Murphy 2013).
One particularly auspicious time is the lunar
From ancient times, we see in China a desire for New Year, during which each household prepares
good luck, or fortune (xing 幸), and for blessings offerings for their Kitchen God, or God of the
(fu 福), often bestowed by the gods for being a Hearth, so that he will report good (and ignore
virtuous person and taking care of one’s ances- the bad) things about the family members to the
tors properly. Interacting with auspiciousness celestial bureaucracy and will provide health and
and obtaining good luck come from a range of tranquility to the household. Each New Year the
practices including worshiping the gods, divina- god receives a new image in which to reside
tion, use of talismans, and other types of religious above the stove, and the family also hangs new
involvement (Poo 1998: 7). Recent research pro- portraits of protector gods on the outside doors of
vides empirical evidence that religious adherence their compound to ensure their safety in the com-
and involvement can function to facilitate well-­ ing year.
being by acting as a coping resource during life’s By the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), an image
difficulties, protecting mental health, and provid- of a triad of gods emerged from prevalent art and
ing meaning for people (Huang et al. 2012: 3). literature to “satisfy demands for auspicious
Religious life in late imperial China was images of economic fortune and personal well-­
active and rich for many people, especially those being” (Fong 1983: 159). Widely popular
in urban areas that maintained temples to the throughout all levels of society, the gods Fu 福
City God and to the God of Walls and Moats. (good fortune), Lu 錄 (prosperity), and Shou 壽
These officially sponsored temples hosted festi- (longevity) developed out of the Chinese preoc-
vals and celebrations that were attended by many cupation with achieving these characteristics of
people, who also could turn to these deities for well-being in their lives (Fig. 3.4). Found in early
practical assistance with community issues and texts such as the Confucian classic, the Book of
personal requests (Zito 1987: 333–334). Rural Odes, fu refers to the good luck of getting an offi-
areas also had local temples and ancestor shrines cial position, lu refers to a government salary, and
for large families that hosted a range of commu- together the term fulu refers to a bestowed gift.
nity events and provided a means by which peo- From at least the Late Zhou period (722–221
ple could interact with the gods to receive their BCE), shou referred to longevity, one of the five
blessings. sources of happiness. These concepts grew in
People across East Asia not only go to sacred importance throughout China’s history as people
places—such as the local earth god shrine, the began to believe that these blessings could be
urban city god temple, the Buddhist temple, or bestowed on anyone seen as worthy of their
the Shinto shrine in Japan—to light incense and receipt, hence their popularity among all strata of
to pray to the gods, but they also perform simple society (Fong 1983: 181).
religious ceremonies in their homes (Poo 1998: Woodcuts, paintings, statues, and other images
71). Rather than having complex altars and large of these three deities were common after the
statues, it has been common for at least the past Ming dynasty, when their stylized forms were
500 years for people to have paper images of codified with additional symbolism. In addition
gods, goddesses, immortals, or protective spirits. to the gods’ names being sought-after ideals, as a
Images of deities with children, gold, and fruit way of further symbolizing the traits attributed to
invoke sympathetic magic to bring these riches to this triad, artists added to the God of Good
the household that displays these pictures on Fortune’s image a bat, pronounced fu as a hom-
doors and above small altars. This might remind onym for blessings, and a peony flower symbol-
one of Deng Xiaoping’s (鄧小平; the leader of izing abundance; to the God of Prosperity’s
China from 1978 to 1992) famous adage about image, a deer, pronounced lu as a homonym for
cats: “It doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or prosperity and symbolizing long life in the Daoist
78 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

Fig. 3.4  Auspicious activities

in the temple. This woman in
the Daoist Black Ram temple
in Chengdu, Sichuan, China is
participating in a common
auspicious temple activity: She
closes her eyes, turns around
in place a few times to lose her
bearings, and then walks the
length of the courtyard with
her eyes closed hoping to
touch one of the three
auspicious characters lù 祿
(prosperity), shòu 壽
(longevity), or fú 福
(blessings). Folk traditions say
that she will get her wish and
the subject of the character if
she is able to touch it without
peeking (Credit: Shawn
Arthur, China, 2008)

tradition, and a scepter symbolizing attaining emphasized family-centered thinking, and

desired wishes; and to the God of Longevity’s Buddhism was more concerned with individual
image, a crane, a Daoist symbol of immortality, self-cultivation (Table 3.1).7
and a gourd that holds the elixir of immortality Simultaneously, folk traditional and popular
(Fong 1983: 182–194). religion dealt with all of the in-between areas for
common people that were not addressed by the
grand traditions. Within popular idioms, happi-
3.8 Conclusion ness and well-being were often expressed in
terms of helping others, of awareness of having
Throughout East Asian history there has been a just enough, and of sharing with friends and fam-
distinction between the various official religions ily. For example, folk sayings such as “helping
of Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Shinto, others is the root of happiness,” “the more sons
and folk or popular religion, which may or may you have, the happier you can be,” and “knowing
not have loose ties with official traditions, you already have enough is a constant source of
depending on the particular context. Official reli- happiness” were folk sources of happiness and
gions across East Asia can also be divided into well-being that were rooted in Confucianism that
two strands of thought and practice: officially show how some contemporary ideas about these
trained clergy and the laity, who had little train- issues are based on ancient ideals (Ip 2013: 700).
ing and had different concerns than the literati
who could write and read texts. 7 
The functioning of these three major religions divided in
Additionally, by the Song dynasty (960– this way provides insight into the social reality of
1279), new developments in Chinese Daoism, religion(s) in East Asia and some of their major differ-
ences from Western religions. For example, Chinese reli-
Confucianism, and Buddhism led to great syncre- gions each address certain aspects of life, but in an
tism and borrowing between the main traditions overlapping, inclusivist way rather than in a manner that
that continued through the Ming dynasty (1368– stresses exclusivism and adherence to only one perspec-
1644). During this later imperial period, aka tra- tive and set of beliefs. As Christianity and Islam moved
into China, the regions and ethnics groups that adopted
ditional China, we can see the various levels of these also have seen a rise in social and political unrest
concern for well-being at work: Daoism empha- due in large part to a loss of much social and religious
sized community-centered rituals, Confucianism inclusivity.
3  East Asian Historical Traditions of Well-Being 79

Table 3.1  Comparison of major Chinese religious groups and their well-being teachings (Arthur and Mair 2015)
Extending happiness to
Major teachings Path to well-being others
China generally and folk Combining aspects from Combining aspects from Combining aspects from
traditions all traditions all traditions all traditions
Teaching folk customs and Being healed with Being virtuous
traditions Chinese medicine Interacting well with one’s
Listening to one’s parents Participating in annual family, village, and
and elders celebrations community
Confucianism Benevolence and propriety Following the law Establishing strong
are keys to achieving Acting with virtue interactions and
social harmony. Living with awareness relationships with others
All virtues and morals are and attitude of concern Setting good examples for
social by nature. for others before oneself people to follow
Reciprocal relationships Emulating good examples Respecting and honoring
are important. taught and set by others others
Daoism Gaining influence over Attuning to the Dao Performing blessing and
celestial bureaucracy Perfecting health by healing rituals
Cultivating spirit energy refining the body and its Performing rituals to help
energies others
Balancing life’s states Living a moral life Respecting and honoring
others
Practicing longevity Praying to the gods and Providing sacred space
techniques visualizing their and opportunities for
Exhibiting moral integrity protective presence auspicious activities
Acting without conflict
Buddhism Ending suffering due to Realizing the reality of Practicing wisdom,
understanding reality suffering and how to stop compassion, equanimity,
Practicing moral integrity it and the bodhisattva ideal
Upholding the precepts Respecting and honoring
Practicing meditation others
Stopping attachment Applying these Developing inner peace
Behaving in moderation techniques to life
Examining the mind

There can be no doubt that Christianity, more, the cultural, religious, medical, political,
Marxism, capitalism, Western educational sys- social, and intellectual systems were consciously
tems, Islam, and other influences from abroad integrated in various ways with common theo-
have had an enormous impact on East Asian soci- retical foundations through which each part
eties, yet traditional values and practices persist. shared concepts while contributing unique ideas.
Rather than simply replacing old concepts and Most importantly, we can clearly see that well-­
practices, the new social and cultural strands being happens on a range of levels and in a vari-
have fused with what came before to form an ety of areas of life, so educators and policy
interesting combination of East and West. makers need to focus their energies on ­developing
Happiness, good fortune, and longevity are still more well-rounded and comprehensive
chief desires, but how they are achieved and what approaches to their perspectives on well-being. A
constitutes them are not identical to what they common, detrimental issue is myopic theory and
were centuries ago. policy that sees only one issue and argues that
The Chinese case study is interesting and one solution is all that is necessary. It should be
informative because for the past 2500 years or clear from this chapter that well-being is a com-
80 S. Arthur and V.H. Mair

plicated issue that needs to be addressed from difference, (dis-)ability, (un-)employment, edu-
multiple perspectives before it could have even cation level, family education background—and
marginal success. Addressing only one aspect diversity—which does not only mean color, race,
without accounting for the many other aspects of and country of origin but also includes all of the
peoples’ lives—and the people in many different categories of disparity and more—among the
places in the social scheme of well-being—can people that the policy makers are trying to assist.
be problematic, often necessitating a series of People living in poverty versus economic stabil-
stopgap measures to remedy weaknesses in the ity and prosperity or people with healthy bodies
initial approach. Were policy makers to consult versus people with disabled bodies that are con-
regularly with a range of nonpolitician and stantly in pain are living worlds apart and are in
­nonbusiness experts, by which we mean the soci- need of radically different solutions. The real
ologists, psychologists, religious studies schol- limitations of poverty and the other differences
ars, anthropologists, and other scholars who between the haves and the have-nots need to be
study the issues at hand professionally and who addressed honestly, thoroughly, and comprehen-
are recognized experts in their fields (as exempli- sively for the real benefit of the people in need.
fied in this handbook), they would place them- Now, in the twenty-first century, with the eco-
selves in significantly better positions to make nomic prosperity of a rapidly growing elite class
well-informed decisions and have comprehensive and its conspicuous consumption and obsession
visions about the issues that they currently rely with luxury goods, questions about well-being
on their aides to summarize for them. remain important for the majority of East Asia’s
This example of China provides a second clear populace, most of whom remain estranged from
area of thought for policy makers regarding this economic growth. These men and women
issues of disparity and diversity. For example, rely on the same types of well-being issues and
Chinese medicine diagnoses patients on an indi- practices discussed throughout this chapter.
vidual basis because each pattern of internal Certain aspects of East Asia are modernizing, yet
energy leading to illness or health is unique to the the core of what it means to be and act Chinese,
individual. Similarly, when Chinese politicians Japanese, and/or Korean remains rooted in a
write health laws, they try to remain aware of the multi-millennia-old history.
multiple layers of society that the law must
address equally: from wealthy urbanites to poor
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 Well-Being in India: A Historical
and Anthropological Report 4
Isabelle Clark-Decès and Frederick M. Smith
Any place is a palace if your heart decides so. (Tamil Proverb)

4.1 Introduction: Nature, including the partition of India and Pakistan in

Culture, and Well-Being 1947 and their emergence as independent coun-
in South Asia and India tries, freed from the bonds of British colonialism.
Nevertheless, for the purposes of this chapter, we
All people, including those in all parts of South cover pre-independence South Asia separately
Asia, have consistently sought health, prosperity, from post-independence India, because the
longevity, community, and a state of comfort nature of the different sources dictates this. We
with their natural surroundings; they have, in find, however, that they augment each other, and
other words, consistently sought well-being. taken together, they enable us to provide a
Nevertheless, both culture and nature generate vignette of continuity and well-being in South
inequalities that challenge their vision of well-­ Asia from deep historical periods to the present
being and force adaptations that may be no less day.
agreeable. This is to say that the very concept of The Indian and other South Asian quests for
well-being, including standards of opportunity health, prosperity, community, safety, education,
and prosperity embedded within it as expressed and other factors generally associated with well-­
in the areas of health, education, income, and being cannot be assumed to be constructed or
subjective well-being, shift from culture to cul- realized as they are in the West or as they are
ture. India, including both its classical and mod- measured and quantified by Western economists
ern periods, is a land of discrete and disparate and philanthropic bodies (Drèze and Sen 2013).
cultures. These cultures have often collided but Cultural and religious markers of well-being,
remain united in a cultural conservatism that ren- including those that inhere in the unique histories
ders it both possible and desirable to address of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and in Indian
well-being as a recognizable continuum rather political and socioeconomic formations, require
than through major upheavals and disjunctions, that we examine well-being in South Asia, per-
haps India in particular, through a separate prism,
which is what we propose to do here.
The main questions around which the follow-
I. Clark-Decès (*)
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
ing discussions are based are (1) What is in
e-mail: [email protected] Indian religious doctrine (primarily Buddhist,
F.M. Smith
Hindu, and, later, Islam) that helps shape
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA c
­ onceptions of well-being that are applied
e-mail: [email protected] throughout Indian culture? (2) Can we identify

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 83

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_4
84 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

literary or other sources that help us confirm that cle, the term South Asia refers to the area that
these conceptions are more than artifacts of liter- includes these countries, even if parts of
ary production? (3) How do the unique (and per- Afghanistan and Burma are both geographically
vasive) Indian social system of caste and the and culturally related to South Asia. From the
ideas of status that inhere in it shape local con- beginning of British dominion in South Asia in
ceptions of well-being? (4) How has state forma- the late eighteenth century, the name India
tion contributed to well-being, particularly under endured as the geopolitical marker for the area
the Mughals (1526–early eighteenth century), the that comprised present-day India, Pakistan, and
British, and modern neoliberal industrializing Bangladesh. After August 15, 1947, however, the
India? (5) How does public religious perfor- situation changed. India assumed its present bor-
mance continue to shape well-being in modern ders while the western and eastern parts of it
India? The answers to these questions will enable became Pakistan and (in 1971) Bangladesh. Sri
us to better theorize and understand the shape of Lanka (previously called Ceylon), which since
well-being in India historically, on the ground 1798 had been a British Crown Colony, achieved
today, and, ideally, in the future. We are a histo- independence shortly thereafter, in February
rian/linguist and a cultural anthropologist and 1948. Nepal and Bhutan were never British colo-
cannot claim expertise in quantitative analysis or nies and, like Sri Lanka, were never considered a
data gathering beyond our respective social sci- part of India. The entire area, however, has long
ence disciplines. Our contributions, then, reside shared a great deal culturally, despite the pres-
more confidently in an assessment of subjective ence of more than 25 major languages and innu-
well-being. However, before we turn to further merable minor ones. South Asian culture, then,
descriptions of method, then enter into the body with its many shared traits, extends beyond the
of the essay, it is necessary to say a few words boundaries of classical India or the three central
about the term South Asia and its historical and countries that today constitute the bulk of the
present overlap with India and other countries in area. We retain both designations here, speaking
the region. of South Asia in reference to pre-independence
The term South Asia is a distinctly modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as a single cul-
term used to identify a geopolitical region that tural or geographic area, as well as the same area
includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, in the post-independence period when speaking
Bhutan,1 and Sri Lanka. It was coined in the of it as a cultural area. We use the word India
1950s to demarcate it from West Asia, Central when referring to ancient or classical India (as it
Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. In this arti- is commonly used), but only to the modern post-­
independence country, distinguishing it from
It is worth mentioning that in 2005 Bhutan introduced a
1  Pakistan and the rest of South Asia, in addressing
policy initiative called “Gross National Happiness” matters of specific concern to that country. This
(GNH). In 2010 an extensive GNH survey was conducted: slight confusion is better understood when we
http://www.slideshare.net/CentreforBhutanStudies/wan-
realize that the word Pakistan was not coined
10000689. For the GNH Commission, see: http://www.
gnhc.gov.bt/. The present authors are unable to comment until the late 1930s and only indicated the coun-
further on this initiative, except to suggest that it should be try itself after August 14, 1947. The authors are
interesting in a decade or so for independent researchers India specialists, in both the pre-independence
to validate, verify, or counter the claims of the Bhutan
and post-independence sense, which means,
government. Statistical measurement of well-being is a
decidedly western academic exercise, based on presuppo- practically, that the discussions of modernity are
sitions of western culture and religion. Only after a decade largely limited to India rather than Pakistan
or so will we be in a position to know the extent to which Bangladesh (or Nepal). Nevertheless, the term
well-being according to these standards coheres with
South Asia has proven to be of great help, and, as
well-being shaped by a culture that is 75 % Buddhist and
22 % Hindu, generally high altitude, and comparatively the reader will see, we use it frequently and
rural, agrarian, educated, and sparsely populated. unambiguously.
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 85

4.2 Sources of  Well-Being rial, other important sources for well-being
in Classical and Modern include royal and religious inscriptions (often
South Asia they are the same ones), which are found in the
thousands in South Asia, and the accounts of
A close examination of well-being in classical, travelers in the subcontinent, which date from the
premodern, and modern South Asia yields differ- first millennium before the Common Era (BCE)
ences from one location, decade, or century to until the arrival of the British in what was to
another, but on the whole acknowledges a con- become the British Raj (late eighteenth century
tinuum of recognition despite economic, politi- until 1947). Clearly, we cannot draw from all of
cal, and social disruptions. Thus, in treating the these sources in this article, but they deserve at
long history of South Asia, the abundance of least a brief mention.
sources on well-being argues for both shifting In the second section, we reflect on well-being
standards and a coherent depiction that take into from the perspective of anthropological studies in
account both temporal and environmental shifts modern South Asia. This material is inevitably
and cultural expectations, including variables of unlike the textual material and sheds a different
income distribution, literacy, health standards, quality of light on the nature of well-being
and gender roles, all of which are more easily because it focuses more sharply on direct descrip-
measured now than they were fifty or a thousand tion of caste and class and on their more specific
years ago. How, we might ask, does well-being and diverse conceptions of health, social rela-
take shape in a society in which a majority of the tions, gender, and religious beliefs. Although
people have historically been nonliterate despite both discussions are discursive, the first is neces-
class or caste status, but in which a high-profile sarily so due to the absence of reliable data col-
culture of literacy influences the body of well-­ lection in most such studies. Thus, we rely to a
being, analogous to the body politic? A corollary great extent in the second section on social indi-
question would be: How does well-being take cator data, even if the emphasis is on subjective
shape in a society which is characterized by mul- well-being. This approach falls within our areas
tiple standards of expectation, living, and con- of expertise and, along with more explicitly
ceptions of well-being? quantitative studies elsewhere in this volume,
We divide the chapter into two sections, the contributes to a better understanding of the
first addressing historical periods (Sects. 4.2 and dimensions of well-being in South Asia, a region
4.3) and the second addressing modern South with a long, variable, and complex history and a
Asia (Sects. 4.4 and 4.5) with particular reference present that is equally diverse and bewildering.
to India. The former sets the tone for well-being The chapter, then, examines the roots of well-­
in modern India; indeed, recognition of the past being as understood in South Asia from historical
is particularly important for understanding mod- and anthropological perspectives. It recapitulates
ern India, even if much of this past remains con- what ancient and classical texts and historical
tested. Thus, it is important to consider well-being studies report about well-being and connects this
as recorded in classical literature, as well as in approach with well-being as understood in the
cultural and material formations that emerge current ethnographic literature on South Asia.
from texts and historical documents. The texts Thus, the methods are text-critical, historical, and
include an extensive medical, legal, social, and (ethnographically) descriptive. We cover the fol-
religious literature that guided much of life in lowing topics, generally chronologically,
ancient and classical South Asia. Other poetic, although because of the vast timescape, concepts
literary, and historical sources are critical because occasionally override chronology. We review (1)
they reveal cultural formations and social classical concepts, often deriving from the con-
arrangements that loom large in establishing the cepts of well-being found in indigenous South
vision of well-being that has endured for several Asian religions, primarily Buddhism and
millennia in South Asia. In addition to this mate- Hinduism; (2) Islamic concepts of well-being
86 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

Table 4.1  Brief timeline of Indian philosophical development

Time period Cultural and philosophical developments
3000–1750 BCE Indus Valley Civilization—earliest record of cultural activity, along Indus River
(www.harappa.com, www.crystalinks.com/indusmap.gif)
1500–1000 BCE Rig Veda and early Vedic ritual—earliest record of religious hymns and sacrificial
ritual (http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/vedica.pdf)
700–300 BCE Upaniṣads—early philosophical speculations (Brereton 1990)
400–350 BCE The Buddha and the birth of Buddhism (Gethin 1998)
200 BCE–200 CE Sanskrit epics: Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa (Brockington 1998)
50–125 CE Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra—codification of rules of statecraft, governance, and kingship
(Olivelle 2013)
First to fifth centuries CE Early canonical medical (Ayurvedic) texts: Caraka-Saṃhitā, Suśruta-Saṃhitā,
Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya-Saṃhitā (Wujastyk 1998)
Second century CE Laws of Manu—injunctions of sociocultural law, women’s rights, caste rules (Olivelle
2005)
Third to fifth centuries CE Gupta Dynasty—the flourishing of Hindu literature, culture, and art (Thapar 2004)
Third to eleventh centuries Development of Indian analytic philosophy and religious culture (Gupta 2011)
CE
Eighth to twelfth centuries Flourishing of Hinduism in Kashmir and early historical writing (Zutshi 2014)
Eighth to thirteenth Introduction of Islam to India and early Muslim kingdoms (Eaton 2006)
centuries
Sixteenth to eighteenth Mughal Dynasty in North India, flourishing of Perso-Islamic culture, art, architecture,
centuries and literature (Schimmel 2004)
1757–1947 British ascendancy and Rāj (Judd 2004)
1947–present Independent India (Guha 2008)

that became prominent in India in the first half of 4.2.2 Early Sanskrit Terms
the second millennium of the Common Era (CE); for Well-Being
(3) material on European colonialism and parti-
tion; (4) anthropological sources on India after Among the terms in classical Sanskrit that
independence; (5) discourses of well-being approximate the modern concept of well-being
emerging from modernity, new government poli- are “good-space” (sukha), indicating satisfaction,
cies, and nongovernmental organizations. We happiness, ease, agreeability, and comfort; a
divide the chapter into two main sections: well-­ sound, beneficial, or healthy state (hita) often
being in classical and premodern South Asia and intended as the collective result of gift-giving or
the anthropology of well-being in South Asia. religious practice; suitability, competence, and
Finally, we offer a few modest conclusions. cleverness (kuśala); appropriateness (aucitya);
the oldest literary equivalent to “well-being” in
Indian literature (svasti), which most often bears
4.2.1 T
 imeline of South Asian the sense of auspiciousness; and “established in
and Indian History oneself” (svasthya), used in medical texts to indi-
cate a state of good health and general robustness
We begin this section with a fully referenced (see below). These words encompass fairly well
timeline introducing Indian and South Asian cul- the semantic horizons of “well-being” in ancient
tural history so that the remainder of the chapter and classical India, parameters that continue two
makes sense to the reader (Table 4.1). We then to three millennia later. It is also important to
discuss conceptions of well-being that developed note, for the Mughal period and the partial
in South Asia during these periods. Islamicization of South Asia in the second mil-
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 87

lennium CE, that the word islām itself “evokes with attendants situated on either side of a healthy
well-being, intactness, peace, safety, and secu- seated Buddha, the paradigmatic figure of
rity” (Antes 1989: 177). That said, it is mislead-compassion and wisdom, and themselves sur-
­
ing and inaccurate confidently to record rounded by an equally well-attired celestial
conceptions of well-being in South Asia for his- entourage. The depiction is idealized, to be sure,
torical or pre-independence India without regu- but the ideal it expresses is of health, beauty,
larly referencing what we can detect of “actual” love, responsiveness, and dexterity that may be
well-being from their historical contexts. readily recognized as components of well-being
Similarly, we are in no better position to distin-in what was then a comparatively sparsely popu-
guish between “evaluative well-being” and lated India, which, at the time, had one of the
“experienced well-being” (Kahneman 2011) his- highest standards of living in the world. Like this
torically, because of the prominence in the his- depiction of the symbiotic relationship between
torical record of prescriptive well-being, the monastic religion and life in the world, the murals
result of the relative paucity of narrative socialat the Buddhist Ajanta caves not too far away
history in South Asia. At least one recent article“portray a prosperous and multicultural environ-
has identified soteriological conceptions within ment filled with people wearing golden jewels
early Sanskritic religious texts as tantamount to and…enjoying imported goods” (Brancaccio
conceptions of well-being (Joshanloo 2014). 2011: 80). Indeed, the first or second century CE
Regardless of the influence of such conceptions Arthaśāstra, the foundational Sanskrit text on
on indigenous philosophical and modern aca- statecraft and governance in classical India
demic discourse, they had little effect on well-­ (Olivelle 2013), along with the texts that framed
being as it was lived on the ground. In a highly it from two to three centuries earlier, speak of
stratified society in which “Hinduism” was para- trade for coral and other luxury goods that must
mount but localized into hundreds of distinct tra-have come from the Persian Gulf and even Egypt.
ditions of practice (and, secondarily, belief), We know, then, that well-being in terms of the
many with little connection to others that might presence and acquisition of luxury goods was
even be geographically nearby, these conceptions well-attested in South Asia, beginning at a very
left few traces outside the literature of a tiny elite.
early date.
Thus, strongly wrought ethical systems, such as The Buddhist sense of well-being is, as we can
Buddhism, could arguably be associated with see here, at least in part based on bodily well-­
well-being, whereas notions such as the identity being and worldly satisfaction. But it also
of the individual self (ātman) with the abstract emerges from the fundamental doctrines of
absolute (brahman), in early Hindu thought, are Buddhism redacted a few generations after the
more problematic. The latter, certainly, disap- Buddha but surely transmitted orally from him in
peared when compared to notions of dharma, his early teachings between 450 and 400
which were widespread and which we discuss BCE. These include, especially, the four Noble
below. Truths and the Eightfold Path. In Fig. 4.1 from
the Karla caves, the Buddha is depicted as cen-
tral, solitary, and exceptional, surrounded by
4.2.3 Buddhist Conceptions earthly and celestial figures, but displaying hand
of Well-Being gestures with the coded meanings of asceticism
and correct teaching. This figure undergirds the
The following depiction of two couples in classi- depiction of well-being, shadowing it with the
cal India is from Karla, a mid-first millennium Buddhist elements of ephemerality and austerity.
CE series of Buddhist rock-cut caves in the The Eightfold Path includes (1) right view, (2)
present-­day state of Maharashtra, about halfway right intention, (3) right speech, (4) right action,
between Mumbai and Pune. The couples are full-­ (5) right livelihood, (6) right effort, (7) right
bodied, healthy, well-groomed, agile, well-placed mindfulness, and (8) right concentration. If we
88 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

Fig. 4.1  Relief at Karla caves (Photo © 2014 by Nachiket Chanchani; used with permission)

look at this relief with these virtues in mind, we Four Noble Truths—that life is suffering.
can see well-being as portrayed in just these Subsequently, well-being is grounded in the con-
terms. The agility, strength, sexual fullness, and struction of a system of ethics that considers what
healthfulness are depicted in balance with the is in the best interest of the individual and of all
Buddha and Buddhist virtues. We know that the sentient beings, in developing a psychological
artist understood fundamental Buddhist doctrines state that favors pleasure over pain but at the
and was able to bring them into this sculptural same time emphasizes the reality of change and
depiction. cultivates specific virtues, including generosity,
All of this feeds into the central Buddhist goal friendliness, compassion, joyfulness, and even-­
of attaining nirvāṇa, literally meaning “blown mindedness. This concept consistently trumped
out.” This term refers to a state, inclusive of psy- notions of hedonism or other forms of pure
chological well-being, in which the individual human desire as foundations of well-being
realizes that the entire world and all conditions (Harris 2014). Indeed, notions of well-being in
within it are temporary and that the blowing out classical India, regardless of the designated reli-
of the illusion of permanence leads to an under- gious culture or peculiarities of social structure,
standing that every idea, thought, life condition, were, with few exceptions, grounded in a practi-
or object, is dependent on prior causes that are cable ethics, prioritization of pleasure, a sense of
extended indefinitely and infinitely. This state is final reward, respect for authority, and, as part of
the satisfaction afforded by realizing nirvāṇa. this (as we see below), maintenance of status and
The Buddha is the one who initially realized, place in the social and intellectual order. All of
then transmitted, this knowledge, which is why these concepts are depicted in the relief from
he is at the center of the Karla relief. The Karla.
Eightfold Path and the attainment of nirvāṇa, the It is also important to understand that by the
instrumental and intrinsic “goals” of Buddhism, end of the first millennium BCE Buddhism had
are predicated on recognition of the first of the split into two distinct schools: Theravāda (“the
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 89

doctrine of the elders”), which remained in Sri 4.2.4 Brahmanical, Hindu,

Lanka and Southeast Asia, and Mahāyāna (“the and Other Early Indian
great path”), which gained currency in Tibet, Cultural Conceptions
China, and the remainder of East Asia. The pri- of Well-Being
mary point relevant to well-being is that in
Theravāda Buddhism, enlightenment or the real- The vast literature of ancient and classical India
ization of nirvāṇa as the highest goal was achiev- spans both the north and the south, from the early
able only by monks (not even nuns) and was an Vedas in the far northwest, in what is now
individual attainment brought about through Afghanistan and Pakistan, to early first millen-
Buddhist practice over many (usually countless) nium Cankam poetry in the far south, to pan-­
lifetimes of suffering and hard work. In Mahāyāna Indian drama and epic poetry that covers the
Buddhism, the advanced Buddhist practitioner entire first millennium CE. All of this literature
possessed the option, which he was supposed to includes the themes of love between a man and a
accept, to reject the heavenly rewards that came woman, beauty, humor, health, the subtleties of
along with the achievement of nirvāṇa in order to friendship and enmity, verbal erudition, and com-
become a bodhisattva, an “enlightenment being” plexity of expression. All of these themes readily
motivated by compassion for all living beings. convey conceptions of cultural, social, and indi-
The bodhisattva foreswears entrance into higher vidual well-being that are as resonant to us in a
realms in order to return to this world in lifetime dislocated far future as they were to people a mil-
after lifetime to help every living being achieve lennium and more in the past. Indeed, because of
enlightenment, which in Buddhism amounts to a an Indo-European heritage in which cultures
highly quiescent state of well-being. across a broad area from northwestern Europe to
What this situation amounted to was a symbio- India shared essentially the same social divisions
sis between the large and powerful monastic insti- and many of the same linguistic structures, much
tutions and the laity. The monks, at least during of what we recognize today as characteristic of
the first millennium or so of Buddhism (fourth well-being in India is accessible to us.
century BCE until the latter centuries of the first This image of well-being can be explored and
millennium CE) served as religious guides and summarized from classical sources as well as
priests for the laity whereas the latter supported from observations regarding the social system
the monastic institutions with gifts, labor, and that evolved over several millennia, resulting in
other forms of remuneration. During the last few an almost completely closed “system” of caste
centuries of the first millennium CE and the first identification, which roughly, if never exclu-
few centuries of the second millennium, Buddhism sively, coincided with class. Although the earliest
disappeared from the subcontinent, except in a text in India, the Rig Veda, naturalized the four
few areas in Nepal (and Bhutan) contiguous with occupational divisions of priest, warrior, mer-
Tibet, and in Sri Lanka. It is not necessary here to chant, and laborer as a part of its creation myth
discuss the causes for this disappearance; it is and foundational cosmology as early as the tenth
only important to note that it was supplanted by century BCE, early literature, inscriptions, and
various Hindu denominations in most of subcon- court documents indicate that this classification
tinental India, and by Islam in the far northwest of was not limited to birth status until nearly the end
South Asia, from Afghanistan and Pakistan into of the first millennium CE. It is likely that the
the mountainous parts of northernmost India. upper castes, at least, regarded these divisions,
Regardless of the methods used to supplant and consequent social separations, as productive
Buddhism (e.g., shifting patronage systems, the in securing their well-being; caste as a d­ ependable
rise of Hindu devotionalism, forced conversion), system worked to preserve cultural and religious
religiously based cultural formations offered practices and traditions that were passed on
alternative forms of well-being that were regarded within their own clans. Eventually, well-being
as no less attractive than what came before them. became dependent on class, caste, and occupa-
90 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

tional status because these promoted the condi- century CE. This text has much to say about both
tions necessary to preserve individual and dharma and well-being. It is clear from the Gītā
community identity, even if the features of love, that dharma is intimately connected with well-­
beauty, and the others mentioned above still being and that these two were conceived of as
served as culturally recognizable indicators of both individual and collective. The Gītā states
well-being beyond local identities. explicitly that individual happiness, hence well-­
A few notable literary figures whose works being, is dependent on each person acting in
betray a high level of well-being in first millen- accordance with his or her specified dharma. The
nium India include the first century CE Prakrit Gītā concludes with an exhortation to perform
poet Hāla, who wrote of the shyness and pain of one’s own self-ordained duty (dharma), even
arranged marriage; the fourth century Sanskrit imperfectly, rather than another’s dharma per-
poet Kālidāsa, who wrote of love and longing and fectly (18.47). Thus, one’s ideal state of well-­
of the beauty of landscaped gardens; the early being was viewed as dependent on a naturalized
seventh century dramatist Mahendravarman, order: A warrior must be a warrior, a merchant a
whose wisecracks and facetiousness were aimed merchant, a priest a priest, a laborer a laborer.
at Buddhist monks and others in positions of reli- This naturalized and sanctified order was cer-
gious authority; and the ninth century Sanskrit tainly a reflection of the dominant social order in
and Prakrit literary critic, poet, and dramatist northern India at the time. But the notion of col-
Rājaśekhara, who, with great ingenuity and lective well-being revealed here undoubtedly
humor, skewered the religious establishment, helped perpetuate power structures inherent in
including the sacred Vedas themselves. this social order, which in turn reinforced notions
of well-being as dependent on the purity of caste.
The Gītā (1.40) states that the mixing of caste
4.2.5 W
 ell-Being as Dharma: brought about through the “defilement” of
The Bhagavad-Gītā, the Laws women by members of other castes is a one-way
of Manu, the Mahābhārata ticket to hell for the entire clan. That said, and
despite the continued aggregation of occupation-
Religiously, well-being, at least among the three and lineage-based castes in India that theoreti-
upper social divisions around whom the notions cally assisted well-being, social and occupational
of a discreet country of interlocking political and mobility were never completely halted in South
social arrangements congealed in the mid- to late Asia. The security offered by caste was, however,
first millennium BCE, was viewed in terms of an attractive feature in the overall construction of
punishment and reward in the afterlife and of well-being in South Asia, which is why caste was
what would lead to that. Those who lived a good, embraced by other religious communities that
productive, and socially adherent life were came later, including Muslims, Sikhs, and
rewarded with an abode in the world of the ances- Christians.
tors or were believed to take rebirth in exalted The paradigmatic text dedicated to dharma,
states. This trajectory was guided by adherence The Laws of Manu (ca. second century BCE—
to dharma, sociocultural practice and law that first century CE), reflects a society of relative
was generally explicitly enjoined, even if the amplitude, guided by virtues conducive to well-­
copious texts of dharma also discussed how to being such as moderation, monogamy, truthful-
evaluate behavior that was beyond the active con- ness, freedom from anger, personal purity, and
trol of injunction. adherence to the Vedas. Manu 7.211 states that
The best known and arguably the most charac- the qualities worthy of a noble man include com-
teristic religious text of classical India is the passion, valor, and constant generosity. With
Bhagavad Gītā, a tiny fragment of the respect to hospitality, Manu 3.105–106 states,
Mahābhārata, the great Indian national epic dat- without any apparent bias against the caste or
ing from perhaps the first century BCE to the first class of the visitor, “A householder must never
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 91

turn away a guest led there by the sun in the eve- did operate in independent juridical and injunc-
ning; and whether he arrives there at the proper tive realms (e.g., Buddhists, Jains, and others out-
time or not, he should not let him remain in his side the orthodox Brahmanical fold). This
house without food. Nor should he eat anything freedom allowed communities to adjust their
that he does not serve his guest. Honoring a guest received definitions of well-being, but never so
leads to wealth, fame, long life, and heaven” far that they would detach themselves from their
(Olivelle 2005: 113). This apparent egalitarian- moorings. As William James (1907) wrote in his
ism, however, must be weighed against countless Defence of Pragmatism, “The most violent revo-
references in the same text to caste exclusivism lutions in an individual’s beliefs leave most of his
and commensality. Similarly, Manu and many old order standing” (p. 357). This observation
other first millennium texts, including Buddhist was certainly as true culturally in first-­millennium
ones, identify groups such as Persians and South Asia among communities as it was for
Draviḍas who were once warriors (kṣatriya) but individuals a millennium and a half later.
sank to the level of śūdra and even lower, into
untouchability. Thus, even at this date, the
extreme sensitivity to caste was readily found; 4.2.6 Stages of Life (āśramas)
there can be no doubt that well-being throughout
most of South Asian history was more often than The most important formal indicator of well-­
not determined by the enforced harmony created being was the division of life into four stages
by the cultural acceptance (although often grudg- (āśrama), each with different criteria for well-­
ing) of the caste system. being (Olivelle 1993). The first is studentship,
Other texts, including India’s great epic, the which lasts approximately twelve years, during
Mahābhārata, of approximately the same period which the young man studies the ancient scrip-
as Manu, illustrate sexual life (Meyer 1930) more tures, philosophical texts, literature, science, and
or less in keeping with what many cultures have formal Sanskrit grammar. This approach is pre-
recognized historically: monogamy (often scribed for boys. There are frequent references to
arranged) as a general rule, punishment for sex- women’s education and literacy, but it appears
ual offences, and preference for virginity in a that the selective way in which the genders were
wife. A well-known story in the Mahābhārata sequestered contributed to a certain amount of
describes the repeated restoration of virginity, a well-being for both. Women had their own reli-
gift from the gods, as a strategy for rescuing both gious and practical educations that were also
the damsel in distress and her relatively power- regulated by texts, although in practice surely
less but sincere protector. Punishment was regu- more loosely than in the prescriptive literature
larly meted out for theft, perjury, murder (albeit, (Leslie 1989). The second stage of life is that of
in the earlier periods not capital punishment), and the householder, demarcated by an elaborate
so on. These are but a few examples of the rules marriage ceremony and raising of a family. Well-­
of dharma that were generally observed by mem- being during this stage of life was consistent with
bers of the upper classes, even if they were pre- the expectations of family and societal amity dis-
scribed, by default, for all members of society, cussed in the prescriptive dharma literature. The
including the large numbers who undoubtedly third stage of life is that of the retiree. The chil-
were exempt because they had never heard of dren are out of the house, and the parents retire to
them and had no contact with the upper and liter- a forest dwelling for a period of contemplation.
ate classes. This reality, in fact, is recognized by Finally, the fourth stage of life for the couple
the dharma texts, which understand the regula- commences after an undetermined amount of
tions, conventions, and governance of any com- time as forest dwellers. At this time the couple
munity to be as valid and applicable as those of embarks on a final period as wandering religious
any of the three upper castes that they address mendicants, as world renouncers. The dharma
more specifically, that communities could and texts even prescribe how religious begging should
92 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

be conducted; this stage is also bound in a battery residence in the heavenly world and a happy
of rules. Renunciation was an accepted aspect of rebirth for the deceased and safety for the living
Indian culture; Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and later from the bothersome spirits of their near and dear
Muslim renunciation was accepted as an honor- who might not have undergone proper funeral
able, if always peculiar and disappointing, escape rites.
mechanism. It was necessary for the well-being Religious renunciates, who represented a
of substantial numbers of individuals and was sanctioned (if somewhat disordered) escape from
embraced more readily when it was institutional- the restrictive social hierarchy, were given the
ized, as it almost always was in Buddhism and freedom to focus on their own spiritual goals of
Jainism, if less so in Hinduism, until the second liberation from the cycle of rebirth as well as
millennium. Passing through the four stages of attending to the religious and spiritual well-being
life was of course normative and was rarely of the community that supported them. This was
achieved for a number of reasons, including the true for renunciates from the Brahmanical,
limitations of lifespan and the tendency for the Buddhist, and Jain religious communities, in
retired and the elderly to remain with their fami- which a symbiosis between laity and monastic
lies. The point is that Indian society, or as much orders enhanced the well-being of both. Royalty
of it as could be enveloped in the network of patronized religious activities such as the con-
Sanskritic culture, was, at least in name, highly struction of temples and guild activities, princi-
regulated. Equally, however, it indicates that pally manufacturing, in order to support the
well-being, both individual and community, well-being of these substantial and vigorous
operated within sociocultural goals that were communities. The noted historian Romila Thapar
envisioned as realizable. It is important to men- writes, “A temple built through royal patronage
tion that well-being within families was secured was seen as symbolizing the power and well-­
by inheritance, a particularly knotty topic that being of the kingdom” (Thapar 2004: 479).
dharma texts addressed at length for two This state power was reciprocated by the reli-
millenniums. gious and mercantile communities: The latter
paid taxes and the former, exempt from taxes,
were believed to control unseen forces through
4.2.7 Well-Being Through  Ritual the power of ritual and esoteric Sanskrit recita-
and Patronage tion to confer power, authority, heavenly rewards,
and earthly well-being upon the king. All of this
Upper caste communities, Brahmins and some- contributed to the realization of one of the desig-
times Kṣatriyas (warriors and ruling class per- nated aims of Indian, particularly Hindu, culture,
sonnel), were charged with the duties of artha, or economic well-being. Through all of
performing religious ritual, including sacrifices this a common morality emerged that generally
and the recitation of sacred Vedic texts, which supported culturally normativized relations of
were thought to promote the well-being not only love and marriage, community relations, includ-
of the clan itself but of the entire cosmos. Besides ing notions of purity and pollution that estab-
these, innumerable rituals and other priestly ser- lished boundaries between surrounding
vices were performed for the well-being of the communities, and religious objectives, including
client. Included here would be baby-naming cer- the attainment of higher states in a succession of
emonies, tantamount to baptism, that brought the rebirths. This classical ideal has carried over to
newborn under the protective authority of the the modern period, in which doing the right thing
Vedic establishment; astrological consultations, according to the ideas of dharma is generally the
which became increasingly popular toward the individual foundation of well-being. The rewards
close of the first millennium CE; house consecra- inhere in the dharma itself, which provides satis-
tions; and progressively complicated (and expen- faction and recognition, two of the key compo-
sive) rites for the dead, designed to assure nents of well-being in India.
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 93

4.2.8 M
 edicine and Healing mental Ayurvedic orientation of well-being ver-
as Indicators of Well-Being sus imbalance.
In addition to these definitions of health that
The indigenous Indian medical system, Ayurveda consciously reflected and imprinted concepts of
(“knowledge of longevity”), actively addressed well-being, Ayurveda was an integral part of an
the two sides of healing, medical and spiritual or ancient and constantly updated cultural system
religious, both of which it saw (and continues to that reinforced allied conceptions of well-being.
see) as necessary for the continued well-being of These included notions of dharma, which occu-
both the individual and the community. The pied important sections of medical texts and edu-
Sanskrit word svasthya, a fairly exact equivalent cation; notions of destiny and the afterlife that
to “well-being,” was articulated as the standard were well-attested markers of well-being in
of health in the canonical texts of Ayurveda as far South Asia; and ethics, which occupied a promi-
back as the first two centuries CE. The opposite nent position in the training of physicians
of this, “dis-ease,” was defined as imbalance (Dagmar Wujastyk 2012) and were important in
(vaiṣamya). In this way the polarity of health was the overall determination of well-being in South
measured in terms of well-being and imbalance. Asia.
Well-being was defined as balance because the
medical system was dedicated to balancing the
three “humors” (wind, bile, and phlegm), an 4.2.9 W
 omen as Bearers
early borrowing from Greek medicine, through of Well-Being
lifestyle augmentation and medicinal treatment
for physical and emotional debilities. Ayurveda’s Because of the normal ways in which literature,
approach draws the same distinctions between both technical and poetic, operates, we must
“illness” and “disease” that Arthur Kleinman has assume at least some disjunction between the
in the late twentieth century, seeing illness as visions of normativity expressed in texts and the
“experience that is always culturally shaped” social realities within which they were com-
(Kleinman 1988: 5) and “inseparable from life posed. The former reflects or prescribes social
history” (1988: 8), whereas “disease recasts ill- norms authorized by a small privileged group
ness in terms of theories of disorder” (1988: 5), with particular literary or cultural agendas,
the latter, in the case of Ayurveda, determined by including a nostalgia recalling times that were,
humoral imbalance. Thus, in Ayurveda, well-­ by the time of authorship, mythic. As such, this
being was applied to the individual and the local classical literature exposes areas in which the
culture in different registers. Even as Indian med- authors have had little active interest or intellec-
icine expanded through the centuries, and disease tual engagement. Among the most prominent of
identification and treatment became much more these are religion and the education of women,
specific, the standard of health, namely well-­ notable for the fact that nearly the entire corpus
being, was consistently retained. It went beyond of religious and prescriptive literature was writ-
what we would regard as factors that are strictly ten by men for men, with women discussed sec-
biological or pathological to include notions of ondarily, nostalgically, or peripherally. From this
balance in the internal and external environments literature, however, as well as from historical
as well as in the social order. In the long history sources, we know that most aspects of culture
of premodern India, newer forms of diagnosis and religion, including values that served as the
and treatment were developed internally or bor- foundation for subjective well-being, have been
rowed from outside and absorbed into Ayurveda transmitted from one generation to the next, for
(e.g., pulse diagnosis, almost certainly from centuries or millennia, by women, which is to say
China, in the sixteenth century, and mineral-­ by mothers, aunts, and other female relatives in
based Tantric medicine, developed internally in nuclear families. Men were responsible for the
approximately the tenth century). But none of composition of texts and for handing them down
these premodern developments altered the funda- in select lineages to (mostly) male students, reli-
94 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

gious figures, and legislators and for transmitting replace the classical lingua franca, Sanskrit, Pali
values such as courage and bravery, but women (of the Buddhists), and Ardhamagadhi (of the
were the promethean figures who served as the Jains) as the literary languages of choice among
glue that passed the building-blocks of well-­ the educated. These languages were supple-
being, namely religious narrative, cultural mem- mented by Persian in the period of Mughal rule
ory, behavioral skills, psychological material of and beyond (1526 to the early twentieth century);
daily life, and the humane qualities of dealing by English, with the ascendancy of the British
with everyday suffering, from one generation to (late eighteenth century to the present); and by
the next. Urdu (an amalgam of Hindi and Persian), widely
There is little solid evidence that women were understood by Indian and Pakistani Muslims, but
educated on the same level as men, at least edu- mutually intelligible with Hindi. As Indian sci-
cation presented in Sanskrit. Anecdotal reports of ence, medicine, literature and language evolved,
educated women, as well as periodic if strong new socioreligious formations, including, princi-
evidence of women writers and poets, do not pally, Islam, Sikhism, and Christianity, took root.
make up for the absence of evidence for equal But the factors that determined well-being for the
educations. Women were often teachers of other previous millennium or two, namely an identifi-
women but did not receive the same rites of pas- able social organization based on caste, notions
sage that were accorded men (Scharfe 2002: of purity, and the virtues mentioned above, per-
199–213). Yet their preeminent role in the family, sisted through these changes. Caste was adopted
household, and many aspects of temple ritual is by Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, and Christians, demon-
unquestioned. All of the law books recognize strating that it was not a specifically Hindu phe-
eight different kinds of marriage, from the formal nomenon but part of a cultural system that, taken
gifting of a bride by a virtuous person and a bride as a whole, was a widely adopted indicator of
given away during a sacrifice to a love match to well-being. Under the Mughals, non-Muslims
forced abduction and rape. The latter two are sub- were subjected to additional taxation; Hindu tem-
ject to severe punishment. Although the classical ples were occasionally dismantled and replaced
law books do not all specify the punishments for with mosques; and increasingly in northern and
rape, they are often recorded as severe. They western India (especially in Rajasthan and
include castration followed by forcing the con- Gujarat) women covered their heads in public.
victed rapist to serve as a door guard at women’s
quarters to forcing them to sit on scaldingly hot
iron tables, or even being crushed under an ele- 4.3.1 Islam and  Well-Being
phant’s foot. The medical literature devotes con- Under the Mughals
siderable space to women’s health, including
acute descriptions of pregnancy, delivery, nurs- Despite periods of relative calm and amity under
ing, menstruation, and menopause. Specific diag- the reign of the Mughal emperors Akbar (r.
noses and treatment for women’s illnesses are 1556–1605) and Jehangir (r. 1605–1627) and the
also commonly found. In short, both the legal and first two decades of Shah Jahan’s rulership (r.
medical literature is actively concerned with 1627–1658), during which literature and art
women’s issues and well-being. flourished as rarely before in South Asia, scien-
tific progress was rapid and religious communi-
ties lived peaceably (despite greater taxation
4.3  id and Late Second
M imposed on non-Muslims). Islam has consis-
Millennium Developments tently understood the demands of human nature
and reason, and the fulfillment of individual and
As science, technology, medicine, architecture, social well-being, to be satisfied by adherence to
and the organization of princely states evolved in their religion, to the Qur’an, and to Islamic law
the second millennium, local languages began to (Sharia; see Chap. 5); all other indicators pale in
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 95

comparison (Hakim 1953). Yet the frequent artis- the general tenor of subjective well-being was the
tic depictions of the opulence of court life, sexual rise of devotional religion (bhakti, also see
love, idyllic landscapes, and busy towns and mar- below). This change transcended religious
ketplaces indicate that well-being in the Indo-­ boundaries and included many sects of Krishna
Islamic universe included other recognizable devotion in both northern and southern India, as
indictors. well as Sufi Islam, and was instrumental in the
Education, historically recognized in all peri- founding and development of Sikhism from the
ods in India as an indicator of well-being, also late fifteenth until the early eighteenth century.
improved under the Mughals (Bano 2013). The During this period, Sufism shared a unique other-
emperor Akbar believed that education served worldly perspective with much of North Indian
not just the individual in relation to one’s own Hindu devotionalism, in which religiously guided
subjectivity but must also mediate with the sur- well-being was contingent on generating states of
rounding world. The educational process, he ecstasy and rapture through sacred music (see
believed, should support this. Thus, he supported Sects. 4.4.5 and 4.4.6) and modeling one’s life on
traditional educational instruction, which was the saints of their traditions. The most important
almost always rote memorization and doctrinal religious figures who contributed to this move-
intervention. But he placed it in second position ment were Rāmānuja (1017–1137 [apocryphal])
relative to the individual’s self-discovery. He and Madhva (1237–1317) in South India and
stated, “Care is to be taken that he learns to Vallabha (1479–1531[?]) and Caitanya (1486–
understand everything himself, but the teacher 1534) in North India. Among the founders of Sufi
may assist him a little” (Fazl 1872: 289). orders were Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi (1097–
Madrassas, which were responsible for both 1168), Moinuddin Chishti (1142–1236) and one
religious and secular education, became more of his successors, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya
prominent in India under the Mughals, providing (1238–1325), and various lineage holders in the
both moral guidance to the community and offi- Naqshbandi order that reaches back to the first
cials to run the affairs of the state, including juris- few generations after Muhammad. The latter
prudence and administration. Because well-being were all from Afghanistan or further west but
in Islam is so closely tied in with the propriety of greatly influenced the course of devotional reli-
both belief and practice, the ‘ulama (Islamic gion and the culture of subjective well-being
scholars) were important arbiters of well-being, throughout South Asia.
regardless of class, caste, or occupation of the
members of the congregation. During the Mughal
and pre-Mughal periods, madrassa education did 4.3.3 British Colonialism
not just emphasize theology but also taught a and the Deindustrialization
broad curriculum that included logic, philosophy, of India
medicine, mathematics and astronomy, rhetoric,
etymology and syntax, and jurisprudence. This By the time the British established their sover-
broad education persisted as long as education eignty in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
was a state enterprise, but as it fell increasingly centuries, India was fast becoming impoverished.
into private hands, the curriculum thinned out “While India produced about 25 percent of world
and was gradually displaced by the colonial sys- industrial output in 1750, this figure had fallen to
tem of education in the nineteenth century. only 2 percent by 1900” (Clingingsmith and
Williamson 2008). This deindustrialization was
due to British colonialism, because they sup-
4.3.2 Rise of Devotional Religion planted Indian textile manufacturing and the pro-
duction of other goods. The British introduced a
One internal religious development in the first six formal census in the 1840s, from which it is pos-
centuries of the second millennium that altered sible to glean a few concrete results or at least
96 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

safe inferences. For example, it is possible to cor- within the underclasses, even if they bore a cer-
relate known epidemics and a massive famine tain amount of enhanced well-being that may be
with the decline of the population in the state of traced to the empowerment of religious choice.
Bengal in the 1870s. These events, one may
safely assume, point toward a generally reduced
well-being in Bengal and elsewhere in eastern 4.4  he Anthropology of Well-­
T
India and confirm Lambek’s observation that Being in India
standards of well-being do not remain constant
(Lambek 2008). Well-being was, in classical 4.4.1 Caste and  Well-Being
periods, more closely determined by stages of
life; the independence of local ecology (jungle or Apart from the study of what were variously
savannah, interior or coastal, mountain or plain; termed “scheduled tribes,” “aborigines,” or
Zimmermann 1987); the ability to fulfill caste “backward Hindus,” anthropologists did not pay
and religious duties and to flow seamlessly much attention to Indian society prior to indepen-
through a highly stratified society; and the capac- dence. It was not, in fact, until the 1950s that the
ity of both individuals and a culture to recover discipline adapted its field techniques and theo-
from the specter of early death, even if it may be ries to the study of a “civilization” such as India.
argued from the medical literature that many of The “culture area” concept allowed for the reduc-
the debilitating diseases that later afflicted the tion of the subcontinent into smaller territorial
world were not widespread in India. Despite the and often homogeneous social units, but it was
deterioration of well-being in some aspects of the Indian village that, in the end, became the
life under the Mughals and the British, India center of anthropological analysis for at least a
experienced the rise of certain others as a result generation.
of the spread of Western medicine in the nine- What strikes the reader of the many anthropo-
teenth century. logical monographs of the 1950s and 1960s is the
overwhelming preoccupation with clarifying the
way intercaste and intracaste relationships func-
4.3.4 T
 he Rise of Western tioned in the Indian village. The prevailing defi-
Conceptions of Well-Being nition of castes then was that they were localized,
in the Eighteenth endogamous, and hereditary groups that were
and Nineteenth Centuries associated with a trade and ritual duties from
which their members could depart only within
The last few centuries of the second millennium, limits. More critically, castes were thought to
from the displacement of the Mughals to Indian occupy distinctive positions in a hierarchy that
independence, was marked by great changes in was determined by concepts of pollution and
the conceptions of well-being in South Asia. purity (Dumont 1980). The “untouchables,” as
Among the main contributors to this were the Dalits were then called, ranked low, in fact
Christian mission primary health care centers, the lowest, because they were inherently impure.
which were nondiscriminatory in providing med- The Brahmins ranked high because they were the
ical services and functioned as models on which purest of all castes. A hierarchical mind set per-
Hindu and other religious and secular philan- vaded the entire society, and relations between
thropic health providers operated. Christianity castes were regulated by strict rules of endogamy
and a local Buddhist revival of the 1950s also and commensality.
offered ways out of deep discrimination within The early anthropological literature on caste
the mainstream system of caste. This complex contains many descriptions of the nonreciprocal
issue cannot be discussed further here, and in any services provided by low-caste day laborers to
case, these services were only marginally suc- high-caste landowning patrons in return for
cessful in elevating well-being and status (they shares of grain harvest or cooked meals. Workers
are related, as we shall see in the next section) toiled long hours in the fields for very little raw or
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 97

cooked food. Whenever landlords leased plots organization of the family, domestic life, mar-
for sharecropping, they extracted a major portion riage payments, residential rules, laws of inheri-
of what was grown. Anthropologists also docu- tance, and so on) found that women were
mented the abject conditions under which disadvantaged in every case. Within families in
untouchables lived. Not only were these out- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri
castes dependent for their livelihoods on the Lanka, there was a clear order of social prece-
landowning castes that exploited their labor, but dence and influence based on gender, age, and, in
they also did not have the right to leave the vil- the case of a woman, the number of her male
lage to which they were attached and for which children. The senior man of the household—
they had to carry out unclean tasks, such as skin- whether father, grandfather, or uncle—typically
ning (and removing) animal carcasses, tanning was the recognized family head, and his wife was
leather and making shoes, sweeping, drumming, the person who regulated the tasks assigned to
grave digging, and cremating the dead. Moreover, female family members. Men enjoyed higher sta-
they were forbidden to enter village temples and tus than women; boys were often pampered
tea shops, draw water from the local tank, drink, whereas girls were relatively neglected, and
attend the local school, and so on. The ethnogra- women were expected to treat their husbands as
phers who specialized in the analysis and solu- if they were gods. Moreover, women did not own
tion of practical problems were not particularly property in their own names nor did they inherit
optimistic that these social conditions would parental property.
change. Large landowners effectively blocked Anthropologists also noted that when an
equitable distribution of the fruits of government-­ Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, or
run development programs, and, although the Nepalese son married, he usually stayed with his
landless and smallholders benefited from new parents, brothers, and unmarried sisters in an
grains and technology, they made little gain. arrangement that came to be known as “the joint
Powerful castes remained above the law and family.” Although the courtyard was eventually
could not be forced to relinquish large landhold- subdivided into separate hearths to accommodate
ings as stipulated by the government land reforms inevitable splits between brothers, a man
of the 1960s. remained at home, so to speak, forever. His life
In short, the general impression conveyed by was usually one of stability and rootedness in his
the early literature was that only the higher castes, birthplace. Were he to live elsewhere, his ances-
or so-called “dominant” castes, had the resources, tral house was still “his” both legally (as inheri-
in the form of land, crops (rice, especially) and tance) and emotionally. By contrast, upon
water and the elementary freedoms to accede to marriage, a South Asian daughter had to leave the
human well-being. The lower castes (approxi- home she was born into and to move in with
mately 35 % of the population) and especially the strangers in a distant village. In her new home
most impure (approximately an additional 24 % she was expected to work hard, be subservient to
of the population) were condemned to a life of her mother-in-law, and give birth to sons.
exploitation, deprivation, discrimination, and Although at first she visited her family often,
injustice, including violence, which is to say a over time she did so as little as once a year, some-
life in which there was little or no well-being. times less. If she became a widow, she remained
with her in-laws, and in some caste groups, she
was not allowed to remarry even if she was
4.4.2 Well-Being, Family, bereaved at a young age.
and Marriage The grief that such marital residential rules
caused women and their kin was further com-
In the 1970s and 1980s, anthropologists (female pounded by the spread of the Sanskritic concep-
anthropologists, in particular) who turned to the tion of marriage as the “gift of a virgin”
study of South Asian kinship (marital practices, (kanyā-dānam), a gift that comes with material
98 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

presents and jewels to express her father’s inferi- cal health), prophylactic or purifying practices,
ority to the family that accepts the bride as wife and procedures for averting the “evil eye” (Alter
and daughter (Gough 1956). Even in South India, 2004; Dean 2013; Zimmermann 2004). These
where women abide by different preferential discussions inevitably suggest that in India well-­
marriage rules, often wedding close kin who being is “context-sensitive” rather than “context-­
grant them more freedom, this conception came free,” to use the famous distinction of the
to replace the old system of the bride price. In the well-known scholar of Indian literature,
1970s and 1980s, at the time of marriage, Muslim A.K. Ramanujan (1989). That is, the state and
and Hindu families in rural Tamil Nadu stopped quality of one’s body and mind depend on the
making gifts to the parents of the bride and the time and place of one’s birth, place of habitation,
bride herself; instead they demanded that large occupation, life stage, karma, dharma, and so on
payments in cash and gold be paid to the groom (Daniel 1984), so that what is appropriate for one
and his parents. Much as in North India, the is not so for another. In addition, this literature
financial stress caused by these new practices underscores, if only indirectly, that in South Asia,
became reflected in significantly different rates of and India in particular, concepts of well-being
mortality and morbidity between the sexes, alleg- cannot be extricated from the experience of peo-
edly (though reliable statistics are lacking) in ple whose worldview includes a particular view
occasional female infanticide and increasingly in of the person and his or her place in the cosmos.
the abortion of female fetuses following prenatal
gender testing. In addition, scholars linked the
new dowry payments to the rise of domestic vio- 4.4.4 W
 ell-Being and the Problem
lence against the women who could not bring of the Individual in India
enough money to the marriage.
The French anthropologist Louis Dumont (1970)
initiated the discussion of just what constitutes
4.4.3 Beginnings this view when he contrasted the social and moral
of the Anthropology significance of “the individual” in Western soci-
of Well-Being eties with the presumed absence of such a con-
cept in a “traditional” society such as India. To
It is fair to say, then, that the classical anthropo- him the “individual as a cultural value” was lack-
logical literature on South Asia focused largely ing in India (1970). Indians derived their sense of
on the plight of the low castes, untouchables, and identity only through “relations,” including vil-
women rather than scrutinizing understandings lage, caste, and family, to which their sense of
of well-being. This observation is in keeping with individuality was subservient (1970: 42). Their
the overall trajectory of the discipline. Until allegiance resided in such collectivities. The only
recently, and for reasons unnecessary to explain institution in which Dumont saw something akin
here, anthropologists “have been almost entirely to the Western concept of individualism was in
silent” on the subject of well-being (Mathews the figure of the Hindu renouncer, who “leaves
and Izquierdo 2009:8). In fact, we can say that in the world behind in order to devote himself to his
general, and perhaps more so lately, social scien- own liberation … [and] essentially depends upon
tists tend to specialize in the documentation of no one but himself, he is alone” (1970: 45). As
suffering, injustice, and social inequalities (Thin mentioned in Sect. 4.2.6, renunciation was a
2005). sanctioned means of escaping the bonds of hier-
Yet encoded in the old ethnographies of South archical existence.
Asian society here and there are discussions of Dumont’s argument that Indians thought of
what we may call “positive” concepts of well-­ themselves, first and foremost, as members of
being, including references to bodily regimens corporate groups was countered by McKim
(diet, exercise, self-discipline, yoga, metaphysi- Marriott’s concept of “dividual” personhood. For
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 99

this American anthropologist, it was not so much that social respect is a source of considerable
that the South Asian was less autonomous, less gratification for both men and women in South
independent, and less equal than the Westerner, Asia. The importance of protecting one’s reputa-
but that he or she was a different person alto- tion and identifying with one’s family honor
gether. Far from being integrated in a relatively (izzat in Hindi-Urdu) explains why people at
bounded, unique and self-determining whole—in times can remain trapped in difficult relation-
short, of having individuality in “our” sense of ships. Women, for example, may not use mental
the word—this person was thought to be a com- health services because they are afraid of losing
posite of transferable particles. It was because izzat. They would rather suffer than bring shame
this “dividual” or “fluid being” broke down and to themselves and their family. Izzat is part of a
significantly changed when exposed to incompat- larger system of reciprocity, which if violated
ible “substances” that South Asians married requires revenge, but acknowledgment brings
within the same social group and restricted their prestige. It is not only individual well-being, but
commensal exchanges (Marriott and Inden the notions of community well-being that it
1977). reflects, that is prominent throughout the subcon-
These two views of the South Asian person tinent, in which redress for offended izzat was
correlate with reports of what gives happiness used to justify the assassination of Indira Gandhi
and satisfaction to people on the subcontinent. by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984 after the Indian
First, ethnographic accounts make it clear that, in government put down a Sikh separatist move-
a society that prioritizes a relational sense of self, ment just before this (Lynch 1990).
the quality of life is a function of having kin. To Marriott’s conception of the vulnerable South
have relatives in the South Indian state of Tamil Asian person finds support in the many ethno-
Nadu, where Clark-Decès has conducted ethno- graphic descriptions of ritual procedures aimed at
graphic research since the early 1990s, is to be removing pollution and inauspiciousness. Across
wealthy (Kapadia 1995), experience “love” India, for instance, protective media—from
(Trawick 1990), and have fundamental rights polka-dotted pumpkins and impaled lemons to
(Clark-Decès 2014). By contrast, to be without garish demon masks—are prominently deployed
family is to be poor and deprived. To have rela- on everything from homes to vehicles to deflect
tives, however, also comes with the obligation to the envious and therefore “evil eye” of one’s
subordinate oneself to the will of parents and peers and neighbors (Dean 2013). Severe mental
elders, to identify with the family as a whole, and affliction is deflected or shared in local mental
behave in ways that are compatible with family health care treatment centers. For example, at the
interests (Seymour 1999). That the key values last resort healing center associated with the great
here are dependence and trust in one’s families is Balaji, or child Hanuman, temple in the small
demonstrated in a rare study of well-being in town of Mehendipur, in Rajasthan, local spirit
India in which the anthropologist Steve Derne healers (ojhā, bhagat) invariably use family
(2009) reported how the young middle class ­therapy to demonstrate that an affliction seem-
Indian men he interviewed would rather have ingly the property of one family member, diag-
their brides chosen for them than make such nosed there as invasive spirits, is shared within
choices on their own, apart from family guid- the entire family. No specific individual in the
ance. For these youth, Derne suggested, “well-­ family is guilty of his or her “own” dysfunction-
being … was rooted in being nourished by group ality; rather, the affliction, healing, and conse-
support” (2009: 127). quent well-being are the property of all members
Leaving to elders (and group opinion) to of the family in equal measure (Pakaslahti 1998;
decide what is appropriate for one’s self goes Smith 2006: 109–114). In this way, the person in
along with a concern with getting approval for South Asia has many ways to manage his or her
one’s actions, not only at home but also in the susceptibility to absorb and mix with defiling and
public sphere. Anthropologists have documented harmful substances and to restore, if need be,
100 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

equilibrium to his or her bodily substance. This tems. A Hindu villager who never joins in daily
equilibrated state with the body is perhaps the prayers (namāz) at a mosque may readily make
closest approximation to what people of the West an offering at the tomb of a local Muslim saint
may call “a state of well-being.” and ask the spirit to cure his child. A good exam-
ple of this multireligious participation is the dar-
gah of the famous Sufi saint of the Chishti order,
4.4.5 W
 ell-Being, Popular Religion, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (1238–1325), whose
and a Muslim Shrine in Delhi love of God has served as an inspiration across
religious boundaries for centuries. The imposing
Finally, the old ethnographies of South Asian marble dargah was built in Delhi in 1562 at his
society indicated that Hindus, Muslims, grave site, during the reign of the Emperor Akbar,
Buddhists, Christians, Jains, and Sikhs turned to and is currently one of the most visited places of
religion for securing the things required for the worship in Delhi. On Thursday nights, different
long-term welfare of their society (ample rain, groups sing qawwali, a fusion of devotional
for example) and their personal well-being: good poetry and Hindustani music, until the early
crops, health, birth of a son, cure of a sick child, hours in the morning, while throngs of thousands
location of a lost valuable, victory in a local con- listen intently, many entering into trance states,
flict, success in business, salvation in the next wafted by the music and the rose petal- and
world, and so forth. By religion, we mean wor- incense-laden scent of the night air. These power-
ship in the household shrine or the temple, vows, ful performances are attended not only by
sacrifices, pilgrimages, optional devotions, all of Muslims, but also by Hindus, Sikhs, and many
which are performed with the wish to obtain others. It is a good example of the convergence of
well-being from the gods (and the dead forefa- religious cultures in India and the well-being that
thers and ancestors who are often seen on a level emanates from this unique phenomenon. The
with the gods). The lively popular attempts to dargah is tantamount to a self-sufficient commu-
enlist supernatural aid for worldly purposes may nity, with dozens of food stalls, shops of all kinds,
seem, from the outside, to be at odds with the and even an office in which exorcisms are held.
well-known “fatalistic” Indian doctrine of karma.
But to Hindu and Buddhist worshippers, there is
no contradiction at all. Each soul has its karma, 4.4.6 Well-Being, Festivals,
and each person can do something for himself and Devotion
and his family within the broad limits set by his
fate—whose limits cannot be precisely known Village festivals have been well studied, and the
anyway. general impression was that they represented
Throughout South Asia, it was also noted that opportunities for people to don new clothes,
Muslims have recourse to the spirits of venerated feast, get together with kin, and rejoice. The
men whose tombs have become locally renowned South Indian festival called Pongal, a word which
shrines (dargah). These deceased saints of the means “overflowing” and connotes abundance
past are believed to be alive in the present, their and prosperity, together with the North Indian
power radiating from the sites into the surround- Holi festival, discussed below, perhaps best epit-
ing landscape. In this way, Muslim shrines are omizes these celebrations of joy. This four-day
sacred spaces whose appeal is turned toward a festival takes place from January 13 to
local population, which for generations has January16 in the Gregorian calendar and marks
established routinized relationships to them, sim- the end of the harvest season. Tamilians decorate
ilar to other sacred spaces in the local geography. their homes with banana and mango leaves and
Previously there was (and still is) a good deal of embellish the floor with decorative patterns (kol-
mutual use of these spaces by both villagers and lam) drawn using rice flour. The festival itself
city dwellers who follow different religious sys- begins at sunrise with a symbolic ritual of boiling
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 101

of playfulness and good nature. Reportedly, there

has never been a case of retribution after this fes-
tival is concluded. According to Marriott, the
usual compartmentalization and indifference that
separated castes and families in day-to-day life
were replaced by the festival mood of “bound-
less” and “reciprocal love” (1966: 212). In Fig.
4.3, taken during Holi, women in Braj are wrap-
ping thread around a sacred pipal tree as votive
offerings, one of the most common petitionary
rites in India, thoroughly organized around the
principle of enhanced well-being.
The last aspect of the relation of religion and
well-being in India relates to the Hindu, Jain,
and Sikh conception of devotion (bhakti). In this
conception, the deity is not merely anthropomor-
Fig. 4.2  A street in Puducherry, India, decorated for phic but deeply personal and emotionally con-
Pongal (Photo: Alex Graves; http://flickr.com/pho- nected; he or she is both the source and the focus
tos/87244355@N00; Creative Commons Attribution-­ of love. Devotion is undertaken for its own sake;
Share Alike 2.0 Generic license) devotees do not attempt to change the world.
Instead they long to be in the presence of their
fresh milk in a new clay pot. When the milk boils deities, have sight (darśana) of them, and offer
over and bubbles out of the vessel, people hap- them flowers, fruits, sweets, and music during
pily shout “Pongalo Pongal” to convey the appre- worship (pūjā) or selfless service (sevā), as many
ciation and thankfulness to the sun as it acts as call it. The deity then “enjoys” or tastes the
the primary energy behind agriculture and a good offering, and the devotee receives remains of the
harvest (Fig. 4.2). now-divinely invested substance (prasāda) to
One of the most evocative anthropological ingest, wear, or place in the house as a memento.
descriptions of a village festival brings out a The enjoyment derived from the bhakti ideal of
peculiar aspect of Indian festivals. From the selfless caring, loving tenderness, and emotional
North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Marriott absorption in their deities is perhaps the highest
(1966) observed that at the celebrations for Holi, form of well-­being for all Hindu, Sikh, and Jain
the spring festival of love, the entire community devotees.
joined together to play, chase, and color each
other with dyes, mud, and even cow dung, regard-
less of gender or caste. In this area, the Braj dis- 4.5 Well-Being, Modernity,
trict, the festivities remain alive and well half a and Globalization
century after Marriott’s report. Two of the many
villages in that region feature a ritual of role As noted previously, in the early anthropological
reversal, in which gender powers and privileges literature, caste was seen as a social organization
(or relative lack thereof) are reversed. For one that had little chance to evolve. Although riots
day of the four-day festival, men behave pas- and violence had just led to the partition of the
sively, and women of any caste are permitted to greater part of the subcontinent into the two sov-
curse at any man (including their husbands), play ereign states of India and Pakistan, and ethnic
pranks on them, and chase them through the vil- and religious minorities (particularly Punjabi
lage with sticks and cudgels, often beating them Sikhs and, later, Kashmiri Muslims) actively
black and blue. All the victims of the festival resisted the political, linguistic, and secular inte-
temporarily adopt a role of inferiority in a spirit gration enforced by the new Indian state, South
102 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

Fig. 4.3  Holi in Vrindavan

(Photo © by Robyn Beeche,
2010; used with permission)

Asians were thought to be incapable of develop- For the most part, studies of India’s modernity
ing social relations outside of this all-pervading are tempered by reports of the upper castes’ con-
institution. India itself was constructed, at least tinuing political and economic advantages, the
by some, as a world devoid of social change and illusory successes of India’s globalizing econ-
economic development. However, because the omy, and the different experiences of modernity
economic reforms India enacted in the early that are formed within it: the disappointment,
1990s and the economic growth they spurred despair, and rage of those (lower caste unem-
have pushed more than 100 million Indians above ployed youth, disenfranchised Muslim minori-
the poverty line, anthropologists are now think- ties, indentured farmers, ghettoized migrants
ing about South Asia less in static terms of vil- from poor villages and rural areas in the large
lage, caste, and gender than in relation to the slums of Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata, and other
processes currently integrating its societies into big cities) who feel not only left behind but also
an international political economy and a locus of victimized by corporate-driven economic poli-
transnational traffic of ideas, languages, and cul- cies, endemic corruption, urban-oriented eco-
tures. This new focus on globalization is requir- nomic growth, and prejudice (Jeffrey et al. 2008).
ing anthropologists to adopt ideas of identity and It has also been shown how India, indeed South
territory that go well beyond those used by the Asia as a whole, is faced with an intense combi-
old “regional” or “culture area” studies of the nation of tensions (communalist factions and
1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. In recent years, insurgent and separatist groups that interact with
we have seen works that theorize India’s cultural the expansion of both the liberal state and the
transformations, in particular, in terms of shifting capitalist economy) that, in certain spheres (elec-
patterns of production, movement, and accumu- toral politics and religion in particular) is break-
lation of capital, emerging patterns of middle-­ ing into outright violence, threatening both the
class consumption, the growth of information viability of the Indian state and its democratizing
technology, and diasporic communities (Donner institutions (Jaffrelot 2011). Many anthropolo-
2011; Jeffrey and Doron 2013; Leonard 2007). gists now understand that the relations of power
The trend is definitively to map the growth of and domination created and/or exacerbated by
globalization on the subcontinent and locate the neoliberal policies have often resulted in sus-
practices and energies that aim to affirm, and tained experiences of injustice and major dispari-
especially transcend, South Asia’s virtual borders ties in wealth. India, for example, has more than
with the First World. 100 billionaires whose combined personal reve-
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 103

nues represent more than 10 % of India’s total 4.5.1 The Enhancement

earnings. Furthermore, India has nearly a hun- of the Position of Women
dred million citizens with standards of living
comparable to those of affluent people in coun- Another central component of change that has
tries like the United States and Germany. At the affected Indian society since the 1960s is the
other end of the spectrum, some 455 million gradual improvement of women’s lives, espe-
Indian citizens still live on less than USD 1.25 a cially in the southern Indian states of Kerala and
day (75 rupees). India is home to more poor peo- Tamil Nadu. Whereas statistics on sex ratio at
ple than any other country in the world (Todhunter birth continued showing a high level of prefer-
2012). ence for a son, daughters throughout South Asia
Yet it is important to note that six decades of are increasingly sent to school. According to
democratic statehood and three decades of neo- India’s Education for All Mid-Decade
liberal economic growth have rendered many of Assessment, in the 5 years between 2000 and
the social facts recorded by anthropologists in the 2005, India increased primary school enrollment
1960s and 1970s and even the 1980s obsolete. In overall by 13.7 % and by 19.8 % for girls, reach-
the contemporary period, the old, professional ing close to universal enrollment in grade 1. The
divisions that were once locked firmly into place most recent figures for primary school enroll-
by birth have become less visible on India’s ment stand at an impressive 98 %. The gradual
social landscape. Today, there is no formal hier- increase in female education, including higher
archical system that determines everyone’s posi- education, is closely associated with higher
tion, and contemporary changes have only further female age at marriage, with the average age at
diluted the rigid structure of social rules that lim- first marriage among Indian women, standing at
ited interaction between and within castes. 13 years in the 1930s, when the government
Discrimination based on caste has been illegal in implemented the Child Marriage Restraint Act
India for more than six decades. In today’s urban (Sarda Act), and reaching 18 years today. It has
India, it seems reactionary even to speak of caste. also resulted in positive changes in women’s
Special education and job quotas have brought empowerment, reproductive health, and general
the lowest castes into universities and the politi- well-being as well as in reductions in fertility,
cal mainstream, and, thanks to the landmark preference for a son, and infant and child
passing of the Right of Children to Free and mortality.
Compulsory Education (RTE) Act in 2009, the
children of historically oppressed groups (43 %
of India’s children), indeed, children of all castes 4.5.2 Neoliberalism, Dharma,
and economic backgrounds, are guaranteed their and Well-Being
right to elementary education by the state.
Although government schools are often unregu- It is also important to note that concepts of well-­
lated and lack trained teachers and proper infra- being derived from neoliberal and development
structure, neighborhood “low-budget” private models are increasingly operational and norma-
schools serving low-income families have mush- tive in modern India. This change is due to the
roomed so that education is allowing some low presence, throughout South Asia, of myriad wel-
castes to rise above the circumstances of their fare organizations, charity trusts, civil societies,
birth and background. Throughout modernizing educational development centers, and rural out-
India, one can even find sons and daughters of reach schemes that work to “uplift” low castes,
Dalits earning their engineering and business urban poor, and women. Even when state agen-
degrees and lifting their families into the middle cies, nongovernment organizations, and civil
classes. This situation certainly is not the case societies fail to live up to the expectations that
everywhere, but it is enough to speak of “social development agencies have conferred on them, or
progress” (Ramakrishnan 2014). are as likely to maintain the status quo as they are
104 I. Clark-Decès and F.M. Smith

to change it, they create a discourse of aspirations community in India, still take pleasure in being in
for development and poverty reduction and hope the presence of their loving gods. No matter what
for entrepreneurial possibilities. Katherine Boo the level of education or Westernization, most
reports in her chronicle of life in Annawadi, a still enjoy a dip in the Ganges or other local
slum at the edge of Mumbai’s international air- sacred rivers; travel to the religious fair and pil-
port, that many slum dwellers, “now spoke of grimage called Kumbha Mela that upward of a
better lives casually, as if fortune were a cousin hundred million people attended when it was last
arriving on Sunday, as if the future would look held, in Allahabad on the Ganges River, from
nothing like the past” (Boo 2012:16). Another January to March 2013; perform apotropaic ritu-
consequence of the activities of charitable and als to ward off bad luck and the evil eye; and con-
philanthropic organizations in South Asia has sult astrologers to know the most beneficial time
been the development of the individual’s clear-­ to perform auspicious ceremonies, embark on
cut notion of him or herself, of an autonomous new ventures, and answer such critical questions
self more in line with the notion of the individual as when and whom to marry, where and when to
and the person in Western society than was his- build one’s house, where to go to seek medical
torically the case in South Asia. When values of treatment, and so on (Fig. 4.4).
agency, responsibility, and enterprise are pro- To be sure, all of these activities have acquired
moted for the empowerment of disadvantaged new meanings. At present, dharma means attend-
social groups, one can expect that a process of ing school and making money; respect is about
individualization and self-interest will take place. wealth and class rather than personal or caste
People feel responsible for their own well-being purity. It is not particularly important that the rivers
and their fates as individuals. are too dirty to bathe in (http://scroll.in/arti-
We have pointed out, however, that the ques- cle/814645/indias-holiest-river-is-only-getting-
tion of well-being in South Asia, and India in par- dirtier-and-­our-colonial-legacy-may-be-partly-to-
ticular, has not been (and is still not) posed blame) and that, like in the West, yoga is fast losing
entirely within neoliberal frames of reference, its former spiritual meaning and becoming physi-
nor are the resources for its idioms limited to the cal exercises. Families invest dowry money not in
Western notions (e.g., right, agency, freedom, gold but in business. Rituals for removing the evil
capital, happiness) that go into the construction eye are intended to draw (rather than deflect) atten-
of these frames. We have also shown that ideas tion to one’s acquisitions. Pilgrimages are con-
and structures from the distant past continue to ducted in the pursuit of new productivity and
inform the discourse and dialogue of well-being potency. For the Indian middle classes, including
and that they are likely to do so for the foresee- civil servants, businessmen, and computer analysts,
able future. The idea of dharma still matters; consulting astrologers when life-changing deci-
most people in India continue to comprehend sions must be made in order to anticipate potential
their well-being in terms of doing what is right problems and calibrate appropriate responses rep-
according to the standards that have been trans- resents an automatic response to the opportunities
mitted to them from their families and communi- and predicaments posed by economic liberalization
ties. Maintaining family honor is often still in India.
perceived as more important than having money. Despite these encroachments of modernity,
In addition, young people still, on the whole, well-being in India continues to make sense only
want their elders to arrange their marriage. in relation to the historically situated structures
Religiously, devotion as it has been developed of persons and their relations in the Indian world.
since the late first millennium is still the preferred These structures may be changing. Because per-
way of acting and thinking in religious contexts, ceptions and experiences of well-being and qual-
which are much more pervasive in India than per- ity of life on the subcontinent are not immutable,
haps anywhere else in the world. In other words, they may have been compromised by modernity
the majority of Hindus, the dominant religious and globalization, but they remain distinctive.
4  Well-Being in India: A Historical and Anthropological Report 105

Fig. 4.4  Millions of pilgrims take a holy bath at Sangam, license; https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/
Kumbh Mela 2013, Allahabad (Photo by Lokankara; a0/Kumbh_Mela_2013_Sangam,_Allahabd.jpg)
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

4.6 Conclusions ing the rounds of neighborhoods in upscale cities

such as Bangalore. We are optimistic about
Although we have emphasized the subjective India’s future, about its future well-being, in no
meanings of well-being in India, we recognize small measure because we are confident that the
that the diverse and changing attitudes to ideas ingenuity visible on every street corner and in
about what it means to live a good life in modern every rice paddy in India will enable the people
India (and South Asia in general) are threatened to create unique and practicable solutions by
by several objective facts: (1) pressure of the diz- combining the facets of their heritage that have
zying population growth; (2) ghettoization of an resolutely endured for thousands of years with
unending flow of migrants from poor villages the very different tools and viewpoints of the
and rural areas into large cities such as Delhi, present age.
Mumbai, and Kolkata; (3) the decimation of for-
est land due to negligence in government plan-
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 Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being
5
Mohsen Joshanloo

Know that the key to happiness is to follow the Sunna and to imitate the Messenger of
God in all his coming and going, his movements and rest, in his way of eating, his
attitude, his sleep and his talk.
Al-Ghazali (Ruthven 2012)

5.1 Introduction 2011). Islam is one of the most widespread and

fastest-growing religions in the world. Muslims
Islam is the youngest and fastest growing of the represent the majority population in 49 nations.
three major Abrahamic monotheistic religions They also constitute significant minorities in
(i.e., the other two being Judaism and other nations including the successor states in
Christianity). All three believe in a single God Central Asia of the former Soviet Union, China,
and share many principal beliefs. Islam’s holy Europe, and the Americas. The highest concen-
book, the Qur’an, is considered by Muslims to be trations of Muslims are found in South, Southeast,
the literal word of Allah revealed to Muhammad and West Asia as well as in North Africa.
through the angel Gabriel. Islam is considered to Countries with the largest Muslim populations
be a comprehensive ideology and a style of life include Indonesia (N = 204,847,000), Pakistan
that make possible well-being of individuals and (N = 178,097,000), India (N = 177,286,000), and
societies in this world and the hereafter. Islam has Bangladesh (N = 148,607,000) (Pew Research
precise rules on each and every aspect of life, and Center 2011). Although Islam first appeared in
these rules are followed by devout believers as the Arabian Peninsula in 622 of the Common Era
God’s commands. Muslims consider Muhammad (CE), and the Qur’an is in Arabic, most Muslims
as the last messenger of God, who brought God’s today are not Arabs. In fact, Arabs in countries
last and most complete guidelines for a proper such as Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Egypt make
life. Hence, an overwhelming majority of up less than 20 % of the global Muslim popula-
Muslims throughout history have believed that tion. Examples of non-Arab Muslim nations
the most complete version of well-being can only include Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, and
be attained in a life lived on the basis of the teach- Malaysia. Arab and non-Arab Muslim popula-
ings of Islam (Fig. 5.1). tions practice Islam as their religion but have
Islam currently has more than 1.6 billion maintained key elements of their indigenous cul-
adherents, making up about 23 %, or one in four, tures and languages.
of the world’s population (Pew Research Center Shortly after the advent of Islam, the religion
started spreading rapidly to a vast number of
regions, including parts of southern Europe and
M. Joshanloo (*) Central Asia. The contemporary Muslim
Department of Psychology, Keimyung University,
2800 Dalgubeol Boulevard, Dalseo-Gu,
­population comprises a large number of groups in
Daegu 42601, South Korea various geographical regions, embodying a wide
e-mail: [email protected] range of races, languages, and cultures. This

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 109

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_5
110 M. Joshanloo

Fig. 5.1  Interior of a mosque in Turkey (Photo courtesy of j0j0; downloaded from http://all-free-download.com/free-­
photos/download/turkey_izmir_mosque_233578.html)

c­ultural and geographical diversity engenders (month-­long fasting) during Ramadan, and the
some variation in religious practice among hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Therefore, despite
Muslims. Muslims vary in particular on individ- disparities in beliefs and practice in the Islamic
ual levels of religious commitment, openness to world, basic tenets and practices of Islam are the
alternative interpretations of Islamic faith, and in integrative force behind all Islamic groups and
their endorsement of various Islamic sects and schools of thought (Dodge 2003) (Fig. 5.2).
movements (Pew Research Center 2012). In par- The present chapter examines Islamic con-
ticular, there is variation among Muslim commu- ceptions of well-being and their development
nities concerning the interpretation of certain since the earliest days of Islam to the modern
events in the history of Islam (e.g., surrounding era. A brief discussion of the major historical
succession to Muhammad), religious authority, periods of Islam from its establishment to the
and the institution of leadership and political present is followed by a shift to the Qur’anic
power. However, there are also widely accepted conceptualization of well-being and to an inves-
beliefs and practices that are considered to be the tigation of the concepts of well-being in Islamic
core of Muslimhood. Central beliefs that unite philosophy and Sufism, two channels through
Muslims include a belief in the oneness of Allah, which Qur’anic ideas have been developed.
in the prophethood of Muhammad, and in the Finally, I examine the concepts of well-being in
Qur’an as the sacred revelation. Key religious the contemporary Muslim world. Throughout
practices that bind Muslims together include this chapter, the following questions are
salat (daily prayer), zakat (annual charity), sawm examined:
5  Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being 111

Fig. 5.2  Muslims performing hajj in Mecca (Photo courtesy of GLady; downloaded from http://all-free-download.
com/free-photos/download/mecca_hajj_people_219873.html)

1. How does Islam as a religion and system of ter, happiness is used as an equivalent to
thinking conceptualize well-being? well-being.
2. How has the Islamic concept of well-being
changed over time in various Islamic trends of
thought? 5.2 A Brief History of Islam
3. Considering the dominance of secular con-
cepts of life, human nature, and well-being in Pre-Islamic Arabs are described as people who
the modern era, are Muslims still committed led a nomadic lifestyle, spending most of their
to original Islamic notions of well-being? time fighting against each other. Some of the
Bedouins came to settle in city-states where trade
A comprehensive review of a topic as broad as relationships with neighboring tribes and towns
well-being in a religion as heterogeneous as were established. One of these towns was Mecca,
Islam is a challenging task. It requires a large an important center of worship and pilgrimage
number of generalizations and summarizations for Arabs. Bedouin idols were kept in a shrine
that leave out many important nuances, excep- called the Kabah, attracting lots of pilgrims, upon
tions, and details. Thus, the present chapter is whom the town’s commercial activities were
necessarily a humble attempt to provide prelimi- dependent. Because they controlled the flow of
nary answers to these questions. It is also note- goods in and out of the town, the Meccan reli-
worthy that, whereas the word happiness has gious and commercial leaders dominated Meccan
recently been used in the social sciences to refer society by managing the pilgrimages. The reli-
to subjective, hedonic, and affective aspects of gious beliefs of pre-Islamic Arabs were based
well-being (Diener 2000), throughout this chap- largely on idolatry and fetishism (Emerick 2002;
112 M. Joshanloo

Grunebaum 1970). For these reasons, Muslims standing of well-being among converts to Islam.
call the period before the rise of Islam in Arabia Well-being came to be reformulated with the cen-
the era of “ignorance,” when Arabs valued pride, trality of Allah as the absolute Lord, and Muslims
arrogance, and insolence and took pride in refus- refocused their attention from the well-being of
ing to bow before any human or divine authority this world to a superior version of well-being to
(Izutsu 1964). Pre-Islamic Arabs are described as be found in the afterlife.
people who took pleasure in the joys of present But the leaders of Mecca were not pleased
life and were concerned with wealth and power. with Muhammad’s proselytizing and promotion
They were passionate about drinking, gambling, of the new religion. Muhammad denounced the
seductive dance performances, and poetry (which tribal idols that were the financial backbone of
was a recreation of various aspects of Arab the town, encouraged the rich to free slaves, and
Bedouinity and nomadic life, such as fighting and invigorated people to reject traditionally held
tribal loyalty) (Grunebaum 1970). From the beliefs and practices. These practices were
scanty evidence available, we can speculate that, enough to provoke implacable hostility toward
for these people, well-being involved a lifelong Muhammad and his few followers in Mecca.
display of unswerving loyalty to family and tribe Meccans turned against him and his followers,
and conforming to the Bedouin codes of honor using threats, insults, social sanctions, and physi-
and chivalry as well as securing good luck cal violence. The increasing rage of Meccan
through idol worship, possession of wealth and tribes resulted in severe hardship, poverty, and
power, and having pleasurable experiences. hunger for Muslims in Mecca, which prompted
Despite the existence of small-scale alliances Muhammad to decide to secretly leave Mecca
among pre-Islamic Arabs, they never managed to with his followers in 622 CE, after 12 years of
become a united political force or to form a cen- preaching his mission in Mecca. The year in
tral government. The nature of nomadic life (e.g., which this migration to Madinah (referred to as
lack of discipline and inability to make long-term the Hijrah) took place is designated the first year
collaborative plans) limited cultural and political of the Islamic calendar. Migrant Muslims and
development in pre-Islamic Arabia (Grunebaum new followers in the new city formed a Muslim
1970). The situation started to change about community governed by Islamic rules (Dodge
1,400 years ago with the advent of Arabia’s most 2003; Emerick 2002; Gordon 2008).
influential spiritual leader of all times, a man The Muslim community in Madinah (present-­
from Mecca called Muhammad (570–632 CE). day Medina) gained increasing power and new
Muhammad’s message targeted the very core of followers. In 630 CE, Muhammad led an army of
Arab ideology and style of life. He acknowledged 10,000 into Mecca, occupying the city without
Allah as the only Lord of the entire world, dis- any resistance. With Meccans converting to
missing all other human or nonhuman lords Islam, Islam became the dominant religious and
(Izutsu 1964). Revolutionizing the concept of secular force in Arabia, led spiritually and mate-
deity necessarily created radical changes in the rially by Muhammad. During Muhammad’s life-
conceptions of the relationship between God and time, Islam spread to all corners of the Arabian
humans and in styles of life. Because Allah came Peninsula. Under the new religion, Muhammad
to be the absolute Lord, absolute submission and unified Arabian tribes into a single religious pol-
humility were the only possible attitudes for man ity. The “essential significance of the appearance
to take toward Him (Izutsu 1964). This revolu- of Muhammad is the crystallization of a new
tionized understanding of relation to the deity experience of the divine, which welded all those
was translated into a lifestyle in which religiosity who shared it into a new kind of community”
and piety were cardinal values, whereas material- (Grunebaum 1970: 27). His message contained
ism, hedonism, and all aspects of the “ignorance” new precepts of God, humanity, and life that were
of the pre-Islamic period were denounced. This different from those in the traditional Bedouin
change also had a major impact on the under- belief system, yet still accessible to his Arab con-
5  Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being 113

temporaries. The new religion portrayed well-­ CE. Islamic forces moved on toward eastern
being as encompassing an absolute submission to lands. They completed the conquest of the east-
the Creator of the world, which serves as a unify- ern parts of Persia (e.g., Afghanistan) and moved
ing principle to govern all human actions and on to conquer Sindh and Punjab, in modern-day
intentions. Islam recognizes itself as a compre- Pakistan. The Umayyad rulers earned huge ben-
hensive lifestyle organized around the principle efits from the taxes they imposed on their sub-
of Allah’s absolute sovereignty. Well-being is to jects and lived lavish lives. Despite considerable
live one’s entire life in accordance with this com- institutional and material developments in the
prehensive manual. Umayyad era, pious Muslims were concerned
After the death of Muhammad in 632 CE, about the yearning of the Umayyad rulers for
Muslims chose a number of caliphs (successors) material gains and worldly concerns at the
to politically and spiritually lead the Islamic expense of genuine Islamic values of piety and
community. The first four caliphs were Abu Bakr, religiosity. They criticized the failure of the
Omar, Uthman, and Ali, who were among Umayyads to fully implement the laws of Islam.
Muhammad’s close companions. Muslims call There were also complaints about unfair distribu-
them the four “rightly guided caliphs,” because tion of wealth and privileges by the Umayyad rul-
they stayed loyal to basic Islamic values of religi- ers. Moreover, opposition forces (such as the
osity and piety. By the time Ali (the last rightly Shi’a) were active, occasionally organizing large,
guided caliph) was murdered in 661 CE, the bor- bloody rebellions (Dodge 2003; Emerick 2002;
ders of the Islamic state had already expanded to Gordon 2008).
large parts of the Persian and Byzantine empires The above-mentioned factors led to the demise
in modern day Iran and Turkey. Many years of of the Umayyad dynasty. The dynasty was finally
conflict between the two empires had weakened overthrown by the Abbasid dynasty, which ruled
them and rendered them unprepared to face from 750 to 1258. The Abbasids expanded the
threats from the new rising power. Hand in hand Islamic empire from Morocco to India, accumu-
with external expansion, internal division and lating astonishing power and wealth (Gordon
political tension were building in the Islamic 2008). In this period, Muslims ruled politically
state. For example, selection of Muhammad’s and spiritually over the Middle East, North
successors was not without critics. The split Africa, Spain, and Central Asia. The Abbasids
between Sunni and Shi’a began in the first cen- continued the efforts to develop a large bureau-
tury after Muhammad’s death. The Shi’a believed cratic government (including court, banking, and
that leadership of the Muslim community should postal systems), established a powerful army, and
stay in Muhammad’s family, whereas the Sunni formulated the Islamic legal system based on the
believed that the Muslim community should Qur’an and the teachings of Muhammad, which
select the most qualified leader from among the came to be known as the Sharia (i.e., Islamic
community seniors (Dodge 2003). laws and moral codes). The Sharia covers all
After the death of Ali, deep divisions surfaced aspects of life, and it is obligatory for Muslims to
within the Islamic community. From among the follow it completely, because the Sharia is per-
opposing forces, relying on their strong army, the ceived to consist of Allah’s commands. As
Umayyad dynasty (661–750 CE) gained power. described later in this chapter, the Sharia came to
The Umayyad dynasty lasted for about a century, be a comprehensive manual of well-being for
during which the Islamic Empire grew dramati- Muslims from birth to death.
cally. The Umayyad dynasty extended the bor- Great economic progress and prosperity pour-
ders of the empire west to the Atlantic coast, ing into Islamic territories, largely from the ninth
conquering lands in present-day Egypt, Algeria, to the twelfth centuries, facilitated great scientific
Tunisia, Libya, and Morocco. The Muslim forces and cultural flourishing within the borders of the
conquered Spain and moved into southern Islamic empire (Fig. 5.3). Given the massive
France, where they were ultimately halted in 732 intellectual achievements in science, theology,
114 M. Joshanloo

Fig. 5.3 Whirling Sufis (Turkey) (Photo courtesy of Günter Ruopp; downloaded from http://pixabay.com/en/
dance-dervishes-turkey-konya-410468/)

literature, Sufism, philosophy, art, finance, and invasions of Christian Crusaders (lasting from
banking during this period, many refer to it as the 1095 to 1270) from Western Europe. The Abbasid
Islamic Golden Age (Emerick 2002). In this era, dynasty was eventually overturned by the ruth-
more orthodox trends of thought in Islam (e.g., less Mongolian invasion in 1258 CE. Mongols
jurisprudence and theology) emphasized an abso- conquered half the Muslim world, razed many
lute devotion to Allah, fear of Allah’s punish- cities, burned many libraries, and killed many
ment, and adherence to the detailed laws of the intellectuals. By the fifteenth century, the Islamic
Sharia as the key to well-being. However, with world recovered from the invasions and saw the
the burgeoning of diverse streams of thought in rise of three new empires ruling over the majority
the Islamic world, competing conceptions of of the Islamic territories. The Mughal Empire
well-being started to emerge. Branches of Islamic gained power in the Indian subcontinent. In Iran,
thought such as Islamic philosophy and Sufism the Safavid Empire established a powerful Shi’a
showed great interest in formulating their unique state. And the Ottoman Empire arose in Anatolia
conceptions of well-being, which were based on (Gordon 2008). The Ottoman dynasty expanded
Qur’anic teachings, yet had novel elements. The its rule to much of North Africa and the Middle
conceptions of well-being in Islamic philosophy East as well as to much of southeastern Europe.
and Sufism are discussed in the following By mid-twentieth century, these Islamic states
sections. finally collapsed due to inefficiency in dealing
The power and authority of the Abbasid with internal turmoil and external threats.
dynasty gradually declined in its final centuries. In the era of colonization in the eighteenth
The Muslim empire started facing the challenges century, many European colonizers started mov-
of internal conflict and external invasion that ing into Muslim lands. An example is Napoleon’s
would eventually lead to its annihilation. These conquest of Egypt in 1798. Muslims were too
challenges included countless rebellions inside weak to fend them off due to their technological,
the borders of the empire and the exhausting military, and political backwardness in compari-
5  Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being 115

Fig. 5.4  The Qur’an

(Photo courtesy of Nahidh
Salman. Downloaded from
http://www.rgbstock.com/
photo/nQz76Lu/Quran2)

son to the rising powers of the West (Etheredge 5.3  he Qur’anic Accounts
T
2010). Muslims reacted variably to the coloniza- of Well-Being
tion (Etheredge 2010). It can be argued that the
colonization and the contemporary powerful The Qur’an is believed by all Muslims to contain
trend of Westernization have produced reactions all of the major Islamic teachings about human
largely centered on a mixture of fundamentalism life and well-being, in this world and in the here-
and political activism as well as religious reform after. This section begins with an examination of
and modernization. The anti-Western reactive the Qur’anic conceptualizations of God, human-
attempts started with jihad (holy combat) against ity, and life in order to lay the groundwork for an
colonial powers (e.g., in Southeast Asia, Libya, analysis of the concepts of well-being in the
and Sudan) and culminated in the establishment Qur’an (Fig. 5.4).
of entirely Islamic (yet fairly modern) govern-
ments in some Muslim countries (e.g., Iran) or
the formation of militant extremist groups (e.g., 5.3.1 T
 he Qur’anic Accounts of God,
Al-Qaeda). The modernization attempts, on the Humanity, and Life
other hand, started with experimentation with
Western military technology (e.g., in the The word Islam literally means “submission” or
Ottoman Empire) and culminated in some con- “surrender.” It indicates the believer’s absolute
temporary Islamic trends that embrace a major- submission to the will of Allah. Faith in Allah
ity of secular styles of life and government, must be beyond the least shadow of doubt, with
arguing for a complete separation of religion and absolute certainty. It must be deep and enter one’s
state (Etheredge 2010; Saeed 2006). These heart (Q 49:141). In Islam, Allah is of overriding
developments necessarily had some impact on functional importance in world and human
how Muslims perceived well-being. These mod- affairs. He is the creator and sustainer of the
ern trends and their influence on the conceptions world and the teacher, observer, and evaluator of
of well-being are discussed in detail in subse- the human being. Allah is described in the Qur’an
quent sections. However, to understand the as being omnipresent in every corner of life (Q
meaning of well-­being in Islam, one needs to
start with the holiest and most undisputed Translations of all Qur’anic verses were obtained from
1 

Islamic source: the Qur’an. http://Quran.al-islam.org/.

116 M. Joshanloo

57:4), having a close relationship with the world, from any little aspect of life. The Sharia (i.e.,
and being closer to human beings than their jugu- Islamic laws and moral codes), which was first
lar veins (Q 50:16). He knows individuals’ pri- systematically formulated in the Abbasid period
vate feelings and thoughts. Everything in the (750–1517 CE), provides strict rules and laws to
universe is regarded as a sign of Allah’s presence govern all aspects of life including personal,
(Leaman and Ali 2008). social, economic, and political matters, be it
The most important thing about Allah is that walking, talking, eating, sleeping, dressing,
He is one. The principle of the unity of Allah is laughing, or toileting.
the single most important concept in Islam, with From the Islamic perspective, before great
far-reaching effects in a Muslim’s life. This prin- Allah, human beings are no more than slaves and
ciple means that one is to believe that Allah is the servants. In relation to the rest of the creation,
only God, the absolutely unique God, with no however, humankind enjoys a high position. The
one sharing His divinity. In practice, this princi- Qur’an says
ple translates into a lifestyle where one must And surely We have honored the children of Adam,
avoid following any authority other than Allah, and We carry them in the land and the sea, and We
avoid seeking to please other human beings if it have given them of the good things, and We have
requires disobeying Allah, avoid preferring the made them to excel by an appropriate excellence
over most of those whom We have created. (Q
will of other human beings over the will of Allah, 17:70)
and avoid fearing someone other than Allah. To
Muslims, Allah is sufficient in all affairs of life, Humankind is titled as Allah’s “vicegerent” on
and one’s life must be arranged around this unify- earth (Q 2:30). Qur’anic verses confirm the exis-
ing principle. tence of a decent nature for humankind (e.g., “We
The Qur’an strongly urges Muslims to fear have indeed created man in the best of moulds,”
Allah and His judgment: “Those only are believ- Q 95:4, “by nature upright,” Q 30:30), which
ers whose hearts become full of fear when Allah basically indicates a large and unparalleled
is mentioned …” (Q 8:2), “…And fear Allah; for potential for spiritual achievement in humanity,
Allah is strict in punishment” (Q 59:7). Although as well as the absence of any leftover guilt from
Muslims are also discouraged in the Qur’an from one’s ancestors at the time of birth. In other
despair and abandoning hope in the “merciful, words, the Christian doctrine of original sin is not
compassionate” Allah (e.g., Q 12:92; 16:119), recognized in Islam. Christianity holds that the
fear of Allah is used as an important motivating sin of Adam and Eve is transmitted by heredity to
force, which intensifies one’s devotion to Allah. all human beings, such that any human being is
The Quran constantly reminds Muslims of born with a defective, sinful nature. However,
Allah’s power to inflict punishment both in this according to the Qur’anic narrative of creation,
world and in the hereafter and of the horrifying Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s commandment
nature of these punishments. There are plenty of and were expelled from paradise. Nevertheless,
punishment narratives in the Qur’an in order to they repented their error, which was accepted by
rectify the ignorance of humans and keep the fear God. This repentance purged the blemish of the
of Allah alive (Akhtar 2008). sin and left no bearing on future generations.
The Islamic philosophy of life and faith in Islam holds that humans are born innocent, sug-
Allah translates into strict religious practice. That gesting that the Qur’anic view of humanity is
is, faith should be reinforced by a program of more positive than that of classical Christianity.
life-changing action, including daily rituals and The Qur’an states that humankind’s unique
practices (Emerick 2002). Mere belief without potential for spiritual growth justifies its creation
practice is considered fruitless. Islam “is a law-­ (Q 2:30–33) and gives it superiority over the rest
centered religion rooted in correct practice rather of the creation. What is this positive side to
than solely in right belief” (Akhtar 2008: 291). humanity that the Quran finds highly admirable?
Muslims believe that religion cannot be separated In the Qur’anic narrative of creation, we read that
5  Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being 117

Allah breathed into the human being His own After reviewing the fundamentals of the
spirit (Q 32:9) and created human beings with an Qur’anic plan for the human being, we are now in
innate inclination for good that is called the fitra. position to respond to this question: What is the
The fitra is depicted as creating an important nature of genuine well-being, the only well-being
motivational force in the human personality, worth having, which is the final cause or goal for
prompting humans to devote themselves to the human beings?
will of Allah and to follow the Sharia. Thus,
according to Islam, the human being is born with
an inclination to surrender to Islam and live a 5.3.2 T
 he Nature of Well-Being
proper life (Joshanloo 2013). Prophets delivering in the Qur’an
God’s revelation are considered external forces,
reinforcing the internal guidance. Humans have Islam posits that the whole world, including
free will to choose to surrender to Allah and fol- human beings, is created by an all-knowing, wise
low the Sharia, and, if they do so, they will attain creator, and thus, there is a reason behind the cre-
the greatness that is praised in the Qur’an and is ation of humankind. Humans are created to fulfill
rewarded by the bounties of heaven. a function. The Qur’an makes it clear that the
But Islam also acknowledges a dark side to ultimate human function is worshipping and
humanity. It is recognized in Qur’anic passages serving Allah: “And I have not created the jinn
that the human being also possesses destructive and the men except that they should serve Me”
dispositions stemming from the carnal/devilish (Q 51:56). Hence, worshipping is the raison
side of its personality. Based on the Qur’an, this d’être of humankind, its telos, its final end. Islam
devilish side makes humans prone to all sorts of establishes what the human good is on the basis
sinful behavior. Humans are described in the of humanity’s ultimate function. It is fulfilling
Qur’an as having natural dispositions to commit this function that constitutes well-being. Thus,
murder, cruelty, selfishness, disobedience, igno- well-being is essentially being a good worshipper
rance, and forgetfulness (Akhtar 2008). For and organizing one’s whole life around fulfilling
example, the human being is described in the this basic function. In other words, well-being is
Qur’an as “a tyrant and a fool” (Q 33:72). Islam living a life in which all of one’s actions and
recognizes external forces that join these wicked intentions are directed at the ultimate end, which
internal dispositions, including environmental is worshipping Allah.
pressure and Satan. Satan is described as a power- The need for worshipping Allah is thought in
ful omnipresent entity constantly trying to inter- Islam to be firmly rooted in human nature. It
fere with the divine guidance and to seduce human results from the inborn and ever-present fitra2: a
beings to disobey Allah. Although the Qur’an disposition bestowed by a wise and gracious God
emphasizes the benevolent God-given, excel- to His servants to assist them in achieving the
lence-seeking aspect of humans and does not rec- best within them. This inbuilt inclination and the
ognize original sin, it emphasizes that humans are prophetic guidance are conducive to the ultimate
naturally prone to sinful behavior. In light of the function of humanity. Following the devilish side
innate negative potential, reinforced by external of one’s nature and satanic temptations, on the
evil influence, humanity is described in the Qur’an other hand, frustrates this function. One needs
as having the potential for becoming the lowest of constantly to resist the temptations of the carnal
the low (Joshanloo 2013). Thus, the Qur’an self and to act in accordance with the will of
describes humanity as having a dual nature, con-
sisting of two opposing forces that are in a persis- Whereas the existence of a fixed and definable human
2 

tent battle with each other. Given the importance nature with a telos that guides human actions and defines
well-being has been largely questioned in secular psy-
of this inherent internal conflict in determining chology and philosophy, Islam (like many other tradi-
the well-being of a Muslim, this issue is treated in tional religions) posits a fixed human telos and
some detail in the following sections. conceptualizes well-being based on it (Joshanloo 2013).
118 M. Joshanloo

Allah. Believing does not suffice; one needs to mate function well, one is considered to have a
continually act and live one’s life on the basis of high level of well-being, no matter how healthy
practical guidelines. and wealthy one is or how often one experiences
A question that arises is what determines the positive emotions and sensations. Although sub-
nature of Islamic activity? The answer is cer- jective states of mind are not central in conceptu-
tainly not human reason and intellect. An empha- alizing well-being in Islam, the Qur’an does
sis on reason and intellect independent of recognize a number of subjective states associ-
religious tradition has never been evident in the ated with worshipping Allah, which are discussed
history of Islam (Joshanloo 2013). The function in the following section.
of intellect in Islam is mainly to contemplate the
religious message and to submit to it. Abu-­
Raiya’s (2012) in-depth analysis of Qur’anic 5.3.3 Subjective Aspects
verses and Islamic theology indicates that the of Well-Being
main function of human intellect in Islam is to
contemplate Allah and to discipline the human’s Desirable subjective states of mind are depicted
devilish nature. Thus, according to Islam, virtu- in Islam as the by-product or concomitant of an
ous activity is not determined by means of human objectively well-lived life. According to
intellect. Islam holds that well-being is not Joshanloo (2013), the ideal subjective state of
achievable through rationality. mind in Islam is a tranquil, content state that is
If human reason is not the determinant of vir- bestowed by God to a Muslim on the basis of
tuous activity, what constitutes virtuous activity strong religious faith and relentless virtuous
in Islam? All of the guidelines on how to live activity. Where does this tranquil state of mind
one’s life moment to moment are provided in the come from? What are the mechanisms that main-
Sharia. The Sharia is “the detailed code of con- tain this tranquil state of mind?
duct or the canons comprising ways and modes To respond to these questions, one needs to
of worship, standards of morals and life and laws look not only at the nature of well-being itself but
that allow and proscribe, that judge between right also at the nature of the human personality. As
and wrong” (Mawdudi 2013: 101). For Muslims, already mentioned, there are rival forces in the
the Sharia is perceived as a God-given prescrip- human personality: a wicked force that strongly
tion for the right life, “the concrete embodiment urges us to do evil and a godly force constantly
of the Will of God, how God wants them to act in urging us to seek Allah. The devilish self is called
this life to gain happiness in this world and felic- the evil-commanding self (Al-Nafs Al-Ammarah)
ity in the hereafter” (Nasr 2003: 75). The ulti- in the Qur’an (Q12:53). Obviously, this compo-
mate good is only achievable through an enduring nent of the personality is described in a negative
pattern of activity in accordance with the Sharia. light, as an unhealthy inclination that is in con-
In Islam, only an objectively well-lived life flict with personal and societal well-being. The
with unrelenting religious activity counts as a Qur’an recognizes another part in the personality,
good life. Well-being is not defined on the basis which is closely connected to the fitra: The blam-
of certain subjective feelings and experiences, ing, reproachful, or self-accusing self (Al-Nafs
such as the intensity and frequency of certain Al-Lawwama). This self is the Qur’anic equiva-
experienced emotions and sensations. Rather, it lent of conscience that stands against and coun-
involves a life-long devotion to organizing one’s teracts the evil self’s destructive power (Akhtar
internal and external life around worshipping and 2008). The clash between the evil-commanding
serving Allah. Worshipping is not limited to and the self-accusing components engenders
practicing obligatory Islamic rituals; rather it is internal imbalance, anxiety, and guilt. In com-
to organize every aspect of one’s life on the basis parison to following the evil-commanding self
of the Sharia. If one actually fulfills one’s ulti- without a sense of remorse, this internal state of
5  Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being 119

anxiety and remorse is considered spiritually 5.3.4 T

 he Material World and Its
superior because it can be ultimately conducive Pleasures
to victory over the evil-commanding self.
Accordingly, the self-accusing component of the Following the Sharia constitutes the path to well-­
self is shown in a positive light in Islamic being, and sinning constitutes the path to ill-­
teachings. being. The internal devilish forces keep disturbing
To achieve well-being, one needs to harness the pursuit of genuine well-being. They con-
the devilish self. The resulting inaction of the stantly motivate the human to commit sin. This
devilish self comes with the inaction of the self-­ existential contradiction necessitates permanent
accusing self, resulting in an absence of internal struggle to subjugate the devilish forces. In Islam,
clash and turmoil. When a Muslim reaches this this constant struggle is called “the major jihad,”
state of balance, through absolute devotion to the major combat, one not with external enemies
Allah, he or she experiences a highly desirable but with oneself. Muslims are urged to engage
state of mind that is called the peaceful, serene, constantly in this internal battle, with the aim of
or tranquil self (Al-Nafs Al-Mutmainna) in the placing all devilish powers, desires, and instincts
Qur’an. This state is described as a state of inter- under the dictates of God’s command (Islami
nal assurance resulting from the awareness of 2003).
having Allah’s approval of the life one is living Legitimate pleasures accompanying a genu-
and one’s complete reliance on Allah. This sub- inely well-lived life are acceptable, whereas plea-
jective state consists of a complete harmony sures that occur outside the context of a well-lived
within an individual in every realm of function- life are strongly condemned in Islam. Islam asso-
ing, which is regarded to be the highest stage of ciates sinning with pleasure and attachment to
psychospiritual development in Islam (Abu-­ the material world. All sins are pleasurable and
Raiya 2012; Joshanloo 2013). Only a perfected inherently attractive and alluring to humans. All
personality gains this sense of subjective well-­ sins, on the other hand, indicate a failure to rec-
being. The subjective state of peacefulness and ognize the significance of the afterlife over the
balance involves contentment with whatever God material life. If one is not seeking worldly plea-
wishes (i.e., whatever happens in life). Worries sures as an end and is not attached to the material
over worldly difficulties and hassles are said to world, there remains no incentive for one to com-
largely perish in this state. mit sin.
In summary, resolving the conflict between The Qur’an also makes it clear that there is no
the godly and devilish aspects of human psyche guarantee that, through living a life in accordance
results in a rather permanent state of mind in the with the Sharia, one would enjoy a materially
believer, involving feelings of contentment, prosperous and pleasant life in this world, replete
assurance, and security, as well as low levels of with pleasure and bounty. In fact, there is no rela-
worldly concerns. This mindset is described as tionship between well-being and pleasure,
the ideal subjective state of mind in Islam. Not because Allah may choose to test one through
every Muslim can resolve the internal conflict pleasant life conditions or He may choose to test
and achieve this ideal mental state. It requires liv- one through adversity and hardship. Therefore,
ing a pious and ascetic life devoted to worship- living one’s life in accordance with Islam does
ping Allah and permanent activity in accordance not guarantee worldly comfort and material
with the will of Allah. This subjective state is not blessings. So, what is the point in enduring the
achievable and maintainable without living an pain of leading an Islamic life, with all the prohi-
objectively good life. The following sections dis- bitions and restraints that this pursuit imposes on
cuss the nature of an objectively well-lived life in one? The response is, of course, that living such a
Islam. life will be rewarded with complete well-being,
120 M. Joshanloo

both subjective and objective, both physical and and may cost the genuine, permanent, and intense
spiritual, in the hereafter. And living a sinful life pleasures of the hereafter (Q 63:9; 87:17). On top
leads to absolute suffering and unhappiness in the of that, life in the material world is plagued by
hereafter. inevitable suffering and hardship, resulting from
Qur’anic passages teach that the pleasures of the inherent limitations of the matter. Thus, even
the afterlife are better in quality and duration than if a person chooses to be genuinely and com-
worldly pleasures, and thus a prudent Muslim pletely happy in a worldly sense, that is not
must prefer them: possible.
Fair in the eyes of men is the love of things they It is worth mentioning that, although the oth-
covet: Women and sons; heaped-up hoards of gold erworldly well-being overshadows worldly well-­
and silver; horses branded (for blood and excel- being, Islam recognizes the possibility of gaining
lence); and (wealth of) cattle and well-tilled land. some levels of well-being in this world. It
Such are the possessions of this world’s life; but in
nearness to Allah is the best of the goals (To return describes the ideal well-being of this world as
to). Say: Shall I give you glad tidings of things Far entailing an absolute devotion to Allah, acting in
better than those? For the righteous are Gardens in accordance with the Sharia, enjoying a good per-
nearness to their Lord, with rivers flowing beneath; sonal relationship with Allah, and securing one’s
therein is their eternal home; with companions
pure (and holy); and the good pleasure of Allah.” well-being in the afterlife, which may come with
(Q 3:14–15) a subjective state of tranquility. The otherworldly
well-being, the genuine and unlimited well-being
Fear of Allah and His punishment in the afterlife of the hereafter, on the other hand, is character-
and piety are factors that assist Muslims in tran- ized by the presence of intense and relentless
scending illegitimate, short, and sometimes spiritual and material pleasures of all sorts in
harmful pleasures of the material world for the heaven. The highest pleasure of the hereafter is
sake of higher pleasures, which are permanent gaining God’s approval and nearness to Him.
and more intense (Fig. 5.5). Therefore, from a Muslim perspective, one’s life
The Qur’an introduces humans’ worldly life in the material world can be good and worthy, but
as an appealing yet temporary “play and amuse- the genuine version of well-being is not attain-
ment” (Q 6:32). The material world is problem- able in this world. Qur’anic teachings emphasize
atic on the way toward well-being, because it can that the very reason humans are sent to this world
divert humans from the remembrance of Allah is to gain the well-being of the afterlife. Muslims’

Fig. 5.5  Muslim women

in burqas (Afghanistan)
(Photo courtesy of Amber
Clay; downloaded from
http://all-free-download.
com/free-photos/download/
afghanistan_girl_
burqa_220092.html)
5  Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being 121

faith is constantly being tested by Allah in this restricted to having personal faith and performing
world via both blessing and hardship, so that individual acts of worship. Being a Muslim also
one’s capacity for enjoying the genuine happi- consists of acceptance of one’s social responsi-
ness of the afterlife can be measured: “He Who bility and having an active presence in society
created Death and Life, that He may try which of (Islami 2003). For Islam, the public aspect of
you is best in deed…” (Q 67:2). religion is to complement the private one:
In summary, the Qur’an underlines the fact Religion is not only a matter of private conscience,
that human life in the material world and all although it certainly includes this dimension; it is
material pursuits are more often than not barriers also concerned with the public domain, with the
on the journey to achieving the well-being of the social, economic, and even political lives of human
beings. There is no division between the Kingdom
hereafter. Yet, humans can build strength and of God and the kingdom of Caesar in the Islamic
actualize their great potential through exposure perspective. Rather, all belongs to God and must
to divine trials in their material life. They are therefore be regulated by Divine Law and moral
taught not to let the worldly pursuits distract injunctions that come from Him and are religious
in nature. (Nasr 2003: 32–32)
them from fulfilling their ultimate function of
worshipping Allah. The rather negative descrip- Islam is concerned with every aspect of human
tions of the material world provided by Islam life on earth, including familial, social, economic,
may imply that Islam encourages celibacy, seclu- military, and political. It is clear from the earliest
sion from society, and monasticism. However, phase of Muhammad’s teaching in Madinah and
Islam does take the sociopolitical aspect of well-­ the Islamic society that he established there, that
being into account and disapproves of seclusion his purpose was to construct a new nation to be
from society. In the following section, the socio- governed by an Islamic constitution. Islam
political aspects of well-being in Islam, which preaches an “all-embracing law, and universal
are important components of an objectively well-­ political control to be achieved, if necessary, by
lived life, are considered. military power” (Black 2011: 10). It is a respon-
sibility for Muslims to commit to a structure of
law and governance based on the teachings of the
5.3.5 Sociopolitical Aspects Qur’an and the example of Muhammad
of Well-Being (Al-Jibouri 2009). Using modern terminology,
the sociopolitical theory of Islam (as reflected in
Islam puts great emphasis on the social responsi- the Qur’an and Muhammad’s way of ruling)
bility of each individual Muslim. According to seems to emphasize social justice and social cap-
Islamic teachings, the purification of the carnal ital in addition to enactment of Islamic laws in
self must occur in the context of society, not out- society as indicators of societal well-being. An
side it. Piety in Islam is not supposed to lead to emphasis is also placed on economic prosperity.
seclusion from society: Yet, wealth and properties are the first to sacrifice
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and bless- in a Muslim’s life or in an Islamic society for the
ings, declared: “There is no monasticism in Islam.” sake of higher values: “You should believe in
He also declared: “Monasticism for my Community Allah and His messenger, and should strive for
is striving in God’s way.” Islam does not approve the cause of Allah with your wealth and your
of holding aloof from people and life in order to
attain self-perfection. Rather, it calls its followers lives. That is better for you…” (Q 61:11).
to be among people and to work for their welfare,
and to consider self-perfection along with the per-
fection of others. (Ünal 2007: 1043) 5.3.6 S
 ummary of the Qur’anic
Concept of Well-Being
Islam regards social seclusion as turning away
from social responsibility and failure to accept The Qur’an posits that humanity certainly needs
the reality of life. To be a Muslim is not only religion to achieve well-being, because the pru-
122 M. Joshanloo

dent and gracious Allah, having created human- that consists of intense and permanent material
ity to worship him, has implanted the need for and spiritual pleasures in the hereafter. The larg-
worshipping in the human soul. Allah has est pleasure of the hereafter is proximity to Allah
bestowed humanity with a God-seeking fitra that in heaven and having His approval. Although
constantly seeks to find Him and to surrender to genuine well-being is only achievable after death,
Him. The God-seeking component of human Islam recognizes the possibility of gaining some
nature creates a strong psychological need to levels of well-being in the material world. The
worship a higher power, which should be priori- well-being of this world consists of fulfilling
tized over other human needs (Joshanloo 2013). one’s ultimate function of worshipping Allah and
Failure to satisfy this strong need hinders attain- following His commandments, which may be
ment of genuine well-being: accompanied by a tranquil state of mind. We are
Enjoyments derived from the physical, material, sent to this world to secure the well-being of the
and natural means of life are not sufficient for hereafter. On this basis, the well-being of this
man’s happiness and felicity. A series of spiritual world consists of being on track to achieve the
needs are inbuilt in the human nature, without well-being of the afterlife. This Qur’anic formu-
whose satisfaction the enjoyment provided by
material means of life is not enough to make man lation of well-being served as the grand blueprint
truly happy.” (Al-Jibouri 2009) for all later formulations of well-being in the
Islamic world, some of which are introduced in
This natural inclination alone does not assure the rest of this chapter.
attainment of the ideal end, because this tendency
may be suppressed by sinning. Muslims are
taught to maintain or rediscover their fitra and to 5.4 Islamic Philosophy
follow its guidance. Walking on the path of fitra and Sufism
is only possible though strengthening one’s faith
in Allah and following the Sharia. In fact, proph- This section summarizes briefly the notions of
ets and revelation are perceived in Islam as God’s well-being in classic Islamic philosophy and
extra aid to help humans reattach to their God-­ Sufism. Islamic philosophy refers to the tradition
seeking nature. In other words, these external of philosophical thought in the Islamic lands,
sources are meant to help channel this in-built which was partly derived from the Hellenic phil-
disposition toward its rightful target. osophical tradition. Muslim philosophers
In view of the dynamic nature of the human admired human reason and intellectual faculties
personality, which entails two rival forces in a and sought to harmonize rationality and religious
constant battle with each other and competing faith. Sufism (Islamic mysticism), on the other
external forces at work, Islam posits that the hand, deemphasizes rationality and intellectual
God-given, God-seeking nature should be con- efforts, and instead makes use of intuitive and
stantly nurtured or it will be lost. One must spiritual faculties to achieve a union with God
always be in combat with the carnal dimensions (Saeed 2006). These two branches of Islamic
of one’s personality. Hence, the achievement of thought are considered among the main channels
well-being is not a status but a never-ending work through which Qur’anic teachings have been dis-
in progress. One must constantly keep one’s dev- cussed and developed. These accounts of well-­
ilish inclinations in check, or they take over the being are compared and contrasted with each
control of one’s personality, rendering one the other and with that of the Qur’an.
lowest of the low. The human being is in constant
need of internal combat, self-edification, and
self-development, which should occur in the con- 5.4.1 Islamic Philosophy
text of society, not in seclusion from it.
Living one’s life moment to moment in accor- Muslims’ conquest of various lands after the
dance with the Sharia leads to genuine well-being death of Muhammad put them in contact with a
5  Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being 123

range of civilizations with established educa- God, a semidivine link between the human and
tional systems, such as Syria, Egypt, and Persia. the divine. The state of union with the active
Scholars in some of these lands (e.g., Syria) were intellect is described as an epistemological ascent
familiar with Greek philological teachings. Since from perception of sensibles to comprehending
the eighth century CE, a number of Greek philo- nonmaterial intelligibles. Put otherwise, it
sophical and scientific works were translated involves gaining knowledge of ultimate truths
from Greek and other languages into Arabic, (Mattila 2011; Walker 2005). The ultimate happi-
with support from the Abbasid rulers. Early ness can be fully actualized in the afterlife, where
Muslim philosophers emerged in the ninth cen- the rational soul is dissociated from the body.
tury CE, during the Abbasid period. They moved Given that Islamic philosophers regarded the the-
beyond translation and transformed Islamic phi- oretical intellect as the soul’s highest and noblest
losophy into a distinct Islamic discipline, which faculty, they deemed the nature of happiness to
came to inspire later developments in philosophi- be intellectual, assuming also that intellectual
cal thought in other areas of the world, including pleasure is the highest kind of pleasure attainable
Europe (Saeed 2006). The first prominent Muslim by the human being.
philosopher is widely believed to be al-Kindi Bodily desires can hinder the attainment of
(801–873 CE). Other renowned Islamic philoso- true intellectual happiness and thus should be
phers include Al-Farabi (950–951), Avicenna cast off. Toward this end, virtuous activity and
(980–1037), and Averroes (1126–1198). piety are thought to be necessary. Thus, Muslim
Muslim philosophers sought to integrate philosophers thought that the ultimate happiness
Greek thought into their Qur’anic framework and is gained through seeking rational knowledge as
were interested in harmonizing rationality and well as through virtuous activity. However, prac-
religion. Although their work was influenced by tical morality is regarded as subservient to the
ancient Greek, Persian, and Indian traditions, the higher theoretical perfection. That is, the practi-
outcomes of Islamic philosophical work were cal aspect of gaining happiness is more of a
hardly different from the Qur’anic teachings in means toward achieving theoretical perfection
their generalities. They also criticized Aristotelian (Fakhry 1997; Mattila 2011).
philosophy for neglecting God, afterlife, and the What is the nature of philosophical virtuous
spiritual side of existence (Leaman and Ali activity? Moral virtue for Muslim philosophers
2008). What distinguished Islamic philosophy largely entails subjugating bodily desires to reli-
from other Islamic schools was that Islamic phi- gious principles, which requires varying degrees
losophers promoted the use of rational means to of ascetic practice as formulated in the Sharia: “It
analyze Qur’anic messages. is primarily religious law that provides the con-
Muslim philosophers showed considerable crete means for moral purification” (Mattila
interest in conceptualizing human happiness. 2011: 132). Furthermore, Islamic philosophy
Human happiness is basically conceived in posits that happiness cannot be obtained in isola-
Islamic philosophy as the actuality and perfec- tion from society. Besides individual moral
tion of the human rational soul, which is under- action, happiness should be pursued at the level
stood to involve the ascent of the rational soul of the larger political community to facilitate
toward a contact with the divine presence. In this acquisition of happiness for all (Fakhry 1997).
state, the perfected soul is in a sense divinized, Toward this end, the larger society as a whole
becoming fully spiritual like angels with no must also be organized around the principles of
bodily needs (Mattila 2011). Technically speak- the Sharia.
ing, happiness for Muslim philosophers means In summary, for Muslim philosophers, the
contact or union with the active intellect (Fakhry ultimate well-being is a state where one gains
1997; Leaman and Ali 2008). In Islamic philoso- semidivine intellectual powers, the ability to
phy, the active intellect is an immaterial intellect comprehend nonmaterial intelligibles, and
of the higher world. It is one of the emanations of knowledge of the ultimate truths. This eternal
124 M. Joshanloo

and highly pleasurable state occurs when the ognizes that, whereas the Islamic “fertile soil
human intellect is fully actualized through con- watered by the Qur’an and Muhammad’s exam-
tact with the active intellect, which is an emana- ple … has up to this day yielded a religiously rich
tion of God. The ultimate happiness can only harvest,” philosophy “never took root firmly in
happen after death when the soul is separated the soil of Islam even in the intellectual heyday of
from the body. In a sense, for Islamic philoso- Muslim civilization” (p. 88). The main reason for
phers, the pleasure resulting from knowing the this decline was, as mentioned before, the intrin-
ultimate truths is considered to be the highest sic conflict between philosophical thought and
pleasure of heaven. But, in this world, one must religious faith.
constantly try to put his soul in contact with the
active intellect through perfecting one’s rational
abilities and trying to understand “the principle 5.4.2 Sufism
behind the logical organization of everything in
our world” (Leaman 2004: 20). Islamic philoso- One way of understanding and approaching God
phers admit that using rational abilities to dis- in Islam is Sufism, which is the mystical compo-
cover the divine truths is only reserved for a nent of Islam. Contrary to Islamic philosophy,
limited number of philosophers and is not avail- Sufism tries to explain the world, human nature,
able to lay people. But these truths are already and God by relying on intuitive knowledge and
available for lay people in the revelation and the direct experience rather than reasoning and logic
Sharia. Islamic philosophers instruct both phi- (Joshanloo and Rastegar 2012). Islamic Sufism
losophers and lay people to despise material pur- is believed to originate from early Islamic asceti-
suits and pleasures and to follow the Sharia. cism during the first two decades of Islam. Early
Ultimately, the way to well-being in this world Islamic asceticism was based on fear of God’s
comprises unrelenting activity in accordance punishment, deep and permanent awareness of
with the Sharia. sin and human weakness, and complete submis-
Muslim philosophers were generally pious sion to the will of Allah. Ascetics encouraged
individuals and committed to Islamic religiosity. piety, self-discipline, constant vigilance, and
The philosophical account of human perfection austerity. However, by the end of the second
and happiness described above is closely related Islamic century, the ascetic movement was grad-
to Qur’anic teachings. Similarities include the ually combined with mystical tendencies, devel-
assertions that true happiness is not achievable in oping the earliest forms of Islamic Sufism
this world, that the way to achieve happiness is (Renard 2005; Saeed 2006). Ascetics gradually
harnessing bodily desires, and that a lifestyle turned into mystics and started speaking of a
based on the Sharia is required to achieve happi- mutual love between the human being and God.
ness. However, they used philosophical method Scholars refer to these first three Islamic centu-
and terminology, which were not tolerated by tra- ries up to about 950 CE as the “formative” period
ditionalists. Traditional theologians interpreted in the history of Sufism, when sensitivity to the
philosophers’ attempts as producing conflict various manifestations of interior spiritual expe-
between faith and reason and giving credence to rience and individual relationship with God was
human intellect as an autonomous tool for emerging (Renard 2005). Beginning around the
answering questions that are already answered in tenth century, Sufis started to systematize and
religion. This approach resulted in major attacks theorize their approach, and Sufism was consoli-
from traditionalists, leading to the premature dated as an important practical and theoretical
death of Islamic philosophy (Saeed 2006). The discipline. Sufism initially met serious objec-
classical Islamic philosophy lasted until the tions from orthodox canonists and theologians.
twelfth century CE, ending with the death of However, by the eleventh century, moderate
Averroes, who is widely recognized as the last trends in Sufism came to be recognized as
eminent Muslim philosopher. Akhtar (2008) rec- legitimate.
5  Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being 125

Sufism has continued to grow in various Sufis also attach importance to asceticism and
dimensions of institutionalization and intellectu- piety, both as a prerequisite for and a manifesta-
alization (Renard 2005). Some of the renowned tion of divine love. Asceticism is considered as
Sufis include Mansur al-Hallaj (858–922), Abd the key method of purification of the soul. Sufism
al-Qadir al-Jilani (1077–1166), Attar of Nishapur regards the carnal/devilish self as a component
(1145–1221), and Ibn Al-Arabi (1165–1240). that consistently leads the Sufi off the spiritual
Today, Sufism remains well represented in vari- path and commands him or her to do evil. The
ous forms and in various regions. Sufis are pres- devilish self can impede the actualization of the
ent almost everywhere Muslims live. Beside the spiritual potential of the heart if not controlled by
strong presence of institutional Sufism, Sufism the divine aspects of the personality. Accordingly,
has become fully integrated into the popular reli- this self should be actively fought against
giosity of many Muslims (especially, Iranian, throughout life (Joshanloo 2014). As a result of
Indian, and Turkish Muslims). The Sufis’ non- pure love and an ascetic lifestyle, pursuing the
elitist tendencies as well as their authentic and Sufi path is believed to lead to the absolute anni-
simple way of life enabled them to convince and hilation of the individual self (e.g., Fakhry 1997),
attract many kindred spirits. The use of poetry by which is needed in order to become one with the
Sufis as a vehicle for their teaching can be con- Divine Being. This union is “a condition of one-
sidered as one of the facilitators of the popularity ness with the object of love, implying a mystical
of Sufism in the Islamic world (Joshanloo and relationship of ecstasy and annihilation in God,
Rastegar 2012). This popularity distinguishes the ultimate Beloved” (Renard 2005: 244). In this
Sufism from elitist Muslim philosophy. state of mystical union or melding of the lover
Whereas ancient Persian and Indian tradi- with the Beloved, some Sufis say, the soul is so
tions had a crucial influence on the emergence completely absorbed by the presence of God that
of Islamic mysticism, for the most part, Sufi it no longer has any individuality (Joshanloo
teachings originate from, and are intertwined 2014; Joshanloo and Rastegar 2012). This state
with, Qur’anic teachings. Sufis regard prophets results in the experience of spiritual drunkenness
as the chief models on the “Sufi path.” They in the lover, which is an important component of
define happiness as union with God. This ulti- both otherworldly and worldly well-beings for
mate goal is only attainable by faithfully follow- Sufis.
ing the Sufi path, which is believed to enable the Speaking of central tenets, the Sufi concept of
“soul to be purified, to acquire certain qualities well-being resembles the Qur’anic teachings in
and to rise higher until, with the help of divine important aspects. These similarities include the
grace, it would find its home in God” (Saeed monotheistic emphasis of Sufis on pure love and
2006: 76). Sufis believe that it is human heart, absolute devotion to God, the importance of sub-
not intellect or body, that can get in direct con- jugating the devilish parts of the personality, and
tact with God, and thus the Sufi path is basically the necessity of following an ascetic lifestyle.
a number of stages to prepare the heart to meet The Sufi understanding also resembles the
God. Divine love plays a central part on the path Islamic philosophical understanding along the
to divine union. Divine love is described as a same dimensions. The Sufi concept of union with
pure, wholehearted, and affectionate love for the divine is highly reminiscent of the philosoph-
God (Joshanloo and Rastegar 2012). Contrary to ical concept of conjunction with the active intel-
Islamic philosophy, in Sufism, reason is consid- lect. Yet, the Sufi version of happiness is slightly
ered to be limited and limiting in many ways different from the other Islamic notions of happi-
and thus is not considered helpful on the path. In ness in some aspects. Some Sufis speak of the
particular, when reason denies intuitive knowl- possibility of becoming one with Allah, whereas
edge and “blinds the eye of the heart,” it becomes this approach is considered blasphemous by
the target of strong criticism from Sufism orthodox Islam. Islamic philosophy also does not
(Joshanloo 2014). speak of union with Allah. The active intellect is
126 M. Joshanloo

only semidivine and certainly not identifiable to abandon the classic notions of well-being in
with Allah. Moreover, in Islamic philosophy, the the modern era in response to rapid moderniza-
soul is believed to retain its individuality even tion, globalization, technological progress, and
after its conjunction with the active intellect. the new economic and political order of the
Hence, the contact or union with the active intel- world? The following sections attempt to respond
lect as described in Islamic philosophy is differ- to these questions, after a brief sketch of the
ent from the notion of oneness with God as streams of thought that are dominant in the con-
described in Sufism. temporary Islamic world.
Another noticeable difference is that, although
Sufis normally do not promote isolation from
society, the sociopolitical aspects of religiosity 5.5 Contemporary Islamic
are less emphasized in Sufism than in the Accounts of Well-Being
Qur’anic and philological approaches. Less
emphasis on the social responsibilities of indi- Modern Islamic history cannot be understood
viduals in Sufism was one of the reasons why independently of the influence of the West. Since
Sufism gained considerable popularity in some the eighteenth century, which brought European
Islamic territories in the period of the Mongol colonial control over a host of Islamic lands,
invasion, when Muslims lost their sociopolitical Muslims have shown various reactions to counter
sovereignty over their lands. Finally, although the the humiliating dominance of the West. Some
Qur’an and Islamic philosophy allow for milder (such as the Ottoman Empire) started experimen-
forms of spiritual happiness to be attainable in tation with European technology and manners,
this world, Sufis believe in the possibility of more and some resorted to Islamic activism (e.g., jihad
complete forms of spiritual happiness on earth. In against Europeans). Since the colonization
the Sufi system of thought, traveling along the period, modernization/Westernization and recon-
Sufi path may lead to intense internal experiences struction/revivalism have been alive and compet-
resulting from union with God that are described ing in Islamic territories (Etheredge 2010).
as immense and richly pleasant. Sufis believe that Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905), Jamal al-Din
one does not need to wait until death to meet The Al-Afghani (1839–1897), and Muhammad Iqbal
Divine. It can happen in this life. (1877–1938) are widely recognized as the first
In summary, the philosophical and Sufi con- prominent reconstructionists and pioneers of
ceptualizations of well-being have a lot in com- Islamic modernism. They all called for reform
mon with the Qur’anic concept of well-being. and reappraisal of Islamic traditions to meet the
The central theme that underlies all these notions challenges posed by modernity. Yet, they warned
is a yearning for getting in touch with the Creator. against blindly pursuing Western culture at the
In all the approaches, human physical existence expense of Islamic values and spirituality. They
can be a barrier on the road to well-being, and held that cultivating the Islamic cultural and spir-
thus due weight is given to piety and asceticism itual heritage is the only way for Muslims to
to subjugate this side of the human being. In all regain their strength and glory. To these reform-
three, the most perfect and genuine type of well-­ ists, the only way out of misery and weakness
being can be experienced in the hereafter. It is involves going back to basic teachings of the
obvious that the Qur’anic master plan for achiev- Qur’an and the pristine Islam of the earliest
ing well-being has laid the ground for all later Muslims (Etheredge 2010; Saeed 2006).
conceptualizations of well-being in the Islamic Ever since the colonization period, Muslim
world since the advent of Islam up to the modern scholars almost unanimously have shown resis-
era. An important question that arises is to what tance to Westernization in the realm of values and
extent are the Qur’anic notions surrounding the morality. However, there has been more diversity
concept of well-being still endorsed in the con- in response to the critical question of whether or
temporary Muslim world? Have Muslims decided not Islam should be the foundation of the politi-
5  Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being 127

cal system. Some groups have emphasized continuum they are, accept the Qur’an as the
enforcement of Islamic laws in social and politi- heart of Islam. Islamic spirituality, which involves
cal life. Among the most influential figures in this a private connection between a Muslim and
group are Abu al-Ala al-Mawdudi (1903–1979) Allah, constitutes the core of Muslimhood,
and Sayyid Qutb (1906–1966), who advocated whether that Muslim is an Islamic activist
active sociopolitical involvement of Islam in engaged in holy war to establish an Islamic state
Muslim societies. This ideology has led to suc- in Iraq or a secular Muslim citizen of Belgium.
cessful establishment of Islamic states, such as
Saudi Arabia under Ibn Saud (in 1932) and the
Islamic republic of Iran under Ruhollah Khomeini 5.5.1 T
 he Concept of Well-Being
(1979), injecting hope to many Islamic move- in the Contemporary Muslim
ments aspiring to establish Islamic states. World
Beginning in the 1970s, partly as a result of
recurrent failures of Islamic nations to free the Contemporary Muslim scholars strongly take
Arab land occupied by Israel, radical versions of issue with the secularization and hedonism domi-
this ideology have also engendered a new genera- nant in the contemporary world. They warn
tion of militant activism with utopian tendencies against leakage of these materialistic trends into
such as al-Qaeda under Osama Bin Laden (1957– Muslim societies, which, in their view, can lead
2011). In contrast, some Islamic groups have to the loss of Islamic traditional values and
emphasized that Islam should not be the basis of morality and to an entire breakdown of societal
the political system and should be limited to the order. They seriously warn about the devastating
individual and private sphere. An example is the psychological effects of lack of religious faith
Egyptian scholar Ali Abd al-Raziq (1888–1966), and following hedonic pursuits, arguing that a
who advocated separation of Islam from the state. person who lacks religious faith cannot lead a
On the basis of such notions, Muslims have been good life. For example, Yahya (2001) argues that
able to establish largely secular states, such as the the lives of people who do not have religious faith
Republic of Turkey in 1923, under Atatürk are undoubtedly afflicted by purposelessness and
(1881–1938). that these people indisputably lack the essential
As this brief history of thought in recent factors that give life meaning. This lack of faith
Islamic countries indicates, the modern world has also makes individuals selfish and insensitive to
seen the emergence of great diversity in Muslim other people’s needs. He describes an individual
thought and sociopolitical life. Differences who does not have religious faith and who does
among contemporary Islamic trends of thought not fear Allah as one who is likely “to commit
largely exist along a continuum from seculariza- any evil and ignore all kinds of immorality when
tion to politicization of Islam. At the seculariza- he feels his interests are at stake. Someone, who
tion end, Muslim individuals or groups relegate readily kills a human being, for instance, for no
Islam to the private realm and leave governance apparent reason or for a worldly interest, does
to secular states. At the politicization end, this because he does not fear Allah” (p. 23).
Muslim individuals or groups hold that individ- Many contemporary Muslim scholars express
ual faith is not enough and that Islamic laws similar views: that morality, justice, conscience,
should be enforced by an Islamic state. Despite and societal order are unimaginable without reli-
great diversity along this continuum among gious faith. They regard materialistic striving and
Muslims, Joshanloo (2013) argues that contem- neglecting one’s spiritual side as the cause of all
porary Muslim understandings of life, human- the vices and disorders they recognize in the
kind, God, and well-being are still strongly modern world. They blame Western civilization
influenced by the original Qur’anic ideology and for spreading these “toxic” values among people
the teachings and normative example of of the world as well as Muslims themselves for
Muhammad. Muslims, no matter where on this their weakness of faith. Accordingly, they dis-
128 M. Joshanloo

miss any materialistic solutions to the present subjective and psychological aspects in their
state of affairs, which they perceive as utterly accounts of well-being. Contemporary Muslim
disastrous. scholars contend that without a strong religious
Muslim writers generally hold that to obtain faith, a human being cannot achieve psychologi-
well-being, one needs to know all aspects of cal and social well-being. They reason that reli-
humankind, i.e., all its abilities, deficiencies, and gious faith has major benefits for personal and
needs, and that such a complete understanding is social well-being. Religion gives meaning to the
beyond human capacity. They assert that modern world and human life and provides us with stron-
science and secular worldviews have failed to ger and more permanent pleasurable experiences,
bring well-being to humans’ lives due to a lack of compared to which sensual pleasures are of little
a complete understanding of humankind and its value. Examples of these religious pleasures are
spiritual needs (e.g., Musawi Lari 1997). Only those derived from worshipping Allah and volun-
God can show humans the way to well-being, tary service to society. They recognize that life
because He has created them and knows all about has lots of worries, hardships, and failures and
them. Accordingly, they argue that humans that humans cannot overcome all of these on their
should try to find the answers to all their ques- own. The only thing that can bring peace and
tions in the revealed law and religious scriptures. happiness to life is religious faith. This benefit of
Hence, the core message of modern Islamic religion comes from religion’s success in per-
scholarship is to solve the existing problems suading humans that all these hardships and wor-
through reviving Islamic values and returning to ries are divine trials that will be compensated in
the Qur’an and the teachings of Muhammad. the afterlife. Hence, a believer can find meaning
They prescribe that it is religious faith rather and tranquility even in hardship (Joshanloo
than hedonic and materialistic motives that must 2013).
dominate the human personality. Absolute sub- Some Muslim scholars dismiss Western and
mission to God and living in accordance with the modern scientific theories of human nature as
Sharia feature as key virtues in contemporary being alien to Islamic ideology and are suspi-
Islamic scholarship (e.g., Motahhari 1992; cious of secular scientific methodologies. This
Musawi Lari 1997; Yahya 2001). They state that position is advocated by Huq (2009) in the fol-
faith helps individuals resist the pressures of car- lowing excerpt:
nal desires and inclinations, which are regarded Muslims, who believe that humanity has been cre-
as conducive to ill-being and unhappiness. At the ated by Allah (SWT) and has been sent by Him to
same time, as with traditional Islam, extreme this world as His vicegerent endowed with divine
celibacy and asceticism are not prescribed by “spirit” with inherent divine potentials, cannot
exclusively trust and depend on such scientific
contemporary Muslim scholars. They encourage tools which are unable to sense and unfold the
believers to stay connected to this world and to spiritual basis of human existence, and which con-
others, and to play their proper role in society sequently fail to provide any knowledge and direc-
(Motahhari 1992; Musawi Lari 1997). They posit tion for promotion and development of the real
human self. (p. 161)
that individual well-being is tied to collective
well-being and that a person cannot seek happi- On the basis of these assumptions, Huq (like
ness independent of others. Finally, in full con- many Muslim scholars) identifies the dominant
formity with the Qur’anic teachings, views of human nature in modern social science
contemporary Muslim scholars think that genu- as “soulless, lopsided, and truncated” (2009:
ine well-being can only be experienced in the 161). However, surprisingly, this disagreement
afterlife, which is generally interpreted as prox- on the fundamentals does not lead to an entire
imity to God in heaven. dismissal of all modern indicators of well-being
The subjective turn in the conceptualization of recognized in the modern social sciences. Some
well-being after the enlightenment has prompted Muslims scholars and Muslim governments tend
contemporary Muslims to pay special attention to to regard many psychosocial indicators of well-­
5  Islamic Conceptions of Well-Being 129

being emphasized in modern scientific literature are emphasized in the contemporary world), they
as consistent with the teachings of Islam have paid special attention to the subjective and
(Joshanloo 2013). In addition to morality, faith, psychological aspects of well-being, introducing
and following the Sharia, they stress some per- religious faith as a (or the ultimate) psychological
sonal indicators of well-being, such as self-­ remedy for a myriad of mental disturbances prev-
esteem, individual subjective well-being, positive alent in the contemporary world. The emphasis
interpersonal relationships, personal growth, and on the subjective aspects of well-being, however,
purpose in life. They also advocate many social does not mean that contemporary Islamic schol-
indicators of well-being, such as social contribu- ars have deemphasized the objective aspects of
tion, social capital, social justice, access to edu- well-being. Instead, to them, all of the subjective
cation, economic progress, national subjective and psychological benefits of religious faith
well-being, and lack of governmental corruption. result from activity in accordance with the Sharia,
Personal freedom, social and religious tolerance, and religious faith without activity is futile.
ecosystem sustainability, and uncontrolled access Muslim scholars also have imported many indi-
to information are sometimes considered as cators of well-being from modern social science
ingredients of individual and societal well-being and situated them in their religious ideologies.
by Muslims.
Muslim scholars argue that the Islamic life-
style leads to all of these positive outcomes, 5.5.2 V
 iews of Political Islamism
whereas secular lifestyles will most probably fail on Well-Being
due to their distorted understandings of human
nature. Yet, for Muslim scholars, these indicators As mentioned before, some contemporary
are not helpful if basic Islamic ideals are missing. Islamic scholars and groups do not consider indi-
If the ultimate function of humans (i.e., worship- vidual faith as sufficient for genuine well-being
ping Allah in the broad sense) is not fulfilled, of Muslims. Rather they believe that Muslim
these indicators will not mean anything. They are populations should be ruled by Islamic govern-
only superficial indicators of well-being, which ments that enact the laws of Islam, even if this
should be backed up by firm faith and persistent requires revolution or military violence against
religious practice. For example, these scholars secular rulers or alien suppressors. Under this
believe that life satisfaction is not a legitimate category, there are two major streams of thought:
indicator of well-being when a person’s life is not political Islamists and militant extremists (Saeed
lived in accordance with the Sharia (Joshanloo 2006). Political Islamists advocate the view that a
2013). It is also noteworthy that the modern val- state should derive its authority from Allah and
ues and indicators are often understood some- that secular governments are not qualified to rule
what differently by Muslim scholars. For Muslim states. Examples include Abul Ala
example, self-esteem is perceived partly as an Mawdudi (1903–1979) and Ruhollah Khomeini
awareness and acknowledgement of one’s admi- (1902–1989), who emphasized the sociopolitical
rable godly self rather than a simple appreciation aspects of Islam and the importance of establish-
of personal worth. ing Islamic states. They believed people must not
In summary, mainstream Muslims scholars’ submit to any ruler (e.g., kings or sultans) other
views on well-being can be considered as a con- than a ruler who obtains his authority from Allah.
temporary repackaging of the Qur’anic notions From this perspective, all the guidance that
of well-being, adjusted to the demands of life in humankind needs is provided in the Qur’an and
the modern era. Contemporary Muslim scholars Sharia, and political power is essential to put the
define well-being as consisting of an absolute divinely ordained Sharia into effect.
devotion to Allah and living in accordance with Militant extremists are more radical in their
the Sharia. However, with the aim of giving views. They believe that the contemporary world
enough weight to subjective experiences (which is characterized by a deep systematic injustice
130 M. Joshanloo

against Muslims and intents to keep them weak. personality with a pious and ascetic lifestyle.
They have developed passionate anti-Western Hence, Islam largely sets objective criteria for
sentiments and try to revive Islamic power well-being. However, it also recognizes the sub-
through forming states that are entirely ruled by jective aspects of well-being. The ideal subjec-
the traditional Islamic laws. Toward this end, tive aspect of well-being in Islam is a tranquil and
they are ready to fight and use terror when neces- peaceful state of mind bestowed on a Muslim by
sary. Martyrdom for Islam is perceived by mili- Allah as a reward for a strong faith and living
tant extremists to guarantee attainment of the one’s life in full accordance with the Sharia. The
genuine well-being of the afterlife. The most fullest form of happiness is not achievable in the
exemplary militant extremist of Islam that the material world and is thought to only occur in the
history has seen is Osama Bin Laden (1957– afterlife. Human life in this world is considered
2011), who founded and led al-Qaeda. as a trial of Muslims’ faith to qualify for the ulti-
It is noteworthy that both political Islamists mate happiness.
and militant extremists agree with other Islamic This chapter showed that although Muslims
groups (including secular and progressive move- have been responsive to various historical and
ments) on the central ingredients of Islamic well-­ cultural developments inside and outside their
being. That is, they see the solution in recovering territories, the overwhelming dominance of the
Islamic values as originated in the Qur’an and Qur’anic notion of well-being as the prototype of
formulated in the Sharia. However, what distin- the life well-lived is evident in all Islamic eras
guishes militants from the rest of Islamic groups and in all Islamic schools of thought. Given the
is their overemphasis on jihad against secular absolute and unquestionable authority of the
powers. Moreover, they are characterized by Qur’an among all Islamic sects and schools and
imposing extremely strict punishments on their the fact that the Qur’an is particularly clear on
Muslim subjects who fail to follow the Sharia as how a Muslim should live a good, proper, worthy,
dictated by them. Militant extremists are consid- and admirable life, a rather timeless Qur’anic
ered to be the least compatible among the Islamic account underlies all Islamic formulations
groups with modern cultural ethos and practices, throughout Islamic history.
which are being widely spread and reinforced by
globalization. They largely reside and function in
poverty-stricken areas in Islamic territories. References
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eloquence. New York: Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an.
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Gordon, M. S. (2008). The rise of Islam. Indianapolis: Mawdudi, S. A. A. (2013). Towards understanding Islam.
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 Part II
Domains of Well-Being

Caution in handling generally accepted opinions that claim to explain whole trends of
history is especially important for the historian of modern times, because the last century
has produced an abundance of ideologies that pretend to be keys to history but are
actually nothing but desperate efforts to escape responsibility. (Hannah Arendt – Arendt,
H. (1968). The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt.)

There is a view in which all the love of our neighbour, the impulses towards action, help,
and beneficience, the desire for removing human error, clearing human confusion, and
diminishing human misery, the noble aspiration to leave the world better and happier
than we found it, – motives eminently such as are called social, – come as part of the
grounds of culture, and the main and pre-eminent part. (Mathew Arnold –Arnold, M.
(1932). Culture and Anarchy (p. 44). J. Dover Wilson (Ed.), Cambridge, UK: University
of Cambridge Press.)

The question, then, is whether we can arrive at a set of normative rules which seek to
protect liberty, reward achievement, and enhance the social good, all within the
constraints of economics. (Daniel Bell – Bell, D. (1996). The Cultural Contradictions
of Capital (p. 26). [20th Anniversary Edition]. New York: Basic Books.)
134 II  Domains of Well-Being

Ik’ –  Second day of the Maya calendar. Mixed media on paper—22″ × 30″. © 2015 Lylia Forero Carr. Used with
permission.
 How We Measure Well-Being:
The Data Behind the History 6
of Well-Being

M. Joseph Sirgy, Richard J. Estes,
and Audrey N. Selian

6.1 Introduction of documented historical narrative that underlies

true human experience. The empirical writings of
The study of well-being comprises substantial well-being scholars tend to promote a fuller
bodies of empirical work done by scientists understanding of the social, political, and eco-
working across many disciplines—from the natu- nomic dynamics that contribute to well-being. In
ral and social sciences to the arts, humanities, the addition, through attention to the public policy
nature and social sciences, as well as the per- implications of their research, well-being schol-
forming arts.1 The field of study covers important ars seek to advance well-being in individuals,
social advances achieved for people in general families, communities, entire countries, geopo-
but also for special groups who have been dis- litical regions, and the world as a whole (Hagerty
criminated against on the basis of race, ethnicity, et al. 2002).
religion, sexual orientation, and social class, Although the study of well-being is multidis-
among others. ciplinary, research practitioners are clustered pri-
The goal of this volume is to present the his- marily in the fields of sociology, political science,
torical and contemporary patterns of human economics, and psychology. All draw for their
progress, grounded in a combination of data and inspiration from the fundamental knowledge of
quality of life and well-being from the major
philosophical, religious, and humanist tradition
The international and interdisciplinary nature of this field
1 
of Western, Eastern, and Middle Eastern reli-
of social science theory and research is captured by Alex
Michalos in his 12-volume Encyclopedia of Quality of
gions and philosophical systems. The conceptual
Life and Well-Being Research (2014). base of this book lies primarily in the broad-­
M.J. Sirgy (*)
based social, economic, political, ideological,
Pamplin College of Business, Department of military, and other conflicts that have character-
Marketing, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State ized much of humanity throughout history. The
University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA, USA most prominent thinkers about these topics have
e-mail: [email protected]
emerged over the past 40 years and include schol-
R.J. Estes ars influenced by the human atrocities perpe-
School of Social Policy and Practice, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
trated during and the subsequent developments
e-mail: [email protected] associated with the First (1914–1918) and Second
A.N. Selian
World Wars (1939–1945), the Great Depression,
Halloran Philanthropies, Geneva, Switzerland the protracted wars in Vietnam and Indo-China
e-mail: [email protected] (1955–1975), and the recurrent conflicts

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 135

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_6
136 M.J. Sirgy et al.

o­ ccurring in the Middle East, North Africa, and 6.2 Indicators of  Well-Being
Central Asia (Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute 2014). The recent “Arab When studying the history of well-being in the
Spring” and subsequent crises in the Middle East various world regions, we first ask “How do well-­
have also contributed to advances in well-being being scholars capture the quality of life of a
research. country or world region?” To build a complete
Starting with the broad perspective of well-­ narrative of the quality of life and well-being of a
being on our planet and gradually narrowing our specific country or world region, researchers use
focus, a few simple “grand themes” appear. The a variety of indicators that are complementary to
increased threats associated with the develop- one another. These indicators can best be viewed
ment and proliferation of nuclear weapons, for in terms of inputs (investments) and outputs
example, are all too clear. The threat of nuclear (results). The outputs are specific conditions that
wars has significantly mobilized global concern can be expressed as both subjective and objective
and action focused on improving the social con- indicators. Subjective outcome indicators reflect
ditions that exist in the world’s most populous the personal voice of those in the direct line of
countries (China, India, Pakistan). The United experience, with all the inherent personal biases
Nations Millennium Development Campaign and associated methodological inconsistencies in
(MDC), launched in 2005, is just one example of generalizing such perspectives to the population
worldwide efforts directed at improving the liv- as a whole. Objective outcome indicators are
ing standards of people in deeply impoverished more impartial, such as changes in average years
countries. In addition to many of the world’s larg- of life expectancy, in infant and child death rates,
est countries, members of the “Nuclear Club” and in rates of criminal activities. Many of these
now include smaller, poorer countries in develop- data are collected and disseminated by official
ing Africa, Asia, and the Middle East where the government agencies and bodies. Input indicators
potential for their use in settling local, regional, describe broad-based forces operating in the
and international conflicts is high (e.g., North microenvironments that impact the well-being of
Korea) (Nuclear Threat Initiative 2014). It is pos- people individually and collectively. For exam-
sible that increasing the levels of development for ple, if a country that was funding prenatal care
people everywhere may help abate the threatened for pregnant women wanted to measure the over-
or actual use by rogue individuals or nations of all effectiveness of its efforts on the well-being of
nuclear weapons in settling cross-border and women, it could compare the dollar amount of
regional conflicts. Hopefully they will not the financial investment (input indicator) to both
become weapons of choice in dealing with global a subjective output indicator—how well pregnant
conflicts. It is a core presumption of the editors of women felt they were treated by the prenatal care
this volume that peace and development are team (subjective output indicator)—and an objec-
essential preconditions for advancing individual tive output indicator—the number of live births.
and collective well-being. Such indicators include public and private invest-
The other elements of interest that become ments in achieving particular outcomes; the cre-
evident as one moves beyond global security are ation of policies that encourage people and
health, education, and income, all core indicators organizations to act in a particular way; and the
of the United Nations Development Programme’s varieties of physical, social, and technological
(UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI). infrastructures that promote societal investments
These three measures which have essentially in particular areas or processes.
over time evolved to depict a general wave of In addition to input and output indicators, we
improvement across the planet on all fronts, as discuss equity and technology indicators. Equity
well as people’s self-assessment of their own indicators capture society’s degree of equality or
states of well-being, form the basis of the organi- inequality with respect to the distribution of vari-
zation and description of the histories of well-­ ous resources available to entire populations but
being presented here. especially to those that address historical inequities
6  How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being 137

that have persisted for historically disadvantaged 6.2.1.1 The United Nations Human
groups such as women, children, the elderly, the Development Index
disabled, and minorities. Technology indicators, as The common points of departure for all analyses
the term implies, are designed to capture the extent in this volume are the component parts of the
to which technological innovations, especially in HDI. The HDI, one of the most popular measure-
information technology, have contributed to soci- ment systems, is used throughout this book in the
etal progress and well-being at large. analysis of various world regions. The UNDP
introduced the HDI in 1990 as part of its now
annual series of Human Development Report(s).
6.2.1 Output Indicators: Objective The HDI builds on the conceptual legacy of both
the Physical Quality of Life Index of Morris
A great many of the quality-of-life indicators David Morris (1979) and the Level of Living
needed to assess well-being must focus on the Index of Jan Drewnowski and Wolf Scott (1966).
objective state of well-being at both the individ- The HDI uses three core indicators to assess
ual and collective levels. Objective outcome indi- national and international progress in human
cators are based essentially on objective development: (1) longevity (as measured by life
information—usually data collected by govern- expectancy at birth); (2) educational attainment
ment ministries and nongovernmental organiza- (as measured by adult literacy rates in combination
tions—and the focus is on capturing the state of with primary, secondary, and tertiary school
well-being of individuals in the context of their enrollment levels); and (3) standard of living (as
communities. An example of an overall health measured by per capita real gross domestic ­product
outcome indicator is life expectancy, which many or purchasing power parity). National perfor-
argue is a good indicator of overall health status, mances on each of these indicators are transformed
especially in terms of access to prenatal health into standardized scores. Then, using a moderately
services, the actual birth assisted by skilled health complicated system of statistical weights, the stan-
care professionals, and postdelivery supportive dardized scores are combined to produce a single
services. composite HDI score. The chapters in Part IV
Within the physical health dimension (as focus on central dimensions of well-being that
opposed to mental health), one may consider at align with the HDI: health, education, and eco-
least three subdimensions: ailments and disease, nomic well-being. Each geographical analysis is
physical fitness, and lifestyle. Ailments and dis- further enriched with data that reflect subjective
eases can be captured using health measurements well-being. The first three dimensions (health,
related to specific disease incidents such as coro- education, and economic well-being) plus the sub-
nary heart disease and diabetes. Physical fitness jective voice from vast swaths of aggregated popu-
can be captured using health indicators such as lations comprise what we consider the most
physical fitness tests and newborns with low birth important aggregate measures in the assessment of
weight. The preponderance of healthy lifestyles well-being. This approach is consistent with the
can be captured using indicators such as tobacco efforts of the UNDP to capture quality of life at the
use, sexual activity with protection, and time country level (longevity, educational attainment,
spent outdoors. These are all excellent examples and standard of living). We consider these HDI
of the types of data that are commonly treated as dimensions and the ancillary subjective well-­being
objective in the sense that they are collected by component to be fundamental to capturing the
experts focused on particular health outcomes for quality of life of any country. Of course, measur-
individuals. Indicators like these are often used in ing these well-being indicators does not comprise
the assessment of well-being outcomes related to the totality of quality of life. For example, the
health, education, finance, work, leisure, sports, authors of Chap. 7 discuss the quality of life in
and recreation. There are many other examples of Latin America in terms of social well-being, an
objective outcome indicators from well-­angle that is an important element of the totality of
established well-being indicator systems. quality of life in that region.
138 M.J. Sirgy et al.

Fig. 6.1  Distribution of global income

and wealth by population quintile
(Human development report 1992:
Global dimensions of human
development, p. 35, 1992, United Nations
Development Programme, [© Copyright
©1992 by the United Nations
Development Programme], by permission
of Oxford University Press USA UNDP
1992)

Like many of its predecessor indexes, the HDI fullest extent possible the eight Millennium
attempts to focus international attention on both Development Goals (MDGs).2 The MDC
the economic and noneconomic aspects of devel- received formal support of 189 member states of
opment—the persistence of global poverty, gen- the United Nations; the time for the campaign
der inequality, the relationship between social was set for 2000–2015 (United Nations 2005).
and economic development, and the need of peo- Figure 6.1 summarizes the global inequality in
ple everywhere to participate more fully in fram- income and wealth as represented by wealth dis-
ing both the goals and means of development. In tribution by population quintile distributed in the
1995, the UNDP released two additional indexes total area of a champagne glass (UNDP 1992).
that focused on the changing status of women: This is a remarkable graphical representation of
the Gender-related Development Index (GDI) the maldistribution in income, wealth, and natu-
and the Gender Empowerment Measurement.
The eight Millennium Development Goals are to (1)
2 

6.2.1.2 United Nations Millennium eliminate extreme poverty and hunger; (2) achieve univer-
Development Campaign sal primary education; (3) promote gender equality and
empower women; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve
One of the most important accomplishments of maternal health; (6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
the UNDP occurred in 2005 with the launching other infectious diseases; (7) ensure environmental sus-
of the United Nations MDC. The purposes of the tainability; and (8) develop a global partnership for devel-
MDC were to (1) focus the attention of all of the opment. Each goal has a set of operational goals and
subgoals, a predetermined strategy, and, where possible,
specialized agencies of the United Nations on a an assigned budget or mechanism for generating support
shared development agenda; (2) focus this agenda toward its financing. Progress reports on the MDC and its
on meeting the needs of the world’s least socially eight goals are issued annually at the national, regional,
developed countries; (3) elicit support of other and global levels (UNDP 2014). These progress reports
have proven to be of great value in helping to keep the
development organizations, agencies, and private campaign on track and, as necessary, in generating new
philanthropists to join with the United Nations in resources needed to ensure each goal’s optimal
implementing the agenda; and (4) achieve to the attainment.
6  How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being 139

-14.3
Sub-Saharan Africa 48
56

-41.2
South Asia 30
51

-68.9
South East Asia 14
45

-50.0
Lan America-Carribean 6
12

-80.0
North Africa 1
5
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80
% Change 2000-12 2012 2000

Fig. 6.2  Percentage change in rates of extreme poverty for selected developing regions, 2000 and 2012 (Data from
UNDP 2014)

ral resources that exists for much of the world’s owned by the rest of the people on our planet.
population. The discrepancy is especially pro- This dramatic inequality in wealth continues
nounced among the world’s poorest, or lowest, today and, indeed, has been even more serious
quintile which has little, if any, chance of revers- than that reported by the United Nations in 1992.
ing the “bottom of the pyramid” position in which Figure 6.2 shows the extent of UNDP progress
they are located. In effect, the top 20 % of all in achieving major aspects of Millennium
income earners earn approximately 83 % of the Development Goal #1: the elimination of extreme
world’s total global output, whereas the bottom poverty and hunger. Between 2000 and 2012, the
80 % earn less than 17 % of the total global rate of global extreme poverty dropped signifi-
output! cantly in all of the world’s regions, but especially
And this pattern of wealth maldistribution in those where it was particularly prevalent
does not differ appreciably over the decades with (South and East Asia). Today, 700 million fewer
the exception that the lowest 20 % have diminish- people live under conditions of extreme poverty
ing access to the world’s total economic output. than in 2000 (United Nations 2014).
The structural nature of this income disparity
provides further evidence of the need for a global
rather than a local, national, or even regional 6.2.2 Output Indicators: Subjective
approach to the alleviation of poverty. These
observations were discussed more fully at the Objective indicators of well-being provide only a
recent World Economic Forum 2015 held in partial picture of the full extent of life satisfaction
Davos, Switzerland, whereby a study by Oxfam and happiness experienced by people individu-
(Gates 2013) confirmed that the statistics related ally and collectively. A more complete picture of
to income and wealth inequality are of steadily well-being is ascertained through a combination
increasing concern, especially in the global effort of both subjective and objective approaches to
to lift the extreme poor out of structural poverty. well-being assessment. Since the Second World
The world’s richest 1 % will soon amass wealth War, well-being scholars have used both
that represents more than the entirety of that approaches to arrive at a more complete under-
140 M.J. Sirgy et al.

70
61
59
60
54
50
50 48 48 47
46
42
40
Smiling Score

40
32
29
30 27 26 26
24
20 19
20 17
15

10

Fig. 6.3  Countries whose people smile most frequently (Gates 2013)

standing of the nature, dynamics, and extent of nate the list of the 20 countries whose people
well-being. This section identifies examples of smile most frequently: Brazil, Nicaragua,
popular approaches to subjective well-being Honduras, Colombo, Bolivia, Costa Rica,
assessment that are in use today. Venezuela, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Mexico.
A curious method, the frequency of public The second cluster of countries whose people
smiling in a nation, is sometimes used as an indi- smile most frequently spans the entirety of Africa
rect proxy measure of the level of subjective hap- (N = 10): South Africa, Angola, Egypt, Ghana,
piness or well-being experienced by people. Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, and
Researchers who use this method acknowledge Mauritius. The only Asian country to make the
the fact that cultural factors play an important top 20 list of most-smiling countries was the
role in shaping public expressions of happiness Philippines. Somewhat surprisingly, and unlike
(e.g., Western societies encourage public smiling the happiness patterns reported in the World
whereas many Asian societies actually discour- Database of Happiness studies, no European or
age it). An international team of investigators North American country is identified as a leading
studied the relationship between the frequency of country in terms of public smiling.
smiling in public settings and the resulting sense A significant amount of data suggests a nega-
of well-being expressed by those who smiled fre- tive relationship between happiness and levels of
quently versus those who smiled less often financial wealth beyond a certain point of actual
(Huffington Post 2012) (Fig. 6.3). need, especially when wealth takes the form of
Figure 6.3 identifies the countries studied in money, securities, property, and other material
which people smiled the least and most fre- goods. In contrast, social wealth (i.e., human
quently per day. Unlike the happiness lists of relationships, social cohesion, and social capi-
countries identified by the renowned sociologist, tal) is plentiful in economically less-developed
Ruut Veenhoven, and his interdisciplinary team countries. The psycho-emotional relationships
of “happiness” researchers at Erasmus University embodied in these concepts likely account for the
in the Netherlands (Veenhoven 2014), Latin unexpectedly high degree of “happy” behavior
American and Caribbean countries (N = 9) domi- for less economically advantaged peoples in
6  How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being 141

developing countries. One can argue from the Table 6.1  Examples of content categories and findings
from Gallup Sample surveys (Brown 2014)
data that it is the pursuit of happiness rather than
of economic wealth that is the driving force Content categories Findings
underlying the high degree of positive “happy” Using mobile Nearly half of workers who
technology for “frequently” use e-mail for work
behavior seen in developing countries.
work linked to outside of normal working hours
The method most frequently used for assessing more stress report experiencing stress “a lot of
the degree of life satisfaction, happiness, and psy- the day yesterday” versus only 1:3
chological well-being is the public opinion poll. of persons who “never” check
work e-mail outside of working
Opinion polls can reach large numbers of people
hours. However, workers who
within a relatively brief period at a relatively low e-mail outside of normal working
cost. After making some cultural adjustments, hours and those who work
opinion pollsters also can ask respondents to remotely outside of their homes,
assess their lives to be more
reflect on the same question or set of questions
enriched than their counterparts
regarding a broad range of psychosocial-­economic who do not
experiences. Demographic data collected along Obesity linked to Obese Americans are the least
with these polls permit researchers to control for lower social likely of all weight groups to be
additional factors of special interest to them. well-being thriving, whereas underweight
individuals are the most likely to
These factors help to associate an individual’s be suffering. This pattern
sense of well-­being with a wide range of other underscores the risk of emotional
factors occurring in his or her life (e.g., work, stress for persons at either extreme
family, leisure, community, politics, the environ- of the weight spectrum
ment) Gallup, Inc. is an American-based research Depression rates About one in five Americans who
higher for have been unemployed for a year or
organization and private consulting company that long-term more say they currently have or are
became famous for its public opinion polls that unemployed being treated for depression. The
began in the in the early 1930s. Gallup’s major long-term unemployed also spend
areas of focus today, in addition to their widely less time with family and friends
than other Americans
known public opinion polls, include assessing
employee engagement, customer engagement,
talent management, and well being. One of the noteworthy in this poll is the fact that all five of
more popular Gallup surveys is the Gallup- the world’s happiest countries are located in
Healthways Well-Being Index. This survey tracks Latin America. These countries include those
daily the percentage of Americans who, reflecting with a high level of per capita income and those
on the day before they were surveyed, say they with some of the world’s lowest per capita
experienced a lot of happiness and enjoyment incomes. In all cases, though, considerable gaps
without a lot of stress and worry versus the per- exist in the income levels of the rich and poor
centage who say they experienced daily worry groups. Also, the respondents report their wealth
and stress without a lot of happiness and enjoy- not in terms of money but in terms of family size
ment. Daily results are based on telephone inter- and ties, especially their relationships with
views with approximately 500 national adults; extended members of the family. Active commu-
margin of error is ±5 percentage points. nity participation adds substantially to the psy-
In addition to covering a wide range of other chological wealth that people in these countries
topics of interest to policy makers, the Gallup experience as does their overall social capital
polls include questions related to individual hap- from relationships with a wide range of friends,
piness and life satisfaction. Table 6.1 and Fig. 6.4 acquaintances, and others. The significance of
show interesting time-series subjective assess- these trends is discussed more fully elsewhere in
ments of well-being. Figure 6.4, for example, the volume. The data represented in this volume
identifies by name five of the happiest countries are generated from the responses of many
of the world and five of the unhappiest. Especially ­thousands of people and are critical to establish-
142 M.J. Sirgy et al.

100

90 87 86
83 83 83
80

70
HappinessLevel (2014)

60 54 54
52 53
50

40 36

30

20

10

Fig. 6.4  World’s most happy and least happy countries (Data from poll conducted by Gallup Organization 2014b)

In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in your
personal life at this time?
% Satisfied

100 87 87 85
79
80 77
79 83 80 78
60 73

40
20
0
1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013
GALLUP

Fig. 6.5  Gallup poll results: “Personal satisfaction with life,” United States, 1980–2013 (Gallop Organization 2014b)

ing the homeostatic theory of well-being devel- means. Gallup’s contribution to the theoretical
oped by Robert Cummins and his large network and empirical development of well-being is
of colleagues using the same basic set of tools in unparalleled. Data of this magnitude and timeli-
different regions of the world (Cummins et al. ness are unusual in social science research and
2014). The relative stability of this trend line is certainly in research focused on well-being.
remarkable, especially given the serious wars, Figure 6.5 reports life satisfaction trends for
economic hardships, and social fractures that the United States. Data were obtained from daily
have characterized rich and poor countries alike telephone interviews of approximately 2100
across the world as a result of these wars. Thus, Americans from 1981 to 2014 (Gallup
the Gallup poll data add considerable empirical Organization 2014b). These interviews varied in
evidence to a general theory of well-being that length and depth but, in every case, the
could not have been amassed through any other ­interviewers collected data on a wide range of
6  How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being 143

topics of interest to well-being scholars. of life at the individual level (i.e., satisfaction
Especially remarkable about the results from the with life overall) and satisfaction with life
33 separate surveys summarized in Fig. 6.5 are domains (satisfaction with material life, family
the overwhelmingly positive attitudes and the life, social life, community life, cultural life,
stability of these attitudes that Americans main- work life). Hundreds of studies have been con-
tained about their quality of life during periods of ducted using these primary indicators of the
political instability, economic hardships, wide- human quality of life.
spread joblessness, the spread of serious infec- Quality-of-life researchers refer to the theo-
tious diseases, and even family losses. The 2000 retical underpinning of this research as “bottom-
people sampled on a daily basis believed that, in ­up theory” (e.g., Diener 1984; Sirgy 2012), in
time, all of these hardships would pass and that that satisfaction from various life domains
their problems with income stability, housing (namely, domain satisfaction) spills over to influ-
fluctuations, and ill health would be restored to ence overall life satisfaction. Specifically, the
an acceptable level. Thus, Americans remained theory argues that, in the minds of people, satis-
generally o­ ptimistic about both their current and faction experiences are organized in memory in a
future situations even during periods of personal hierarchy varying from the abstract to the con-
and collective hardship. This result reflects a crete. At the most abstract level, there is overall
remarkable characteristic of American culture life satisfaction—a judgment that a person makes
that is transferred from one generation to the about his or her life overall varying from “very
next. This observation indicates not that unhappy with my life” to “very happy with my
Americans fail to assess the seriousness of their life.” Below the most abstract level is the domain
problems properly but rather that American cul- satisfaction, which captures one’s feelings about
ture contains within it a generally optimistic atti- well-being in specific domains such as work life,
tude or spirit reflecting the belief that most social life, family life, spiritual life, financial life,
collective problems can be solved with effort. community life, marital life, or love life.
The same belief appears to carry over into a sense Bottom-up theory asserts that domain satisfac-
of personal well-being and happiness. tion influences life satisfaction moderated by
In addition to the Gallup Poll (Gallup domain salience. That is, if a person feels that
Organization 2014a), the World Values Survey work life is most important relative to other
(2014) is equally popular and widely used by domains (e.g., social life, leisure life, and com-
well-being scholars. Data from both of these munity life), then increases (or decreases) in
polls are presented in nearly all of the chapters in work life satisfaction are likely to induce
Part III. Most of these polls also control for increases (or decreases) in overall life satisfac-
important factors known to influence happiness tion. Those life domains that are less important
levels between various population groups, e.g., are not likely to have much influence on overall
between men and women, the young and the old, life satisfaction. At the most concrete level of the
those working and those not, residents of rural vs. satisfaction hierarchy are satisfaction memories
urban communities, and persons of different involving concrete events (i.e., specific objects,
income and age levels. people, and issues). Satisfaction at the most con-
One can also find many other large-scale crete level influences domain satisfaction. For
national and international surveys directly related example, a reprimand from the boss at work is
to subjective well-being or life satisfaction (Sirgy likely to generate negative affect that can
2012).3 Common throughout these large-scale adversely influence one’s overall sense of work
surveys and indices are indicators that seek to well-being. The influential well-being research
capture the subjective experience of the totality conducted using bottom-up theory includes the
large-scale surveys of quality of life in the United
See Appendix B for a partial listing of national and
3 
States by Andrews and Withey (1976) and
regional on-going public opinion surveys that are cited Campbell et al. (1975).
extensively in quality of life and well-being research.
144 M.J. Sirgy et al.

A major advantage of these subjective indica- reader better understand input indicators, we
tors is the fact that they can be aggregated. Life review Estes’ weighted Index of Social Progress
satisfaction and domain satisfaction scores can (WISP) (Estes 1998).4 It was initially conceptual-
be aggregated to represent the views of specific ized in 1976 by Richard Estes, the senior editor
demographic groups (e.g., children, women, the of this volume. In its present form, the WISP con-
disabled, the elderly, and the poor) and of people sists of 41 social indicators divided among 10
in specific geographic areas (e.g., communities, sectors of development or well-being: education
state/provinces, and countries). Arguably, it is the (N = 4); health status (N = 7); women status (N =
scores of the aggregated data representing the 5); defense effort (N = 1); economic (N = 5);
preferences and perceptions of particular seg- demographic (N = 3); environmental (N = 3);
ments of society that would guide government social chaos (N = 5); cultural diversity (N = 3);
policy in individual (democratic) countries where and welfare effort (N = 5). Statistically weighted
the will of the populace is counted as a concrete versions of the index are used periodically to
and tangible input into a political system. assess the changing capacity of nations, world
regions, and the world in providing for the basic
social and material needs of their growing popu-
6.2.3 Input Indicators lations (Estes 2012, 2015).5

Some well-being indicators focus on factors that This indicator system contains several sets of tertiary
4 

concurrently affect the objective and subjective indicators such as the economic subindex (gross domestic
product [GDP] per capita; percentage real growth in GDP,
states of the totality of life at the individual level.
average annual rate of inflation, external public debt as
Such indicators, also called input indicators, are percentage of gross national product); the education sub-
one step removed from the individual. They are index (public expenditure on education); the defense
essentially factors in the social, cultural, politi- effort subindex (military expenditures as percentage of
gross national product); the welfare subindex (first
cal, technological, and physical environments
national law—old age, invalidity, death; age first national
that impact the quality of life of individuals who law—sickness and maternity; age first national law—
comprise a specific demographic segment (e.g., work injury; age first national law—unemployment; age
children, adolescents, young adults, mature first national law—family allowances); and the health
subindex (population with access to safe water).
adults, elderly) or a geographic segment (e.g., a
The similarly named Social Progress Index is another
5 
specific neighborhood, community, state/prov- interesting way of looking at the success of countries; it
ince, or country). For example, let us consider studies 132 nations, evaluating 54 social and environmen-
health indicators as input indicators. Health out- tal indicators in each (http://www.socialprogressimpera-
comes (as captured by physical and mental health tive.org/data/spi). The index is premised on the notion that
GDP per capita is insufficient to explain the complex pic-
indicators) are affected by factors such as institu- ture that comprises a portrait of human happiness, if one
tional and medical care activities and programs in existed. It is not unreasonable to posit that looking at
a given city or town. Input health indicators countries only in terms of their wealth results in a missed
related to institutional dynamics may include the opportunity to comprehend that which fulfills and inspires
the human spirit. For this reason, this index (like some
number of primary care physicians per capita, the others) offers a framework for measuring multiple dimen-
cost of health care, financial access to health care, sions of social progress, benchmarking success, with a
and access to mental health services. These kinds series of rich visual views that include geo-maps as well
of data related to medical care may include infor- as rankings. The Index consists of three dimensions: basic
human needs, foundations of well-being, and opportunity.
mation about immunization rates, early prenatal Each dimension is made up of four equally weighted indi-
care, health education, and prevention and early vidual components scored on an objective scale from 0 to
treatment. 100. This scale is determined by identifying the best and
The sample data cited above are all input data worst global performance on each indicator by any coun-
try in the last 10 years and using these results to set the
in the sense that they reflect factors that are maximum (100) and minimum (0) bounds. As of 2014,
removed from the objective and subjective reali- this information does not appear to be available on an his-
ties of lives of individual people. To help the torical basis or viewable over time.
6  How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being 145

100.0
80.0
60.0 2010
2000
40.0
1990
20.0 1980
0.0 1970
N Am (2) Au-NZ (2) Eur (35) L Am (26) Asia (45) Africa (50)
1970 73.9 81.0 79.0 49.8 36.6 19.8
1980 77.3 81.6 81.2 50.4 40.0 19.9
1990 91.8 91.6 91.2 57.0 45.8 19.5
2000 85.2 91.0 87.8 54.7 46.4 17.5
2010 62.5 66.8 62.9 50.9 47.7 37.6
[CONT_11]

Fig. 6.6  Weighted index of social progress by continent and year (Estes 2015)

Percent Change in Average WISP Scores

by Continent (N=160), 1970-2010
120.0
100.0
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0
-20.0
-40.0
N Amer (2) Aus-NZ (2) Europe (35) L Amer (26) Asia (45) Africa (50)
% 1970-80 4.6 0.7 2.8 1.2 9.3 0.5
% 1980-90 18.7 12.3 12.3 13.1 14.8 -2.2
% 1990-00 -7.2 -0.7 -3.7 -4.0 1.3 -10.1
% 2000-10 -26.6 -26.6 -28.4 -7.0 2.8 114.9
[%CONT_11]

Fig. 6.7  Weighted index of social progress scores by continent and percentage change (Estes 2015)

The data summarized in Figs. 6.6 and 6.7 rep- given the net social declines, almost at the same
resent the results of worldwide trends in objec- level, that occurred in patterns of well-being in
tive well-being for the 40-year period 1970–2010 Australia-New Zealand, Europe, and North
(Estes 2015). Of particular note in the last wave America for the same period. After several
of data (2000–2010) are the dramatic advances in decades of social declines, substantial progress is
objective well-being that occurred in sub-­Saharan beginning to occur in the poorest countries of
Africa between 2000 and 2010 (Estes 2015). Africa. These countries are steadily becoming
These social advances are all the more dramatic midlevel performers in well-being relative to the
146 M.J. Sirgy et al.

well-being performance of the rest of the world. world’s regions are moving forward with respect
The declines in well-being for the more socially to their overall levels of development, despite the
advanced regions of the world are associated existence of variation in the different sectors that
with the enormity of the financial crisis that are included in the models used to measure this
began in the United States in 2007 and subse- progress.
quently undermined the financial stability of In addition to measuring changes in well-­
other economically advanced countries and being at the national level, the WISP also moni-
regions. tors changes in well-being at the regional level.
Figures 6.6 and 6.7 also show the percentage Regions are defined as countries that are close to
changes that have occurred in levels of world- one another geographically and, in most cases,
wide well-being over the 40-year period from share a common set of social and economic char-
1970 to 2011. These changes are reported using acteristics. Figure 6.8 identifies the world’s 19
countries grouped by continents. A number of geopolitical regions, ranked on the right side of
important shifts forward in well-being are cap- the figure from the most to the least developed
tured by these data: (1) social development, like regarding overall well-being. Economically
well-being, is asynchronous and uneven; (2) advanced countries are closest to the top of the
changes in the rate of improvement of well-being list; those regions closest to the bottom are the
are slowest in the regions of the world that already poorest and most socially chaotic. The dates
are the most developed (North America, Europe, shown in Fig. 6.8 are 2010 and 2011 but compa-
and Oceania); (3) changes in well-being can be, rable data are available for the same regions as far
and often are, erratic in the socially least devel- back as 1970.
oped countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin The jagged line on the left side of Fig. 6.8
America; (4) advances in objective well-being shows changes in overall rank position that took
have been the slowest (occasional reversals have place in the well-being status of all 19 regions for
occurred) for the countries of Latin America and the period 2000–2011. Those regions with the
the Caribbean, though the aggregate trajectories longest time line changes are the ones that made
have remained uniformly upward-trending; (5) the most significant social progress between
until 2000, virtually no positive changes were 2000 and 2011. The changes are dramatic for
recorded for the 50 nations of Africa; (6) between many regions, especially for the poorer ones, as
2000 and 2011, however, dramatic changes they begin or continue their progress toward a
occurred in the development and well-being lev- more positive sociopolitical-economic status or,
els of much of the African region; (7) the recent in many cases, continue to move downward.
accelerated improvements in well-being occur- Many factors account for these changes, and
ring in Africa are directly associated with signifi- most have been analyzed and reported on by
cant progress in realization of the selected Richard Estes in a series of regional papers.
components of the eight goals of the United Countries that experienced the most signifi-
Nations’ MDC; and, finally, (8) the dramatic cant progress between 2000 and 2011 also are
social losses in well-being reported for the eco- identified in Fig. 6.9. The figure shows WISP
nomically advanced countries of North American scores for each country and the number of shifts
and Europe are directly related to the dramatic in WISP rank position for the same period. These
banking and other financial crises that were cen- data offer the keenest insights into the extent to
tralized in these regions. which governments and nongovernmental devel-
All of these trends are remarkable, especially opment assistance agencies succeeded in remov-
those that reflect significant movement forward ing the major obstacles that prevented
for regions that, prior to 1970, either did not advancements in well-being. Of special note con-
move at all or experienced net social losses from cerning these data is the large number of very
one decade to another (Fig. 6.8). These trends poor African countries that are moving forward
have changed, however. Today, nearly all of the in helping their citizens achieve a higher standard
6  How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being 147

Rank Ordered Average Regional WISP Scores

& Percent Change in WISP, 2000-10 (N=19 Regions)

Europe, Western (N=7)

Europe, Northern (N=10) -9-7 Avg WISP2010 % Change 2000-10 89
88
Australia & New Zealand (N=2) -8 84
Europe, Eastern (N=10) 1 80
Europe, Southern (N=8) -4 79
America, North (2) -10 77
Asia, East (N=7) 0 67
America, South (N=12) 3 60
America, Central (N=7) 5 54
America, Caribbean (N=7) 1 53
Asia, West (N=16) 3 48
Africa, North (N=6) 8 44
Asia, Southeast (N=9) -3 43
Africa, Southern (N=6) 6 40
Asia, South Central (N=13) 0 37
Melanesia (N=2) 32
33
Africa, East (N=15) 18 49
Africa, West (N=15) 14 34
Africa, Middle (N=7) 1 810 49
WORLD
-20 0 20 40 60 80 100
[regional_ranks_10]

Fig. 6.8  How world regions fared on the weighted index of social progress, 2000–2010 (Estes 2015)

Countries With 50 Percent or More Increase in

WISP Scores, 2000-2010 (N=16/162)

Burkina Faso* 23 639

Niger* 9 344
Ethiopia* 15 221
Malawi* 27 218
Congo, D.R.* 2 193
Mozambique* 11 189
Burundi* 10 182
Kenya 24 103
Sierra Leone* 0 96
Yemen* 16 96
Bhutan* 24 86
Uganda* 12 68
Guinea* 9 65
Mauritania* 20 65
Angola* -4 59 WISP2010
% WISP Chng 00-10
Eritrea* -7 57

-100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

[Sig_ % Gains_09-Tab 45a(2)]

Fig. 6.9  Countries scoring the highest improvements on the weighted index of social progress, 2000–2010 (Estes
2015)
148 M.J. Sirgy et al.

Countries With More Than 10 Percent Losses in

WISP Scores, 2000-2010 (N=19/162)

Somalia* -469 -4
Liberia* -81 -11
Chad* -77 -7
Nigeria -70 4
Iraq -59 12
Sudan* -46 7
Cote D'Ivoire -45 6
Myanmar* -25 27
Congo, Rep -23 17
Togo* -22 11
Ireland -18 76
Qatar -18 30
Tajikistan -16 42
Macedonia -15 54
Nepal* -14 19
China -13 49
Indonesia -13 39
WISP2010
Turkmenistan -12 47
% WISP Chng 00-10
Luxembourg -12 88

-600 -500 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100

[Sig_ % Losses_10-Tab 45a(2)]

Fig. 6.10  Countries scoring the most significant social losses on the weighted index of social progress, 2000–2010
(Estes 2015)

of living and well-being. Most of these countries of the study. These countries most likely cannot
are making significant positive gains, though accomplish appreciable changes in their social
some are moving forward more moderately than status on their own. Initiatives such as the United
others. Nations Millennium Development Campaign
Figure 6.10 identifies the 15 countries that (MDC), in tandem with sustained and generous
experienced the most significant losses during an private philanthropy and social investment, are
11-year period beginning in 2000. The right side likely to be the only means whereby these coun-
of the figure shows country WISP scores for tries can extricate themselves from poverty and
2010; the left side shows the number of losses in even deeper social deterioration. The well-being
WISP rank positions relative to all 162 countries of most of the people living in these “failing”
included in the study. countries is likely to remain unchanged until the
The countries with major social losses are pri- high levels of poverty and the internal conflicts
marily African and Asian—countries character- that confront these countries have decreased.
ized by considerable internal volatility and Figure 6.11 is a geo-mapped graphical analy-
conflict, war, deep poverty, poor industry, and lit- sis of the distribution of well-being across the
tle participation in the global market place. Those planet for the period 2009–2010. Countries rep-
countries that experienced the most significant resented in lighter colors have attained higher
social losses on the Weighted Index of Social levels of well-being than have countries and
Progress between 2000 and 2010 are identified in regions resented by darker colors. Comparable
Fig. 6.10. The social situations of these countries geographic charts are available going back as
deteriorated below levels that existed at the outset early as 1970.
6  How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being 149

Fig. 6.11  Distribution of weighted index of social prog- Development challenges at the outset of a new century,
ress scores by country and development zone (Social 98, 2010, pp. 363–402, Estes, R.J., [© September 2010],
Indicators Research, The world social situation: with permission of Springer)

6.3 Equity Indicators of that of men; female adult literacy rate as a per-
centage of that of men; contraceptive prevalence
Some well-being indicators and data focus on among married women; maternal mortality rate
equity issues in relation to disadvantaged popula- per 100,000 live births; primary school enroll-
tions (e.g., children, the elderly, women, and the ment of girls as percentage of that of boys; and
poor, persons with serious physical or emotional female secondary school enrollment as percent-
disabilities). Such equity indicators help build a age of that of young men.
fuller, more robust well-being narrative within a The term “historically disadvantaged popula-
specific country and world region, and allow for tion groups” is used by the United Nations to
a more meticulous and targeted type of analysis identify groups within the general populations of
that highlights what we may perhaps refer to as all nations that have been neglected, underrepre-
the idiosyncrasies or “special circumstances” that sented, or disadvantaged in some way compared
characterize life in particular regions of the with the more favored groups in the population.
world. These groups and their status as determined by
One of the most prominent measures of equity the data are a useful proxy by which to “take the
in society is the UNDP GDI. The GDI involves a temperature” of the well-being of a wider popu-
set of national, regional, and other estimates in lace in a given region. Chances are that in a soci-
which all of the figures for women are expressed ety in which gender discrimination and ageism
in relation to the corresponding figures for men, are largely absent, one will find a more liberal
which are indexed to equal 100. Another way to political culture and thereby a higher collective
measure equity is the women status subindex of perception of well-being. The analysis of data in
Estes’ WISP. This subindex contains indicators this volume uncovers and explores precisely
such as life expectancy of women as a percentage these types of correlative presumptions. Typically,
150 M.J. Sirgy et al.

historically disadvantaged population groups advance the well-being of these traditionally

include the following: marginalized populations. Such actions are sym-
bolic of deliberate and proactive movement and
• Preschool-age children and the elderly dialogue; we would be hard pressed to see any
• Women advancement of well-being in these segments of
• The poor society “by accident” or without purposeful,
• Persons with serious physical or emotional engaged, and enlightened leadership. The impor-
disabilities tance of collective mentality and mindset as
• Populations of “first” or “indigenous” shaped by the dominant belief systems of leaders
peoples6 cannot be overstated, despite the difficulty in
• Religious and sexual minorities quantitatively capturing such dynamics.
• Other population groups that have been
socially excluded on the basis of race,
• Ethnicity, cultural, linguistic, or other charac- 6.4 Technology Indicators
teristics over which they can exercise little or
no control. Beginning in the 1960s, think tanks, networks,
and institutions, such as the Club of Rome (CoR)
All societies include such groups of disadvan- and the Organization for Economic Cooperation
taged people. In fact, when historically disadvan- and Development (OECD), were formed. One of
taged persons (i.e., those who do not participate their goals was to create platforms capable of cap-
fully in the social, political, or economic main- turing longitudinal data, identifying trends, and
streams of the societies of which they are a part) convening the results in a dialogue that would
are counted as a single group, their numbers often yield a plan for collective action in response to the
constitute a majority of a given society’s popula- dominant challenges to well-being of the time.
tion. Thus, a complete narrative of well-being Technology was a key area being tracked by these
and quality of life in a specific country or world and other more specialized agencies (like the
region should incorporate an assessment of International Telecommunication Union).
changes in well-being that have/have not occurred Technology is a domain of study that is char-
worldwide with respect to these often marginal- acterized by an unparalleled pace of change and
ized population groups. Accordingly, each author is broad in scope not only in its definitions but
addresses the special situation that applies to the also in its applications. The way technology has
marginalized groups that exist in his or her evolved actually affects the very act of observa-
region(s) of interest and analysis. tion of the trajectory of well-being over time. In
Furthermore, the authors discuss the signifi- this volume, the authors emphasize the role of
cant public policy, legislative, or similar types of information and communication technologies
formal actions that have been taken within their (ICTs), although the broad topic is essentially
respective world regions (and countries) to technological automation as a whole. From the
first communication revolution that began in the
nineteenth century with the telegraph, to the
According to the United Nations, there are approximately
6 
emergence of radio and satellite technology, to
400 million Indigenous people [first peoples] worldwide,
making up more than 5000 distinct tribes. Together
the third revolution encompassing the Internet
[Indigenous peoples] are one of the largest minority and networking, technology has been a crucial
groups in the world, spanning more than 90 countries. interface between the key actors in any society. It
While Indigenous Peoples total only about 6 % of the is a domain that today, through the use of social
world’s population, [they] represent 90 % of the cultural
diversity. Indigenous Peoples hold 20 % of the Earth’s
media like Skype, Twitter, and Facebook, is
land mass. That land harbors 80 % of the world’s remain- transforming the way humans interact and
ing biodiversity (First Peoples Worldwide n.d.). impacting both the physical and the subjective
6  How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being 151

quality of human life. It must, therefore, be commonly referenced data points in this domain
appreciated as a domain that colors the analytical are those referring to equity (e.g., gender ICT sta-
lens by virtue of its connective and transforma- tistics; the World Economic Forum’s Networked
tional properties. That said, everything from the Readiness Index; the International
rudimentary technologies that support our cap- Telecommunication Union ICT Opportunity
ture of images, to the semiconductors that enable Index; the United Nations Conference on Trade
information processing and storage, to the tele- and Development ICT Diffusion Index). The
communications that allow mass dissemination Networked Readiness Index, measured on a scale
of information, constitutes a quantum leap for- from 1 (worst) to 7 (best), of the performance of
ward in our ability to recognize, synthesize, 148 economies in leveraging information and
understand, and tell the story of well-being. communications technologies to boost competi-
It is worth noting that, amid the extensive lit- tiveness and well-being, represents one such
erature on the subject of technology, including snapshot (Fig. 6.12).
topics such as the “digital divide” and “informa- The theoretical underpinnings of these indica-
tion society,” technology often represents a mere tors represent a balance between whether one
proxy by which to express whether a society sees the increasing density of communication
“has” or “has not” the critical infrastructure nec- networks as a means of arriving at Deutsch’s
essary to serve its greatest numbers well. For (1963) notion of a “single community of human-
hard-core technological determinists, the lack of ity” or McLuhan’s (1964) “global village,” or
technology (and synonymously the capital to whether technology as a whole, as in Jane
develop or pay for it) is in itself a commentary on Fountain’s (2002) characterization of it as the
its developmental status, social structure, and “nervous system of government,” may actually
cultural values. For others, like Orlikowski reinforce an inequitable status quo. Most of these
(1992), who espouse a softer view of determin- indicators reflect the idea that “equity” and “ineq-
ism, technology is more of a recursive entity, cre- uity” derive from the teleological premise that
ated and changed by human action while being less technological inequity is better or that equal-
used by human actors to interact with the struc- ity is objectively desirable. It is useful to bear in
tures they create to govern. At his most idealistic, mind Alleyne’s (1995) sharp distinction between
Robert Dahl (1996) believed that the liberal the power of technology versus the power of the
vision of a future hinges on the premise that information and content that flows through the
increased technological communication spreads technology.
liberal principles and supports democratic With respect to output indicators that are
change. Rosenau and Singh (2002) saw the emer- inherently subjective, increasing attention is paid
gence of technology as a means of allowing dif- to levels of individual human satisfaction with
fused forms of authority to emerge if the right the new technologies that pervade our lives. For
conditions are present. Given the approach of this many who work in advanced Western capitalist
volume, it is likely that a more constructivist and nations, technology has infiltrated our lives to the
reflexive view of technology as a domain will be point where our experiences with cognition,
useful. Thus, the view of technology as a syn- human expression, and everyday interactions are
onym for Western liberal values and a “first world fully shaped by the tools we use to connect to one
development paradigm” should be discarded another. It would be fair to say that cognitive
outright. assessments of satisfaction in this life domain
The study of technology generates interesting should and could play a significant role in life
results in terms of output indicators, both satisfaction or overall happiness. A number of
objective and subjective, input indicators, and
­ studies present empirically based linkages that
equity indicators. The most straightforward and demonstrate the association between satisfaction
152 M.J. Sirgy et al.

Fig. 6.12  Networked readiness (Bilbao-Osorio et al. 2014) (Figure reprinted with kind permission of World Economic
Forum, Switzerland)

with information technology in general and satis- than they had been in 1960” (Surowiecki 2005).
faction with life.7 It is worth noting that research leaves as an open
The debate around these sets of data is heated, question the debate as to whether more (or better)
with numerous counter-determinist arguments technology makes people happier. This observa-
supported by data such as the following: Japan’s tion is consistent with parallel debates related to
economy between 1960 and the ensuing two the correlations between income and human hap-
decades was completely turned around as the piness. The fabric of human social capital is cer-
nation moved toward becoming one of the most tainly different today than it was in the past,
technologically sophisticated on the planet. The because society as a whole systematically digests
GDP quintupled, and unprecedented increases in great innovations and passes them off as old hat
per capita income occurred. Yet, “by the late within a year or 2. Thus, the research described in
1980s, the Japanese said they were no happier this volume is timely and unique in that a techno-
logical domain must be viewed as one embedded
Examples include:
7 
in and intertwined with the historical narrative of
• Globally focused sources like Brookings Global each region of the world. In some ways, subjec-
Economy and Development (http://www.brookings. tive views on technology are not a dramatic
edu/about/programs/global), which themselves draw departure from the findings of Easterlin (2001),
from multiple survey exercises.
• Studies like the VMware New Way Of Life (2013); a
who first showed in the 1970s that increases in
review of information technology sector trends and income over time are not correlated with increases
challenges by the BCS Chartered Institute for IT in happiness. His observation is referred to as the
(2013) as well as standard polls and survey sources, “Easterlin paradox.”
including Gallup and the International Technology
and Engineering Educators Association (2001, 2004),
Indicators that refer to inhabitants or house-
that routinely assess levels of satisfaction with tech- holds can be considered objective outputs, the
nology in the United States. underlying assumption being that these are objec-
6  How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being 153

tive representations in data that parallel levels of exponential growth or scalability of service
satisfaction with technology. Such indicators8 ­delivery is closely tied to some kind of techno-
tend to be generated by development or standards-­ logically based innovation. From re-inventing
setting organizations like the International channels for political participation, to providing
Telecommunication Union or the Organization information and transparency, to delivering finan-
for Economic Cooperation and Development. cial access—regardless of whether assessments
Other indicators that are more macro in nature thereof are subjective or objective, nearly every
(e.g., total Internet subscriptions in a country, dimension of well-being today is affected by tech-
availability of digital subscriber lines, cable TV nology. The ubiquity of mobile handsets is an
subscriptions in total, percentage of businesses example of how technology can affect well-being
with ten or more employees using the Internet) through a powerful multiplier effect unlike any-
may be treated as input indicators—data that tell thing we have ever witnessed.
the story of the landscape. These indicators and
data9 capture quality of life at a level of society
beyond that of the individual or household and in 6.5  he Balancing Act
T
themselves tell a story of the impact of cables, for Indicators and Data
fiber optics, pipes, and grids (and related policies
and incentives for propagation) on the collective The well-being data presented in this volume are
human consciousness. complementary in that some capture dimensions
Each chapter in this volume takes a deeper of quality of life that we would like to increase
look into the dynamics of the sociopolitical, eco- (enhancement of positive states), whereas others
nomic, and cultural histories of various parts of capture dimensions that we would like to decrease
the world. Each of the core areas stemming from (reduction of negative states). That is, an effec-
the Human Development Index method—includ- tive well-being narrative about a specific country
ing health, education, and income per capita— and world region uses indicators and data that
are areas that have been and continue to be deeply capture both positive and negative states of qual-
impacted by technology, just as in many ways the ity of life. For example, domains concerning
functional status or human suffering reflect nega-
tive states that should naturally be reduced. When
Examples include:
8 
these indicators are used in a quality-of-life
• Access lines and access paths in total/per 100
index, they tend to be counterbalanced with indi-
inhabitants
• Mobile subscriptions in total/per 100 inhabitants cators that capture positive states. This issue is
• Internet subscriptions important because well-being measures are
• Broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants designed to capture the comprehensive totality of
• Households with access to a home computer
life experiences, both positive and negative.
• Households with access to the Internet.
For example, Argyle (1996) argued that sub-
9 
Examples include:
jective well-being is determined by three factors:
• Number of ICT-related occupations in the total
economy
(1) happiness, (2) life satisfaction, and (3)
• Share of ICT-related occupations in the total absence of ill-being. He argued that subjective
economy well-being cannot be experienced when people
• Telecommunication services revenue in total experience ill-being in the form of depression or
• Mobile telecommunication services revenue
• Telecommunication infrastructure investment in total
anxiety. As in all analyses whose practical and
• Share of ICT value added in specific business sectors theoretical foundations lie in a paradigm of “for-
• ICT business research and development expenditures ward movement” over time, the implicit change
by selected ICT industries that we as human beings are hardwired to desire
• Share of ICT employment in business sector
employment
is “progress” or some tangible manifestation of
• ICT-related patents as a percentage of national total the inevitable and desired positive change that
• Contributions of ICT investment to GDP growth. occurs with the passage of time.
154 M.J. Sirgy et al.

One of the editors (Sirgy 2011) elaborated on developmental needs—both basic and growth
the distinction between positive and negative needs. Indicators capturing the full spectrum of
states by equating this distinction with basic ver- needs satisfaction would allow for the assessment
sus growth needs. That is, indicators reflecting and monitoring of progress toward that end.
positive states tend to focus on growth needs, Thus, well-being indicators should capture both
whereas indicators focusing on negative states basic and growth needs satisfaction. Indicators
tend to reflect basic needs (Maslow 1954). related to basic needs (negative states) may
Human development needs comprise a hierarchy include (a) environmental pollution, (b) disease
of basic and growth needs. Health, safety, and incidence, (c) crime, (d) housing, (e) unemploy-
economic needs are essentially basic needs (i.e., ment, (f) poverty and homelessness, (g) cost of
needs related to human survival). Social, esteem, living, (h) community infrastructure, and (i) illit-
actualization, knowledge, and aesthetics needs eracy and lack of job skills. In contrast, indicators
are growth needs (i.e., needs related to human related to growth needs (positive states) include
flourishing). Basic needs are more pre-potent and (a) work productivity and income, (b) consump-
salient than growth needs. tion of no basic goods and services, (c) leisure
Hence, well-being indicators should capture and recreational activities, (d) educational attain-
the full spectrum of human development, both as ment, (e) community landscape, (f) population
a snapshot and as a process. For the less-­ density and crowdedness, (g) arts and cultural
developed countries, capturing well-being in activities, (h) intellectual activities, and (i) reli-
terms of basic needs (i.e., indicators capturing the gious activities.
negative states) is more important than focusing Many indicators projects are developed with a
on growth needs (i.e., indicators capturing the special focus on growth needs. For example,
positive states). It is difficult to achieve growth Lloyd and Auld (2002) and Michalos and Zumbo
needs without first attending to basic needs. (2003) conducted an indicators project focused
Many well-being scholars have argued this point. on leisure and its relationship to quality of life.
For example, Veenhoven (1988, 1991) made the Michalos (2005) conducted a data project focused
distinction between basic needs satisfaction and exclusively on the arts and its relationship to
subjective well-being. People with higher income quality of life (cf. Michalos and Kahlke 2008).
levels can easily satisfy their basic needs (food, The discussions in the subsequent chapters
housing, health) and therefore are more likely to attempt to capture the kinds of indicators dis-
focus on experiences that lead to higher levels of cussed above—output indicators in the form of
subjective well-being. The UNDP (2005) work both subjective and objective data, input indica-
on poverty equates poverty with disease; high tors, equity indicators, and technology indica-
rate of infant mortality; low average life expec- tors—in their world regional narrative over time.
tancy; malnutrition; hunger; and lack of access to Well-being narratives are developed around these
water, education, knowledge, public and private sets of indicators and are enriched with layers of
resources, housing, clothes, and security. culturally specific anecdotes that capture the
Similarly, the HDI is the average of three human unique ethos and spirit emanating from each
development dimensions: living standard (mea- history.
sured through GDP per capita), health (measured The subsequent chapters begin with an intro-
in terms of life expectancy at birth), and educa- duction describing the history and geography of
tion (calculated through adult literacy for one-­ each region. Each chapter attempts to capture the
third and the average years of school enrollment people’s sense of personal happiness and life sat-
of adults above 25 years for the remaining two-­ isfaction over time. The data related to the per-
thirds). These indicators reflect negative states in sonal happiness of the focal region are compared
the sense that they focus on basic needs. with data from other world regions and within the
To achieve a high level of quality of life, peo- region. The authors link the subjective reality of
ple have to satisfy the full spectrum of their well-being with the objective reality and note
6  How We Measure Well-Being: The Data Behind the History of Well-Being 155

consistencies and discrepancies between subjec- contrast to subjective and objective data of the
tive and objective data. They also tackle the way final desired states, input indicators and data
societal institutions such as government, busi- reflect institutional efforts designed to influence
ness, religious organizations, and nongovern- both subjective and objective terminal states (i.e.,
ment organizations have tried to promote the output of the human condition). These include
integration of both spheres of well-being assess- health care (e.g., number of physicians per 1000
ment. The resulting narratives are guided by the households), infrastructure (e.g., government
macro-level indicators, the input indicators. expenditures on roads, bridges, telecommunica-
Lastly, the authors describe contemporary efforts tions, water and sanitary systems, electric power),
(and outcomes where possible) in advancing law enforcement and security (e.g., number of
well-being within their regions of interest. Each police per 1000 households), and so on. The end
chapter includes a summary of all the above (i.e., of each chapter in this volume will include a
past and contemporary models and indicators series of graphs and tables that graphically depict
systems used to describe and assess individual a consistent assessment of comparable HDI-­
and collective well-being over time). based datasets across all regions and continents.
The selection of the particular output (both We also discussed equity indicators, which
subjective and objective), input, equity, and tech- focus on the well-being of historically disadvan-
nology indicators and data used to illustrate the taged groups. The analysis of societal progress
changes in well-being within a specific world cannot be complete without an assessment of
region is guided by a specific conceptualization progress in such groups. For example, what is the
of well-being that is appropriate to the authors’ quality of life of women in a particular country?
analyses and points of view. The resulting varia- Has their quality of life improved over time? How
tions are to be expected given the historical dif- does the quality of life of women in that country
ferences (past and present) that characterize the compare to that of women in other countries? The
social, cultural, philosophical, and religious chapters that deal with different regions of the
foundations of well-being in each world region. world highlight such progress. We also have a
In each case, the authors use a unified conceptual chapter devoted to women and well-­being (Chap.
framework in their selection of output (both sub- 16). Addressing societal inequities and disparities
jective and objective), input, equity, and technol- is extremely important, given the fact that much
ogy indicators for their analyses. Such civil strife is directly related to how society treats
frameworks are rooted in the histories of their its historically disadvantaged groups. The impor-
regions as well as in the regions’ contemporary tance of equity and the need to measure equity in
aspirations for advancing individual and collec- society are of paramount importance in eradicat-
tive well-being. Needless to say, the picture of ing inequity and disparities.
well-being is highly fluid and temporal, changing A complete assessment of well-being in a
form and substance as one takes a virtual flight given country must include how that country uses
from continent to continent. technology to enhance the quality of life of its
citizenry. In this context, we described how
quality-­of-life researchers traditionally measure
6.6 Conclusions societal progress in the use of technology in
terms of subjective indicators (i.e., satisfaction
We have attempted to introduce the basic con- with mobile communications, satisfaction with
cepts commonly used to analyze and measure the use of the Internet), objective indicators (e.g.,
well-being. We discuss how societal-level data number of mobile phones per 1000 household,
capturing well-being are traditionally con- degree of access to the Internet), and landscape
structed, with indicators reflecting the desired indicators (e.g., number of Internet service pro-
states of the human condition as reflected in both viders per 100,000 households, country level per-
subjective and objective output indicators. In centage coverage of mobile communications).
156 M.J. Sirgy et al.

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 Part III
Regional Analyses of the History and
Contemporary State of Well-Being Since
World War II

A good man is one who rejoices In the well-being of others. (Arab Proverb)

My interest is not data, it’s the world. And part of world development you can see in
numbers. Others, like human rights, empowerment of women, it’s very difficult to measure
in numbers. (Hans Rosling – Provost, C. (2013, May 17). Hans Rosling: the man who’s
making data cool. [Interview and video]. Theguardian. [Web site]. http://www.
theguardian.com/global-­development/2013/may/17/hans-rosling-data-population-fertility.
Accessed 6 February 2016.)

Our modern lifestyle is not a political creation. Before 1700, everybody was poor as hell.
Life was short and brutish. It wasn’t because we didn’t have good politicians; we had
some really good politicians. But then we started inventing – electricity, steam engines,
microprocessors, understanding genetics and medicine and things like that. Yes, stability
and education are important – I’m not taking anything away from that – but innovation is
the real driver of progress. (Bill Gates – Goodell, J. (2014, March 13). Bill Gates: The
Rolling Stone Interview: The richest man in the world explains how to save the planet.
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/bill-gates-the-rolling-stone-
interview-20140313. Accessed 6 February 2016.)
160 III  Regional Analyses of the History and Contemporary State of Well-Being Since World War II

Ak’b’al –  Third day of the Maya calendar. Mixed media on paper—22″ × 30″. © 2015 Lylia Forero Carr. Used with
permission.
 New Beginnings in an Ancient
Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan 7
Africa

Valerie Møller and Benjamin Roberts

“Happiness is not perfected until it is shared”

(African Proverb)

7.1 Introduction often a colonial-era language adopted as their

country’s official language after independence.
Sub-Saharan Africa is unique in that it is the cradle The region is bounded by the Sahara Desert in
of humankind and we all have ancestors from the the north and by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans
continent. In prehistory, it was the central conti- and the Red Sea on three sides. Many states are
nent from which Asia and the Americas split off. landlocked. This isolation meant that many ear-
Some 100,000 years ago, the first anatomically lier technologies developed in other parts of the
modern humans left the continent; their descen- world did not reach Africa until later.
dants returned as strangers in the 1500s The region also features a wide range of cli-
(Oppenheimer 2003). Meanwhile, the people who matic conditions. The tropical belt in Central
remained in sub-Saharan Africa experienced a tur- Africa gives way to more temperate savannah
bulent history. They survived times of feast and grasslands and desert landscapes on either side.
famine, slavery, colonialism, and exploitation, all Habitable regions are limited and rainfall is
of which will have shaped myths of origin, self- erratic. There is a high burden of disease, mainly
esteem, and values and aspirations that influence in the tropical belt.
evaluations of present-day well-being (Fig. 7.1). Sub-Saharan Africa is rich in minerals. It
Today, sub-Saharan Africa is home to some 926 boasts great plant and animal biodiversity and
million people living in 49 countries (see Map 7.1). even a unique plant kingdom on the southern tip
Given the length of time that humans have lived on of the continent.
the continent, it has the world’s greatest language
and genetic diversity. An estimated 3,000 lan-
guages—300 in Nigeria alone—are spoken. Many 7.2  racing Well-Being in Sub-­
T
Africans speak several languages, an indigenous Saharan Africa
local language as well as a common one, which is
There is a dearth of reliable written evidence on
African well-being in ancient times. The archae-
V. Møller (*)
ological record is the main source of informa-
Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa tion on the early history of the continent. In
e-mail: [email protected] sub-­Saharan Africa, genealogy and history have
B. Roberts been transmitted orally from generation to gen-
Human Sciences Research Council and South African eration. The first written records on sub-Saharan
Social Attitudes Survey, Durban, South Africa well-­being saw Africa through the lens of out-
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 161

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_7
162 V. Møller and B. Roberts

Map 7.1  Regional map of Africa (CIA 2015; public domain)

siders, mainly traders, explorers, and adventur- and also missionaries conducted more scholarly
ers, who produced assessments of the continent’s studies of African customs and life styles and
material and developmental successes and fail- collected oral histories from Africans. It is only
ures from their points of view. In the late nine- with the advent of the social indicators move-
teenth and early twentieth centuries, ethnologists ment in the 1960s (see Chap. 6), that African
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 163

measure of “lived poverty” serves as its measure

of well-being (Mattes 2008).

7.3 Chapter Outline

We first present a time line of different historical

periods in sub-Saharan Africa.1 Then we describe
reference standards that relate to African well-­
being during these historical periods. We exam-
ine trends in well-being and concentrate on
progress made in achieving greater prosperity
since the time of independence. We focus on
three domains of life considered to be universal
drivers of well-being: health, education, and
income. Good health may be considered a basic
condition for human life; education and instruc-
tion is a means of adapting to and securing a live-
lihood in a given environment; and income and
access to resources create opportunities to cover
basic needs and gain power and prestige. We also
examine further sociopolitical challenges for
Fig. 7.1  Mambila protective statue, artist unknown, c.
nineteenth to twentieth century, Donga Valley, Nigeria/
sub-Saharan Africa. Lastly, we review trends in
Cameroon. Musée du quai Branly, Paris. Inventory no.: subjective well-being: how people evaluate their
73-1986-1-88 (Photo by Siren-Com; https://commons. own lives. In conclusion, we review main fi ­ ndings
w i k i m e d i a . o r g / w i k i / F i l e : S t a t u e t t e _ M a m b i a _ and discuss what might enhance future quality of
Nig%C3%A9ria.jpg; Creative Commons Attribution-­
Share Alike 3.0 Unported)
life in the region.

well-being has been measured systematically 7.4 Looking Back in Time

and captured in a range of both subjective and
objective indicators and indices. Subjective Historians often distinguish between periods that
indicators rely on an individual’s own judge- afforded the people living in Africa different life
ment whereas objective measures are factual chances that impacted on well-being: ancient
information. We draw on both objective and times, the age of discovery, the Atlantic slave
subjective indicators to trace trends in well- trade, the colonial period, and independence. We
being to give a rounded picture of quality of life. consider population growth as an indicator of
To date, the collection of social indicators in well-being in each period. Throughout history,
Africa has been carried out mainly under the Africa’s population growth has been subjected to
auspices of international organizations, and the interrelated constraints of food production,
there have been problems with data quality and availability of labor, fertility, and disease.
unequal coverage of all countries in the region.
More recently, home-grown monitoring initia-
tives have gained momentum. The
Afrobarometer launched its first survey in 1999
and now covers some 31 sub-Saharan countries.
The barometer’s main focus is on material well- Reader (1997) is one of the main sources used in this
1 

being and the deepening of democracy; its proxy section.

164 V. Møller and B. Roberts

7.4.1 “The World Until Yesterday”2

Initially, all humans were nomadic hunter-­

gatherers who obtained most of their food from
wild plants and animals. Foragers survived lon-
ger in sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere, and
their subsistence mode of life was one of human-
ity’s most successful adaptations. Technical
advances, such as the weighted digging stick that
aided foraging and arrow tips and spear heads
that allowed people to hunt rather than scavenge
for meat, were likely prompted by threats to food
security during times of scarcity (Reader 1997:
153). In time, some of these groups became herd-
ers and agriculturalists. The predominantly agri-
culturist Bantu (meaning “people”) slowly moved
from their cradleland in West Africa across the
continent and down the eastern coast of sub-­
Saharan Africa. They brought iron-smelting
technology with them that revolutionized agri-
cultural production. By 200–300 Common Era
(CE), Bantu-speaking farmers had reached the
Fig. 7.2  Character with chin resting on his knee, artist
southern tip of the continent in the area around unknown, c. 500 BCE. Nok sculpture, Nigeria (Photo by
present-day Cape Town where they gradually Marie-Lan Nguyen; public domain; https://upload.wiki-
displaced San (Bushmen) hunter-gatherers and media.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Nok_sculpture_
the Khoi pastoralists (Wilson 2009). As a conse- Louvre_70-­1998-­11-1.jpg)
quence, the Bantu language group, one of five
main language groups in Africa, became domi- day northern Nigeria, produced terracotta
nant in large areas of sub-Saharan Africa. sculpture (500 BCE–200 CE) of high quality
(Fig. 7.2). The Niger River was one of the most
fertile areas that gave rise to civilizations located
7.4.2 A
 ncient Sub-Saharan Africa: in present-day Mali as early as 250 BCE. Its
2000 Before the Common Era inhabitants produced food surpluses of dried fish,
to 500 CE grains, and oil that could be exchanged for essen-
tial goods, such as salt, through the trans-Sahara
Early African history is mainly recorded in the trade route (History of Sub-Saharan Africa 2015).
archaeological evidence. Ancient sub-Saharan
Africa was essentially an unknown territory,
often referred to as “darkest” Africa. However, 7.4.3 A
 ncient Sub-Saharan Africa:
the archaeological records tell of early civiliza- 500–1500 CE
tions that date back to 2000 Before the Common
Era (BCE). In East Africa, the Nubian Kushite Recent archaeological excavations have pro-
are believed to be the first people to have made duced evidence of complex societies in West,
practical use of iron. In West Africa, the agricul- East, and Southern Africa that prospered for sev-
tural civilization of Nok that emerged in present-­ eral centuries.
In West Africa, a succession of powerful king-
The title of Jared Diamond’s (2012) work on traditional
2  doms emerged in the fertile areas between the
societies. Senegal and Niger rivers and later in the tropical
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 165

coastal forest regions. One example is the ancient sense of traditional indigenous religions (History
settlement of Jenne-jeno, situated on the fertile of Sub-Saharan Africa 2015).
inland delta of the Niger River southwest of The glory of Africa’s ancient past is still
Timbuktu3 in present-day Mali. Jenne-jeno’s reflected in the names chosen by the modern
inhabitants, farmers, pastoralists, and fishermen, states of Ghana, Mali, and Zimbabwe. Where the
made use of the annual flood regime to live in a circumstances were opportune, population num-
loose symbiotic society. The farmers cultivated bers in ancient sub-Saharan Africa grew and peo-
indigenous rice varieties that are still grown in ple flourished. However, the majority of the
the region today. At its height in CE 800, the population still lived in dispersed settlements as
Niger inland delta may have supported a popula- agriculturalists and pastoralists.
tion of some 27,000.
In East Africa, the ancient Kingdom of Kush
was situated on the island of Meroë where the 7.4.4 A
 ge of Explorers: Fifteenth
Blue Nile and the White Nile meet in present-day Century
Sudan. In the eighth century BCE, the Kushite
kings had ruled as the pharaohs of the 25th When Europeans set out to explore Africa in the
Ethiopian Dynasty. A later Ethiopian civilization, fifteenth century, they had no idea they would be
Aksum, took advantage of high altitude and a returning to the land of their forebears. It was
nearby port to become a socially stratified settle- only 500 years later that genetic evidence authen-
ment that prospered for several centuries. At its ticated the African Eve, who was featured on the
zenith in 500 CE, it had some 20,000 inhabitants. covers of Newsweek and Time magazines in
The Kushite rulers devised a script based on January 1987.
Egyptian symbols and constructed the Sudan The Portuguese began their exploration of the
Meroë pyramids, which have been declared a Atlantic west coast in the mid-fifteenth century.
UNESCO heritage site. Aksum was also a literate Their aim was to find a trade route to Asia that
society of its day that erected monumental stele. circumvented the Mediterranean route controlled
In southern Africa, the pastoralists of by Venetian and Saracen traders. A lucrative trade
Mapungubwe (ca. 900–1250 CE) and Great was established on the west coast. In time, trade
Zimbabwe (ca. 1275–1550 CE) took advantage items included gold, ivory, diamonds, animal
of fertile grasslands to grow large settlements hides, bananas, palm oil, and the cola that was to
that were socially stratified and had far-flung become the main ingredient in the soft drink that
trade relations. conquered the world to spread “shared happi-
The sub-Saharan civilizations and kingdoms ness.” Slaves were one of the most sought-after
can be classified as Christian, Islamic, and tradi- trade items. The names given to the coastline on
tional African religions. Aksum was the first civi- ancient maps identify what West Africa had to
lization to convert to Christianity after 300 CE, offer: the Grain Coast in today’s Liberia (refer-
about the same time as Rome. Muslim influence ring to an African species of pepper known as
came along the trade routes that crossed the grains of paradise), the Ivory Coast, the Gold
Sahara Desert to commercial centers such as Coast (today’s Ghana), and the Slave Coast
Timbuktu in present-day Mali and went down the (Benin and Nigeria). Trading was mainly limited
east coast of Africa where Arab traders founded to the coastal area. Each Portuguese expedition
city states, including Mombasa, Zanzibar, and moved further along the coast of Africa. The
Kilwa. The civilizations and dispersed settle- Portuguese erected stone crosses wherever they
ments of southern Africa are traditional in the landed, strung along the coast of the continent
“like charms on a necklace” (Reader 1997: 383),
but they did not venture into the interior. Africa’s
Timbuktu was to become famous for its ancient manu-
3 

scripts written in Arabic in the sixteenth to eighteenth unnavigable rivers, vividly portrayed in Joseph
centuries. Conrad’s (Conrad 1985) novel, Heart of
166 V. Møller and B. Roberts

Darkness, presented a formidable deterrent. The transport were appalling, and large numbers died
mission of discovering a trade route to Asia was en route. Slaves were tightly packed into the
accomplished when Vasco da Gama finally cir- holds of ships just like any other type of cargo
cumnavigated the Cape of Good Hope and sailed (The Transatlantic Slave Trade 2008).
up the east coast of Africa and on to India in The British abolished the slave trade in 1807
1499. His expedition discovered that Arab mer- but not slavery itself until 1833 (Griffiths 1994:
chants had already established a trading presence 46). By that time, the slave economy was so well
on the east coast of Africa; reportedly their dhows established in West Africa that it could not grind
in the Zambezi delta were laden with gold dust. to a halt immediately, and slaves continued to be
In later centuries, the Portuguese introduced used to work plantations. Ships still involved in
new crops to some parts of Africa, such as maize, the slave trade who attempted to break the British
that was easier to grow than traditional sorghum blockade were seized, and Africans on board the
and millet, which increased food security in sub-­ ships were freed (The Transatlantic Slave Trade
Saharan Africa. They also traded firearms, 2008). The relief expressed by a rescued slave
although one of the earlier popes forbade placing testifies to the damage done to body and soul by
weapons in the hands of heathens. the Atlantic slave trade. He recalled, “They took
off all the fetters from our feet, and threw them
into the water, and they gave us clothes so that we
7.4.5 T
 he Atlantic and East Coast might cover our nakedness, they opened the
Slave Trade: Sixteenth water casks, that we might drink water to the full,
to Nineteenth Centuries and we also ate food, till we had enough.” (Iliffe
1995: 148).
The Atlantic slave trade, which lasted from the The Arab slave trade on the east coast of
sixteenth to the nineteenth century, fed the Africa focused on Zanzibar, an ancient intersec-
European appetite for sugar. The majority of tion for trade and cultural exchange between
slaves brought to the New World were used to Africa and the East that predated the arrival of the
produce this labor-intensive crop. Initially, the Portuguese. Unlike their European counterparts,
Portuguese were given the near monopoly of the Arab slave traders penetrated deeply into the hin-
slave trade; later they were joined by other terland (Griffiths 1994: 46). Some historians
European traders, mainly the British, French, and refer to the East Coast slave trade as Maafa,
Dutch (The Transatlantic Slave Trade 2008). which means “holocaust” or “great disaster” in
Slaves were obtained from along the west coast Swahili (The Transatlantic Slave Trade 2008). In
of Africa with the full and active cooperation of time, sub-Saharan Africa was caught in a pincer
African kings and merchants (Boddy-Evans of slave raids from the east and west into the inte-
2014). In Africa, as elsewhere on the globe, slav- rior that displaced whole villages. Many of the
ery was a common practice at that time. Historians ethnic groups known today probably originated
note that slavery in African cultures was more in flights from the slaving wars of the late seven-
like indentured servitude, and slave-status was teenth and eighteenth centuries.
not always permanent. Unlike the slaves shipped In summary, the Atlantic slave trade caused
to the Americas, an individual enslaved in Africa distress and dispersions in sub-Saharan Africa.
could be emancipated or might escape or be The impact on individual well-being varied: A
traded back to his own people (The Transatlantic minority of African kings and traders profited
Slave Trade 2008). while the lives of millions of slaves were made
It is estimated that up to 12 million African miserable. Possibly its most negative effect for
slaves were transported from the west coast of the region as a whole was that it exported from
Africa, stretching from Senegal to Angola, to the Africa the many hands needed there to provide
New World. The most notorious slave route was food security. During the period of slavery, the
known as the middle passage. The conditions of populations of Europe and the Americas grew
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 167

exponentially while the population of Africa areas where slavery persisted, people may even
remained stagnant. have welcomed the prospect of a brighter future
under European domination. Elsewhere on the
continent, resistance to colonial rule was crushed
7.4.6 Scramble for Africa: 1800s by force or attrition.
Famine and pestilence may have weakened
Whatever happens, we have got resistance to conquest. Between 1870 and 1895,
The Maxim Gun, and they have not. (Belloc 1907)
most of sub-Saharan Africa experienced excep-
tional rainfalls and abundant harvests. The time
In 1876, King Leopold II of Belgium (1825– of plenty was followed by a period of drought
1909) hosted the Geographical Conference of and famine of biblical proportions; outbreaks of
Brussels to present his vision of bringing civiliza- cholera and typhus; and a smallpox epidemic.
tion to a part of the globe that had not yet been Sand fleas introduced to Angola from Brazil
penetrated. A few years later in 1884–1885, the spread across the continent and locusts destroyed
European powers met in Berlin to construct the crops. The rinderpest, brought to sub-Saharan
rules for spheres of influence in Africa. King Africa by Italian forces, killed over 90 % of all
Leopold held the trump cards for dividing the cattle in Africa between 1889 and the early 1900s.
spoils and claimed the Congo for himself while It is described as one of the greatest natural
Portugal, Britain, France, Italy, and Germany calamities to befall the African continent. The
divided the rest of Africa among themselves. Thus, epidemic swept away the wealth of tropical
Leopold became the Sovereign of the Congo Free Africa and ruined the pastoralist aristocrats. The
State without informing the Congolese people. loss of cattle, a form of wealth that signified both
African leaders had not been invited to attend the power and prestige, dealt a blow to pride and dig-
Berlin Conference in 1884–1885, nor were they nity. A captain assigned to establish a British
consulted (Reader 1997: 581). colonial presence in East Africa noted in his diary
By the time the scramble for Africa was over, that without “this awful visitation, the advent of
Meredith (2011: 2) notes that “some 10,000 the white man had not else been so peaceful”
African polities had been amalgamated into 40 (Davies 1979: 17). Later insubordination to colo-
European colonies and protectorates.” The only nial rule in other areas was brutally crushed and
two regions to avoid conquest were Ethiopia, introduced man-made famine and the destruction
whose absolute independence and the sover- of herds and way of life, as in the case of the
eignty of its emperor were recognised in a treaty Herero and Nama rebellions in German South-­
of 1896, and Liberia, which was founded by the West Africa (1904–1905) and Maji-Maji rebel-
American Colonization Society as a home for lions in German East Africa (1905–1906)
freed slaves (Moss 2011). Medical and techno- (Pakenham 1992: 602–628).
logical advances gave Europeans the upper hand.
The discovery of quinine as a prophylactic for
malaria in the 1850s made military operations 7.4.7 B
 ringing “Civilization” to Sub-­
possible even in badly malaria-infested areas. Saharan Africa
The Maxim machine gun, patented in 1884, gave
superior fire power to the signatories of the The missionary says that we are the children of
God like our white brothers … but just look at us.
Brussels Convention of 1890, who had agreed Dogs, slaves, worse than baboons on the rocks …
not to sell weapons to Africans. that is how you treat us. A Herero to a German set-
African leaders who resisted were killed or tler (Pakenham 1992: 602)
captured and deported. Rural families, the major-
ity of the African population, had little choice in The colonialists’ civilizing project was essen-
the matter. Reader (1997, p. 616) noted that tially a commercial venture. A whole generation
where circumstances were oppressive, such as in of Africans bore the brunt of the colonial incur-
168 V. Møller and B. Roberts

sions. Under colonial rule, the African population are artificial. Africa was carved up without regard
was obliged to give up land, accede to European to geography, ethnicity, and cultural distinctions.
demands for labor, accept the initiatives of a cash Nearly half of the new boundaries were “geomet-
economy, pay taxes, and submit to foreign law. ric lines, lines of latitude and longitude or other
One of the worst known cases of exploitation straight lines” (Meredith 2011: 491). Present-day
during the colonial period took place on the rub- states in sub-Saharan Africa have inherited prob-
ber concessions in King Leopold’s Belgian lems of access to ports, security, and economic
Congo. Instead of paying state taxes, villagers in stability. The roads and railways that stop at the
concession areas collected rubber to be used in colonial borders have accelerated fragmentation
the production of Michelin tires. The wild rubber rather than establishing communication networks
supplies were soon exhausted so that villagers in Africa.
struggled to fulfill their quotas. Those who could Despite the so-called civilizing efforts under
not were flogged, imprisoned, or even shot. colonial rule and the introduction of more pro-
Soldiers cut off the hands of those they shot to ductive crops and labor-saving technology, Africa
prove they had not wasted cartridges. Entire had not reached its full growth potential during
regions of the Congo were depopulated as a result this period. By 1900 the population of Africa was
of this practice. Technical and agricultural about 129 million, an increase from 49 million in
advances were instrumental in halting the car- 1500. During the same 400 years, the world pop-
nage: The Kodak roll-film camera produced pho- ulation, excluding Africa, had increased fourfold,
tographic evidence of the atrocities that raised from just under 500 million to almost 2,000
public outrage in Europe, and cultivated latex million.
produced in other parts of the world made har-
vesting of wild rubber uneconomical (Pakenham
1992: 585–601; Reader 1997: 574–580). 7.4.9 “Wind of Change”4: 1960s

By the end of the Second World War, the ideo-

7.4.8 C
 olonial Rule in the Twentieth logical basis for colonialism had been fundamen-
Century tally weakened, and the socioeconomic power of
European powers had deteriorated. The small but
Initially, the colonies had to be supported by influential African elite that had been educated
grants; they only became economically self-­ abroad was agitating for African self-government
sufficient by around 1914. There are mixed and independence. The time had come for the
reports on the influence of colonial rule on the European powers, beginning with Sudan in 1956
well-being of sub-Saharan Africa people during and Ghana in 1957, to decolonize their posses-
the later period. Exploitation of labor continued sions in sub-Saharan Africa. Decolonization in
in the gold and diamond mines of southern the 1960s was achieved with varying degrees of
Africa, where the migrant labor system disrupted violence. Resistance to local political emancipa-
family life. But in other areas, colonial adminis- tion was greatest in colonies where there was a
tration became more competent and efficient over large settler population as in Kenya and in the so-­
time and produced benefits of improved infra- called settler states in the south: South Africa,
structure; hygiene; and agricultural, health, and Zimbabwe, and Namibia. These conflicts proved
educational services for select groupings of peo- highly destructive to the economic and social
ples. The law and order introduced by Europeans bases of the countries involved.
brought peace to some areas formerly plagued by
strife between neighbors (Diamond 2012).
However, the most harmful lasting legacy of 4 
Referring to British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s
the colonial period in Africa is undisputed. All of milestone “wind of change” address to the South African
the boundaries of present-day sub-Saharan states parliament in 1960.
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 169

7.4.10 Independence: 1970s to 1990s regimes underwent a democratic transition

(Diamond 2002).
In the first two decades following indepen- To summarize, the transition to democracy in
dence, most states in sub-Saharan Africa many states of sub-Saharan Africa in the last half
adopted a single-­party system and discouraged of the twentieth century opened up new opportu-
democratic opposition. Ostensibly this nities for prosperity in the region. The later colo-
approach was defended on the basis of creating nial period had laid some of the foundations that
national unity and political harmony among the post-independent states could build on to
disparate groups (Meredith 2011). However, improve health, education, income, and self-­
the single-party state failed to deliver on politi- governance in Africa south of the Sahara in the
cal stability. In the five decades of indepen- second half of the century.
dence, there were more than 106 military coups,
averaging more than 20 a decade in the 1970s
and 1980s (see Griffiths 1994: 80–83). Foreign 7.4.11 Africa Rising: Twenty-First
powers often played a prominent role—particu- Century
larly France, who launched 46 military opera-
tions in its former colonies between 1960 and In May 2000, The Economist presented Africa as
2005. Political instability often led to violent “The Hopeless Continent” on its cover. In a com-
conflict on the continent. During the period plete about-turn, the December 2011 cover of
1950–2002, 45 military conflicts occurred in The Economist featured “Africa Rising,” which
the region. has since become the latest catchword for Africa’s
In January 1989, urban crowds, composed pri- prospects of earning a place in the global econ-
marily of students and unpaid civil servants, omy. The narrative speaks of economic growth,
marched in protest on the streets of Benin’s cit- investment opportunities, regional markets, and
ies. The Benin protestors, who eventually over- an emergent middle class. New trends were
threw their authoritarian ruler Mathieu Kérékou, thought to drive change in Africa: a more youth-
signalled a new phase in African history. Between ful and affluent population, rapid urbanization,
1989 and 1994, 38 sub-Saharan African states technological changes and innovation, and agri-
held competitive elections (Iliffe 1995: 299); 33 cultural potential. For the first time in history,
of the region’s 42 undemocratic states saw an sub-Saharan Africa was poised to realize its full
increase in civil liberties in the period 1988–1992 economic potential, which could translate into
(Ndulu and O’Connell 1999: 49). Military coups prospective gains in well-being.
became less common on the continent—number-
ing fewer than 10 during the 2000s—and elec-
tions became more familiar. Racial oppression by 7.5  he Sub-Saharan Quest
T
the White south ended, and political rights were for Well-Being
finally obtained by the black Africans in
Zimbabwe (1980), Namibia (1990), and South The heroism of African history is to be found not in
the deeds of kings but in the struggles of ordinary
Africa (1994).5 people against the forces of nature and the cruelty
Since the overthrow of Mathieu Kérékou, the of men. (Iliffe 1987: 1)
subcontinent has been part of significant political
transition away from authoritarianism. The Many African values and virtues that nurture
region is part of what Samuel Huntington called well-being have their roots in the early history of
the third wave of democratization, a period begin- the continent. The people living on the subconti-
ning in the late 1980s when many authoritarian nent have frequently had to fight against the natu-
ral elements and foreign conquest to survive. As a
5 
For a brief description of this process, see Iliffe (1995: consequence, the African concept of well-being is
283–287) and Meredith (2011: 265–283). based on kinship solidarity, collective prosperity,
170 V. Møller and B. Roberts

and an egalitarian ethic that precludes internecine administrators and with the British policy of
strife. divide and rule.

7.5.1 Community Cohesiveness 7.5.2 An Egalitarian Ethic

Kinship has been the dominant social structure Citadels and large monuments, the hallmarks
in sub-Saharan Africa as illustrated by the open- of great civilizations according to Mumford
ing proverb that states that happiness must be (1961), are conspicuous mainly by their
shared (Fig. 7.3). For most of early history, sub- absence in many of Africa’s early civilizations.
Saharan Africans lived in smaller groups of Larger civilizations, such as the Kush in Sudan
nomadic foragers, pastoralists, and agricultural- and the Aksum in Ethiopia, were the exception
ists. Foragers need to travel light, so being lim- rather than the rule. The lack of coercive social
ited to few material possessions was critical for hierarchies in early African civilizations, best
nomadic well-­being. Mobility was an important exemplified by the West African inland-delta
strategy to make optimal use of poor soils, sea- settlement of Jenne-jeno on the Niger (see
sonal changes in rainfall, and annual disease pat- Sects. 7.4.2 and 7.4.3), might be regarded as an
terns as well as to avoid competition for scarce adaptation to African conditions of extreme
food and other resources. Marriage and exchange uncertainty where all hands were needed to
relations between kinship groups provided an survive. One explanation offered for the
additional degree of food security. Chieftains decline of Aksum refers to excessive consump-
with larger followings emerged only when sub- tion by its elite, evidence of which is seen in
Saharan Africans became agriculturalists and archaeological artefacts.
pastoralists; the power of chiefs grew under
colonial rule only where they assisted as junior
7.5.3 African Ubuntu

The African philosophy of ubuntu or humane-

ness (Metz 2014) may be considered a legacy
from earlier times when survival depended on
kinship (Fig. 7.4). The communitarian ethic aims
to promote community welfare and congenial
shared living. All individuals born into a commu-
nity are implicated in a web of moral obligations,
commitments, and duties to be fulfilled in pursuit
of general welfare. Molema (Gyekye 2011) noted
that “the greatest happiness and good of the tribe
was the end and aim of each member of the tribe.”
Similarly, the anthropologist Monica Wilson
(Gyekye 2011) observed that “the basis of moral-
ity is fulfilment of obligation to kinsmen and
neighbours, and living in amity with them.” To
this day, the domains of life related to family and
community relationships are important for the
well-being of people living in sub-Saharan
Africa.
Fig. 7.3  Family, J. Ndandarika, 1975, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Private collection, Møller
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 171

Fig. 7.4  Ubuntu—“Wisdom circle.”

Artist: Jackson Hlungwane, Mbokota,
South Africa. Illustration of the Photo
Archive BPA.60, Erika Sutter, Basler
Afrika Bibliographien (Used with
permission)

7.5.4 Religion and Resilience continue to play a central role in the well-being

of people in the northern-most areas of sub-­
Religious beliefs and practice are an integral part Sahara and on the east coast of Africa. Pious
of life in Africa that have played an important Sufis, the mystical element of Islam (see Chap.
role in nurturing resilience and coping skills in 15), were mainly responsible for convincing
times of adversity. Traditional religious beliefs in Africans to convert to Islam—apparently without
the ancestors, who guard over the welfare of their resorting to the sword. However, the religious
descendants, are still important to many people in divide between Christians and Muslims within
sub-Saharan Africa. In the 1960s, expectations the state boundaries inherited from the colonial
that traditional African beliefs and rituals would era has caused serious socioeconomic and socio-
cease to be observed when rural Shona people political conflicts, as in the case of Nigeria,
migrated to the cities in contemporary Zimbabwe Sudan, and the Central African Republic. In par-
proved to be unfounded (see Gelfand 1968). ticular, religious tensions between Muslim fun-
Although Christianity is dominant in large areas damentalists and Muslims belonging to the
of sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in urban predominant, more tolerant form of Islam prac-
areas, the number of Africa’s professed Christians, tised in Africa have caused political instability.
who also observe their traditional beliefs and cus-
toms, may be underreported in official statistics.
The church currently plays an important role in 7.5.5 Conservatism
many domains of life. For example, the African and Self-Reliance
Independent Churches that split off from South
Africa’s mainline Christian churches in the nine- Africa’s isolation and climatic conditions have
teenth century have assisted rural people to adapt favored conservatism but also self-reliance.
to urban life in the twentieth century. Many of Innovations travel faster along degrees of lati-
these churches go by the name of Ethiopian with tude where they can take root because condi-
reference to Africa’s first Christians, who never tions tend to be more similar than those at
came under colonial rule. More recently, Africa’s different degrees of longitude (Diamond 1998).
emergent middle class has turned to the Many innovations bypassed the subcontinent;
Pentecostal and Evangelical churches for fellow- others proved to be unsuitable or detrimental to
ship, mutual support, and prosperity. prosperity. For example, trade with Africa that
Muslim beliefs and practices, introduced by would have brought innovations up the Nile was
Arab traders in Islamic states in ancient times, largely one-­sided in favor of ancient Egypt. In
172 V. Møller and B. Roberts

the west, the Saharan salt trade brought high- sub-­Saharan Africa as was the case in other
quality salt to the Sahel region of West Africa parts of the world at the time. Local chiefs and
but it may also have supported indigenous slav- merchants collaborated with the Atlantic and
ery; porters on the last stretch of the trade route the Arab slave traders. On the other hand, oral
were often enslaved. As for unsuitable innova- accounts, for example among the !Kung of the
tions, there was little incentive for animal hus- Kalahari, suggest that intergroup warfare may
bandry in earlier times given the abundance of actually have been suppressed under colonial
wild animals for protein and the few animals rule and did not reoccur thereafter (Diamond
that could be domesticated. For example, the 2012). In the 1950s and 1960s, the response to
horses brought by Portuguese traders to West colonial oppression during the transition to
Africa did not live long. Domestic animals independence was often violent. The Mau
imported to Africa were susceptible to disease, Mau insurrection in Kenya is just one exam-
and providing fodder for them was not cost-effi- ple. Currently, one of the main challenges for
cient. Similarly, the wheel was not suitable for the new independent governments of sub-
Africa’s rough terrain. Saharan Africa has been to guarantee the
safety and security of citizens after decades of
colonial rule and suppression of civil rights.
7.5.6 Peaceful Coexistence
Alongside Violence
7.6 Indicators of  Well-Being
The Garden of Eden myth of Africa implies that
sub-Saharan Africa was peaceful until it came The wind of change that swept through the conti-
into contact with external influences. Conflict-­ nent in the 1960s raised expectations for the
avoidance between groups occupying the same material benefits of freedom. In this section we
space seems to have been commonplace. For review whether hopes for a better life have been
example, Bantu agriculturalists and pastoralists fulfilled in sub-Saharan Africa over the past
lived as neighbors with hunter-gatherers on the decades. We begin with an examination of social
East African highlands. Archaeological evi- indicators relating to health, education, and
dence suggests that iron was used for food-pro- income, which are considered key to human
duction technology rather than for weaponry; development. The Millennium Development
food was of paramount importance for survival Goals (MDGs) set benchmarks for achieving bet-
at the time. The wealth of the great civilizations ter health and education outcomes and eradicat-
of Aksum in Ethiopia, the Niger inland-delta, ing poverty in Africa by 2015. These important
and southern Africa’s Mapungubwe and Great domains of life have been affected by many fac-
Zimbabwe was derived from trade rather than tors over time including climate and ecology,
conquest. Initially, a papal edict prohibited economic boom and bust periods, revolutionary
weapons being traded for goods by the first technological innovations, and historical events.
Portuguese explorers, but firearms later became As we see, significant progress has been made in
a medium of exchange for slaves in West Africa. improving quality of life in these domains since
The subsequent introduction of guns that were independence.
easier to load and whose ignition did not light
up at night increased the terror of slave raids
(see Reader 1997: 143 ff.). 7.6.1 Health: Health Is Happiness
Although it may be expedient to blame out-
siders for introducing violence to sub-Saharan The word mutakalo in Venda means either happi-
ness or health. So I am happy and I have good
Africa, there can be no doubt that violence and health. – Rural focus group participant, Vhembe
warfare were commonplace in early African district, Limpopo, South Africa (Roberts et al.
history. Slavery was a common practice in 2014)
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 173

7.6.1.1 Food Equals Happiness In the twentieth century, the improved hygiene
In the Venda language spoken by people living introduced during the late colonial era and the
near the border between Zimbabwe and South discovery of penicillin saved lives. Practical pre-
Africa, health is happiness. There is no other ventive health care measures such as the provi-
word for it. A full belly has been important for sion to people living in malaria areas of
both health and happiness in Africa since early insecticide-treated sleeping nets have increased
times. The introduction of the plough during the life expectancy in the last decades. New threats to
Iron Age revolutionized agricultural production health are the human immunodeficiency virus
in Africa, as did the introduction of maize from (HIV) that causes AIDS and multi- and extremely
the Americas by the Portuguese in the seven- drug-resistant tuberculosis. In the new millen-
teenth and eighteenth centuries. Recent research nium, antiretroviral therapy (ART) has allowed
has found evidence that African pastoralists thousands of people with HIV/AIDS to lead nor-
developed lactose tolerance to take advantage of mal, productive, fulfilling lives. The drugs cur-
the milk produced by their herds. Agriculturalists rently used to treat Africans infected with
and pastoralists in Africa depend on rainfall. tuberculosis (TB) were developed some 40 years
Aptly, Botswana’s currency is named pula, ago. Meanwhile, cases of multidrug and
“rain” in Setswana, which is precious in a coun- extremely drug-resistant TB have emerged. A
try that is home to the Kalarhari desert. new combination drug may soon become avail-
Nutritional limitations kept population numbers able that will shorten and simplify treatment regi-
at minimal levels in sub-Saharan Africa for most mens for regular TB and be more effective in
of early history. There were cycles of boom and treating multidrug-resistant TB.
bust depending on whether climatic conditions
were favorable or unfavorable. Populations that 7.6.1.3 “Always Something New
boomed when conditions were favorable often Out of Africa”6: Ebola
became surplus when conditions changed. Until The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in December
the twenty-first century, sub-Saharan Africa’s 2013 is the latest life-threatening plague to affect
potential for population growth was never Africa. The epidemic swept through Guinea,
fulfilled. Sierra Leone, and Liberia; all of these countries
have porous borders (Fig. 7.5). The epidemic is
7.6.1.2 Africa’s Burden of Disease the largest since the discovery of the virus in
The many vicious and perfidious diseases and 1976.7 It is also distinctly different from earlier
parasites that have preyed on both animals and on ones in that it rapidly got out of control and
humans have always presented threats to life in spread to densely populated metropolitan areas,
sub-Saharan Africa. Diseases such as malaria, the capitals of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
sleeping sickness, which is caused by a parasite The few cases of Ebola in Lagos, the sprawling
spread by the tsetse fly, and bilharzia sapped metropolitan area of Nigeria, were swiftly con-
energy to grow food and caused widespread tained (Ogunsola 2015).
infant mortality. One of the main reasons for low
population growth in Africa relative to the rest of
the world was precisely because the people who Attributed to Plinus the Elder, the connotation has shifted
6 

over time. The saying is thought to have referred

moved out of Africa some 100,000 years ago
to the novel and exotic in earlier times but has also been
were not exposed to such deadly and crippling associated with the unexpected, harmful, or deadly.
diseases (Reader 1997). Some groups that 7 
Ebola was identified by Belgium scientist Peter Piot in
remained in Africa managed to develop immu- 1976. The virus was first detected in a Belgian mission
nity or found niches in the ecology where they hospital in the Congo, where expectant mothers had been
injected with vitamins using the same needle. The research
escaped the clutches of disease. For example, team gave the virus the name of the river Ebola to avoid
sub-Saharan pastoralists migrated to highlands attaching stigma to the hospital and the region it served
not infested with the tsetse fly. (Was zum Teufel ist das? Der Spiegel 2014).
174 V. Møller and B. Roberts

Fig. 7.5  Ebola map of Africa for the

geographically challenged. Anthony
England (@EbolaPhone)/Twitter
(Used with permission)

A toxic mix of factors overwhelmed the health may be greater in future; trials with vaccines and
services of the West African countries battling to genetic sequencing of Ebola are now underway.
halt the spread of Ebola. For example, Liberia’s
infrastructure and health services were recover- 7.6.1.4 Life Expectancy in Africa
ing from a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003; Despite the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s and the
only 52 doctors were left to serve a population of recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, the pros-
close to four million. The World Health pects of living a longer and healthier life have
Organization (WHO) in Geneva had cut its bud- never been as good in Africa’s history. Life
get for infectious disease control during the expectancy has improved dramatically in the last
global economic downturn, and its regional decades, which have witnessed a population
African offices were staffed by political appoin- explosion and the so-called demographic divi-
tees rather than competent partners. As was the dend in sub-Saharan Africa.
case with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, fear, tradi- Increasing life expectancy is a worldwide
tional health beliefs, stigma, and conspiracy the- trend in recent decades, and, for the first time in
ories hindered the first attempts to contain the history, it includes Africa. In 2012, a child born
spread of the disease. anywhere in the world could expect to live 70
According to the WHO, by the time Liberia, years, a gain of 6 years compared to a child born
the hardest hit state, was declared Ebola free in in 1990. If that child was born in Africa, the gain
May 2015, more than 11,000 people had died, in life expectancy over the same period would be
and new cases were still being detected in neigh- an additional 2 years. Significantly, the 8-year
boring Guinea and Sierra Leone (WHO 2015). gain in life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa
Only approximately 30 % of patients survived between 1990 and 2012 occurred despite the
the West African Ebola outbreak. However, sur- effects of the HIV pandemic that continues to
vival rates in the event of new outbreaks of Ebola beleaguer many countries in the region.
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 175

Figure 7.6 shows the dramatic changes in life 1990s, with the range of country values falling
expectancy in four of sub-Saharan Africa’s most from a difference of 32 to 28 years.
populous countries: Nigeria in West Africa, the It is instructive to look a little closer at the
Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa, experience of the country at the bottom of the
Tanzania in East Africa, and South Africa, which ranking in both periods of evaluation, namely
is located on the southern tip of the continent. A Sierra Leone. In 1990, the country was at the tail
child born in any of these countries in 1940 might end of a decade-long civil war, and life expec-
expect to live only 30 years, whereas generations tancy for both newborn boys and girls was a mere
born in 2012 could expect to live 50–60 years. 38 years. This value is similar to the longevity
The changing pattern in years of life expectancy recorded in the United States as well as in
between 1990 and 2012, characterised by stagna- England and Wales around 1850 or China in
tion or decline in the 1990s followed by general 1960. Jumping ahead to 2012, life expectancy in
improvement in the new millennium, highlights Sierra Leone has increased by 8 years for new-
the impact of the HIV pandemic and the signifi- born children, slightly above the world average.
cant gains in life expectancy subsequently These improvements are, however, from a low
achieved after the introduction of ART, one of base, and the health context facing the country is
Africa’s major success stories. still bleak. The country has some of the world’s
Global and regional averages tend to conceal highest infant and maternal mortality rates; is
substantial cross-national inequalities, and life prone to diseases such as yellow fever, cholera,
expectancy is no exception. In 2012, life expec- meningitis, and Lassa fever; and has a relatively
tancy in sub-Saharan Africa ranged from a low of small share of the population with access to ade-
46 years on average in Sierra Leone to a high of quate medical care. The outbreak of the Ebola
74 years in the island states of Mauritius, virus in West Africa in late 2013 resulted in a
Seychelles, and Cabo Verde. Despite this disturb- rapid progression of the disease through Sierra
ingly large difference in longevity within the Leone and brought into sharp relief the limita-
region, there has been a slight narrowing in tions of the health infrastructure in the country.
inequality in life expectancy since the early Table 7.1 shows that life expectancy exceeds
70 years among both men and women in only 3

70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2012
Democrac Republic of the
31.6 38.5 41.3 43.8 46.5 47.8 46.3 52
Congo
Nigeria 30.4 35.6 37.9 40.4 44.8 44.6 45.9 54
South Africa 43.5 49.0 52.8 56.8 61.4 55.8 59
Tanzania 32.2 40.4 43.7 46.7 50.2 50.9 50.7 61

Fig. 7.6  Changes in life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa’s more populous countries, 1940–2012 (Data from Clio
infra 2013; WHO 2014c)
176 V. Møller and B. Roberts

of the 49 sub-Saharan nations, all of which are life expectancy. An important part of the explana-
small-island developing nations (Mauritius, tion for such impressive strides in human devel-
Seychelles, and Cabo Verde). At the lower end of opment is success in reducing child mortality
the distribution, we find countries where life rates (WHO 2014a). Improvements in areas such
expectancy is estimated at less than 55 years. as water and sanitation, child immunization, pub-
Most of these countries have been affected by lic health infrastructure, and maternal and child
conflict and civil war, and Lesotho and Swaziland nutrition have all played a part.
are among the countries most badly affected by Conversely, the shadow of AIDS features
the AIDS pandemic. The table also ranks coun- prominently among those countries in the region
tries in the region on the basis of the change in showing the greatest reversals in life expectancy
life expectancy from 1990 to 2012. A number of in recent decades. Lesotho, Swaziland,
low-income countries within sub-Saharan Africa Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Botswana are the
have produced remarkable improvements. only countries in the world, with the exception of
Liberia experienced the world’s greatest observed Syria, to have experienced aggregate declines in
increase in life expectancy, from 42 years in 1990 life expectancy in the post-1990 period. Yet,
to 62 years in 2012, an increase of 20 years. despite such losses, the scaling up of access to
Progress was equally impressive in Ethiopia, ART has begun to yield a significant reduction in
Rwanda, Niger, and Eritrea, all of which are AIDS-related deaths in Africa over the last
ranked in the top countries in terms of change in decade, which is a positive development that

Table 7.1  Life expectancy in Africa, 1990 and 2012 (WHO 2014c)
Top 10 countries
in 2012: life Top 10
expectancy Change countries: years Change
(years) 1990 2012 1990–2012 gained 1990 2012 1990–2012
Mauritius 70 74 4 Liberia 42 62 20
Seychelles 69 74 5 Ethiopia 45 64 19
Cabo Verde 66 74 8 Rwanda 48 65 17
Sao Tome and 61 67 6 Niger 43 59 16
Principe
Namibia 63 67 4 Eritrea 48 63 15
Rwanda 48 65 17 Malawi 45 59 14
Ethiopia 45 64 19 Zambia 43 57 14
Madagascar 51 64 13 Madagascar 51 64 13
Senegal 57 64 7 South Sudan 42 55 13
Eritrea 48 63 15 Guinea 47 58 11
Bottom 10 countries: life expectancy in years (2012
rank) Bottom 10 countries: years gained (1990–2012)
Swaziland 61 54 −7 Togo 55 58 3
Mozambique 43 53 10 Cameroon 54 56 2
Somalia 47 53 6 Côte d’Ivoire 51 53 2
Côte d’Ivoire 51 53 2 Gabon 61 63 2
D.R. Congo 49 52 3 Kenya 60 61 1
Angola 43 51 8 Botswana 65 62 −3
Chad 45 51 6 South Africa 62 59 −3
Central African 48 51 3 Zimbabwe 62 58 −4
Rep.
Lesotho 61 50 −11 Swaziland 61 54 −7
Sierra Leone 38 46 8 Lesotho 61 50 −11
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 177

should translate into further gains in life expec- One of the reasons for the positive achieve-
tancy across the region in coming years. ments in life expectancy relates to the improve-
ment in child survival that is evident in the region,
7.6.1.5 Maternal and Child Health particularly since 2000 (WHO 2014c). Between
Improving maternal health has become an impor- 1990 and 2000, the under-five mortality rate in
tant global priority, as reflected in the fact that it the African region fell from 173 to 154 deaths per
has been adopted as one of the core MDGs. A 100,000 live births, a decline of approximately
range of initiatives have been pursued in recent 11 % or an average of barely 1 % per year. By
years to bring about sizable and sustainable contrast, between 2000 and 2012, the child mor-
improvements, especially in relation to maternal tality rate dropped 38 % to 95 deaths per 100,000
deaths. The most recently available trend data live births. Countries such as Malawi, Liberia,
cover a period of approximately a quarter cen- Tanzania, and Ethiopia had by 2012 already
tury, from 1990 to 2013 (WHO 2014a). There achieved the MDG target of reducing the under-­
have been commendable strides in addressing five mortality rate by two thirds between 1990
maternal mortality, with the maternal mortality and 2015, whereas an additional seven countries
ratio falling 45 % worldwide and 48 % in sub-­ in the region are on track to meet the target. In 40
Saharan Africa (Fig. 7.7). The MDG target of of the 49 countries in the region, there was at
reducing maternal deaths by three quarters least a 25 % reduction in child mortality since
between 1990 and 2015 has been achieved in 1990. Only in Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland,
Equatorial Guinea, Cabo Verde, Eritrea, and and Botswana did child survival worsen over the
Rwanda, and countries such as Ethiopia, Angola, period, due primarily to AIDS-related deaths.
and Mozambique are close to attaining this mile- However, in these contexts, the causes of child
stone. Yet, despite such gains, in 2013 the mater- mortality have rapidly begun to alter. In 2000,
nal mortality ratio for the region was still nearly AIDS accounted on average for 40 % of all child
two-and-a-half times the world average (510 deaths across the four countries, but this number
compared to 210), and 62 % of the women who had fallen to 12 % by 2012. These are laudable
died that year from complications during preg- developments, but it is sobering to remember
nancy or childbirth (179,000 of 289,000) came than in 2012 alone, 3.2 million children died in
from sub-Saharan Africa (WHO 2014a).

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Caucasu
Develop Develop Sub- South-
Norther Eastern Souther Western s and Lan Caribbe
World ed ing Saharan eastern Oceania
n Africa Asia n Asia Asia Central America an
regions regions Africa Asia
Asia
2013 210 16 230 69 510 33 190 140 74 39 77 190 190
1990 380 26 430 160 990 95 530 320 130 70 130 300 390

2013 1990

Fig. 7.7  Regional trends in maternal mortality, 1990–2013 (WHO 2014a)

178 V. Møller and B. Roberts

sub-Saharan Africa, equivalent to half of the total high rates of vaccination, especially in countries
number of child deaths worldwide. such as Nigeria, Somalia, and the Central African
Internationally, the last two decades have seen Republic, will hopefully bring further gains in
a transition in the primary causes of premature reducing preventable childhood deaths.
death and disability among children away from Although communicable diseases still pre-
communicable diseases toward noncommunica- dominate as causes of illness and death in the
ble lifestyle diseases affecting the adult popula- region, the relative contribution of noncommuni-
tion. Sub-Saharan Africa is somewhat exceptional cable lifestyle diseases has grown. For instance,
in this regard, with infectious and parasitic dis- the number of deaths from cardiovascular dis-
eases (especially HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria) eases such as strokes and heart disease increased
together with maternal, newborn, and nutritional by a third between 2000 and 2012; the number of
conditions still accounting for about 70 % of pre- cases of diabetes and depression is also rising,
mature deaths in 2012 (WHO 2014b). Though especially in middle income countries in the
these conditions are still among the top-ranked region. This emerging threat is imposing an
conditions in the region’s burden of disease, there added burden on health systems that are already
are again positive signs of change. Although the strained under the demands imposed by commu-
AIDS pandemic has had devastating conse- nicable diseases. Road injuries and interpersonal
quences for many sub-Saharan African countries violence also display an increasing trend.
over the last 30 years,8 in many instances the pan- Although efforts to fight high-profile diseases
demic peaked in the mid-2000s. The result of this such as HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria have
peak, coupled with the rapid scaling up of access received the greatest attention in recent years,
to ART, has meant that the number of years lost diseases that have been neglected continue to
declined by slightly more than a fifth (22 %) take lives. Polio, which has been eradicated in
between 2005 and 2010. In 2012, 90 % of all most of the world, has recently reappeared in
malaria-related deaths (554,000 out of 618,000) West Africa because some parents refuse to inoc-
occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, and the disease ulate their children on religious grounds.
was responsible for a fifth of all childhood deaths. In summary, although considerable health
Nevertheless, commendable strides have been challenges remain in sub-Saharan Africa, the
made in expanding malaria control programs fairly impressive gains that have been achieved in
involving interventions such as insecticide-­ recent decades are producing important quality-­
treated bed nets, indoor spraying, preventive of-­life gains through longer and healthier lives.
treatment during pregnancy, and antimalarial
drugs. Such efforts translated into a 49 % reduc-
tion in malaria mortality rates in Africa between 7.6.2 E
 ducation in Sub-Saharan
2002 and 2012 and a 31 % decline in malaria Africa: A Class Act?
incidence rates (WHO 2014b). Vaccinating chil-
dren against measles has also been successful. In Worldwide, countries are far more concerned
about improving the quality of life of their citizens
1990, immunization rates for measles across the than they were a hundred years ago. The most cor-
continent stood at 58 %, a figure that fell to 53 % rupt and inefficient of countries in Africa are still
in 2000. The drive to improve vaccination rates in providing services of a quality and extent far in
Africa since 2000 has seen coverage increase to advance of any country in the world prior to the
Industrial Revolution. (Kenny 2012)
73 % by 2012 and an 88 % drop in measles-­
related deaths from 417,000 in 2000 to 48,000 in
2012. Continued efforts to achieve and maintain From a historical perspective, formal school-
ing was a late innovation in most regions of sub-­
Saharan Africa. Africa’s oral tradition had
Evident in the more than threefold increase in the number
8 

of years lost to premature death and disability between served as the sole means of communication and
1990 and 2010. transmission of knowledge in most of sub-Saha-
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 179

ran Africa until the nineteenth century. The task key high income countries.9 Over the half century
of carrying out the civilizing project that had between 1870 and 1930, during the time of colo-
justified the scramble for Africa was delegated nial education in Africa, levels of primary school
to missionaries who proceeded to build schools, across the region ranged from three to six times
churches, and hospitals and transcribed many below that of countries such as the United States,
local African languages. The few missionary-­ the United Kingdom, and Germany. In the
educated Africans who had studied abroad decades following independence, sub-Saharan
became the leaders of Africa’s independence African nations pursued major educational
movements in the 1950s and 1960s and the first reforms and major initiatives to promote educa-
heads of states. In the 1930s, just four institu- tion, which yielded remarkable results. Some
tions offered those among sub-Saharan Africa’s concern has, however, been expressed about the
165 million inhabitants who were eligible an fact that primary enrollment has remained rela-
education that met university-entrance stan- tively unchanged since 2007. This finding is
dards (Reader 1997: 666). Education, consid- partly attributable to population growth, which
ered a prerequisite for democracy, has has seen the numbers of primary and lower sec-
represented an important MDG for sub-Saharan ondary school age children increase by around a
Africa. Since the 1960s, illiterate African par- third between 2000 and 2012 and the out-of-­
ents have made great sacrifices to send their school population in the region remain constant
children to school so that levels of education at around 30 million children.
have risen rapidly from one generation to the Although the share of primary school-age
next. Furthermore, urbanization has increased children out of school fell from 40 % to 22 %
access to schooling. between 2000 and 2012, corresponding to a
As with health, if one adopts a longer histori- reduction from 42 to 30 million children, the
cal perspective when looking at patterns and slowdown in momentum in getting such children
trends, it is evident that sub-Saharan Africa has to school is worrisome because estimates suggest
experienced notable growth in certain core edu- that half of these children will never receive any
cational indicators and has begun to narrow the formal education. Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan,
gap relative to leading countries. Although it is and Niger each have more than a million out-of-­
again important to recognize the multiple chal- school children.
lenges that remain in bringing about greater par- The abolition of school fees in accordance
ity with other world regions, this fact should not with the Dakar Framework has been instrumental
overshadow the appreciable progress that has in bolstering enrollment in certain contexts. For
been forged. instance, when Burundi abolished school fees in
2005, the effect was an increase in net primary
7.6.2.1 School Enrollment enrollment from 54 % in 2004 to 74 % in 2006;
With regard to basic education, the region as a by 2010, the figure had risen to an impressive 94
whole is not on track to reach the ambitious % (UNESCO 2014).
Education for All goal of universal primary edu- A fifth of sub-Saharan African countries that
cation by 2015, with a net enrollment ratio of 77 had enrollment ratios below 80 % in 1999 are
% in 2012. This number represents an increase of expected still to be in the same position in 2015,
approximately 25 percentage points relative to placing them among the countries furthest from
1990 (52 %). By pushing further backward and achieving universal primary enrollment. The
comparing recent educational statistics to those
covering the period prior to World War II (see Some caution needs to be taken in directly comparing
9 

Table 7.2), one is left with a clearer sense of the enrollment patterns in the 1870–1930 period to those in
the 1990–2012 interval, especially because of the differ-
convergence that has occurred in relation to basic ent types of enrollment measures used. If gross rather than
access to education in the region relative to other net enrollment ratios are used for recent trends, the
impression of convergence is even more apparent.
180 V. Møller and B. Roberts

Table 7.2  Signs of convergence in primary school enrollment (Benavot and Riddle 1988; World Bank 2014)
Unadjusted primary school enrollment rates
(%) Net primary enrollment rates (%)
1870 1900 1930 1990 2000 2012
Sub-Saharan Africa 17 15 15 52 60 77
United States 72 95 93 97 96 92
United Kingdom 49 74 82 99 100 100
Germany 67 73 73 … 99 98
Ratio of enrollment in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to other countries
SSA: United States 0.23 0.16 0.16 0.54 0.63 0.84
SSA: United 0.34 0.20 0.18 0.53 0.60 0.77
Kingdom
SSA: Germany 0.25 0.20 0.21 … 0.60 0.78
SSA Sub-Saharan Africa

countries are Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Despite overall improvement in the adult lit-
Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, the Gambia, Lesotho, eracy rate in sub-Saharan Africa since 1990, this
Liberia, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. However, other period has also been characterized by growth in
countries in the subcontinent exhibit encouraging the absolute number of illiterate persons aged 15
signs of progress. Rwanda and Zambia also had years and older, rising 37 % between 1990 and
enrollment below the 80 % threshold in 1999 but 2011 (from 133.2 to 181.9 million) due primarily
have already reached their MDG target, whereas to continuing population growth. In 2011, close
Mozambique is expected to come close to the tar- to one in four (23.5 %) of the world’s illiterate
get. Mauritania and Senegal have also shown adults were found in the region. Close to half of
improvements and managed to achieve enroll- the region’s illiterate are concentrated in three
ment figures of more than 80 %. countries—Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Furthermore, low literacy
7.6.2.2 Literacy Rates rates (below 50 %) are still found in nine coun-
Literacy is deemed a fundamental human right tries, most of which are in West Africa (Table
and the basis for addressing deprivation and for 7.3).
promoting societal participation. The extension Female illiteracy in sub-Saharan Africa is a
of access to primary education to sizable shares particular challenge, and around three fifths of
of the population in African countries since illiterate persons in the region are women. In 18
independence has brought about advances in the of the 44 countries (41 %) in the region with
ability to read and write. Between 1870 and available data, the female literacy rate falls
1910, less than a tenth of African citizens were below the 50 % threshold (Fig. 7.9). The situa-
literate, a figure that rose to a mere 15 % by tion in Guinea, Niger, Benin, and Burkina Faso
1950. This figure doubled to 29 % over the next is more alarming: The female literacy rate does
20 years and doubled again to 60 % by 2000. not even exceed 25 %, and the literacy rate
Although literacy in sub-Saharan Africa still among men is more than double that of women
lags behind that of other regions, we again see in the first three countries. The prospects of a
that disparities in literacy have narrowed signifi- rapid change in this scenario are unlikely, given
cantly (Fig. 7.8). The literacy rate in Africa was that the same patterns are reflected among
19 times lower than that of Europe and its off- young women aged 15–24 years. Young women
shoots in 1870, around six times lower in 1950, in the 18 countries exhibit literacy levels below
and only one-and-a-half times lower by the turn 50 %, with less than a quarter able to read and
of the century. write in the four lowest ranked countries. A new
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 181

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1870 1910 1950 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Europe and offshoots 70 87 95 97 98 98 99
China 21 24 28 51 66 78 85 95.1
Africa 4 7 15 29 39 50 60 59
World 26 36 51 62 68 74 78 84

Europe and offshoots China Africa World

Fig. 7.8  Average adult literacy rates, 1870–2010 (%) (Data from Morrison and Murtin 2005; World Bank 2014)

Table 7.3  Categorized adult literacy rate (15 years and older) in sub-Saharan Africa, 2005–2011 (UNESCO 2014)
Below 50 % (n = 9) 50–59 % (n = 8) 60–69 % (n = 8) 70–79 % (n = 9) Above 80 % (n = 10)
Guinea (nd; 25) Senegal (27; 50) Togo (nd; 60) Angola (nd; 70) Zimbabwe (84; 84)
Benin (27; 29) Gambia, The (nd; 51) Dem. Rep. Congo Sao Tome and Botswana (69; 85)
(nd; 61) Principe (73; 70)
Burkina Faso Mozambique (nd; 51) Malawi (49; 61) Cameroon (nd; 71) Cape Verde (63; 85)
(14;29)
Niger (nd; 29) Nigeria (55; 51) Zambia (65; 61) Ghana (nd; 71) Burundi (37; 87)
Mali (nd; 33) Guinea-Bissau (nd; 55) Madagascar (nd; 64) Kenya (nd; 72) Swaziland (67; 88)
Chad (11; 35) Central Afr. Rep. (34; Rwanda (58; 66) Uganda (56; 73) Gabon (72; 89)
57)
Ethiopia (27; 39) Cote d’Ivoire (34; 57) Tanzania (59; 68) Comoros (nd; 76) Mauritius (80; 89)
Liberia (43; 43) Mauritania (nd; 59) Eritrea (nd; 69) Lesotho (nd; 76) Seychelles (88; 92)
Sierra Leone (nd; Namibia (76; 76) South Africa (nd;
43) 93)
Eq. Guinea (nd; 94)
Figures in parentheses represent the adult literacy values from 1985–2004 to 2005–2011, respectively. In both periods
of assessment, no data were available for five countries: the Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, and South
Sudan
nd no data

threat to female literacy gains in northeast 7.6.2.3 Poverty Eats My Blanket:

Nigeria is the militant Islamist movement of Income and Standard of Living
Boko Haram (Western education is forbidden) Poverty eats my blanket. A poor man—they say in
Lesotho—cannot afford a new blanket to wear
that abducted women and kidnapped 276 when his old one begins to fray at the edges. So he
schoolgirls in 2014. In some of the northern continues to wear a blanket which wears away
states of Nigeria, less than 5 % of women can thread by thread as his poverty nibbles at it, until
read and write. he is left with only a few tatters around his neck.
(Marres and Van der Wiel 1975)
Therefore, efforts to further bolster literacy
and bring greater gender parity in literacy levels
will take at least another generation to material- From a historical perspective, standards of liv-
ize in subregions such as West Africa that are ing have been uniformly low for most of sub-­
presently lagging behind. Saharan Africa’s people until recently.
182 V. Møller and B. Roberts

100
Equatorial Guinea
South Africa

Gabon Mauritius
Seychelles
90

Cape Verde
Zimbabwe Swaziland
Burundi
Angola Uganda Botswana
Comoros
Sao Tome and Principe
80

Eritrea
Ghana Kenya
Dem. Rep. Congo Cameroon
Male literacy rate (%)

Tanzania
Togo Malawi Namibia
Central African Republic Zambia
Rwanda
70

Guinea-Bissau
Mozambique Cote d'Ivoire Madagascar
Lesotho
Mauritania
Senegal
Liberia Gambia
60

Nigeria

Sierra Leone
50

Ethiopia
Chad
Niger Mali
Benin
40

Guinea Burkina Faso

30

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Female literacy rate (%)

Fig. 7.9  Male and female literacy rates in sub-Saharan Africa, 2005–2011 (%) (Data from UNESCO 2014)

Subsistence agriculture and herding limited the diamond mines of southern Africa and for farms
accumulation of wealth and thus inhibited eco- in the highlands of East Africa in the nineteenth
nomic inequality. Lineages of families who were and twentieth centuries. The hut tax, which had
the first to settle in any area may have risen to to be paid in cash, forced men to leave their
more prominent positions of prestige and power. homes to seek work in the mines or on planta-
However, the power of African chiefs and elites tions for little pay. In southern Africa, the migrant
was usually limited in precolonial days. The age-­ labor system, which divided families for most of
set social stratification system gave equal status the year but provided a source of cash income,
to members of an age group and tended to distrib- became a way of life for a large sector of the
ute decision making and income and assets ­population. Former herders and agriculturalists
among all members of the community. It was turned migrant workers sent remittances to their
mainly traders who became the first group of sub-­ families in the rural areas and invested any sav-
Saharan Africans to prosper and who were able to ings in cattle. In recent decades, the situation in
invest in goods and services including cattle most of sub-Saharan Africa has changed dramati-
wealth and slaves. cally. Participation in the wage economy has
In early history, trade goods were often bar- increased rapidly since independence. In parallel,
tered or exchanged for other goods that were in living standards have risen as more people have
short supply. Few rural inhabitants had ever par- moved to urban centers to find work in industry,
ticipated in the urban cash economy until the hut manufacturing, and services. However, expecta-
tax was introduced during the colonial period to tions of improved living standards have also
ensure a regular supply of labor for the gold and increased for citizens in Africa’s fledgling
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 183

democracies. Large pockets of poverty still exist tied to the conditions that infants be vaccinated
where people live below the subsistence mini- and school-age children be enrolled in school,
mum in informal urban settlements and rural resulting in improved child nutrition and survival
areas. rates as well as the alleviation of poverty. In line
with Africa’s traditional mutual support system,
7.6.2.4 Social Welfare in the Twenty-­ pension-sharing is widespread, and cash grants
First Century: “My Family Eat often support whole families.
This Money Too”
Large numbers of sub-Saharan people were left 7.6.2.5 Poles Apart: Income Divergence
behind in the new scramble for wealth during the and Quality of Life
1980s and 1990s that enriched ruling elites and In 1997, Harvard economist Lant Pritchett pub-
their cronies (Meredith 2014). Rapid urbaniza- lished an influential study entitled “Divergence,
tion has put enormous pressure on traditional big time,” which outlined how advanced capital-
ways of coping with adversity. The kinship sys- ist nations experienced rapid long-run growth in
tem of mutual aid and support is overstretched, per capita income between 1870 and 1990 while
particularly when falling back on subsistence poorer, developing countries exhibited stagnating
agriculture as a lifeline is no longer an option. It economic performance over this period (Pritchett
has been an embarrassment for independent 1997). The effect of these patterns of change was
Africa to have to rely regularly on external aid to a mounting divergence prior to the end of World
feed its starving people in times of famine or civil War II and limited signs of convergence in recent
war. In the new millennium, sub-Saharan coun- decades, despite the rise of China and India (Fig.
tries are attempting to look after their poor and 7.10). Going back to the beginning of the second
vulnerable themselves. Historically, South Africa millennium (1000 CE), the level of estimated
took the lead in providing social protection for gross domestic product per capita (in 1990 inter-
the new white poor who were displaced after the national $) in both Africa and Western Europe
brutal South Africa War (1899–1902). South was indistinguishable at around $400 per person.
Africa’s social pension, an unconditional cash By the eve of the African era of independence in
transfer to impoverished whites first introduced 1950, Western Europe was five times richer than
in 1928, was gradually extended to black pen- Africa. Jumping ahead another half-century, we
sioners and disabled people. The amounts paid find that the gap has widened immeasurably, with
out to beneficiaries were equalized in 1993, on average income in Western Europe 13 times that
the eve of the country’s transition to democracy. of Africa. Recent growth in Africa closed the
A new child support grant was introduced during relative gap to a 10-fold difference by 2010, but
Nelson Mandela’s first years as president of the the overarching pattern remains.
new democracy (1994–1999). Social pensions Africa did exhibit modest growth in per capita
and cash grants currently reach approximately incomes between 1820 and 1980, increasing
one third of the South African population. threefold over this period but stagnating over the
Namibia introduced its social pension in 1949 next two decades, before slowly improving after
and Mauritius followed suit in 1958. By 2010, the turn of the millennium. However, even if one
nine sub-Saharan states were paying old-age and compares African income growth with that of
disability pensions and 20 were providing some other developing countries such as Brazil, China,
form of social assistance to the poor and vulner- and India, it is apparent that the region has tended
able (Barrientos and Nino-Zarazua 2010). to lag behind (Bolt and Van Zanden 2013).
Assistance comes in different forms, such as cash Within and between countries in the region,
grants to poor and child-headed AIDS house- economic inequality and impoverishment remain
holds, pensions for the aged and disabled, and salient development challenges. Figure 7.11a
work guarantees or public works programs for presents the range of Gini coefficients for 40 sub-­
the unemployed. In some cases, cash transfers are Saharan African countries with available data
184 V. Møller and B. Roberts

35,000

30,000

25,000 United States

20,000

15,000
United Kingdom China
10,000
Latin America
5,000
Africa
0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Fig. 7.10  Real gross domestic product per person in select countries and continents (in 1990 dollars), 1950–2010 (Data
from Bolt and Van Zanden 2013)

a b
70 100
65 90
60 80
Poverty headcount

55 70
Gini Coefficient

50 60
45 50
40 40
35 30
30 20
25 10
20 0
0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40
Number of countries Number of countries

Fig. 7.11 (a) Gini coefficients for the distribution of ratio in sub-Saharan African countries, 2010. Poverty
household consumption per capita in sub-Saharan Africa, computed over the distribution of consumption/income
2010. Countries sorted by their Gini coefficients (Data per capita with the purchasing power parity-adjusted
from the World Bank 2013, 2014). (b) Poverty headcount $1.25-a-day line (Data from the World Bank 2013)

around year 2010. The inequality measures have exhibit relatively low levels on inequality. The
been ranked from the least unequal (Niger, 31.2) spread of Gini coefficient values across the region
to the most unequal economy (South Africa, is considerable, the largest dispersion of any of
65.0). None of the countries have coefficients the world’s regions, although almost all highly
below 30; 5 have values exceeding 55, whereas unequal societies with Gini coefficients above 50
11 of the 40 countries fall below the developing are located on the continent (Alvaredo and
country mean of 39.8. The graph also highlights Gasparini 2015). Although constrained by the
the region’s most populated nations, showing that availability of data, the evidence does seem to
South Africa has exceptionally high inequality suggest that economic inequality in the region
levels (the highest globally); Nigeria and the has remained virtually unchanged during the
Democratic Republic of Congo lie in more inter- 1990s and 2000s (results not shown). Figure
mediate positions; and Tanzania and Ethiopia 7.11b shows that similar country-to-country vari-
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 185

ation in income per capita exists across the democracy on the continent has therefore seen
region. The heterogeneity is stark, with less than the often violent overthrowing of leaders that
1 % of the population in countries such as the typified the 1960s through 1980s increasingly
island nations of Seychelles and Mauritius living being replaced with peaceful exits, the imposi-
on less than $1.25 a day compared to more than tion of limits on terms of office, and the gradual
80 % in the cases of the Democratic Republic of demise of one-party states.
Congo, Madagascar, Liberia, and Burundi. The To provide a sense of the changing nature of
world’s top 10 most materially deprived coun- freedom in the region over recent decades, we
tries remain in Africa. Although remarkable gains make use of the cumulative findings of the
have been made in Asia over the past 30 years, Freedom House series Freedom in the World
the region’s poverty reduction performance was (Freedom House 2015). This annual report series
weak until the 2000s, when discernible, broad-­ assesses the state of freedom across the countries
based improvements became apparent. Even of the world by rating each in terms of the state of
though this news is indeed encouraging, bringing political rights as well as of civil liberties. In each
notable gains in the quality of life of many, efforts instance, a 1–7 ratings scale is used, where 1 rep-
to reduce inequality and consolidate poverty resents the most free and 7, the least free. These
reduction efforts remain key priorities. two scores are, in turn, premised on 25 detailed
indicators. The average of the political rights and
7.6.2.6 The Long Walk to Freedom: civil liberties scores is finally used to classify a
Political Challenges country or territory as Free, Partly Free, or Not
If … African countries are to achieve sustainable Free.10 The pattern of freedom in sub-Saharan
development, democracy cannot stand still, and
freedom alone will not be enough. Democratic
Africa over the last 40 years clearly reflects the
institutions will have to work better to control cor- processes of democratization that have occurred
ruption and constrain the exercise of power, so as well as the advance of civil and political rights
that the chief business of government becomes the in public opinion and legal practice (Fig. 7.12). In
delivery of public goods, not private ones.
(Diamond 2008: 262).
1973, less than a tenth of countries in the region
were deemed as Free by Freedom House, whereas
Since the mid-1970s, more than 60 countries 23 % percent were designated as Partly Free and
around the world made transitions to democracy the remaining majority were Not Free (Freedom
in what has been termed a “third wave” of democ- House 2015). Distinct progress is evident
ratization (Huntington 1991), a process of change between 1973 and 2003, with the share of coun-
that reached and indelibly influenced sub-­Saharan tries in sub-Saharan Africa that are Not Free
Africa from the early 1990s onward. Longstanding halving and the corresponding shares that are
authoritarian rule, characterized by military and Free or Partly Free exhibiting improving trends.
one-party states as well as by dominant leaders, Despite such accomplishments, the Freedom
was challenged, and multiparty electoral compe- House measures for the decade between 2003
tition was established in countries such as South and 2013 provided early warning signs that dem-
Africa, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gabon, and Zambia. ocratic recession may be occurring in the region.
The influence of these changes also spread to This period was generally one of heightened vol-
other regimes spanning the continent, from Niger atility, with declines precipitated by coups, insur-
and Togo in West Africa, through the Congo in gencies, political instability, and reversals in
Central Africa, and even to the island nations of terms of freedom of expression and association in
Madagascar, São Tomé, and Cape Verde. At the certain cases occurring alongside gains in coun-
beginning of the 1990s, only 3 countries were tries such as Cote d’Ivoire, Madagascar, and
classified as democracies; by the close of the
decade only 2 of 48 countries in the region had
More information on the Freedom House methodology
10 

not held national competitive, multiparty elec- can be found at freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world-

tions (Diamond and Plattner 2010). The rise of 2014/methodology.
186 V. Møller and B. Roberts

100
80
60
40
20
0
1973 1983 1993 2003 2013
Free 8 7 17 23 20
Partly Free 23 35 31 42 39
Not Free 69 59 52 35 41

Free Partly Free Not Free

Fig. 7.12  Trends in freedom in sub-Saharan Africa, 1973–2013 (% of countries) (Data based on calculations from
Freedom House 2014)

Mali, due mainly to recovery after coups and covering 1996–2013, tend to portray sub-Saharan
conflict (Freedom House 2014). For the first time Africa in a fairly unfavorable light (Kaufmann
in four decades, the share of countries catego- et al. 2010).
rized as Not Free demonstrated an upward ten- In 2013, the region ranked at the low end of
dency, whereas the share that was Free of Partly the 30th percentile on governance measures (Fig.
Free declined modestly. 7.13a), faring marginally better on indicators of
Apart from the spread as well as the ebbs and political stability and accountability than on the
flows of democracy in the region, another impor- other four components of state quality. Yet, the
tant aspect of developmental progress that has a region fell behind other world regions on the
bearing on individual and collective well-being basis of these indices. These averages also mask
in sub-Saharan Africa is the quality of gover- considerable variation between different coun-
nance. The Brookings Institute economist Daniel tries within the region. If one concentrates on
Kaufmann and his World Bank colleagues have sub-Saharan Africa’s five largest countries, which
identified six core dimensions with which to account for close to half of the region’s popula-
evaluate the nature of governance in any given tion, it is immediately apparent how appreciably
country, the first of which is voice and account- the quality of governance varies across nations
ability, which links closely with the Freedom (Fig. 7.13b). Whereas the percentile rankings for
House focus on basic civil liberties as well as the South Africa approximated those of Eastern
ability to participate in the selection of govern- Europe, the Democratic Republic of Congo and
ment. The other aspects are political stability and Nigeria had worse governance scores than the
absence of violence or terrorism; government region as a whole; Ethiopia also had voice and
effectiveness (in providing public service, public accountability and political stability scores below
administration, and policy formulation and the sub-Saharan average. Tanzania fared moder-
implementation); regulatory quality (in terms of ately better than the region on the different
enabling and promoting private sector develop- dimensions of governance. The control of cor-
ment); the rule of law; and, lastly, the control of ruption in particular is of concern.
corruption. The latter four dimensions could be Although politics across the continent has
thought of collectively as an indication of “state become less violent and more institutionalized in
quality” (Diamond 2008). Available indicators character over the last two decades, at the same
that have been compiled to inform this multidi- time many democracies remain fragile and belea-
mensional definition of quality governance, and guered by quality concerns, affected in particular
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 187

a b
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa

Middle East & North Congo, Dem. Rep.

Africa
Latin America & Nigeria
Caribbean

East Asia & Pacific Ethiopia

South Asia Tanzania

High income OECD South Africa

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Voice & Accountability Voice & Accountability
Political Stability Political Stability
State Quality State Quality

Fig. 7.13 (a) World Governance Indicators rankings by largest sub-Saharan African countries, 2013 (Data from
world region, 2013 (Data from Kaufmann et al. 2010). (b) Kaufmann et al. 2010)
World Governance Indicators rankings among the five

by corrupt practices, clientelism, and authoritar- Madagascar, Togo, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire,
ian leadership (Diamond and Plattner 2010). Zimbabwe, Mali, and Nigeria. There have also
Alongside the complex patterns of progress and been some notable reversals over the last decade,
reversal that have occurred following the demo- especially in Kenya, Mozambique, and Mali.
cratic experiments in Africa since the 1990s, it is The obvious gap between the demand for and
interesting to observe the resolute public appetite evaluations of the supply of democracy suggests
for democracy. According to our analysis of that important democratic deficits exist in sub-­
Round 5 of Afrobarometer (2011/2012), 76 % of Saharan Africa. These deficits reflect disillusion-
people across the continent believe that democ- ment with the manner in which democracy is
racy is preferable to any other form of govern- delivering upon the expectations of the mass pub-
ment, and more than three quarters disapprove of lic. By extension, as the example of the Arab
one-party rule, military rule, and big man poli- Spring has taught us, these statistics also serve as
tics. There is similar support for constitutional a signal to the elected of their responsibility to
limits to terms of office. These beliefs convey a the voting public and the potential consequences
deeply rooted demand for democracy and an of failing to live up to this mandate.
appreciation of the benefits it brings to citizens
and represent a trend that has remained relatively 7.6.2.7 Social Progress in Review
resilient over the last 15 years of the survey Since the wave of independence in Africa more
series. Public evaluations of the supply of democ- than half a century ago, interest has been growing
racy are more critical in nature, with 52 % of in monitoring societal progress to determine how
Africans expressing satisfaction with the func- well countries are faring relative to the vision for
tioning of democracy in practice in 2011/2012. reform and long-term development that was
There is again a considerable gradient of differ- articulated. Indicators and data abound with
ence across countries (Fig. 7.14), ranging from which to provide an overarching sense of the
75 % voicing satisfaction with democracy in state of social progress in sub-Saharan Africa
Tanzania to less than a third satisfied in toward ensuring well-being and quality of life for
188 V. Møller and B. Roberts

100

80

60

40

20

0
Senegal

Togo
Zimbabwe
Zambia

Swaziland
Uganda
Niger

Lesotho

Mozambique
Guinea

Nigeria

Cameroon
Liberia
Burundi

Kenya
Namibia
Tanzania

Sierra Leone
Benin

Côte d'Ivoire

Madagasscar
Cape Verde
Ghana

South Africa

Burkina Faso
Botswana
Maurius

Mali
Malawi
R2 (2002-03) R5 (2010-12)

Fig. 7.14  Satisfaction with democracy, 2002/2003 and 2011/2012 (percentage who are fairly/very satisfied) (Data from
Afrobarometer 2015; Afrobarometer Network 2004)

its diverse population. One of the most compre- social gains [in the last 10 years] nonetheless are
hensive review measures of objective well-being impressive.”
is the Index of Social Progress—or the WISP as Recent conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa, par-
its statistically weighted version is known— ticularly civil conflict, made it impossible for
developed by Richard Estes (see Chap. 6, Sect. millions of Africans to pursue happiness and
6.2.3). The index consists of 10 subindexes improve the quality of their lives. A recent study
encompassing 41 individual social indicators. of failing states (Estes 2012b: 577) found that
The aim of such a composite measure is to social development “requires peace, or at least
encompass all major aspects of societal economic minimum levels of positive social, political, and
development including educational status, health, economic stability.” Indeed, Estes further argued
gender equality, social welfare nets, and cultural that a failing state will have a negative impact on
diversity. The use of such an index, which has the quality of life in neighboring states. As the
been collected since 1970, allows the researcher results show, those states that have become
to measure the capacity of nations to provide for entrenched in civil conflict in the recent past
the basic social and material needs for their tended to have low social development.
citizens. Civil strife was particularly common to West
In 2009, a majority of sub-Saharan African Africa during the 1990s and 2000s. A majority of
countries had WISP scores well below the world West African countries experienced a decline in
average of 49 (Table 7.4). If sub-Saharan Africa their WISP scores between 1970 and 2000, and
is analyzed regionally, significant differences are the average for the subregion fell from 16 in 1970
noted, with Southern Africa (40) having much to 10 in 2000, although some progress was made
higher average WISP scores than East Africa between 2000 and 2009 when the WISP score
(18), West Africa (14), and Central Africa (8). increased to 14. Those Western African countries
These values represent a significant improvement (Chad, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire)
over the last 10 years. Sub-Saharan Africa has directly involved in civil war experienced extreme
had consistently unfavorable WISP scores for the deteriorations in social progress during this
period 1970–2000. Social progress for much of period. Much of central Africa is also recovering
the continent in fact declined between 1970 and from civil wars that occurred in the 1990s and
1980 and only began to rebound after 2000. This 2000s, and the subregion had a low WISP aver-
recovery has been profound enough for Estes age of 8, with the Democratic Republic of the
(2012a: 439) to remark that “Africa’s recent
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 189

Table 7.4  Weighted Index of Social Progress (WISP) in sub-Saharan Africa, 2000–2009 (Estes 2010)
1970 1980 1990 2000 2009
1 Sudan n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Western Africa
2 Benin 14 17 8 19 19
3 Burkina Faso 3 11 8 3 23
4 Cape Verde n.a. n.a. n.a. 40 51
5 Côte d’Ivoire 24 24 16 12 6
6 Gambia n.a. n.a. n.a. 13 16
7 Ghana 22 18 16 26 29
8 Guinea 14 5 −1 5 9
9 Guinea-Bissau n.a. n.a. n.a. −4 −3
10 Liberia 24 20 12 −6 −11
11 Mali 13 8 4 13 16
12 Mauritania 23 10 13 12 20
13 Niger 6 8 3 −4 9
14 Nigeria 6 26 11 14 4
15 Senegal 27 18 24 19 22
16 Sierra Leone 25 12 2 −10 0
17 Togo 9 13 17 14 11
Eastern Africa
18 Burundi 5 8 18 3 10
19 Comoros n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
20 Djibouti n.a. n.a. n.a. 12 14
21 Eritrea n.a. n.a. n.a. −15 −7
22 Ethiopia 4 −10 −10 −12 15
23 Kenya 27 26 24 12 24
24 Madagascar 30 31 23 19 24
25 Malawi 11 4 13 9 27
26 Mauritius n.a. 56 67 61 60
27 Mozambique n.a. 2 −4 4 11
28 Rwanda 17 18 21 19 24
29 Seychelles n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
30 Somalia 19 10 1 1 −4
31 South Sudan n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
32 Tanzania 12 20 15 20 22
33 Uganda 14 14 12 7 12
34 Zambia 27 25 28 22 21
35 Zimbabwe 32 29 37 24 23
Central Africa
36 Angola n.a. 5 −3 −10 −4
37 Cameroon 23 22 21 15 14
38 Central African Rep. 10 12 9 2 3
39 Chad 3 −4 −2 −4 −7
40 Congo n.a. 22 27 22 17
41 Congo, Dem. Rep. 15 21 14 −2 2
42 Equatorial Guinea n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
(continued)
190 V. Møller and B. Roberts

Table 7.4 (continued)
1970 1980 1990 2000 2009
43 Gabon n.a. n.a. n.a. 28 30
44 São Tomé and Príncipe n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Southern Africa
45 Botswana n.a. n.a. n.a. 44 50
46 Lesotho n.a. 36 36 36 46
47 Namibia n.a. n.a. n.a. 36 46
48 South Africa 51 43 44 52 51
49 Swaziland n.a. n.a. n.a. 37 33
n.a. not available

Congo, the Central African Republic, and Angola a result, Zimbabwe was the only country in
scoring below this subregional average. southern Africa to suffer a substantial decline in
Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa that its WISP score (falling from a high of 37 in 1990
achieved greater political stability also experi- to 23 in 2009).
enced increased social development. Ethiopia,
for instance, made significant improvements in
social development, albeit from a low base. The 7.6.3 Subjective Well-Being
country’s WISP score increased from -12 in 2000
to 15 in 2009. This increase was caused primarily With the exception of South Africa, and to a
by the end of the prolonged civil disorder of the lesser degree Nigeria, research into subjective
authoritarian Mengistu era in 1994 and the con- well-being in sub-Saharan Africa has tended to
stitutional and agricultural reforms of the demo- trail more objective analysis of quality of life dur-
cratic Meles era. However, not all transitions to ing the post-independence period. Following
democracy coincided with increases in social influential cross-national undertakings of the
progress. Nigeria, plagued by disputed elections 1960s and 1970s, progress in surveying subjec-
since the transition from military rule in 1999, tive well-being in Africa proceeded at a rather
experienced a reversal of social development, slow pace until the late 1990s and early 2000s.
declining from 26 in 1980 to 4 in 2009. The World Value Survey series, established in
The case of Nigeria demonstrates that even 1981, has measured subjective well-being on a
when civil war is avoided, other factors can bidecennial basis using a single-item overall life
reverse social development. Estes (2010) sug- satisfaction question based on a 10-point scale.
gested that other contributing factors are the rapid Only Nigeria and South Africa were included in
spread of infectious and communicable diseases the survey during the first three waves of the sur-
(such as HIV/AIDS), the underinvestment and, in vey, though this increased to nine countries in
some cases, declining investment in health, edu- Wave 5 (2005–2007). The latest round of inter-
cation, and social welfare by some countries as viewing (Wave 6, 2010–2012) focused on dra-
well as an inability to overcome serious infra- matically increasing sub-Saharan African
structure limitations, particularly within the participation. Other global survey series that have
region’s landlocked states. Zimbabwe, for exam- gained prominence since the end of the twentieth
ple, suffered considerable economic (and subse- century, such as the Gallup World Poll and the
quent social) decline following a poorly managed Pew Global Attitudes Surveys, are characterized
land reform program that destroyed the country’s by a greater representation of African countries,
leading export-producing agricultural sector. As but relatively small sample sizes, sampling prob-
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 191

Table 7.5 Ranked average life satisfaction in sub-­ 7.6.3.1 Overall Life Satisfaction
Saharan African countries from highest to lowest, 2000–
Data on overall life satisfaction for sub-Saharan
2009 (mean on a 0–10 scale) (Veenhoven n.d.)
Africa are generally less readily available than
Highest values other forms of happiness measures, though the
Malawi (6.2) South Africa (5.8)
World Database of Happiness has compiled
Nigeria (5.7) Djibouti (5.7)
available empirical evidence for 35 sub-Saharan
Chad (5.4) Namibia (5.2)
African nations, with a coverage that focuses pre-
Ghana (5.2) Zambia (5.0)
dominantly on the period 2000–2009. We find an
Sudan (5.0) Mauritania (4.9)
appreciable spread in national averages, with the
Uganda (4.8) Mali (4.7)
highest rating of 6.2 in Malawi nearly two-and-a-­
Botswana (4.7) Central African Rep. (4.6)
half times higher than the lowest rating of 2.6 in
Senegal (4.5) Guinea (4.5)
Togo (Table 7.5).
Côte d’Ivoire (4.4) Congo, Dem. Rep. (4.4)
Globally, Togo was the lowest ranked of 149
Burkina Faso (4.4) Rwanda (4.3)
Liberia (4.3) Angola (4.3)
nations in the database, whereas Costa Rica had
Ethiopia (4.2) Cameroon (3.9)
the highest score (8.5). Another finding of note is
Niger (3.8) Mozambique (3.8) the relatively few countries in the sub-Saharan
Madagascar (3.7) Kenya (3.7) region that have mean scores above the scale
Congo, Rep. (3.7) Sierra Leone (3.5) midpoint (5.0). In this instance, only Malawi,
Zimbabwe (3.0) Benin (3.0) South Africa, Nigeria, Djibouti, Chad, and
Burundi (2.9) Tanzania (2.8) Namibia fall into this category. The overall aver-
Togo (2.6) age level of satisfaction for the set of sub-Saharan
Lowest values African countries with available data is 4.4,
which is below that of North Africa (5.6) and the
world average (5.9).
lems, and inconsistent country participation are
some of the limitations experienced to date. 7.6.3.2 Contentment with Life
Similarly, at the regional level, the Afrobarometer The most commonly used measure of happiness
survey series, which was established in the late in the region asks respondents to rate their life on
1990s, comprised 12 countries as part of its first an 11-step Cantril ladder scale that ranges from
wave (1999–2001) and managed to expand to at what they perceive to be the worst possible life
least 22 nations by its fifth round (2011–2013).11 (0) to the best possible life imaginable (10). In
The series, however, does not contain a direct Fig. 7.15, we present ranked averages for 35 sub-­
measure of subjective well-being, though ana- Saharan African countries based on recent data
lysts have attempted to overcome this by examin- from the Gallup World Poll (Roberts et al. 2015).
ing proxy measures such as lived poverty or In terms of the pattern of responses within the
optimism (Mattes 2008). Although these devel- region, we again found a considerable degree of
opments have resulted in significant advances in variation in contentment, ranging from a low of
our understanding of social attitudes in Africa 2.9 in Togo to a high of 5.6 in Angola. Only
and the extent to which this approximates or Angola, Mauritius, and Nigeria had a mean score
diverges from other countries and regions, there exceeding the midpoint of the scale, whereas 11
remains much room for building on this initial countries had an average score that was below
engagement. four on the 0–10 scale. A simple mean score was
calculated for all the countries as well as for each
of the four subregions. The lowest score was
found in western Africa (4.08), followed by cen-
The expectation is that the survey will increase to 35
11  tral and eastern Africa (4.30 and 4.41 respec-
countries by the completion of the survey round.
 192 V. Møller and B. Roberts

10
Me an life sat isfact ion on a 0 - 10 scale, where

9
8
7
0=bo
om and 10=top

6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Life today Life 5 years ago Life in 5 years

Fig. 7.15  Average contentment for select sub-Saharan Namibia (2007), Cote d’Ivoire (2009), and Liberia (2010).
African countries, ranked by current life ratings. Life All data are weighted so that the results are representative
today, Life 5 years ago, and Life in 5 years are measured of the adult population in each country (Roberts et al.
using the Cantril ladder questions with respondents asked 2015, © Springer Science + Business Media Dordrecht,
to choose a rung on the 0–10 ladder. All countries use data with permission of Springer)
from the Gallup 2011 World Poll except for Ethiopia and

tively), with a moderately higher average in eastern Africa. The Togolese example is perhaps
southern Africa (4.92). most telling. As with overall life satisfaction,
The Gallup data also include retrospective and 2012 Gallup data indicate that the country pos-
prospective evaluations, with the national aver- sesses the lowest level of contentment world-
ages displayed in Fig. 7.15. It is immediately wide. Although citizens generally felt marginally
apparent that considerable optimism exists more contented in the past (3.2 compared to 2.9),
among sub-Saharan African countries concern- there is an expectation of a substantive reversal,
ing life improvements in the medium term. with the mean country rating jumping to more
Contentment in the region, based on simple all-­ than double its current level (6.0) by the end of a
country averages, is expected to rise from the 5-year period. It is this “happiness in hardship”
present 4.4 to 6.7 over the 5-year interval, an (Veenhoven 2005) that strikes one in the com-
increase of more than 50 %. On the basis of these parative examination of happiness in the subcon-
future evaluations, only two nations have an aver- tinent: the remarkable resilience that is
age score below the midpoint of the ladder, with encountered in the face of considerable personal
14 countries reporting a value of 7 or above. It is and societal adversity.
interesting to note that the largest anticipated
gains are found among countries characterized 7.6.3.3 Positive Experiences Outweigh
by low present scores and perceived reversals in the Negative
recent years. This observation is especially true The Gallup World Poll has also fielded a series of
of the western African states of Togo, Benin, questions concerning the positive and negative
Burkina Faso, and Senegal, as well as Rwanda in feelings experienced by respondents on the day
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 193

100

80

60

40

20

0
Mauritania

Angola
Malawi

Madagascar
Burundi

Rwanda
Lesotho
Mali
Botswana
Nigeria
Senegal

Tanzania
Ghana
Congo, Dem. Rep.

Niger
Kenya
Uganda
Guinea
Zimbabwe
Djibou€

Mozambique
Mauri€us
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Congo, Rep.
Liberia
Central African Rep.
Gabon
Chad

Sierra Leone
Togo
South Africa

Zambia

Positive Experience Index Negative Experience Index

Fig. 7.16 Positive and negative experiences in sub-­ Gallup World Poll 2012. Gallup World Poll 2011 data
Saharan Africa in 2011/2012, ranked by the size of the were used for the Negative Experience Index (The Global
gap between the two indices. Gallup World Poll 2011 data Handbook of Wellbeing and Quality of Life, Shadow of the
for Positive Experience Index used for the following sun: The distribution of wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa,
countries: Lesotho, Central African Republic, Burundi, 2015, pp. 531–568, Roberts, B. J., Gordon, S. L., Struwig,
Djibouti, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Liberia, J., & Møller, V., © Springer Science + Business Media
Sierra Leone, and Togo. All other data represented use Dordrecht, with permission of Springer)

prior to interviewing. From the results, a positive found in South Asia (31.9), the Middle East and
experience index is constructed on the basis of North Africa (33.6), and Europe and central Asia
the respondents’ reported well-being yesterday (35.1). The highest affect balance scores are
with regard to feeling well-rested, being treated found in East Asia and the Pacific (50.5) and in
with respect all day, smiling or laughing a lot, Latin America and the Caribbean (49.3). Sub-
learning or doing something interesting, experi- Saharan Africa therefore has a higher average
encing enjoyment or love, feeling proud about affect balance score than one might expect given
something that they did, and expressing a general the multiple social challenges that continue to
desire for more days like yesterday. Gallup beleaguer the subcontinent. This score, as in
also constructs a negative experience index on Latin America, is buoyed partly by a fairly high
the basis of the reported experience of physical level of positive feelings reported among the
pain, worry, sadness, stress, anger, and depres- region’s population. Nearly two fifths of the sub-
sion. Examining such experiences rather than Saharan African countries (13 out of 34) had a
other types of evaluations of life, such as happi- positive experience score exceeding 70, with the
ness, we find that the share reporting positive highest scores evident in Nigeria (78), Lesotho
emotions exceeds the share with negative feel- (77), and Malawi (76), whereas only two African
ings for all 34 sub-Saharan African countries countries (Togo and Madagascar) were in the
with available data. As such, all affect balance bottom ten countries in terms of positive emo-
scores for these nations are positive, with a tions worldwide. In addition, those regions of
regional mean of 42.1, ranging from 16 in Togo the world with the lowest rankings include coun-
to 59 in Lesotho (Fig. 7.16). tries that face lower than average positive affect
From a comparative perspective, the region coupled with a high degree of negative emotion.
has an average affect level that exceeds that This situation exists in nations such as Iraq
194 V. Møller and B. Roberts

Traditional African Religions Muslims Christians

80%
70% 76%
60%
50% 57%

40%
29%
30%
20% 14%
10% 13%
9%
0%
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Fig. 7.17  Growth of Islam and Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa since 1900 (Pew Forum on Religion & Political Life
2010; used with permission)

(−9)12; Palestine (16) and Egypt (19) among the in the region indicated they belonged to one of
Arab states; Pakistan (22), Iran (23), and these two religions, with slightly more than a
Afghanistan (29) in South Asia; and Armenia tenth (13 %) affiliated with a traditional African
(12), Serbia (16), and Turkey (19) in Europe and religion and only a nominal share religiously
central Asia. Individuals living in Togo, Angola, unaffiliated (Fig. 7.17). This picture has altered
and Sierra Leone are similarly predisposed markedly over the last century, with Muslims
toward experiencing a high level of negative and Christians accounting for barely more than
emotion on a daily basis, and all three countries a fifth of the population in 1900, whereas two
are in the top quartile of the negative emotion thirds followed a traditional African religion.
distribution. The resilience of sub-­ Saharan The rising dominance of Christianity and Islam
Africans to social and economic hardship is evi- does not, however, mean that traditional beliefs
dent from the Positive and Negative Experience and practices have fallen away. In fact, a quarter
Index data. of all respondents (including 20 % of Christians,
26 % of Muslims) exhibited high levels of tradi-
7.6.3.4 The Spirit Level: Religion tional beliefs.14 Therefore, in contemporary
and Well-Being societies in the region, the commitment to Islam
A majority of people living in sub-Saharan or Christianity tends to coexist with involve-
Africa express a robust commitment to the ment in traditional African religions. The distri-
beliefs and practices associated with Christianity bution of religions exhibits a distinct geographic
or Islam. A 2010 report by the Pew Forum on pattern: Northern Africa is predominantly
Religion and Public Life found that at least 90 %
of all respondents across 19 countries surveyed13
These scores were obtained by means of an index cre-
14 

ated from 11 indicators: These indicators included

Iraq has the lowest affect balance score of 148 countries
12 
belief in (i) the protective power of certain spiritual
in the 2011 Gallup World Poll and is the only country with people; (ii) the power of juju and other sacred objects;
a negative overall score. This result is attributable to an (iii) the evil eye; (iv) witchcraft; (v) evil spirits; (vi) the
exceptionally high level of negative affect (59) in contrast protective power of sacrificial offerings to ancestors;
with a relatively low experience of positive emotion (50). and (vii) reincarnation. Traditional religious practices
More than 25,000 face-to-face interviews were con-
13 
were captured by four items asking about (viii) visiting
ducted across Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, DR traditional healers; (ix) owning sacred objects; (x) par-
Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, ticipating in ceremonies to honor ancestors; and (xi)
Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South participating in traditional puberty rituals. Those saying
Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Collectively, they believed or did six of these things were classified
these countries account for about three quarters of the by Pew as having high levels of traditional beliefs and
region’s population. practices.
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 195

Muslim, southern Africa is heavily Christian, 7.6.4 T

 he Millennial Challenge:
and a more even affiliation is evident in coun- Rapid Social Change
tries between these poles, stretching in a hori-
zontal band across the continent from Senegal 7.6.4.1 Population Growth
to Somalia. and Urbanization
A further examination of the Pew data reveals One of the most populous sub-Saharan African
that sub-Saharan Africa unquestionably remains countries, Nigeria, experienced a fourfold
one of the most religious regions of the world. In increase in population since independence in
most of the countries surveyed, around 90 % of 1960, and its population is expected to increase to
people stated that religion is an important part of 500 million by 2050 and to more than 900 mil-
their lives. Even in middle income countries lion by 2100 (Mills 2014: 108).
such as Botswana and Namibia, where the At the time of independence, sub-Saharan
importance attached to religion is slightly lower Africa was populated mainly by rural subsistence
(69 % and 74 %, respectively), more people agriculturalists. Only approximately 15 % of the
reported that religion was an important part of population were city dwellers. Since the 1960s,
their lives than in the industrialized countries urbanization has increased rapidly in line with
such as the United States (57 %). Despite pre- world trends, and twice as many people lived in
vailing stereotypes, a clear majority of citizens cities by 2012—some 37 % of the population
across the region expressed the view that people (Fig. 7.18). However, urbanization rates vary
of other faiths have widespread freedom to prac- widely over the region. From 50 % to 62 % of the
tice their religion (ranging from a low of 65 % in population is urbanized in South Africa,
Djibouti to a high of 93 % in Senegal) and con- Botswana, Angola, Ghana, and Nigeria. In con-
sidered this view as a positive attribute of their trast, Ethiopia’s rate of urbanization increased
country. These findings, however, do not imply only from 6 % in 1960 to 18 % in 2012.
that the region is uniformly a place of religious People have moved to cities in search of eco-
harmony. On average, 28 % of those interviewed nomic opportunities, access to services, and a
reported that conflict between religious groups is better quality of life. The question is whether
a significant problem in their countries, with greater concentrations of people in cities will
more than half the population voicing such con- improve access to economic opportunities and
cern in Nigeria, Rwanda, and Djibouti. People delivery of infrastructure and services. In Kenya,
across the region also displayed a fair amount of for example, over 60 % of the urban population
uneasiness about religious extremism, with at live in slums and are deprived of central and local
least half of respondents in 11 of the 19 countries government services owing to antiquated town
saying they were very or somewhat worried planning laws. The majority of slum dwellers are
about this phenomenon. A sizable majority, underemployed in the informal sector (see Mills
however, expressed the view that the perpetra- 2014: 38ff).
tion of violence against civilians in order to
defend one’s religion is rarely or never justifi- 7.6.4.2 The Mobile Phone Revolution
able. Notable minorities do regard such violence The legacy of sub-Saharan Africa’s oral tradition
as justified, ranging from 20 % on average to a may have spurred enthusiasm for cellular phone
high of more than 50 % in countries such as connectivity. Telecommunications may be one of
Guinea-Bissau and Djibouti. the most readily adopted innovations in twenty-­
first century Africa, which has leapfrogged ear-
lier stages of technological advances (Fig. 7.19).
196 V. Møller and B. Roberts

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2012
Sub-Saharan Africa World

Fig. 7.18  Urbanization in sub–Saharan African and the world, 1960–2012 (Data from the World Bank 2014)

140
South Africa
120

100
World
80
Kenya
60

40
sub-Saharan
20 Africa
D.R. Congo
0 Ethiopia
1995 2000 2005 2010

Fig. 7.19  Mobile cellular phone subscriptions, 1995–2012 (per 100,000 people) (Data from the World Bank)

Most households in sub-Saharan Africa may ogy has been used in innovative ways to improve
never have had access to a landline telephone quality of life in many domains, including health,
(only 1.2 % of people in the region had a finance, education, and family and social rela-
­telephone line in 2013) (World Bank 2014)15, but tions. In Kenya, for example, mobile phones are
the first mobile phone has become a rite of pas- used for cash transfers. By 2011, some 40 % of
sage for many teenagers. Mobile phone technol- the population or approximately 17 million peo-
ple were subscribers to M-Pesa, a digital banking
system. In South Africa, people living with HIV
Only three countries had figures exceeding 10 %,
15 

namely Mauritius (29 %), Seychelles (23 %), and Cabo

are reminded to take their ART by text
Verde (13 %). messaging.
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 197

7.6.5 W
 ell-Being Among Minorities later by white settlers. Bushmen could be shot
in Sub-Saharan Africa like vermin until 1937 in Namibia and until
1926 in South Africa (Grant-Marshall 2013).
Until recently, the majority of people living in Hunters could apply for a licence to shoot a
sub-Saharan Africa might be regarded as disad- number of bucks and a wildebeest along with a
vantaged minorities despite their being majori- male and a female Bushman. More recently,
ties in terms of their numbers. Although many the extraordinary skills of San trackers have
sub-­Saharan Africans have seen positive changes been appreciated but also exploited by regional
in their life chances since the 1960s, a number of defense forces and commercial organizations.
groups in society fare worse than others. Today, a dwindling number of Bushmen con-
tinue to preserve their way of life in the areas
7.6.5.1 Urban Slum Dwellers reserved for them in Botswana and Namibia;
The depressed quality of life of the growing pro- others have chosen to integrate into modern
portion of slum dwellers among the urban poor society where they mainly occupy the lowest
was discussed previously. Slum dwellers are social stratum. Similarly, the well-being and
overrepresented among the informally and mar- survival of other indigenous people, including
ginally employed if they can find a source of the pygmy peoples of central Africa, the Hadza
income. They have become the new second-class of East Africa, and the Cimba (also Tjimba) of
citizens in their own countries with less access to southern Africa, are at stake in the twenty-first
services and to a political voice. century.

7.6.5.2 Women 7.6.5.4 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,

There is a saying in Africa: “You strike a Transgender, and Intersex
woman, you strike a rock,” alluding to African People
women as the backbone of society. The World Although South Africa’s Constitution guaran-
Happiness Report 2013 (Helliwell et al. 2013) tees the rights of people regardless of gender,
reported that well-being among the women of race, and religious and sexual persuasion and
sub-Sahara is lower than that of men. Customary recognizes marriage between same-sex part-
tribal law codified during the colonial period ners, homosexuals are threatened with impris-
and still recognized today has, in some onment or even death in some countries to the
instances, halted the emancipation of women in north.
many regions of sub-­ Saharan Africa.
Nonetheless, women in most societies have 7.6.5.5 Refugees and Displaced People
enjoyed equal access to education since inde- Lastly, four of the world’s top refugee-producing
pendence, and a number of countries have countries (Somalia, Sudan, the Democratic
introduced quotas for women to serve in public Republic of Congo, and Eritrea) are in Africa. Of
office, where they can exert influence on creat- the estimated 16.7 million refugees worldwide,
ing better opportunities and protection for 2.3 million or close to 14 % are in Africa. Of the
women’s rights. Land rights for women are 33.3 million internally displaced persons in the
regarded as vital for food production to feed world, half or 16.8 million are displaced in
Africa’s growing population. African countries. Although various United
Nations conventions provide for the rights of ref-
7.6.5.3 Indigenous People ugees, refugees are placed in conflict with mem-
The descendants of Africa’s first people, the bers of host societies and may become targets of
hunter-gathers, who prefer to be known as the xenophobia. Similarly, the well-being of dis-
San or Bushmen, were gradually dispersed by placed persons is depressed economically and
the Bantu who migrated to southern Africa and socially.
198 V. Møller and B. Roberts

7.7 Conclusions: Imagining 7.7.1.1 From “Basket Case”

Future Sub-Saharan to the World’s Food Basket
Well-Being For millennia Africa has struggled to produce
enough food to feed its people. Consequently,
7.7.1 S
 ub-Saharan Africa’s Glass Is it only reached its full population growth
Half Full potential in the middle of the twentieth cen-
tury. In the twenty-first century, sub-Saharan
Social indicators for sub-Saharan Africa tell a Africa has the highest fertility rates in the
promising story. On balance, the gains in life world, and it is estimated that the sub-Saharan
expectancy, literacy, and standards of living population will double to two billion by the
suggest that people in the region are better off end of the century. One of the new challenges
since independence. A number of countries for Africa’s decision makers will be to provide
met their MDGs by the target date of 2015; food security for a rapidly growing population.
others will reset their aims to achieve the new Meeting this goal will require good governance
Sustainable Development Goals. According to and prudent resource management. The green
the WISP, a majority of sub-Saharan countries revolution that accompanied rapid population
have experienced progress. Levels of happi- growth in Asia in the twentieth century
ness increased between 2005 and 2012; twice bypassed Africa, and climate change may pose
as many sub-­ Saharan countries experienced a greater threat to Africa’s food production
rising rather than falling levels of happiness than elsewhere. Many sub-Saharan countries
according to the 2013 World Happiness Report currently import food. However, agricultural
(Helliwell et al. 2013). But levels of happiness experts are of the opinion that Africa could
in the sub-Saharan countries are lower than become the world’s food basket if it realizes its
those in all other regions of the world and there potential for combining subsistence agriculture
is room for improvement. People expect better with agribusiness (Bourne 2014).
performances from their governments, which Whereas earlier explorers, colonial powers,
need to address issues ranging from corruption and post-independence investors were inter-
to fixing infrastructure that has suffered from ested in exploiting Africa’s gold, mineral, and
years of “maintenance-free abuse,” to cite oil and gas reserves, it is now agricultural land
Mills (2014: 267). Sub-Saharan wealth has that is up for grabs. Between 2006 and 2009,
benefited mainly a small elite. In past decades, an estimated 15–20 million hectares of land—
the elite have enriched themselves with oil roughly the combined area of Denmark, the
wealth at the expense of the poor in a number Netherlands, Switzerland, and Macedonia—
of sub-Saharan countries. The emergence of a were the subject of negotiation for foreign
middle class has not contributed to levelling of investment by African governments (Robertson
economic differences in society, and rapid and Pinstrup-Andersen 2010). As has been the
urbanization has created slums of despair case with oil and gas reserves in sub-Saharan
rather than hope. Therefore, an urgent task in Africa, agricultural reserves could become a
the twenty-first century will be to grasp the burden rather than a blessing for the people of
opportunities in the African Rising narrative the region. The land grab has already displaced
and to take a long view on how best to increase thousands of subsistence farmers who can no
the life chances and happiness of a greater longer feed their families and have effectively
number of people in the region. The prospects joined the refugee population of sub-Saharan
are promising. Africa. It will therefore be important that the
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 199

neocolonial scramble for Africa’s agricultural destabilizing society. Sub-Saharan leaders are
land not jeopardize food security but enhance increasingly taking such threats seriously.
quality of life in the region. There are promis- Africa is a youthful continent; its youth rep-
ing signs that African leaders are becoming resent a development potential. However, this
more careful when managing agricultural and potential can only be tapped if sub-Saharan
wildlife resources and more circumspect when youth are afforded opportunities to access qual-
partnering with international investors to ity education and acquire the types of skills that
ensure that returns stay in the country and ben- will enable them to contribute to a modern
efit their people. economy. To date, most African economies
have not been able to absorb new entrants to the
7.7.1.2 Turning the Youth Bulge labor market. An encouraging development is
into a Youth Dividend that Africa is starting to experiment with train-
Africa’s presidents for life, the “Big Men” who ing young people to become self-employed as
cling to power, may be out of touch with the entrepreneurs and is making attempts to include
aspirations of the youth in their countries. Only the youth in shaping their economic
four African leaders voluntarily left power opportunities.
between 1960 and 1990, and in 2014, 15 heads
of state in sub-Saharan Africa have ruled for
over 20 years. The youth uprising in Burkina 7.7.2 Summary
Faso, which forced President Blaise Compaoré
to resign after 27 years in power in November Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced dramatic
2014, could set the stage for a new era of inclu- changes in the past 60 years. Substantial
sive government. A telling fact is that 46 % of improvements that have occurred in living stan-
Burkina Faso’s population is under 15 years of dards and human development are reflected in
age. Burkina Faso’s regime change may be taken rising levels of well-being. Nonetheless, the
as a warning that the Arab Spring could ignite a people of the region are still among the least
Harmattan Spring south of the Sahara—the happy in the world, which belies the patronizing
Harmattan is a wind that travels from the Saharan impression of cheerful, smiling Africans who
desert to West Africa every November. African love to sing and dance at every occasion. It is
leaders are fast becoming aware that if sub-Saha- this positive outlook on life that has kept Africa
ran youth lack avenues for social mobility and a going for centuries; the history of well-being in
political voice, they may resort to staging pro- Africa south of the Sahara is one of resilience
tests at home or seek to fulfill their dreams combined with faith in a better life. It is possible
beyond African shores. An additional concern is that the dream of a happy “African Century”
that disillusioned, frustrated youth may become may yet become a reality for the generations to
easy recruits for extremist groups intent on come.
Supplemental Tables
200

Supplemental Table 7.1 Demography
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Demography
REGION: Africa (N = 44)
Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
East Africa Burundi 2.8 4.8 9.2 10.5 1.9 3.2 3.4 3.1 2.1 5.2 10.6 11.8
East Africa Comoros 0.2 0.4 0.7 0.8 1.7 2.7 2.5 2.4 12.6 25.5 27.9 28.2
East Africa Djibouti 0.1 0.4 0.8 0.9 4.9 4.6 1.5 1.5 50.3 74.9 77.0 77.3
East Africa Eritrea 1.4 2.8 5.7 6.5 2.3 3.2 3.2 3.2 9.8 15.2 20.6 22.2
East Africa Ethiopia 22.2 40.8 87.1 96.5 2.2 3.2 2.6 2.5 6.4 11.5 17.3 19.0
East Africa Kenya 8.1 19.7 40.9 45.5 3.1 3.7 2.7 2.7 7.4 16.1 23.6 25.2
East Africa Madagascar 5.1 10.0 21.1 23.6 2.4 2.7 2.8 2.8 10.6 20.9 31.9 34.5
East Africa Malawi 3.5 7.3 15.0 16.8 2.2 4.3 3.0 2.8 4.4 10.2 15.5 16.1
East Africa Mauritius 0.7 1.0 1.3 1.3 2.9 0.8 0.2 0.2 33.2 42.3 40.6 39.8
East Africa Mozambique 7.6 13.3 24.0 26.5 1.9 1.0 2.6 2.4 4.8 18.3 31.0 31.9
East Africa Rwanda 2.9 6.1 10.8 12.1 2.5 4.0 2.9 2.7 2.6 5.1 24.0 27.8
East Africa Somalia 2.8 6.1 9.6 10.8 2.1 −0.7 2.7 2.9 17.3 28.1 37.3 39.1
East Africa Tanzania 10.1 21.8 45.0 50.8 2.9 3.1 3.0 3.0 5.2 16.8 28.1 30.9
East Africa Uganda 6.8 14.7 34.0 38.8 3.0 3.3 3.4 3.3 4.4 9.2 14.5 15.8
East Africa Zambia 3.1 6.8 13.2 15.0 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.3 18.1 39.7 38.7 40.5
Middle Africa Angola 5.0 9.1 19.5 22.1 1.8 3.1 3.2 3.1 10.4 22.5 40.1 43.3
Middle Africa Cameroon 5.4 10.4 20.6 22.8 2.0 3.0 2.6 2.5 13.9 36.2 51.5 53.8
Middle Africa Central African 1.5 2.6 4.3 4.7 1.6 2.6 1.9 2.0 20.1 35.5 38.8 39.8
Rep
Middle Africa Chad 3.0 5.1 11.7 13.2 1.9 2.7 3.0 3.0 6.7 19.8 22.0 22.3
Middle Africa Congo, Rep 1.0 2.1 4.1 4.6 2.5 2.9 2.9 2.5 31.6 52.2 63.2 65.0
Middle Africa Congo, Dem Rep 15.2 30.0 62.2 69.4 2.5 2.7 2.8 2.7 22.3 28.5 39.9 42.0
Middle Africa Gabon 0.5 0.8 1.6 1.7 0.9 2.7 2.4 2.3 17.4 62.4 85.7 86.9
Southern Botswana 0.5 1.2 2.0 2.0 2.3 3.3 0.9 0.9 3.1 26.7 56.2 57.2
Africa
V. Møller and B. Roberts
 Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
Southern Lesotho 0.9 1.5 2.0 2.1 1.7 2.0 1.0 1.1 3.5 11.8 24.8 26.8
Africa
Southern Namibia 0.6 1.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 3.3 1.6 1.9 17.9 26.4 41.6 45.7
Africa
Southern South Africa 17.4 31.3 50.8 54.0 2.5 2.6 1.5 1.6 46.6 49.4 62.2 64.3
Africa
Southern Swaziland 0.3 0.7 1.2 1.3 2.4 3.6 1.6 1.4 3.9 21.8 21.5 21.3
Africa
Southern Zimbabwe 3.8 8.9 13.1 14.6 3.2 3.8 1.4 3.1 12.6 25.4 33.2 32.5
Africa
West Africa Benin 2.4 4.3 9.5 10.6 1.3 2.9 2.9 2.6 9.3 30.8 41.9 43.5
West Africa Burkina-Faso 4.8 7.7 15.5 17.4 1.4 2.6 2.9 2.8 4.7 12.3 25.7 29.0
West Africa Cape Verde 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.5 2.0 1.9 0.4 0.9 16.7 31.5 61.8 64.8
West Africa Cote d’Ivoire 3.5 10.2 19.0 20.8 3.4 3.9 2.0 2.4 17.7 37.9 50.6 53.5
West Africa Gambia 0.4 0.7 1.7 1.9 3.0 4.3 3.2 3.2 12.1 33.0 56.3 59.0
West Africa Ghana 6.7 12.7 24.3 26.4 3.2 3.2 2.4 2.1 23.3 32.9 50.7 53.4
West Africa Guinea-Bissau 0.6 0.9 1.6 1.7 1.1 2.3 2.3 2.4 13.6 22.4 45.2 48.6
West Africa Guinea 3.6 5.1 10.9 12.0 1.6 2.8 2.6 2.5 10.5 26.6 34.9 36.7
West Africa Liberia 1.1 2.2 4.0 4.4 2.2 1.5 3.5 2.4 18.6 42.4 47.8 49.3
West Africa Mali 5.1 7.4 14.0 15.8 1.0 1.7 3.1 3.0 11.1 21.0 36.0 39.1
West Africa Mauritania 0.9 1.8 3.6 4.0 2.9 2.8 2.6 2.4 6.9 35.0 56.7 59.3
West Africa Nigeria 45.2 83.9 159.7 178.5 2.0 2.6 2.7 2.8 15.4 25.6 43.5 46.9
West Africa Niger 3.3 6.7 15.9 18.5 2.7 2.8 3.8 3.9 5.8 14.5 17.6 18.5
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa

West Africa Senegal 3.2 6.4 13.0 14.5 2.7 3.0 2.8 2.9 23.0 37.5 42.2 43.4
West Africa Sierra Leone 2.2 3.6 5.8 6.2 1.3 2.6 1.9 1.8 17.4 32.0 38.2 39.6
West Africa Togo 1.6 3.3 6.3 7.0 1.3 3.5 2.6 2.6 10.1 26.6 37.5 39.5
East Africa (N = 5.2 10.4 21.2 23.8 2.6 2.8 2.6 2.6 12.6 22.6 29.2 30.7
15)
Middle Africa (N 4.5 8.6 17.7 19.8 1.9 2.8 2.7 2.6 17.5 36.7 48.8 50.4
= 7)
(continued)
201
Supplemental Table 7.1 (continued)
202

Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban

Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
Southern Africa (N 3.9 7.4 11.9 12.7 2.4 3.1 1.3 1.7 14.6 26.9 39.9 41.3
= 6)
West Africa (N = 5.3 9.8 19.1 21.3 2.1 2.8 2.6 2.5 13.5 28.9 42.9 45.3
16)
Regional average 4.9 9.5 18.6 20.7 2.3 2.8 2.5 2.4 14.0 27.7 38.8 40.6
Population: Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship – except for refugees not perma-
nently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. The values shown are midyear estimates
% Population growth rate: Population growth (annual %) is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage
% Urban: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios
from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
i World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
j World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
k World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
l World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
V. Møller and B. Roberts
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 203

Supplemental Table 7.2 Education
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Education
REGION: Africa (N= 44)
% Secondary school
enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education
2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1985 2010 2014 1985 2010 2014 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i
East Africa Burundi 3.6 23.1 33.1 33.8 86.9 86.9 0.6 3.2 4.5
East Africa Comoros 37.4 … 63.9 … … 75.9 … 6.3 10
East Africa Djibouti 10.0 33.3 47.7 … … … 0.0 3.4 4.9
East Africa Eritrea … … … … … 70.5 … 2.0 2.0
East Africa Ethiopia 12.5 29.0 … 24.3 39.0 … 0.5 2.8 …
East Africa Kenya 39.6 60.1 67.0 … 72.2 … 1.3 4.0 …
East Africa Madagascar 34.1 30.4 38.4 … 64.5 … 4.1 3.6 4.2
East Africa Malawi 17.1 32.7 36.6 48.5 61.3 … 0.5 0.7 0.8
East Africa Mauritius 44.5 93.2 95.9 … 89.2 … 1.1 34.2 41.2
East Africa Mozambique 7.1 25.3 26.0 … 50.6 … 0.1 4.6 5.2
East Africa Rwanda 16.3 30.1 32.6 … 65.9 … 0.4 5.8 7.9
East Africa Somalia 11.6 7.4 … … … … 2.8 … …
East Africa Tanzania 3.4 31.6 33.0 59.1 67.8 … 0.3 2.1 3.7
East Africa Uganda 9.1 26.4 26.9 … 73.2 … 0.8 3.9 4.4
East Africa Zambia 18.4 … 20.1 … 61.4 … 1.5 2.0 …
Middle Africa Angola 11.7 31.3 … 41.0 … 70.6 0.6 7.5 7.5
Middle Africa Cameroon 21.6 39.6 52.2 … 71.3 … 2.1 11 11.9
Middle Africa Central African Rep 15.3 14.0 17.8 33.6 36.8 … 1.1 2.6 2.8
Middle Africa Chad 6.2 22.9 22.8 … … 37.3 0.4 2.1 2.3
Middle Africa Congo, Rep 64.1 … 53.7 59.6 79.3 … 5.8 6.5 9.6
Middle Africa Congo, Dem Rep 24.0 40.9 43.4 … 61.2 … 1.4 6.8 6.9
Middle Africa Gabon 35.3 37.5 … … … 82.3 5.5 5.5 …
Southern Africa Botswana 28.0 81.7 … … … 86.7 1.8 17.0 24.8
Southern Africa Lesotho 21.6 50.4 53.3 … 75.8 … 1.3 10.8 10.2
Southern Africa Namibia 36.1 64.8 … … 76.5 … … 9.3 …
Southern Africa South Africa … 95.4 110.8 … 92.9 93.7 … … 19.7
Southern Africa Swaziland 37.6 58.0 60.7 67.2 83.1 … 4.4 6.0 5.3
Southern Africa Zimbabwe 41.5 … 47.2 77.8 83.6 … 1.8 6.2 5.8
West Africa Benin 18.7 47.7 54.2 … 28.7 … 2.0 13.3 12.4
West Africa Burkina-Faso 3.8 21.9 28.4 … 28.7 … 0.6 3.6 4.8
West Africa Cape Verde 11.1 87.8 95.7 … … 85.3 … 18 22.8
West Africa Cote d’Ivoire 18.9 … 39.1 34.1 … 41.0 2.4 8.4 9.1
West Africa Gambia 18.3 57.5 … … … 52.0 … … …
West Africa Ghana 37.5 58.3 67.1 … 71.5 … 1.6 8.8 14.3
West Africa Guinea-Bissau 12.3 34.5 … … … 56.7 … 2.6 …
West Africa Guinea 17.0 38.1 38.1 … 25.3 … 2.5 10.3 10.4
West Africa Liberia … 45.2 37.9 32.1 42.9 … 2.6 9.3 11.6
West Africa Mali 7.2 42.4 44.9 18.8 31.1 33.6 1.2 6.5 7.5
West Africa Mauritania 14.4 20.3 29.5 35.1 45.5 … 1.7 4.4 5.4
West Africa Nigeria 29.2 43.8 … … 51.1 … 3.4 10.4 …
West Africa Niger 4.9 13.8 18.3 10.9 … 15.5 0.6 1.5 1.8
(continued)
204 V. Møller and B. Roberts

Supplemental Table 7.2 (continued)

% Secondary school
enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education
2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1985 2010 2014 1985 2010 2014 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i
West Africa Senegal 12.6 36.4 41.0 26.9 49.7 52.1 2.4 7.6 …
West Africa Sierra Leone 19.5 45.7 44.7 … … 44.5 0.7 1.5 …
West Africa Togo 18.6 54.9 … … 57.1 60.4 1.6 9.1 10.0
East Africa (N = 15) 18.9 38.1 39.8 41.4 67.6 67.6 1.1 6.2 6.7
Middle Africa (N = 7) 25.5 33.7 37.0 44.7 62.7 62.7 2.4 6.1 6.6
Southern Africa (N = 33.0 66.3 69.8 72.5 83.1 83.2 2.3 11.5 12.5
6)
West Africa (N = 16) 16.3 43.5 45.6 26.3 46.5 45.9 1.8 7.9 8.8
Regional average 20.8 43.9 45.7 40.2 61.3 60.7 1.7 7.6 8.2
% Secondary school enrollment: Gross enrollment ratio. Secondary. All programs. Total is the total enrollment in sec-
ondary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percent-age of the population of official secondary education age.
GER can exceed 100 % due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school
entrance and grade repetition. For the 1985 category, the actual year of value ranges between 1984 and 1986. For the
2010 category, the actual year of values ranges between 2007 and 2013. Lastly, for the 2013–2014 category, the actual
year of values ranges between 2006 and 2014
% Adult literacy: Adult (15+) literacy rate (%). Total is the percentage of the population age 15 and above who can, with
understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses
‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of
literates aged 15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100. For the
1985 category, the actual year of values ranges between 1982 and 1988. For the 2010 category, the actual year of values
ranges between 2007 and 2012. Lastly, for the 2013–2014 category, the actual year of values ranges between 2006 and
2014
% Tertiary education: Gross enrollment ratio. Tertiary (ISCED 5 and 6). Total is the total enrollment in tertiary educa-
tion (ISCED 5 and 6), regardless of age, expressed as a percent-age of the total population of the 5-year age group fol-
lowing on from secondary school leaving
a
b World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR; UNESCO Institute
for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
c World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR; UNESCO Institute
for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
d World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR; UNESCO Institute
for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
e UNESCO (2002) – Estimated Illiteracy Rate and Illiterate Population Aged 15 Years and Older by Country, 1970–
2015, Paris
f World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS; UNESCO
Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
g World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS; UNESCO
Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
h World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS; UNESCO
Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
i
j World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR; UNESCO Institute
for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
k World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR; UNESCO Institute
for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
l World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR; UNESCO Institute
for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
Supplemental Table 7.3 Health
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Health
REGION: Africa (N= 44)
Maternal mortality
Avg. years life expectancy Infant <1/1k live born Child mortality <5/1K rate TB incidence per 100k
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 2010 2014 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q
East Africa
Burundi 41.2 48.6 52.6 54.1 147.4 106.8 60.9 54.8 249.3 177.2 93.6 82.9 820.0 740.0 48.5 195.0 128.0
Comoros 43.4 54.0 60.2 60.9 101.8 62.8 57.9 147.2 85.5 77.9 380.0 350.0 58.4 36.0 34.0
Djibouti 44.0 55.5 60.3 61.8 103.0 62.1 57.4 134.2 76.1 69.6 250.0 230.0 533.2 620.0 619.0
Eritrea 37.4 45.0 61.2 62.8 105.6 39.4 36.1 175.1 55.6 49.9 450.0 380.0 121.0 92.0
Ethiopia 38.4 44.6 61.5 63.6 131.8 50.7 44.4 223.0 75.6 64.4 500.0 420.0 175.9 341.0 224.0
Kenya 46.4 59.5 59.5 61.7 118.5 62.4 52.0 47.5 199.0 96.3 79.5 70.7 460.0 400.0 53.2 361.0 268.0
Madagascar 40.0 49.7 63.3 64.7 110.1 43.6 39.6 183.4 63.0 56.0 480.0 440.0 32.3 262.0 233.0
Malawi 37.8 46.1 53.5 55.2 148.7 52.5 44.2 375.1 251.7 82.7 67.9 540.0 510.0 73.4 353.0 156.0
Mauritius 58.7 68.4 73.0 74.5 67.7 23.7 13.3 12.5 102.0 28.4 15.2 14.3 72.0 73.0 10.9 23.0 21.0
Mozambique 35.0 42.9 49.1 50.2 186.1 167.7 71.8 61.5 279.9 251.6 102.5 87.2 540.0 480.0 39.0 523.0 552.0
Rwanda 42.2 49.3 62.2 64.0 128.0 96.8 43.6 37.1 216.1 158.4 63.6 52.0 390.0 320.0 21.7 101.0 69.0
Somalia 37.0 46.2 54.0 55.0 111.8 97.1 89.8 186.5 159.0 145.6 930.0 850.0 44.9 285.0 285.0
Tanzania 43.7 51.2 59.2 61.5 144.1 106.6 41.4 36.4 243.8 176.7 61.4 51.8 460.0 410.0 62.7 215.0 164.0
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa

Uganda 44.0 49.2 57.3 59.2 133.5 113.0 51.3 43.8 225.9 188.4 78.4 66.1 410.0 360.0 9.5 304.0 166.0
Zambia 45.1 48.3 54.5 58.1 123.1 105.6 63.5 55.8 207.2 174.6 101.4 87.4 320.0 280.0 120.6 564.0 410.0
Middle Africa
Angola 33.0 40.8 50.7 51.9 134.5 109.6 101.6 227.6 182.4 167.4 530.0 460.0 95.5 275.0 320.0
Cameroon 41.5 52.8 53.7 55.0 166.0 92.1 66.0 60.8 280.1 149.7 104.4 94.5 640.0 590.0 32.7 311.0 235.0
Central African 36.5 48.4 48.1 50.1 157.6 116.4 102.7 96.1 266.5 179.4 152.6 139.2 960.0 880.0 19.8 687.0 359.0
Rep
Chad 38.0 45.9 49.8 51.2 121.7 93.7 88.5 228.5 160.4 147.5 1100.0 980.0 29.2 151.0 151.0
Congo, Rep 48.6 56.7 57.2 58.8 108.8 63.6 42.0 35.6 181.0 98.4 60.1 49.1 450.0 410.0 127.4 426.0 382.0
Congo, Dem 41.0 46.9 49.0 49.9 119.2 92.4 86.1 185.2 130.7 118.5 810.0 730.0 86.8 327.0 326.0
Rep
Gabon 39.6 59.0 62.3 63.4 64.5 43.2 39.1 100.0 63.5 56.1 260.0 240.0 103.5 592.0 423.0
205

(continued)
Supplemental Table 7.3 (continued)
206

Maternal mortality
Avg. years life expectancy Infant <1/1k live born Child mortality <5/1K rate TB incidence per 100k
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 2010 2014 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q
Southern Africa
Botswana 50.5 63.0 46.4 47.4 116.0 44.1 39.9 36.3 170.4 56.7 52.4 46.6 210.0 170.0 228.4 728.0 414.0
Lesotho 46.5 56.3 47.5 49.3 141.8 76.9 76.9 73.0 189.8 96.6 108.6 98.0 540.0 490.0 199.4 1279.0 916.0
Namibia 46.9 59.8 62.5 64.3 56.9 37.5 35.2 86.5 55.7 49.8 160.0 130.0 421.1 1518.0 651.0
South Africa 49.0 59.9 54.4 56.7 54.9 35.2 32.8 73.2 53.2 43.9 140.0 140.0 189.6 932.0 860.0
Swaziland 44.2 57.4 48.3 48.9 140.2 64.2 62.5 55.9 209.2 87.8 94.0 80.0 350.0 310.0 155.6 1157.0 1382.0
Zimbabwe 51.5 61.4 53.6 59.8 92.5 53.2 58.7 55.0 150.5 79.8 96.0 88.5 610.0 470.0 53.7 801.0 552.0
West Africa
Benin 37.3 49.9 58.7 59.3 191.8 118.7 62.1 56.2 321.9 199.2 95.7 85.3 370.0 340.0 47.6 73.0 70.0
Burkina-Faso 34.5 49.3 55.0 56.3 162.8 108.9 70.0 64.1 351.0 218.9 114.4 97.6 440.0 400.0 58.8 64.0 54.0
Cape Verde 49.0 63.6 73.9 74.9 57.9 23.3 21.9 78.0 27.8 26.0 58.0 53.0 78.3 153.0 143.0
Cote d’Ivoire 36.9 52.6 49.7 50.8 208.8 105.8 76.9 71.3 311.6 153.7 109.3 100.0 750.0 720.0 56.4 267.0 170.0
Gambia 32.0 50.0 58.1 58.8 148.5 91.0 51.8 49.4 362.8 203.1 81.7 73.8 460.0 430.0 191.0 173.0
Ghana 45.8 54.1 60.6 61.1 124.7 95.1 55.0 52.3 210.3 155.3 83.2 78.4 410.0 380.0 25.4 119.0 66.0
Guinea-Bissau 42.1 47.3 53.6 54.3 142.6 84.5 77.9 286.5 241.3 135.9 123.9 600.0 560.0 58.2 361.0 387.0
Guinea 34.9 45.5 55.3 56.1 211.1 155.3 71.4 64.9 352.2 262.5 112.2 100.7 690.0 650.0 26.0 210.0 177.0
Liberia 34.8 47.3 59.4 60.5 222.1 156.3 60.4 53.6 330.6 234.4 81.9 71.1 680.0 640.0 19.3 267.0 308.0
Mali 28.2 43.5 53.8 55.0 243.3 143.5 83.1 77.6 497.9 284.5 137.1 122.7 600.0 550.0 21.9 69.0 60.0
Mauritania 43.5 56.9 61.0 61.5 134.5 85.9 70.2 67.1 254.8 138.4 98.2 90.1 360.0 320.0 249.3 181.0 115.0
Nigeria 37.2 46.3 51.3 52.5 186.4 125.3 81.9 74.3 313.3 211.3 131.1 117.4 610.0 560.0 17.8 343.0 338.0
Niger 35.5 41.7 57.0 58.4 139.4 66.1 59.9 331.6 123.5 104.2 690.0 630.0 10.4 143.0 102.0
Senegal 38.2 53.9 62.8 63.4 126.0 81.0 47.2 43.9 302.4 173.3 66.3 55.3 360.0 320.0 16.5 141.0 136.0
Sierra Leone 30.3 40.3 44.8 45.6 222.9 163.3 114.4 107.2 394.8 279.1 175.3 160.6 1200.0 1100.0 24.1 316.0 313.0
Togo 40.3 54.6 55.5 56.5 162.7 97.0 60.5 55.8 274.7 158.7 92.9 84.7 480.0 450.0 22.9 76.0 73.0
East Africa (N 42.3 50.6 58.8 60.9 131.1 106.4 53.7 47.9 233.1 170.2 79.5 69.6 466.8 416.2 91.7 286.9 228.1
= 15)
V. Møller and B. Roberts
Middle Africa 39.7 50.1 53.0 54.3 144.1 101.7 78.5 72.5 242.5 167.0 122.0 110.3 678.6 612.9 70.7 395.6 313.7
(N = 7)
Southern 48.1 59.6 52.1 54.4 122.6 58.4 51.8 48.0 180.0 80.1 76.7 67.8 335.0 285.0 208.0 1069.2 795.8
Africa (N = 6)
West Africa (N 37.5 49.8 56.9 57.8 180.4 116.7 67.4 62.3 326.1 207.7 104.2 93.2 547.4 506.4 48.9 185.9 167.8
= 16)
Regional 40.9 51.4 56.3 57.8 154.2 102.8 62.4 57.1 270.4 171.0 94.9 84.4 511.8 462.4 89.5 374.1 297.2
average
Avg. years life expectancy: Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to
stay the same through-out its life
Infant <1/1k live born: Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching 1 year of age, per 1000 live births in a given year
Child mortality <5/1K: Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the
specified year
Maternal mortality rate: Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per
100,000 live births. The data are estimated with a regression model using information on the proportion of maternal deaths among non-AIDS deaths in women ages 15–49, fertil-
ity, birth attendants, and GDP. No maternal mortality ratio values are included for 1960 and 1985 due to a lack of available statistics. The only exceptions were Mauritius, with
a MMR of 154.4 in 1960 and 98 in 1985, and Zimbabwe with a MMR of 78.1 in 1985
TB incidence per 100k: Incidence of tuberculosis is the estimated number of new pulmonary, smear positive, and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis cases. Incidence includes patients
with HIV. No TB incidence values are included for the region in 1960 due to a lack of available statistics
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa

g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN

h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
i World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
j World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
k World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
l World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
m World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
n World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
o http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/; Note: these values do not account for population coverage, so they will be lower than the actual value
p World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
q World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
207
 208

Supplemental Table 7.4  Africa – Income

SOCIAL INDICATORS: Income
REGION: Africa (N = 44)
GINI or other
measure of wealth
GDP (Billions of constant 2005 USD) PCGDP (constant 2005 USD) % Growth in GDP disparity
2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n
East Africa
Burundi 0.4 1.0 1.4 1.7 147.0 213.6 150.7 157.5 −13.7 11.8 3.8 4.7
Comoros 0.3 0.4 0.5 708.6 602.7 616.4 2.3 2.2 3.0 55.5 53.5
Djibouti 0.9 1.1 1085.9 1228.7 4.5 5.5
Eritrea 1.1 1.3 184.0 193.8 2.2 1.7
Ethiopia 5.4 20.8 30.5 132.1 238.6 316.0 −11.1 12.6 9.9 33.6 33.6
Kenya 2.6 9.9 23.9 29.6 322.1 503.5 584.9 648.8 −7.8 4.3 8.4 5.3
Madagascar 2.4 3.3 5.8 6.4 475.5 331.8 275.0 271.1 2.0 1.2 0.3 3.0 40.6 40.6
Malawi 0.5 1.6 3.9 4.6 141.8 219.4 258.1 272.2 7.6 4.6 6.5 5.7 46.2 46.2
Mauritius 2.3 7.8 9.0 2205.3 6260.9 7116.6 7.0 4.1 3.6 35.9 35.9
Mozambique 1.9 9.0 11.9 145.7 376.2 451.4 1.0 6.8 7.4 45.7 45.7
Rwanda 0.6 1.6 3.8 5.1 221.0 264.3 355.0 417.7 −4.3 4.4 7.3 7.0 50.8 50.8
Somalia −3.3 8.2 −1.5 …
Tanzania 22.7 29.6 520.7 600.7 6.4 7.0 37.8 37.8
Uganda 2.7 13.3 16.4 184.7 390.6 422.4 −3.3 5.2 4.5 44.3 44.6
Zambia 2.9 4.8 12.6 16.2 929.9 707.1 956.9 1081.0 1.4 1.6 10.3 6.0 57.5 57.5
Middle Africa
Angola 13.6 50.4 61.1 1504.6 2576.6 2759.2 2.8 3.4 3.9 42.7 42.7
Cameroon 3.8 13.6 19.1 23.3 704.8 1309.3 928.4 1021.6 1.2 8.1 3.3 5.9 40.7 40.7
Central African 0.7 1.1 1.6 1.1 479.7 419.0 360.0 231.0 5.0 3.9 3.0 1.0 56.3 56.3
Rep
Chad 1.7 2.2 8.4 10.4 550.2 440.1 718.8 788.2 1.4 21.8 13.6 7.3 43.3 43.3
Congo, Rep 1.0 4.4 7.9 9.3 957.0 2116.5 1909.8 2038.1 8.4 8.8 6.5 40.2 40.2
V. Møller and B. Roberts

−1.2
Congo, Dem Rep 11.5 17.7 15.7 21.2 754.9 589.9 251.9 306.0 −10.9 0.5 7.1 9.0
Gabon 1.5 7.0 10.0 12.3 3046.5 8416.2 6420.5 7195.7 14.8 −2.3 7.4 4.3
Southern Africa
Botswana 0.2 3.0 12.4 15.8 379.7 2497.3 6302.6 7726.9 6.3 7.1 8.6 4.4 60.5 60.5
Lesotho 0.2 0.6 1.8 2.1 197.4 435.5 877.4 979.3 1.9 2.6 7.9 2.0 54.2 54.2
Namibia 3.5 9.0 11.0 3047.5 4149.9 4677.9 0.5 6.0 4.5 61.3 61.3
South Africa 61.6 164.3 300.2 328.7 3543.5 5246.4 5910.7 6086.4 3.8 −1.2 3.0 1.5 63.1 65.0
Swaziland 0.9 2.9 3.2 1316.5 2440.6 2522.3 3.8 1.7 2.5 51.5 51.5
Zimbabwe 1.8 5.7 5.2 6.9 491.2 640.9 397.8 475.3 6.3 6.9 11.4 3.2
West Africa
Benin 1.0 2.1 5.2 6.3 392.9 484.9 550.3 598.2 3.1 7.5 2.6 5.4 43.5 43.5
Burkina-Faso 0.9 2.1 7.3 9.2 189.9 267.4 472.8 530.8 4.0 8.5 8.4 4.0 39.8 39.8
Cape Verde 0.2 1.3 1.4 623.6 2648.7 2797.7 8.6 1.5 2.7 43.8 43.8
Cote d’Ivoire 3.3 12.8 19.1 24.0 945.8 1264.4 1004.6 1154.7 9.9 4.5 2.0 9.0 43.2 43.2
Gambia 0.3 0.8 0.8 435.2 466.6 435.2 −0.8 6.5 −0.2
Ghana 3.2 4.4 14.7 20.5 481.6 342.6 606.4 775.5 3.4 5.1 7.9 4.2 36.0
Guinea-Bissau 0.4 0.7 0.8 462.3 434.8 433.4 4.2 4.4 2.5
Guinea 1.4 3.3 3.6 277.1 300.4 298.9 3.3 1.9 −0.3 33.7 33.7
Liberia 0.6 1.1 1.0 1.4 552.1 494.9 242.6 329.2 2.4 −0.8 10.9 9.3 38.2 38.2
Mali 2.2 7.0 7.8 295.2 498.5 495.4 −11.4 5.8 7.2 33.0 33.0
Mauritania 0.4 1.2 2.8 3.5 509.5 668.2 775.2 873.6 15.5 3.0 4.8 6.4 40.5 40.5
Nigeria 25.3 53.7 159.0 194.9 559.2 639.5 995.7 1091.6 0.2 8.3 7.8 6.3 43.0 43.0
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa

Niger 1.6 2.1 4.4 5.6 476.4 308.9 275.7 302.3 4.5 7.7 8.4 6.9 31.2 31.2
Senegal 2.8 4.6 10.4 11.8 872.0 707.8 800.4 809.2 3.0 3.3 4.3 3.9 40.3 40.3
Sierra Leone 3.3 10.2 33.3 44.1 329.9 393.1 369.7 537.7 1.8 −5.3 5.3 7.0 35.4 35.4
Togo 0.4 1.4 2.5 3.1 272.5 438.4 392.9 437.3 12.2 5.6 4.0 5.7 46.0 46.0
East Africa (N = 1.6 3.2 9.1 12.5 372.9 510.6 874.3 985.3 −2.6 2.6 5.7 4.8 44.8 44.6
15)
(continued)
209
Supplemental Table 7.4 (continued)
210

GINI or other
measure of wealth
GDP (Billions of constant 2005 USD) PCGDP (constant 2005 USD) % Growth in GDP disparity
2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n
Middle Africa (N 3.4 8.5 16.1 19.8 1082.2 2113.7 1880.9 2048.5 3.3 4.8 6.6 5.4 44.6 44.6
= 7)
Southern Africa 16.0 29.7 55.3 61.3 1152.9 2197.3 3346.5 3744.7 4.6 3.3 6.4 3.0 58.1 58.5
(N = 6)
West Africa (N = 3.9 6.3 17.0 21.2 507.4 506.5 677.2 743.8 5.5 3.2 5.4 5.0 39.3 39.1
16)
Regional average 5.0 9.3 19.6 24.0 700.9 1042.5 1309.8 1453.5 2.9 3.3 5.9 4.7 44.6 44.4
GDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP at purchaser’s prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies
not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.
Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic currencies using 2005 official exchange rates. For a few countries where the official
exchange rate does not reflect the rate effectively applied to actual foreign exchange transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used
PCGDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP per capita is gross domestic product divided by midyear population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the
economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets
or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars
% Growth in GDP: Annual percentage growth rate of GDP at market prices based on constant local currency. Aggregates are based on constant 2005 U.S. dollars. GDP is the
sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated
without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources
GINI or other measure of wealth disparity: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption expenditure among individuals or households
within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of
recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed
as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality. No inequality values are
included for 1960 and 1985 due to a lack of available statistics. In 1985, only six countries had available values, as follows: Botswana (54.2), Lesotho (56.0), Cote d’Ivore (45.6).
Ghana (35.4), Mauritania (43.9) and Nigeria (38.7)
a World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
b World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
c World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
d World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
V. Møller and B. Roberts
e World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
f World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
g World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
h World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
i World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
j World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
k World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
l World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.world-bank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
m World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
n World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa
211
212 V. Møller and B. Roberts

Supplemental Table 7.5  Subjective well-being

SOCIAL INDICATORS: Subjective well-being
REGION: Africa (N= 44)
WVS 1 WVS 2 WVS 3 WVS 4 WVS 5 WVS 6
Country 1981–1984 1990–1994 1995–1998 1999–2004 2005–2009 2010–2014
Source a b c d e f
East Africa Burundi
East Africa Comoros
East Africa Djibouti
East Africa Eritrea
East Africa Ethiopia 5.0
East Africa Kenya
East Africa Madagascar
East Africa Malawi
East Africa Mauritius
East Africa Mozambique
East Africa Rwanda 5.0 6.5
East Africa Somalia
East Africa Tanzania 3.9
East Africa Uganda 5.6
East Africa Zambia 6.1
Middle Africa Angola
Middle Africa Cameroon
Middle Africa Central African Rep
Middle Africa Chad
Middle Africa Congo, Rep
Middle Africa Congo, Dem Rep
Middle Africa Gabon
Southern Botswana
Africa
Southern Lesotho
Africa
Southern Namibia
Africa
Southern South Africa 6.8 6.2 6.1 5.8 7.0 6.6
Africa
Southern Swaziland
Africa
Southern Zimbabwe
Africa
West Africa Benin
West Africa Burkina-Faso 5.6
West Africa Cape Verde
West Africa Cote d’Ivoire
West Africa Gambia
West Africa Ghana 6.1 6.1
West Africa Guinea-Bissau
West Africa Guinea
West Africa Liberia
West Africa Mali 6.1
(continued)
7  New Beginnings in an Ancient Region: Well-Being in Sub-Saharan Africa 213

Supplemental Table 7.5 (continued)

WVS 1 WVS 2 WVS 3 WVS 4 WVS 5 WVS 6
Country 1981–1984 1990–1994 1995–1998 1999–2004 2005–2009 2010–2014
Source a b c d e f
West Africa Mauritania
West Africa Nigeria 6.6 6.6 6.9 6.3
West Africa Niger
West Africa Senegal
West Africa Sierra Leone
West Africa Togo
East Africa (N = 4.7 5.3 6.5
15)
Middle Africa (N =
7)
Southern Africa (N 6.8 6.2 6.1 4.9 7.0 6.2
= 6)
West Africa (N = 6.6 6.6 6.9 5.9 6.2
16)
Regional average 6.8 6.4 6.3 5.2 5.8 6.3
Mean life satisfaction: Averaged value of responses to the following survey question: All things considered, how satis-
fied are you with your life as a whole these days? Using this card on which 1 means you are “completely dissatisfied”
and 10 means you are “completely satisfied” where would you put your satisfaction with your life as a whole?
a WVS 1 1981–1984: V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
b WVS 2 1990–2004: V96.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
c WVS 3 1995–1998: V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
d WVS 4 1999–2004: V81.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
e WVS 5 2005–2009: V22.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
f WVS 6 2010–2014: V23.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
214 V. Møller and B. Roberts

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 Well-Being in Latin America
8
Mariano Rojas and José de Jesús García Vega

Tres cosas hay en la vida: Salud, dinero y amor. El que tenga esas tres cosas Que le dé
gracias a Dios.
There are three things in life: Health, money, and love. Whoever has those three things
should give thanks to God.
(tango lyrics; Sciammarella 1939)

known for their warm human-relation orientation,

8.1 Introduction centrality of the family, and relative disregard for
materialistic values. These cultural characteris-
Latin American comprises many countries, many tics may play a significant role in explaining the
languages, about 600 million people, a vast terri- sense of well-being of Latin Americans.
tory, and the idea of a single identity (Maps 8.1, This chapter informs the reader about the
8.2, 9.1). The term may result from the desire of well-being situation of Latin Americans as deter-
dividing the American continent between those mined from indicators associated mainly, but not
who speak romance languages (Latin Americans) exclusively, with health, education, material
and those who speak an Anglo-Saxon language wealth, and satisfaction with life. The chapter
(Anglo Americans). However, the Latin American also provides an understanding of the current
identity is not defined by language alone; this well-being situation in the region by taking into
identity is based on sharing central values of account the historical background that defines
well-being. the Latin American identity.
Latin Americans may experience well-being
in ways similar to those of people in other cul-
tures: They experience pleasure and pain, enjoy- 8.2 Latin American History
ment and suffering, and achievement and failure;
however, the fundamental factors explaining 8.2.1 The Rise of a Nation
their sense of well-being may be different
because of their cultural and historical back- Those who visit the National Palace in Mexico
ground. For example, Latin Americans are well- City are usually amazed by its murals; they were
painted by Diego Rivera, the famous Mexican
M. Rojas (*) muralist. The murals portray the history of
Latin American Faculty of Social Science – Mexico, Mexico from the time of the Aztecs to the
Mexico City, México Mexican revolution. One particular mural (Fig.
Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, 8.1) shows the arrival of the Spaniards. In this
Puebla, México mural, Rivera shows, among other figures, an
e-mail: [email protected] indigenous woman carrying a small child. There
J.de.J. García Vega isn’t anything special about an indigenous mother
Servicios Integrales Gama, carrying her baby with the traditional rebozo (a
Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 217

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_8
218 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

Map 8.1  Regional map of Central America and the Caribbean (CIA 2015; public domain)

muffler or wrap), except for the fact that this of a European civilization mixing with the large
child has green eyes. It is difficult to identify the pre-Columbian indigenous civilizations. The
artist’s motive for including an indigenous child Europeans were the conquerors, but the emergent
with green eyes in this mural. Some art critics society reflects an integration of both the con-
believe that this child represents the first Mexican; querors and the conquered.
they see the child is a symbol of the union of two Three main civilizations dominated the Latin
important civilizations: the European and the American region by the end of the fifteenth cen-
Aztec. However, the child is neither European tury when the Europeans (mostly Spaniards and
nor Aztec. The child represents the birth of a new Portuguese) arrived in the so-called new world:
nation: the Latin American nation. Although the the Aztecs, the Mayans, and the Incas.
child may be the outcome of a couple’s love Archeological evidence shows that the Aztec
affair, he is also the product of a crashing of two empire had a population of about five million
civilizations. The child is a symbol of battles and people, and its capital, Tenochtitlan, had about
impositions, of conquerors and conquered being 200,000 people when the Spaniards arrived, a
forced to live in the same land and to share a population more or less similar to that of Paris,
common destiny. the largest European city at the time. In addition
The Latin American nation is to some extent a to the Aztecs, the Mayans, and the Incas, many
melting pot but it is also highly segmented. In other groups populated the region, such as the
fact, it is a mix of several civilizations: the result Guarani and Mapuche in South America.
8  Well-Being in Latin America 219

Map 8.2  Regional map of South America (CIA 2015; public domain)
220 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

Fig. 8.1  The arrival of Hernan Cortés by Diego Rivera, Arrival_of_Hernan_Cortez_in_Veracruz_Detail.JPG;

Palacio Nacional de Mexico, 1951; photo by Kgv88 Creative Commons Attribution-Share alike 3.0 Unported)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/

8.2.2 C
 olonial Times and the people still play an important role in the culture
Emergence of a Social System and values of Latin Americans at large.
The Spaniards developed an institutional sys-
The Europeans found it convenient to develop an tem based on the exploitation of natural resources
economic system based on exploiting the abun- by using the relatively abundant supply of indig-
dant supply of indigenous labor. For this reason, enous labor. Institutions such as the encomienda
they did not exterminate indigenous groups. (colonial grant of land and inhabitants), in which
Many Indians died as a consequence of the new indigenous people were entrusted to Spaniards,
illnesses brought by Europeans, and many others allowed for exploitation of the large, cheap sup-
died as a consequence of extenuating working ply of indigenous labor. Similarly, land and natu-
conditions. It was not in the interest of the con- ral resources were distributed among the
querors to exterminate the local populations. As a conquerors. Consequently, the large estate (the
matter of fact, today there are large indigenous plantation and the ranch) and mining became the
populations in countries like Mexico, Guatemala, rule of the land in Latin America. In those regions
El Salvador, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. where a large supply of indigenous labor did not
Furthermore, a majority of the Latin American exist, such as in the Portuguese territories (today
population is considered to be “mestizo” (racially Brazil), slaves were brought from Africa. Hence,
mixed ancestry between American Indian and during the colonial times, a new socioeconomic
European, usually Spanish or Portuguese, ances- system emerged based on a highly polarized soci-
try). For example, in Guatemala, about 50 % of ety that amassed wealth in the hands of a small
the population speaks an indigenous language, group—mostly Europeans and European descen-
whereas another 40 % are considered mestizo. dants—with a vast segment of the population
The culture, values, and aspirations of indigenous being treated as cheap labor with limited civil
8  Well-Being in Latin America 221

rights. The system did not encourage social interference in Latin American politics, with the
mobility, and exclusion extended beyond the eco- support of the local elites.
nomic domain; hence, the political system also Figures from the Montevideo-Oxford Latin
reflected socioeconomic divisions in society. The American Economic History Data Base (Figs.
political and judicial institutions were weak, giv- 8.2 and 8.3)1 show that around the year 1900 the
ing great discretionary power to those who con- estimated mean life expectancy at birth—highly
trolled both the economy and the political dependent on child mortality—ranged from 49
machine. Consequently, the emerging society years in Uruguay to about 24 years in some
was characterized by social exclusion, political Central American countries such as Guatemala
elitism, lack of social mobility, wealth concentra- and Nicaragua. Life expectancy was 29 years in
tion, income inequality, and massive poverty. Brazil and 25 years in Mexico, the two most
populated countries in the region. The illiteracy
rate ranged from about 92 % in Haiti and 88 % in
8.2.3 I ndependence and Integration Guatemala to 42 % in Uruguay. In Brazil,
to the World Economy the illiteracy rate was 65 % and in Mexico it was
76 %.2 It was clearly a region where access to
The wars of independence took place during the health services and education was a luxury not
first decades of the nineteenth century. Military available to the majority of the population. It is
conflict in Europe, the global decline of the noteworthy to state the obvious: Mean indicators
Spanish Empire, and the weakening of the do not portray a positive picture of well-being.
Portuguese paved the way for the emergence of Only the elite had good access to health and edu-
new independent states. At birth, these indepen- cation services both locally and abroad, whereas
dent states inherited weak political and judicial the majority of the population did not have
institutions, high concentrations of land and access (Figs. 8.2 and 8.3).
wealth, economic inequality and poverty, and
social exclusion. In a world that was becoming
economically integrated, most Latin American 8.2.4 T
 he First Half of the Twentieth
countries exploited their cheap and uneducated Century: Nationalism
labor force to become exporters of raw materials and Dictatorships
and agricultural commodities. Foreign invest-
ments and foreign control of Latin American The beginning of the twentieth century found a
natural resources became the norm in this increas- region characterized by weak political and judi-
ingly integrated global economy. As such, for- cial institutions; an economic system highly
eign interests continued to play an important role linked to the international economy through the
in the Latin American political arena. The region exploitation of cheap labor and natural resources
had gained its independence from Spain and and direct foreign investments; a very unequal
Portugal, but, due to weak political institutions, society with rampant marginalization of the vast
the interests of the local elite and foreign firms majority of the population; and wealth and politi-
and the State prevailed over those of the com- cal power concentrated among a few local and
moners, particularly the indigenous people. The
local elites as well as the foreign interests con- 1 
Information is presented for the four most populous
trolled not only the economy but also the govern- countries in the region (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and
ment. Invasions by foreign armies as well as Argentina), which represent about 60–70 % of the total
filibusters (supported by local elites) were not population in the region.
uncommon in Latin America. The increasing This information comes from the Montevideo-Oxford
2 

Latin American Economic History Data Base, http://mox-

interests of the United States in the region lad.fcs.edu.uy/. Figures for the beginning of the twentieth
reflected by the Monroe Doctrine led to growing century are supplied by Shane and Barbara Hunt (Thorp
1998).
222 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

80

70

60

50
Years

40

30

20

10

0
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Argenna 39 44 49 53 56 61 65 67 70 72 73
Brazil 29 31 32 34 37 43 55 59 63 66 68
Colombia 29 31 32 34 38 49 57 61 66 69 71
Mexico 25 28 34 34 39 48 57 61 67 71 73

Fig. 8.2  Changes in life expectancy in selected Latin American countries, 1900–2000 (Data from Montevideo Oxford
Latin American Database 2015)

80

70

60

50
Percent

40

30

20

10

0
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Argenna 49 40 32 25 18 12 9 7 6 4 3
Brazil 65 65 65 61 56 51 40 32 25 19 15
Colombia 66 61 56 48 43 38 30 22 16 11 8
Mexico 76 70 65 64 54 40 35 25 18 12 9

Fig. 8.3  Illiteracy rates in Latin America’s four most populous countries, 1900–2000 (Data from Montevideo Oxford
Latin American Database 2015)
8  Well-Being in Latin America 223

foreign elites. Democracy was weak or nonexis- greater foreign interference aimed at protecting
tent in most Latin American countries. Foreign foreign economic and strategic interests in the
interference, coups, and dictatorships prevailed. region. As such, foreigners did not hesitate using
The twentieth century saw the rise of many military means to suit their economic purposes.
nationalistic movements that emerged primarily For example, the foreign military intervention in
from four social trends (Coatsworth and Nicaragua (1912–1933) was followed by the
Williamson 2002): First, the Latin American installation of a dictatorship fully supported by
countries developed an incipient industrialization foreign powers.
process as a consequence of the global powers By 1940 the situation had improved somewhat
being involved in wars and the economic reces- (Figs. 8.2 and 8.3): Life expectancy ranged from
sion that ensued. The new industrial entrepre- 58 years in Uruguay to 29 in Guatemala. The two
neurs found room to cultivate their own interests most populous countries experienced an increase
through involvement in the political arena domi- in life expectancy—37 years in Brazil and 39
nated by landowners and foreign companies. years in Mexico. The illiteracy rate declined dur-
Second, new social groups linked to industrial- ing the first decades of the twentieth century;
ization and urbanization emerged. The interests Uruguay and Argentina now had illiteracy rates
of this new bourgeoisie focused on the manufac- beneath 20 %, whereas this rate was above 70 %
turing and service sectors, not mining and agri- in Bolivia, Guatemala, and Haiti. The illiteracy
culture. This new bourgeoisie involving urban rate in Brazil was 56 % and in Mexico, 54 %
workers and small-business entrepreneurs (Fig. 8.3).
demanded better education and health services. A quick look at Figs. 8.2 and 8.3 show that life
Third, resentment toward the foreign interference expectancy increased significantly during the
and military maneuverings in the region arose. first half of the twentieth century in Latin
The common perception was that the interests of America, and the illiteracy rate declined impor-
the Latin American countries were not the same tantly in all countries with the exception of Haiti.
as those of the United States, and foreign compa- It is a period characterized by political turbu-
nies were not contributors to social and economic lence, local caudillos, and foreign interference. It
development but part of a system of exploitation is also a period in which the basic human condi-
of the cheap labor force and natural resources in tions of health and education did improve.
the region. Fourth, new socialist ideas were
spreading globally. In Latin America, these ideas
took hold in poor urban and rural areas. These 8.3 Contemporary Period
ideas resonated in a region afflicted by exclusion, (Post-WWII)
poverty, and concentration of wealth among a
few local elites and foreign entities (Thorp 1998). 8.3.1 T
 he Search for Economic
The Mexican revolution, which started in 1910, Development
is considered the first socialist revolution in the
world: Urban groups demanded greater political 8.3.1.1 Greater Role for the State
participation and better access to public services, and Protectionism Policies
whereas rural groups demanded agrarian reform. The first half of the twentieth century gave rise to
These political movements emerged within a a conscious process of addressing the structural
context of weak institutions; thus, they ended up problems of the region (Bresser-Pereira 2009;
fostering new caudillos (highly personal and Thorp 1992). During the 1940s, the balance
quasi-military political regimes) instead of fully inclined in favor of greater state intervention in
democratic systems that promoted social inclu- the economy. There was a general agreement that
sion. As such, various political movements in the the mere insertion of the region in the global
region faced enormous structural obstacles inher- economy was insufficient to solve structural
ited from colonial times. The same period saw problems threatening the well-being of Latin
224 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

Americans and that governments had to play a favored free trade, paying few taxes and low
greater role in steering the economy (Puchet wages, and maintaining control of their planta-
Anyul et al. 2012a; Rojas 2012a). tions and mining operations. In contrast, the
A protectionist strategy emerged in the 1940s emerging urban groups favored greater govern-
as a result of several factors: (1) the stronger influ- ment intervention to protect local industry from
ence of urban groups demanding better access to foreign competition, developing urban
education and health services; (2) the political ­infrastructure, and providing health and educa-
pressure of industrial entrepreneurs and workers tion services to people of low income. Thus, in
to further expand the manufacturing sector; (3) the postwar years, most Latin American coun-
the increasing frustration with an international tries ended up implementing a development strat-
order where the region played an economic role egy that protected local industry, expanded the
of supplier of raw materials and agricultural com- size and scope of government activity, and pro-
modities; (4) new theories questioning the advan- moted income and wealth redistribution through
tages of free trade and arguing that there was little state intervention.
hope for building a strong middle class within a The new strategy was fully implemented from
free-trade context; (5) political resentment toward the postwar years until the early 1980s, and it was
the “United States’ backyard” role in the region; successful in generating acceptable economic
(6) Keynesian theories pushing for a greater role growth and in enhancing well-being. On average,
of the state; and (7) greater confidence in the the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita
benevolent motives of nationalistic governments. grew at an annual rate of 4.8 % in Brazil (quadru-
The interests of the emerging nontraditional pling its value in 30 years) and 3.5 % in Mexico
urban groups prevailed over those of the tradi- (tripling its value in 30 years) between 1950 and
tional landowners and foreign companies. The 1980 (Fig. 8.4). The simple country-mean annual
traditional landowners and foreign companies rate of growth for the whole Latin American

14,000

12,000

10,000
USD, 2005

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2009
Argenna 5,422 6,243 7,810 8,638 6,823 9,172 11,961
Brasil 1,980 2,878 4,481 8,047 7,181 7,791 9,353
Colombia 2,202 2,479 3,065 4,215 4,620 5,817 7,529
México 3,400 4,589 6,346 9,399 8,789 10,570 11,630

Fig. 8.4  Evolution of per capita gross domestic product for four large Latin American Countries, 1900–2000 (Data
from Heston et al. 2011)
8  Well-Being in Latin America 225

region was 2.3 % during these decades. By 1980 This period was also characterized by the
most Latin American countries were classified as emergence of a large middle class. Even in a
middle income according to the standards of the period of population explosion, there was a sense
time. Even in Nicaragua, the GDP per capita (a of inclusion, social mobility, and declining
little above USD 3,000 per year) was enough to inequality in the region. The switch from the
allow most people, on average, to live above the external to the local market (and from the
poverty line. Productivity in Latin America was outward-­oriented agricultural and mining sectors
not high, but it was adequate enough to allow to the inward-oriented manufacturing and service
most people to meet their basic needs in the con- sectors) provided conditions that helped to allevi-
text of a more egalitarian system involving redis- ate the structural problems of exclusion and
tribution of wealth; however, inequality persisted inequality inherited from colonial times.
because it was a significant structural problem However, this inward-looking strategy had its
inherited from colonial times. weaknesses, which were manifested in the 1980s.
The strategy paid off in well-being gains: The During this period, Latin American cities grew at
illiteracy rate in Brazil declined from 51 % in exponential rates and megacities emerged (e.g.,
1950 to 25 % in 1980. For the same period these Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires). The
figures were 40–18 % in Mexico, 38–16 % in manufacturing sector failed to absorb the influx
Colombia, and 12–6 % in Argentina. By 1980, of rural migrants. It was not only a problem of
the illiteracy rate was as low as 5 % in Uruguay supply exceeding demand; it was also a problem
and as high as 69 % in Haiti and 47 % in of mismatch between the labor requirements of
Guatemala. Similarly, life expectancy increased the manufacturing sector and the skills of the
during the period from 43 to 63 years in Brazil, rural migrants. As a result, cities saw the swelling
48–67 years in Mexico, 49–66 years in Colombia, of peripheral slums and many rural migrants find-
and 61–70 years in Argentina. Countries like ing refuge in the informal urban sector.
Cuba and Costa Rica had life expectancies above Furthermore, the ever increasing scope of
70 years by 1980 whereas Haiti and Bolivia only government participation facilitated the expan-
reached 52 years. sion of corruption in these countries that have
The substantial enhancement in these well-­ weak judicial systems. In addition, the local man-
being drivers can be explained by three factors. ufacturing sector failed to become competitive by
One factor involved a worldwide systemic effect international standards. Local entrepreneurs
associated with the development of new technol- became very skillful in lobbying the government
ogies, the reduction in production costs, and to protect their business from encroaching for-
important innovations in the health sector (e.g., eign competition. Hence, instead of trying to
vaccines and public sanitation). The second fac- become more competitive, they opted to lobby
tor involved the greater role played by the state in government officials to erect trade barriers.
providing easy access to public services such as New tensions arose when politicians pushed
education and health. The active participation of for an expansion in the scope of government
the state helped break up the structural vicious intervention in the economy. The new agenda
cycle of marginalization, exclusion, and polariza- was not accepted by the manufacturing entrepre-
tion. Children of the illiterate and the poor could neurs who had benefited from the protectionist
now attend public schools; they also could access policies.
public hospitals and clinics. The third factor was
the fact that urbanization fostered economies of 8.3.1.2 Crisis and Change of Strategy:
scale in the provision of public services such as More Market and Less State
education and health. In other words, it became Intervention
cheaper for government to provide health and The decade of the 1980s is associated with a gen-
education services on a large scale for people liv- eralized economic crisis. Many Latin Americans
ing in the cities. agreed that the benefits from the inward-looking
226 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

strategy were significantly diminishing and that it experienced significant economic crises: the
was necessary to modify the development strat- Tequila crisis (Mexico, 1994–1995), the Samba
egy. The region moved toward an outward-­ crisis (Brazil, 1999–2000), and the Tango crisis
looking strategy based on promoting exports and (Argentina, 2001–2002). With few exceptions,
inserting itself in the global economy. Free-trade the rates of economic growth were moderate and
agreements and promarket reforms proliferated well below expected levels (based on what the
during the following years in many Latin strategy promoters had promised) (Easterly et al.
American countries (Dean 1995). The conserva- 1997). Furthermore, income inequality increased
tive views that prevailed in the 1980s in the during the 1990s, and local magnates with uncon-
Western world had great influence in the region. ceivable fortunes appeared on the scene (Lustig
The so-called Washington Consensus called for and López-Calva 2010). It was also recognized
privatizing many state-owned enterprises to that the strategy did not address the persistent
attract foreign investments, deregulating the structural problems associated with the concen-
industrial sector, relaxing labor laws, and, in gen- tration of wealth; that the universal social bene-
eral, reducing state intervention in the economy fits provided by the state were at risk (e.g., equal
(Edwards 2009; Williamson 1990). Also, people access to health and education services); that
in the region became more aligned with the deregulation allowed local entrepreneurs to
Consensus, calling for a greater role of free mar- engage in monopolistic and oligopolistic prac-
kets in allocating resources, in setting prices, and tices; and that large segments of the population
in determining the distribution of income. were being left behind in a strategy that gave
The promarket orientation of the new strategy more opportunities to those who were already
required a different approach to addressing social better prepared to take advantage of them
problems such as poverty and marginalization. (Ffrench-Davis 2007; Ffrench-Davis and
The focus now moved toward focalized social Machinea 2007). The strategy did not directly
programs and away from universal social policies. address the historical conditions of marginaliza-
The new strategy decoupled the social arena from tion and social exclusion in the region; it assumed
the economic one. Government was restrained that these structural problems would be solved as
from intervening in economic affairs, and it was a consequence of rapid economic growth; how-
forced to deal with social problems using policies ever, greater inequality grew in the region.
and programs that create few distortions in the The beginning of the new millennium found a
market place (Kuczynski 2003). Focalized social region still looking for the best options to address
programs, such as conditional cash transfers, were the structural problems of inequality and exclu-
the popular solution to dealing with the social sion (Ocampo 2005; Ffrench-Davis 2005).
problems. However, fighting poverty through Should more state intervention be implemented?
focalized social programs was not as effective as Should promarket reforms be abandoned? How
expected; these policies were based on promoting could they ensure government transparency and
human capital by providing conditional cash solve weaknesses in the political and judicial
transfers. Even though these policies created institutions? How could they build an inclusive
incentives for low-income children to attend society? What is the role of democracy and what
school and to access better health services, the is the role of strong personalities in the political
historical and surrounding socioeconomic condi- arena? Should social change come about through
tions hampered well-being in many ways. revolution or evolution? People’s frustration with
the system may explain the rise of new nontradi-
8.3.1.3 Greater Discontent tional political parties as well as the political rise
and the Search for New Paths of indigenous movements (e.g., in Bolivia).
By the beginning of the new millennium, there At the beginning of the new millennium, Latin
was a growing discontent with the promarket America could be characterized as mostly a
reforms. Several large countries in Latin America middle-­income region with relatively good edu-
8  Well-Being in Latin America 227

cation and health indicators. The historical infor- 8.3.2 The Social Situation
mation regarding the long-run trend in illiteracy
rate and life expectancy at birth shows that these 8.3.2.1 A Very Unequal Region
indicators have substantially improved during the Historical and structural conditions led to a
past century. As expected, their rate of improve- region characterized by high income inequality.
ment declines as they approach their bounds Together with sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America
(lower bound of 0 in the case of illiteracy rate, is considered one of the most unequal regions in
and an upper bound to life expectancy marked by the world (Lopez and Perry 2008).
human condition). Life expectancy also increased Figure 8.5a presents the Gini coefficients for
significantly for the majority of Latin Americans all Latin American countries except Cuba. The
during the last century. The majority of Latin Gini coefficient is an indicator of the distribution
Americans have a life expectancy at birth of more of income in a country; it ranges from 0 % to
than 70 years; countries like Haiti, Bolivia, 100 %. The lower its value, the more egalitarian
Guatemala, and Honduras lag behind. Again, is the distribution of income in the country.
mean values do not really reflect the situation Extreme values are 0 and 100, the latter associ-
inside countries, but it is clear that the general ated with perfect inequality (one family holds
trend is positive. In a similar way, illiteracy rates the whole country’s income) and the former,
have also declined during the last century; how- with perfect equity (income is distributed in an
ever, with the exception of countries like Costa egalitarian way across all families). Gini coeffi-
Rica, Chile, Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay, there cients in Latin America are among the highest
is still a great opportunity to improve the around the world, indicating a relatively unequal
situation. distribution of income. The first series of data
Information regarding the evolution of the correspond to the years 2000–2001, and it is
GDP per capita also shows a general positive observed that Bolivia, Colombia, and Guatemala
trend (Fig. 8.4). The long-run assessment shows have Gini coefficients above 55 and that Haiti
rapid growth until the 1980s, a generalized has one of almost 60. The simple country aver-
­economic crisis in the 1980s, and moderate but age for Latin America (not including Cuba) is
positive growth afterward. On average, GDP per 53.4 and the population-weighted mean is 54.39.
capita grew 120 % during the past six decades in These figures can be compared to those from
Argentina, 370 % in Brazil, 240 % in Colombia, countries with relatively egalitarian income dis-
and 240 % in Mexico. The situation for the other tributions, such as Finland and Australia, that
Latin American countries shows significant dis- have Gini coefficients of 26.9 and 30.5,
persion, from stagnation in Nicaragua and respectively.
Bolivia—with growth rates for the whole period The second series of data show a slight reduc-
of less than 20 %—to rapid growth in Panama tion in inequality in Latin America, although the
and the Dominican Republic, where GDP per numbers are still very high. Most countries
capita grew about 450 % during the period. It is showed a reduction on this index, bringing down
important to state that these growth rates are the simple mean to 50.1, whereas the population-­
computed for GDP per capita figures in Latin weighted mean dropped even more to a Gini
American countries; however, due to high income coefficient of 49.2 (Figs. 8.5b, c).
inequality and exclusion, it would not be accurate Another indicator of inequality is the ratio of
to say that this situation applies equally to almost the average income of the richest 10 % of the
everyone in the country. There is not only high population to the poorest 10 %. Countries like
dispersion within countries but also across coun- Finland and Australia have a ratio of 5.6 and
tries. For example, the GDP per capita of coun- 12.5, respectively, whereas the average in Latin
tries such as Panama, Uruguay, Costa Rica, America is 38.4. In other words, the richest 10 %
Mexico, Argentina, and Chile is about five times of the population in Latin America has an income
higher than that in Nicaragua. that is almost 40 times that of the poorest 10 %.
228 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

Costa Rica
a Honduras 2.6
4.2

Guatemala 1.6
Uruguay 0.9
Venezuela -2.5
Nicaragua -2.6
Peru -2.6
Colombia -2.8
Chile -3.2
Paraguay -3.7
Mexico -4.7
Dominican Republic -4.8
El Salvador -5.3
Panama -5.4
Brazil -5.4
Bolivia -6.5
Argenna -6.6
Ecuador -7.3

-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Absolute Change in Income Inequality
Increasing Income Inequality Decreasing Income Inequality

c 2008–10
b 2000–01
Guatemala
Dominican
Honduras
Mexico Republic
Guatemala
Dominican
Honduras Panama
Mexico Republic El Salvador
Venezuela
Nicaragua
El Salvador Panama Colombia
Costa Rica
Venezuela Ecuador
Nicaragua
Colombia
Costa Rica Brazil
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia
Brazil
Peru Paraguay
Bolivia
Argenna
Paraguay
Uruguay
Argenna

Uruguay
Chile
Income Inequality

Chile
25 50 75

Fig. 8.5 (a) Changes in Gini coefficients for selected ity in Latin American countries, 2000–2001 and 2008–
Latin American countries: 2000–2001 and 2008–2010; 2010 (Data from The World Bank 2013)
(b, c) graphical representation of level of income inequal-
8  Well-Being in Latin America 229

Poverty Rate (USD 2.50) Poverty Rate (USD 4.00)

Guatemala* Guatemala*
Honduras* Dominican Honduras* Dominican
México Republic* México Republic*

Panama Panama
El Salvador El Salvador
Nicaragua** Nicaragua**
Colombia Colombia
Costa Rica Costa Rica
Ecuador Ecuador

Brazil Brazil
Peru Peru
Bolivia Bolivia

Paraguay* Paraguay*

Argenna Argenna
Uruguay Uruguay

Chile* Chile*

Fig. 8.6  Poverty rates in Latin America at USD 2.50 vs. USD 4.00 per day. * = 2011; **= 2009 (Data from Socio-­
Economic Database for Latin America and the Caribbean 2015)

This figure reaches such extreme values as 94 in used to reduce poverty. The first instrument was
Bolivia and about 20 in Uruguay and Venezuela. economic growth, with the limitations already
mentioned regarding the moderate rates of
8.3.2.2 Mid-income Countries growth and the small impact it may have in rais-
with High Absolute ing income in the lower deciles. The second
and Relative Poverty instrument was conditional-cash transfer pro-
Poverty has been a problem in Latin America, in grams, which are focused on breaking up the
part due to the structural problem of great wealth vicious cycle of poverty by conditioning transfers
and income inequality in the region. Even with to parents sending their children to schools as
average mid-income levels, great inequality well as providing access to health care services.
implies that large segments of the population in Absolute-poverty rates decreased during the last
Latin American countries end up being classified decade, in part as a consequence of these two fac-
as poor according to the standard measures. tors, as well as of the recent downturn in inequal-
Furthermore, great inequality makes it more dif- ity trends. According to data from the World
ficult to fight poverty through economic growth. Bank, substantial declines have taken place in
In addition, it is widely recognized that a vicious Peru, Uruguay, Brazil, and Ecuador during the
cycle develops when a society provides few last decade.3
mobility options for the youth of poor families. It No single criterion is used to assess poverty
is not only a problem of absolute poverty (people rates in a country; a poverty line based on setting
making a living with an income below the pov- threshold levels for household per capita income
erty line); it is also a problem of relative income is usually followed. Figure 8.6 shows poverty
(people making a living with an income that is far
below that of the top deciles). During the last See
3 
http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/region/
decade or so, two main social instruments were LAC
230 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

head counts for two different criteria: USD 2.5 the United States and Europe). Illegal migration
and USD 4 of household per capita income per is associated with the rise in broken families and
day. Poverty rates range from above 60 % in the deterioration of the family as a central institu-
Guatemala to just 8 % in Uruguay. Figure 8.6 tion (important to well-being in Latin America).
shows that large segments of the population make To reiterate, corruption and lack of security
their living with just enough income to buy basic represent two major nemeses of well-being.
food. Corruption increases the costs of doing business.
Corruption affects the business environment,
8.3.2.3 Widespread Corruption, Crime, political life, and, overall, the culture and values
and Violence of society. That is, corruption undermines the
The beginning of the new millennium found the efficient and equitable allocation of resources,
region facing drug-related violence and orga- people’s respect for the rule of law, and the over-
nized crime. Organized crime takes advantage of all integrity of a society.
weak political institutions, and a vicious cycle Latin America is a region where corruption
emerges where corruption breeds organized has been the norm for many years. In the
crime and organized crime promotes corruption. Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 Rankings
The closeness of Latin America to the largest provided by Transparency International, if Latin
drug market in the world (the US market) exacer- America were a country, it would be 100th out of
bates this social malaise. Obviously, lack of secu- 177 countries. This index is computed using sur-
rity and victimization reduce the well-being of veys of public perceptions in different countries.
Latin Americans. Furthermore, inequality, pov- A score of 100 means the country is perceived as
erty, and the rise of materialistic values have “very clean,” whereas a score of 0 represent the
caused an increase in illegal migration (mostly to perception of a “very corrupt” country. Figure 8.7

2003 Absolute Change 2013

24 -35 19
55 -13 20
37 10 24
16 -6 26
34 -7 28
26 3 29
36 29
10
23 34
11
15 34
19
24 34
-2
37 35
13
22 35
3
33 36
-8
46 38
43 -5 38
37 5 42
74 -28 46
39 14 53
23 48 71
25 48 73

0 20 40 60 80 -50 -25 0 25 50 0 20 40 60 80

Fig. 8.7  Corruption perceptions index for Latin America, 2003 and 2013 (Data from Transparency International 2013)
8  Well-Being in Latin America 231

show the scores of Latin American countries on Figure 8.8 shows data for the homicide rate
this index. per 100,000 people in Latin America for different
The best-ranked country from Latin America in periods, given the availability of the data. For
2013 was Uruguay (ranked 19) with a score of 73; instance, the comparison period for Peru goes
the most corrupt country was Haiti, with a score of from 1985 to 2010, whereas that for Cuba goes
19 (ranked 163). The best ranked country in this from 2000 to 2010. The simple average for Latin
index in 2013 was Denmark, with a score of 91. America is 23.3 homicides per 100,000 people
Looking at trends, we can see that, from 2003 for the year of 2010. The population-weighted
to 2013, Uruguay and Chile performed much bet- average is not too different, but it appears slightly
ter, whereas the performances of Cuba, Paraguay, lower than the simple average. Compared to
and Venezuela decreased on this index. Finland, countries like Australia and Finland, where the
with a score of 97, was the best ranked country in rate is one and two homicides per 100,000 inhab-
2003. itants, respectively, the rate for Latin America is
Besides corruption, lack of security brings extremely high. Countries like Honduras (91)
fear—fear to venture outside the home, to shop, and El Salvador (69) have a very high rate and
to travel, and to enjoy life. To socialize with show a substantial increase on this rate. Venezuela
friends and family outside the home is cherished is a special case: The homicide rate increased
by Latin Americans. This observation is particu- from 8 in 1986 to 45 in 2010—an increase of
larly true for Latin Americans because they con- more than 460 %. Colombia is another special
sider family and personal relationships an case: In the early 1990s, the rate reached a high
important element in their well-being. of almost 80 homicides per 100,000 people.

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Colombia (80)
Chile (90)

Cuba (00)

Bolivia (04)
Hai (10)

Dominican Republic (99)

El Salvador (99)
Panama (90)

Guatemala (92)
Ecuador (90)

Mexico (81)

Honduras (96)
Peru (85)
Uruguay (98)

Brazil (80)
Costa Rica (90)

Nicaragua (90)
Argen na (90)

Venezuela (86)
Paraguay (98)

Baseline 3 5 6 4 7 13 5 16 12 10 12 12 17 14 33 29 8 36 35
2010 3 3 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 14 18 21 22 23 25 33 39 45 69 91

Fig. 8.8  Homicide rate per 100,000 people for selected Latin American countries, 1990–1996 and 2010 per 100,000
population (Data from the World Bank 2015a)
232 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

The decline in the size and scope of the state civil war existed, involving the guerrilla move-
(as a result of promarket reforms in the 1980s) ments and the army. Although some indicators of
also contributed to decreases in social solidarity well-being showed marked growth, other indica-
(i.e., decreases in retirement benefits and access tors (e.g., loss of civil rights, violence associated
to health services and education). Megacities (as with both guerrilla attacks and military counter-
a consequence of rural-urban migration) created vailing actions, and the uncertainty about the
new threats to well-being, emerging mostly from direction the country) marked a serious threat to
living in depersonalized neighborhoods, without the well-being of Latin Americans. Entire popu-
a social/family network, and with higher com- lations were displaced by guerrilla movements,
muting costs. A not-so-new phenomenon of seg- and large segments of the population migrated as
mented neighborhoods (a new version of the a consequence of the violence.
ancient enclave-kind of neighborhood) is also Defining a common political system in Latin
threatening social cohesion by creating economi- America can be a real challenge (Puchet Anyul
cally integrated but socially separated et al. 2012b). Most Latin American countries
communities. claim to have a democratic system and hold peri-
odic elections. However, due to weak political
institutions, large segments of the population are
8.3.3 Political Aspects marginalized from the political process. Business
people and entrepreneurs have to deal with politi-
During the second part of the twentieth century, cal risks related to government corruption and
the region faced the complexities of a world expropriation. Even though some countries, like
divided between Eastern and Western blocs. Costa Rica, have had a long-standing tradition
There was internal disagreement about what path with democracy, other countries like Mexico and
should be followed. Some groups pointed toward most Central American countries have transi-
the structural conditions of exclusion and inequal- tioned to democracy only recently. Mexico has
ity in the region and advocated more reforms. lived more than 70 years under a pseudodemo-
However, other groups thought that reforms were cratic regime controlled by a strong party. The
not enough and that a complete transformation of breakthrough came in 2000. The country was
the socioeconomic system was needed: They given a chance to be governed by another party.
called for a socialist revolution in Latin America. Chile had the first democratic election after the
Others groups in society who were strongly Pinochet dictatorship in 1990, and many other
linked to the United States both economically countries, such as Bolivia, had never had trans-
and ideologically wanted to foster a capitalist parent elections up to the early 1980s.
system and fight socialism in the region. The big Political regimes may affect people’s well-­
powers also played a large role in making politi- being by limiting their liberties and by restrain-
cal decisions in the region. Thus, the 1950s to the ing their opportunities. Most dictatorships and
1970s were characterized by the rise of guerrilla pseudodemocratic regimes tend to reflect the
movements and military coups that brought interests of the economic, political, and military
strong, cruel dictators to power. In countries such elites, marginalizing the interests and aspirations
as Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, and Brazil, mili- of most people in society. By definition, demo-
tary coups were supported by local right-leaning cratic regimes, together with strong, transparent
groups as well as by direct participation of for- judicial institutions, are designed to develop and
eign interests who wanted stop the tide of the implement public policies that can enhance the
socialist agenda. In some countries such as Cuba well-being of the majority of citizens.
and Nicaragua, leftist revolutionary movements Weak political institutions adversely affect
took control of the government. In many other citizens’ rights in many ways. Some indicators
Latin American countries such as Guatemala, El from the CIRI Human Rights Database (http://
Salvador, Peru, and Colombia, an undeclared w w w . h u m a n r i g h t s d a t a . c o m / p / d a t a -­
8  Well-Being in Latin America 233

documentation.html) illustrate this situation. The affected by government censorship. A score of 0

Physical Integrity Rights Index includes indica- indicates that the censorship is complete; a score
tors of torture, extrajudicial killing, political of 1 indicates government censorship; and a score
imprisonment, and disappearance. The scores of 2 indicates no government censorship in that
range from 0 to 8, where 0 is “no governmental year. The simple mean for Latin America for
respect for these rights” and 8 is “full govern- 1981 was 1.10; for 2011, the score was 1.05,
mental respect for these rights.” Figure 8.9 shows which shows a small decrease from 30 years ear-
results for this indicator. Latin American coun- lier. Cuba had the lowest score on this indicator,
tries had a score of 3.30 in 1981 and 4.30 in 2011. with a score of 0 for both years.
For comparison, Finland had scores of 8 both The workers’ rights indicator refers to the free-
years and Australia, of 8 and 7 for 1981 and 2011, dom workers have to unionize at their ­workplace
respectively. Colombia had the lowest score, 1, in and bargain collectively with their employers. A
both years, whereas Panama and Uruguay had a score of 0 indicates that workers’ rights are
score of 7 in 2011. In general, the trend shows severely restricted; a score of 1 indicates that
improvements in some countries like Bolivia, workers’ rights are somewhat restricted; and a
Paraguay, and Uruguay, whereas other countries score of 2 indicates that workers’ rights are fully
like Venezuela and Dominican Republic have protected during the year in question. The average
suffered setbacks. Two other indicators worth score for Latin America for the years 1981 and
analyzing are “freedom of speech” and “workers’ 2011 were 0.85 and 0.60, again showing a decline.
rights,” also found in the CIRI Human Rights Cuba again had a score of 0 in both years. Countries
Database. The first indicator refers to the extent like Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela
to which freedoms of speech and press are went from a score of 2 to a score of 0.

South America Central America Caribbean

8 8 8

7 7 7

6 6 6

5 5 5

4 4 4

3 3 3

2 2 2

1 1 1

0 0 0
1981 1991 2001 2011 1981 1991 2001 2011 1981 1991 2001 2011

Fig. 8.9  Physical integrity rights index, Latin American, 1981–2011 (Data from Cingranelli et al. 2014)
234 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

8.4 Well-Being in Latin America may be many indicators to assess the health con-
ditions in a country; there is also some agreement
Education, health, income, and subjective well-­ that life expectancy at birth provides a good
being are commonly associated with the assess- approximation of the general health situation in a
ment of people’s well-being. This section focuses country. This indicator not only provides us with
on the Latin American situation in relation to information about the years a person is expected
these four aspects. to live; it also relates to the condition of the per-
son’s health during his or her life and to this per-
son’s access to basic health services (e.g.,
8.4.1 Health Well-Being: Relatively vaccinations, public sanitation). Figure 8.10
Favorable shows data capturing the current situation in
Latin America.
Enjoying good health is, in most cases, a neces- Simple average life expectancy at birth for the
sary condition for experiencing a high level of Latin American countries included in this study
well-being. It is difficult to imagine situations was 74.2 years in 2012. This number compares
where people experience high levels of well-­ favorably with the numbers from most regions,
being if they do not have enough energy or physi- except Europe and Central Asia. However, seri-
cal resources to perform daily activities and ous disparities appear when we compare coun-
engage in life’s functions. Of course, it is not so tries within this group. In 2012, Haiti had an
difficult to imagine the reverse situation, i.e., average life expectancy at birth of 62.7 years,
people having enough energy or physical whereas Chile, Cuba, and Costa Rica each had an
resources but not enjoying life. Health is an average life expectancy at birth of almost 80
important factor in people’s well-being. There years. On the upside, the trend is positive, because

80 79 80 80
77 77 77
76 76
74 74 74 75
75 72 72 73 73 74
72
70 68
67
65
65 64 64
63
61 62
60
60 57 57
57
55
55 53
51 52
50 48
46 47
46
45 42 43

40

1960 2012 1960 Average 2012 Average

Fig. 8.10  Life expectancy at birth for selected Latin American countries, 1960 and 2012 (Data from the World Bank
2015b)
 8  Well-Being in Latin America 235

the average life expectancy at birth of the Latin 8.4.2 Economic Well-Being:
American countries increased from 54.8 to 74.2 On Average There Is Enough
(35.4 %) years from 1960 to 2012.
Another indicator of health is the infant mor- Even though it may be difficult to define “basic
tality rate per thousand births. Figure 8.11 shows needs,” there is agreement that not having enough
that the average rate for Latin America is 8 infant material resources to meet basic needs consti-
deaths per thousand births whereas that for the tutes an important threat to people’s well-being.
world as a whole is 35. With this rate, Latin In addition, it is not only a matter of income level
American countries are close to the rate of 13 for but also of income stability, because not having
those countries classified by the United Nations adequate material resources becomes a major
Development Program as high human develop- source of stress and anxiety. The economic per-
ment countries. In comparison, Haiti, with a rate formance of Latin American countries has been
of 57, is far behind. Bolivia is second to last, with extremely unpredictable in recent decades: Some
a rate of 33 deaths per thousand births. At the top periods have experienced economic growth
are Cuba, Chile, Uruguay, and Costa Rica, all of whereas others have been plagued by economic
which have a rate of fewer than 10 deaths per crises. Economic crises sometimes originate
thousand births. Again, we observe a positive from local decisions and local problems, but in
trend. Considering the simple mean, infant mor- other cases the economic situation in Latin
tality in 2012 was about 30 % of that in 1980. American countries may be related to the global
Taking into account the population proportion, economic situation. Nevertheless, on average,
this indicator represents less than 25 % of the Latin American countries have a decent per cap-
index we had in 1980. ita income in comparison to other regions of the
Certainly, several countries have experienced world.
improvements in health, and the current situation Average gross national income per capita
is not bad in comparison with that of other (GNI), expressed in terms of purchasing power
regions. However, it is not clear what role local parity, in Latin American countries is 8,414.7 for
policies and technology have played in improv- 2012, as reported by the United Nations
ing health and health care. Development Program. The differences among

1980 2012
80
Cuba Mexico
Costa Rica
75
Argenna
70 Guatemala
Life Expectancy

Chile Paraguay Brazil

Mexico
Venezuela
65 Colombia Bolivia
Brazil
60 Peru Guatemala Hai

Honduras
55 Nicaragua Bolivia
El Salvador Hai

50
0 25 50 75 100 125 150 0 25 50 75 100 125 150
Infant Mortality Infant Mortality

South America Central America Caribbean North America

Fig. 8.11  Infant mortality rate, Latin America, 1980 and 2012 (Data from The World Bank 2015b; You et al. 2013)
236 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

18000

16000

14000

12000

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

South America Central America Caribbean North America World

Fig. 8.12  Per capita income level: the world and Latin America, 2012 (Data from United Nations Development
Programme 2014)

countries are huge: Haiti has a per capita GNI of by 1980 it was already very low (1,828). In com-
1,070, whereas that of Argentina is 15,347. Five parison, the world GNI per capita in terms of
countries do not reach 5,000, and seven countries ­purchasing power parity increased by more than
have a per capita GNI over 10,000. The world 70 % in the same period (1980–2012), whereas
average for this indicator is 10,184. the weighted average of the countries of Latin
Figure 8.12 shows the information regarding America increased only 41 %.
GNI per capita. One can see huge disparities
across Latin American countries. It is also impor-
tant to note the huge disparities within countries. 8.4.3 Education Well-Being: Not
On the basis of the data, it is possible to state that, Only Quantity but Also
with the exception of Haiti and, perhaps, Quality
Nicaragua, there is on average enough income for
each Latin American to meet his or her basic Latin America’s quest for development is deterred
needs. by education. Even though there has been some
Economic crises have taken a toll in different progress and more coverage, the performance of
ways in every country in Latin America. For students is lacking in relation to that of students
instance, in recent years, Chile, Dominican from advanced economies. Education might be
Republic, and Panama did not experience eco- the door to new opportunities of development—
nomic crises, period. Their per capita GNI to better paying jobs, better citizenry and more
increased by 175 %, 133 %, and 131 %, respec- political participation, social mobility, and even
tively, from 1980 to 2012. Cuba also experienced greater satisfaction with life. However, lack of
high growth during the same period, with an investment in education, paired with poor quality,
almost 100 % increase in its per capita GNI. On has played a key role here.
the other hand, countries like Venezuela and The average-years-of-schooling indicator is
Nicaragua dropped their per capita GNI by more commonly used to evaluate the situation of the
than 1 %. Haiti was again the worst case: Its per education in a country; however, it is important to
capita GNI dropped more than 40 %, even though recognize that this indicator describes quantity
8  Well-Being in Latin America 237

12

10

0 Domin El
Guate- Nicar- Hon- Colom Ecuad Vene- Para- Costa Mex- Uru- Argen- Pan-
Hai Brazil -ican Salv- World Peru Bolivia Chile Cuba
mala agua duras -bia or zuela guay Rica ico guay na ama
Rep ador
1980 2.4 1.4 3.2 2.9 2.6 3.9 4.3 3.0 4.9 5.4 4.9 4.6 5.4 4.0 6.3 5.5 4.5 6.7 5.9 6.4 6.5
2012 4.1 4.9 5.8 6.5 7.2 7.2 7.3 7.5 7.5 7.6 7.6 7.7 8.4 8.5 8.5 8.7 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.7 10.2

1980 2012 Linear (2012) Linear (2012)

Fig. 8.13  Mean years of schooling in selected Latin American countries, 1980 and 2012 (Data from United Nations
Development Programme 2014)

rather than quality of education. Whereas the which are a mere 0.2 % in 2009 in Latin America,
world average in 2012 was 7.5 years, Latin in contrast to 1.8 % for the world’s average. Also,
American countries had an average of 7.8 years in Latin America, the number of researchers per
of schooling. Guatemala with 4.1 and Haiti with million people was 487 in 2010; this indicator for
4.9 years of schooling had the lowest scores in the world average was 1,180 in the same year.
the region, whereas Chile and Cuba had the high-
est, with 9.7 and 10.2 years of schooling, respec-
tively. As a region, Latin America increased 8.4.4 Subjective Well-Being:
education well-being by 95 % in the last 30 years A Happy Region
(from 4 to 7.8 years of schooling). Figure 8.13
shows the average years of schooling for Latin “Ten of the 11 ‘most positive’ countries in the
American countries. world are in Latin America.” So begins a Gallup
Support for education has not been adequate in report about the subjective well-being situation in
Latin America. The unequal distribution of the world (Clifton 2012). The report refers to the
income makes private education unaffordable for experience of positive affect, which is where
the majority of people; hence, governments are Latin Americans clearly outperform most people
expected to fill the huge gap. However, govern- in the rest of the world. As a matter of fact, the
ments are constrained by their limited ability to subjective well-being situation in the region is
raise taxes. Low-income families are not a signifi- not only very good, it is also outstandingly good
cant source for tax revenues. The elite control given the region’s not-so-good socioeconomic
political power and are not enthusiastic about situation (Rojas 2012b).
paying higher taxes, and a large portion of eco- It is widely recognized that positive and nega-
nomic activity takes place in the informal sector. tive affect reflects an important but not unique
Thus, the relatively low resources governments substrate of subjective assessment of one’s qual-
can allocate to education, plus the not-so-small ity of life. Life satisfaction is considered even a
leaks of expenditure due to corruption, may better indicator of a subjective assessment of
explain the difficulty governments face in enhanc- one’s quality of life; besides positive and nega-
ing the quantity and quality of education in Latin tive affect, life satisfaction also incorporates con-
America. These limitations also show up in the tentment (evaluative assessment of achievement
resources available for research and development, in life) (Rojas and Veenhoven 2013).
238 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

9.0

8.5
8.5 8.4

8.0 7.9

7.7 7.7
7.6 7.6 7.6
7.5 7.4 7.5
7.4 7.4
7.3
7.1
7.0
6.8

6.5

Lan American Countries Comparison Countries

Fig. 8.14  Life satisfaction in selected countries, World Values Survey, 2014 (Data from World Values Survey 2014,
2015)

Figure 8.14 shows the life-satisfaction situa- Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela,
tion in selected countries from the last wave Honduras, Mexico, and Guatemala. Second, the
(Wave 6) of the World Value Survey (WVS). The trend during the last decade is mostly positive.
data are clear: Latin Americans have life satisfac- With only a few exceptions (El Salvador,
tion levels that, in general, are at least as high as Venezuela, Honduras, and Chile), most countries
those of the European and Anglo-Saxon worlds. show an increase in people’s satisfaction with life
The WVS does not provide information for all from 2001 to 2011.
Latin American countries, and it is known from The information in Figs. 8.14 and 8.15 also
other surveys that other countries in the region indicates that social and GDP per capita indica-
have even higher life-satisfaction levels. tors are limited in capturing all relevant factors in
However, the information from the WVS is a person’s life. Why do Latin Americans report
important because it shows that average life-­ such high levels of life satisfaction? Their affec-
satisfaction levels in the four more populous tive state is, in general, outstanding, and their
countries in the region (Brazil, Mexico, contentment state is good. In contrast to some
Colombia, and Argentina) are higher than those people in African countries, Latin Americans
in countries such as the United States, Germany, have higher contentment levels, reflecting their
Australia, and Spain. not-so-bad access to health, education, and other
Figure 8.15 shows information on life satis- material benefits. Of course, neither the income
faction for all Latin American countries. This nor the quality of the services is comparable to
information is available from the Latinobarometer, those in the so-called developed countries. This
which uses a categorical scale ranging from 1 fact may explain why contentment levels are
(not at all satisfied) to 4 (very satisfied). Two moderate in the region. On the other hand, and in
observations are noteworthy. First, Latin contrast to the Anglo-Saxon world, Latin
Americans are highly satisfied with their life, Americans are not driven by materialistic val-
with exceptionally high levels in countries like ues—they have not yet succumbed to the status
8  Well-Being in Latin America 239

3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
3.0
2.9
2.8
2.7
2.6
2.5
2.4
Argen- Colom- Costa El Guate- Hon- Nicar- Para- Vene-
Bolivia Brazil Chile Ecuador Mexico Panama Peru Uruguay
na bia Rica Salvador mala duras agua guay zuela
2001 2.82 2.54 2.71 2.82 3.06 3.34 2.74 2.9 3.02 3.29 2.96 2.96 2.64 2.93 2.48 2.91 3.27
2011 2.98 2.61 2.89 2.77 3.23 3.36 2.87 2.59 3.09 2.99 3.18 3.17 3.37 2.97 2.74 2.96 3.19

2001 2011 Linear (2011) Linear (2011)

Fig. 8.15  Life satisfaction among Latin American countries, 2001–2011 (Data from Latinobarómetro 2015)

race. Thus, in general, they have a more relaxed receive substantial attention when talking about
life; people are valued not for what they have but disadvantaged groups. In Latin America, the
for what they are. Latin Americans value human indigenous population—which overlaps in some
relations, and they can count on family and countries with the rural population—is also of
friendship networks to live a fulfilling life. Warm, particular importance.
genuine, noninterested, and close human rela- Latin America is a region of young people; at
tions, as well as a relaxed life not based on accu- present there is a demographic bonus that contrib-
mulating possessions but on experiences with utes to the well-being of Latin Americans. The
others, are important sources of happiness in median age is 26 years (reported in 2012), com-
Latin America, which may help to explain the pared to Australia at 37 and Finland at 42. With
apparent paradox of high happiness in a context the exception of some countries like Uruguay,
of mid income levels and nonoutstanding eco- Chile, Argentina, and Costa Rica, the threats to
nomic achievement (Rojas 2012c; Rojas and the well-being of older adults are not a major con-
Elizondo-Lara 2012). As an illustration, Fig. 8.16 sideration in most Latin American countries. The
shows the average satisfaction with family life in dependency rate is low, and most older adults find
selected countries. A few Latin American coun- emotional and economic support within their
tries in the survey rank at the top, with an average families. However, the trend in the dependency
for Argentina and Mexico of about six (corre- ratio is expected to rise in the future as life expec-
sponding to “very satisfied”). tancy increases and birth rates decline.
Child labor is a problem in Latin America. As
Fig. 8.17 shows, 7.8 % of Latin American chil-
8.4.5 Disadvantaged Population dren are engaged in economic activities or house-
Groups hold chores.4 The region has one of the highest
child labor rates in the world; only the sub-­
It has been stated that due to high inequality,
average figures are not good proxies in Latin
Under UNICEF’s definition, a child is considered to be
4 
America. Inequality usually makes reference to involved in child labor under the following conditions: (a)
huge differences in one variable (e.g., income) children 5–11 years old who, during the reference week,
across the whole population; however, it is also engaged in at least 1 h of economic activity or at least 28
h of household chores or (b) children 12–14 years old
possible to think about huge differences across
who, during the reference week, engaged in at least 14 h
social groups. Age and gender groups normally of economic activity or at least 28 h of household chores.
240 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

6.0 5.9 6.0

5.8
5.8 5.7 5.7 5.7
5.6 5.7
5.6 5.6
5.6 5.5 5.5 5.5
5.4
5.4
5.2
5.0
5.0
4.8
4.6
4.4
4.2
4.0

Lan American Countries Comparison Countries

Fig. 8.16  Satisfaction with family life, 2012 (Data from International Social Survey Program 2012)

Saharan region and the group of least developed On the other hand, indigenous people in Latin
countries have higher rates. Peru (34 %) and America continue to suffer discrimination, mar-
Bolivia (26 %) are among the highest in the world; ginalization, extreme poverty, and conflict. The
Guatemala and Haiti also have a significant per- United Nations’ report, State of the World’s
centage of children (21 %) engaged in labor. Indigenous Peoples (United Nations 2009), sug-
Perhaps the population group that has attracted gests that poverty among indigenous people is
considerable attention as disadvantaged are pervasive and severe in Latin America. Poverty is
women. The data show that women are a disad- so common among indigenous people that being
vantaged group in the region; it also shows that indigenous is almost equivalent to being in pov-
the region has made progress in reducing the gen- erty. Differences between indigenous and nonin-
der gap during the last few decades. The CIRI digenous peoples are striking in some countries:
Human Rights Database shows that the score for In Paraguay, poverty rates are 7.9 times higher
women’s economic rights in Latin America among indigenous people compared to the rest of
(which include, among others, equal pay for the population; in Panama, this figure is 5.9, and
equal work, free choice of employment, and in Mexico, 3.3 times. The poverty rate for indig-
equality in hiring and promotion practices) was enous people reaches 90 % in Mexico, whereas in
1.25 (in 1981) and 1.40 (in 2011); the score for Guatemala and Ecuador it is 80 %.
women’s political rights (including the right to This situation has not improved much over the
vote, run for political office, and hold elected years. Even if indigenous people now have
positions, among others) was 1.45 (in 1981) and greater access to secondary or higher education,
2.30 (in 2011). The scores range from 0 (meaning they face difficulty in converting education to
“no women’s political rights”) and 3 (meaning higher incomes. The rise of transparent electoral
“women’s political rights are guaranteed in both processes in Latin America has fostered political
law and practice”). participation of indigenous groups (e.g., in
8  Well-Being in Latin America 241

35.0 34

30.0
26
25.0
21 21
20.0
16
15 15
15.0
10
10.0 9
8 8 8
7 7
5 5 5
5.0 3 3

0.0

Lan America Average

Fig. 8.17  Child labor ages, 5–14, Latin America 2012 (Data from United Nations Development Programme 2015)

Bolivia). New policies aim to safeguard lands Per capita income has increased, but the gap
and rights of indigenous people. However, the between the Latin American countries and those
same policies put the indigenous people in con- with the highest income levels remains wide.
flict with oil, mining, and lumber companies. Absolute improvements in per capita income do
Greater political participation has also generated not necessarily translate into relative improve-
a movement that calls for the respect of indige- ments in well-being. The major players in Latin
nous cultures, their aspirations, and values. This America still associate development with rapid
indigenous movement also aspires to define well-­ economic growth, which seems paradoxical,
being in their own terms on the basis of their own given the fact that the data demonstrate that well-­
values. Doing so challenges the common practice being in Latin America depends on a host of fac-
of measuring people’s well-being in terms of tors in addition to income.
income and access to particular services. The emergence of a well-being paradigm calls
for a reconsideration of the development strategy
as well as for a new framework to guide
8.5 Public Policy Considerations public policy and social action in the region
(Rojas 2014). First, it is important for the region
The Latin American region has seen significant to play a more active role in identifying and set-
improvements in indicators such as life expec- ting well-­being goals. The conception of devel-
tancy and literacy rates. Furthermore, Latin opment and progress has been mostly determined
Americans are, in general, highly satisfied with by non-­Latin Americans. Latin Americans should
their lives. identify their own well-being aspirations.
Within the dominant paradigm of economic Unfortunately, the region has imported a view of
development, the countries of the region have development as economic growth and mass con-
implemented different strategies to increase eco- sumption that does not necessarily reflect the val-
nomic productivity and income; these strategies ues of Latin Americans and that does not ensure
produced modest gains in economic well-being. well-being. It is crucial for the region to generate
242 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

an internal process aiming to define the concept develop institutions that facilitate social negotia-
of societal progress that best fits the values and tions to reach agreements among conflicting par-
culture of the region. ties to avoid the high well-being costs of social
Second, well-being is a personal experience: It conflict and exclusion. There is no doubt that the
involves people, not society. People experience region should closely examine the role and func-
well-being; society does not. It is important to rec- tioning of political parties, political representa-
ognize that this personal experience is greatly influ- tives, parliaments, and citizenry. Doing so should
enced by the social context people in which people change the political system from the predominant
live. In other words, well-being should not be top-down to a bottom-up political process. The
understood as the result of the actions taken by an result should pave the way for greater inclusion of
out-of-context individual but by a person who is groups that have been traditionally excluded.
socially imbedded and whose identity implies the Fourth, for decades, the region has focused on
existence of a social context. As a result, social GDP as its main social goal. The well-being para-
action aimed at increasing people’s well-being digm recognizes the importance of higher income,
must recognize the importance of the social con- but as an instrumental goal, not a final one. Guided
text. Well-being should not be promoted with an by the new paradigm, the region should go beyond
individualistic viewpoint but with a social view. promoting economic growth. In other words, the
Social diversity and social exclusion have long goal is not to raise income for its own sake but to
besieged Latin America; thus, social action should use it to enhance people’s well-being. This
develop well-being strategies based on the recogni- approach implies the need to address new ques-
tion of a shared destiny rather than on a common tions such as (1) are there well-­being costs in strat-
destiny. The idea of a common destiny assumes egies used to foster economic growth? (2) How
that people in Latin America have common values ought economic resources to be used? The litera-
and interests, whereas the idea of a shared destiny ture suggests that some strategies that promote
recognizes heterogeneity in values and interests. A economic growth come at the expense of substan-
shared destiny perspective also recognizes interde- tial well-being costs (i.e., due to their adverse
pendence and the important role of the social con- impact on human relations, on the availability of
text in influencing the well-being experience. Thus, free time, on decreasing job security, and on con-
social action and public policy in Latin America flict with fundamental values). The literature also
must be based on pursuing a win-win well-being suggests that higher income may not necessarily
strategy rather than on imposing the interests and translate into greater well-being in societies where
values of some groups over others. This win-win materialistic values are promoted and the provi-
strategy favors compromise and inclusion. sion of public goods is lacking. Public policy
Third, the region must develop political insti- should take into account the existence of well-
tutions that can enhance social inclusion. We being costs in the promotion of economic growth.
stated earlier in the chapter that political and judi- Public policy should uncover strategies for trans-
cial institutions in Latin America are weak. Latin forming economic growth into well-being. The
American history is riddled with conflict—mili- fallacy of the benefits of perpetual economic
tary coups and dictatorships are the rule rather growth becomes evident once these hidden costs
than the exception; economic elites and foreign are revealed. Thus, rather than thinking about eco-
companies control the electoral and judicial sys- nomic growth as a never-ending process, it may
tems; and pyramid structures of power are com- become necessary to think of economic growth as
mon in both the agricultural and public sectors. an instrument to attain well-being.
Weak political institutions are better fitted for top- Fifth, the improvement of social indicators
down rather than bottom-up decision making. It is such as literacy rate and life expectancy also pres-
not surprising that recent democratic experiences ents new challenges for public policy. Current lit-
quickly moved toward soft dictatorships charac- eracy and life-expectancy indicators are
terized by continuous reelections and the reemer- practically bounded, which means that it becomes
gence of caudillo practices. The region should very difficult—and also very expensive—to fur-
8  Well-Being in Latin America 243

ther improve these indicators. With literacy rates poverty with some degree of success. However,
reaching 100 %, it becomes more important to the war-on-poverty perspective has a major short-
think about the quality of education rather than coming because it focuses on deficiencies. A
the quantity of educated people. Within the para- broader perspective recognizes that it is not only
digm of development as economic growth, the important to get people out of poverty but also to
role of education is to provide the knowledge and be concerned about where these people are going.
skills for people to become productive workers; For example, the literature shows that there is not
however, within the new paradigm of develop- much increase in well-being when people get out
ment as well-being, it is important for the educa- of poverty but become financially indebted and
tion system to provide knowledge and skills for adopt nongratifying consumption habits. Further­
people to lead satisfactory lives. Consequently, more, higher income is not a good substitute for
being highly productive is only one of many deterioration of family relations or of the amount
goals. Public policy should address the following of leisure time. Public policy in Latin America
question: What knowledge and skills are needed must not only address the question of how to get
in a globalized world when the objective is not to people out of poverty but, more importantly, how
become a productive worker but a highly satisfied to place them in situations that foster their
person (e.g., a person who is satisfied with his or well-being.
her life overall)? In a similar way, it is necessary Eighth, the region needs to go beyond the
for public policy to move from a quantitative to a blaming game—to stop blaming either the state
qualitative focus regarding life expectancy. It may or the market system for society’s problems.
be important to add more years to life, but it is Creative thinking is needed to go beyond trade-­
also crucial to add more quality of life to those offs between state intervention and the free mar-
years. Life-expectancy indicators focus on the ket. It seems clear that the state has a role to play
number of years but not on their quality. Also, the in the region, given the huge disparities in eco-
change in age demographics (which is expected to nomic opportunities and in access to resources.
occur in Latin America in the next few decades) Lack of state intervention under these conditions
raises new public-policy concerns: how to make would condemn vast numbers of people, espe-
the pension system in many Latin American coun- cially the youth, to a life of exclusion and mar-
tries sustainable and how to provide care facilities ginalization. The cost of well-being is high not
for the growing ailing older adult population? only to these groups but also to society at large.
Sixth, it is crucial for public policy to develop Society should benefit from the inclusion of these
new indicators in those areas that are important groups if it provides them with better employ-
for well-being and that are not currently incorpo- ment, health, and educational opportunities. The
rated in the national accounting system. Public state must intervene so that the socioeconomic
policy and social action experts need better conditions at birth do not constitute a burden
knowledge about what the relevant factors for children must carry for the rest of their lives.
people’s well-being are and to develop theories State intervention should promote and foster the
that help us better gauge the impact of policy and potential contribution every member of society
action on well-being. The development of new can make not only to his or her own well-being
indicators should permit complete assessment of but also to the well-being of others. For the state
all of the well-being costs and benefits associated to adequately perform this task, Latin America
with different policies and actions. It is important must address such ills as corruption, distorted
to develop new indicators regarding important incentives, and limited capacity. In addition,
well-being aspects such as family situation, the Latin America should recognize that the market
state of human relations in society, the quality of system can play an important role in creating
urban life, the availability of leisure time, and sat- adequate incentives and rewards as well as in
isfaction with life. transmitting proper information about the rela-
Seventh, during the last century, most Latin tive scarcity of resources. Alexander Dumas once
American countries have fought a war against said that money “is a good servant but a bad mas-
244 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

ter.” It is important for Latin America to find way Latin Americans experience well-being may
ways to make the market system a good servant not differ from the way people in other cultures
rather than a bad master. experience it, but the sources of this well-being
may differ substantially. The drivers of people’s
well-being are not universal; their importance
8.6 Final Considerations may change across regions depending on peo-
ple’s values and culture. Over the centuries, a
“Origin is destiny.” This expression is popular in Latin American identity has emerged. This Latin
Latin America; it refers to the importance that a American identity values human relations more
person’s socioeconomic status at birth plays on than material possessions. The Latin American
his or her whole life trajectory. The origin-is-­ identity places an enormous importance on the
destiny concept is also an important argument family and social life. Latin Americans are not
made in this chapter. Problems and opportunities fully immersed in a consumer society in which
of Latin America are directly associated with its people are valued for what they have rather than
origins. As we argued, many social ills are struc- for how they treat others. They are not into a sta-
tural in the sense that they were inherited from tus race based on consumption, which allows
colonial times (e.g., exclusion, wealth concentra- them to have a more relaxed life oriented toward
tion, a production process based on the exploita- enjoyment rather than accumulation. Latin
tion of cheap labor, dependence on foreign Americans have managed to enjoy life within
investment, and weak political institutions). their socioeconomic constraints, which shows
Advancing well-being within the Latin that income is important but that high income is
American inherited structural condition is not an not really necessary; it seems that there is more to
easy task. This chapter shows that some practices life than income.
and strategies have been successful in advancing The existence of some degree of dissonance
well-being in the region but that many errors between the so-called objective top-down indica-
have been made and many obstacles and prob- tors of income, health, and education and the sub-
lems still remain. Progress has been made in jective bottom-up indicators of well-being in
health, education, and income indicators, which Latin America shows that more work is needed in
are highly correlated and which are also highly the study of well-being conceptualizations and
intertwined regarding causality. Strategies look- measurement. It is necessary to recognize that the
ing for greater productivity and income have con- drivers of well-being are not universal and that it
tributed to life expectancy and to schooling, and is possible to experience high well-being even
vice versa. Constant wars and guerrillas have when some conditions are deficient; this situation
been an obstacle to economic progress in many may happen because the importance of these
countries, but they have also emerged as a conse- conditions is not as great in some regions as in
quence of poor well-being conditions that eco- others (e.g., consumption is more important in
nomic progress alone cannot solve. Discrimination consumer societies that gauge status by what
against indigenous groups and women consti- people possess) or because there are other factors
tutes a threat to well-being that sometimes is hid- that have not been contemplated and that par-
den by the widespread use of “average” tially or completely offset some deficiencies
indicators. Democracy is more than holding peri- (e.g., the affective benefits from strong family
odical elections: It is incorporating the interests ties compensate for lack of income) (Rojas 2015).
and perspectives of people in the definition and Thus, traditional indicators of progress, centered
purpose of social and political decisions. in productivity and economic growth, are not
This chapter shows that economic growth is well-suited for Latin America. Perhaps this fact
not enough to generate the conditions appropriate explains why there is a movement in Latin
for the emergence of high well-being. It also American that focuses on the importance of mea-
shows that economic growth is not sufficient to suring and promoting bienestar (well-being) and
assess the well-being of people in a region. The buen vivir (well-living) (Rojas 2012d).
Supplemental Tables

Supplemental Table 8.1 Demography
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Demography
REGION: Latin America (N= 26)
Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
8  Well-Being in Latin America

Caribbean Bahamas 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.4 4.8 2.0 1.7 1.4 59.7 76.7 82.5 82.8
Caribbean Belize 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.3 2.8 2.8 2.5 2.3 54.0 48.4 45.0 44.1
Caribbean Cuba 7.1 10.1 11.3 11.3 1.9 0.7 −0.1 −0.1 58.4 70.9 76.6 77.0
Caribbean Dominican Republic 3.3 6.5 10.0 10.5 3.4 2.2 1.3 1.2 30.2 53.9 73.8 78.1
Caribbean Haiti 3.9 6.4 9.9 10.5 2.0 2.3 1.3 1.4 15.6 23.3 52.0 57.4
Caribbean Jamaica 1.6 2.3 2.7 2.7 1.2 1.4 0.4 0.2 33.8 48.4 53.7 54.6
Caribbean Trinidad &Tobago 0.8 1.2 1.3 1.3 2.3 1.3 0.4 0.2 17.3 9.6 9.1 8.6
Central Costa Rica 1.3 2.7 4.7 4.9 3.4 2.7 1.5 1.3 34.3 45.4 71.7 75.9
America
Central El Salvador 2.8 5.0 6.2 6.4 2.9 1.3 0.6 0.7 38.3 46.6 64.3 66.3
America
Central Guatemala 4.1 7.9 14.3 15.9 2.7 2.4 2.5 2.5 31.1 39.2 49.3 51.1
America
Central Honduras 2.0 4.2 7.6 8.3 3.2 3.0 2.0 2.0 22.7 37.7 51.7 54.1
America
Central Mexico 38.7 77.9 117.9 123.8 3.2 2.0 1.2 1.2 50.8 69.0 77.8 79.0
America
Central Nicaragua 1.8 3.7 5.8 6.2 3.2 2.4 1.4 1.4 39.6 51.1 57.3 58.5
America
Central Panama 1.1 2.2 3.7 3.9 3.0 2.2 1.7 1.6 41.2 52.1 65.1 66.3
America
South America Argentina 20.6 30.3 40.4 41.8 1.6 1.5 0.9 0.9 73.6 85.0 91.0 91.6
South America Bolivia 3.4 6.0 10.2 10.8 2.2 2.4 1.6 1.6 36.8 50.5 66.4 68.1
South America Brazil 72.8 136.2 195.2 202.0 3.0 2.1 0.9 0.8 46.1 69.9 84.3 85.4
(continued)
245
Supplemental Table 8.1 (continued)
246

Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban

Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
South America Chile 7.6 12.1 17.2 17.8 2.5 1.7 0.9 0.9 67.8 82.6 88.6 89.4
South America Colombia 16.0 30.1 46.4 48.9 3.0 2.1 1.4 1.3 45.0 65.6 75.0 76.2
South America Ecuador 4.5 9.0 15.0 16.0 2.8 2.5 1.6 1.5 33.9 51.2 62.7 63.5
South America Guyana 0.6 0.8 0.8 0.8 2.8 −0.9 0.6 0.5 29.0 30.0 28.2 28.5
South America Paraguay 1.9 3.7 6.5 6.9 2.6 2.9 1.8 1.7 35.6 45.0 58.5 59.4
South America Peru 9.9 19.5 29.3 30.8 2.8 2.3 1.1 1.3 46.8 66.9 76.9 78.3
South America Suriname 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 2.9 1.0 0.9 0.9 47.3 65.3 66.3 66.1
South America Uruguay 2.5 3.0 3.4 3.4 1.3 0.6 0.3 0.3 80.2 87.2 94.4 95.2
South America Venezuela 7.6 17.3 29.0 30.9 3.8 2.7 1.6 1.5 61.6 81.9 88.8 88.9
Caribbean (N=7) 2.4 3.8 5.1 5.3 2.6 1.8 1.1 1.0 38.4 47.3 56.1 57.5
Central America 7.4 14.8 22.9 24.2 3.1 2.3 1.5 1.5 36.9 48.7 62.5 64.4
(N=7)
South America 12.3 22.4 32.8 34.2 2.6 1.7 1.1 1.1 50.3 65.1 73.4 74.2
(N=12)
Regional Average 8.3 15.3 22.7 23.7 2.7 1.9 1.2 1.2 43.5 55.9 65.8 67.1
Population: Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not perma-
nently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. The values shown are midyear estimates
% Population growth rate: Population growth (annual %) is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage
% Urban: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios
from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
i World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
j World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
k World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

l World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS

Supplemental Table 8.2 Education
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Education
REGION: Latin America (N= 26)
% Secondary school enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education
Country 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j
Caribbean Bahamas 86.2 92.9 92.9 15.0 20.9
Caribbean Belize 57.8 80.5 86.0 22.6 25.9
Caribbean Cuba 82.0 89.2 92.1 79.0 94.0 99.8 99.8 18.0 95.0 47.8
8  Well-Being in Latin America

Caribbean Dominican Republic 53.9 75.5 75.9 64.0 77.0 89.5 90.9 18.5 46.4 46.4
Caribbean Haiti 17.1 17.5 16.0 34.7 48.7 1.1 1.0
Caribbean Jamaica 61.6 91.0 77.8 87.5 87.5 4.9 28.9 28.7
Caribbean Trinidad & Tobago 81.5 83.2 98.8 98.8 4.5 6.6
Central America Costa Rica 40.3 99.4 108.9 83.0 92.6 97.4 97.4 21.4 44.5 47.6
Central America El Salvador 34.3 64.7 70.2 48.0 69.0 84.5 85.5 15.4 23.4 25.9
Central America Guatemala 19.2 64.6 65.0 35.0 57.0 78.3 78.3 6.9 17.9 18.7
Central America Honduras 36.9 73.2 71.0 44.0 65.0 84.8 85.4 8.7 20.6 21.1
Central America Mexico 54.8 83.7 87.6 65.0 85.0 93.1 94.2 15.0 26.7 29.9
Central America Nicaragua 29.7 68.9 68.9 47.0 63.0 78.0 8.2 7.3
Central America Panama 59.1 70.3 73.7 73.0 87.0 94.1 94.1 24.2 43.9 43.5
South America Argentina 70.2 90.2 107.3 91.0 95.0 97.9 97.9 35.7 74.8 80.3
South America Bolivia 77.5 80.0 44.0 74.0 91.2 94.5 37.7 37.7
South America Brazil 60.0 78.0 90.4 91.3
South America Chile 75.3 89.1 99.0 84.0 91.1 95.1 95.1 15.3 65.9 78.7
South America Colombia 46.1 96.0 93.0 70.0 87.0 93.4 93.6 11.5 39.0 48.3
South America Ecuador 58.7 85.2 103.2 65.0 83.6 91.9 93.3 32.2 38.9 40.5
South America Guyana 73.8 99.4 101.0 85.0 85.0 2.7 11.5 12.9
South America Paraguay 30.6 67.8 75.3 73.0 78.5 93.9 93.9 9.1 34.5 34.5
South America Peru 62.8 91.7 94.0 60.0 83.0 93.8 93.8 22.4 40.6 40.6
South America Suriname 55.7 74.9 76.0 94.7 94.7 6.8 9.6
South America Uruguay 71.9 90.3 90.3 89.0 95.4 98.1 98.4 24.1 63.2 63.2
(continued)
247
Supplemental Table 8.2 (continued)
248

% Secondary school enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education

Country 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j
South America Venezuela 56.1 82.3 93.0 62.0 87.0 95.5 95.5 21.5 77.9 77.9
Caribbean (N=7) 62.9 85.8 75.1 53.0 68.6 93.9 85.1 10.3 48.2 25.3
Central America (N=7) 39.2 75.0 77.9 56.4 74.1 88.7 87.5 14.3 29.5 27.7
South America (N=12) 60.1 85.9 92.0 69.8 85.3 93.4 93.9 18.1 48.4 47.7
Regional Average 54.8 82.5 83.3 62.6 78.8 92.2 90.2 14.9 42.7 35.8
% Secondary school enrollment: Gross enrollment ratio. Secondary. All programs. Total is the total enrollment in secondary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percent-
age of the population of official secondary education age. GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school
entrance and grade repetition
% Adult literacy: Adult (15+) literacy rate (%). Total is the percentage of the population age 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement
on their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number
of literates aged 15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100
% Tertiary education: Gross enrollment ratio. Tertiary (ISCED 5 and 6). Total is the total enrollment in tertiary education (ISCED 5 and 6), regardless of age, expressed as a
percentage of the total population of the five-year age group following on from secondary school leaving
a World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
b World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
c World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
d http://moxlad-staging.herokuapp.com/home/en#tabs-graficar
e World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/; http://mox-
lad-staging.herokuapp.com/home/en#tabs-graficar
f World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
g World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
h World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
i World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
j World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega
Supplemental Table 8.3 Health
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Health
REGION: Latin America (N= 26)
Avg. years life Infant <1/1k live Child mortality Maternal mortality
expectancy born <5/1K rate TB incidence per 100k
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013-14 1960 1985 2010 2013-14 1960 1985 2010 2013-14 1960 1985 2010 2013-14
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t
Caribbean Bahamas 62.7 69.6 74.6 75.1 23.3 11.2 10.4 27.8 13.9 12.9 38.0 37.0 26.8 17.0 9.8
Caribbean Belize 60.0 71.1 73.3 73.9 41.6 15.7 14.3 53.0 18.3 16.7 0.0 62.9 60.0 45.0 15.2 38.0 37.0
Caribbean Cuba 63.9 74.5 78.7 79.2 41.9 15.0 5.4 5.0 47.3 18.4 6.8 6.2 97.3 48.3 80.0 80.0 6.7 9.2 9.3
Caribbean Dominican Republic 51.8 65.3 72.8 73.5 105.5 54.4 25.6 23.6 153.2 72.3 30.7 28.1 50.5 130.0 100.0 0.1 82.0 60.0
Caribbean Haiti 42.2 52.5 61.9 63.1 202.0 113.6 72.7 54.7 301.9 166.4 174.4 72.8 24.6 420.0 380.0 77.6 272.0 206.0
Caribbean Jamaica 64.2 71.1 72.8 73.5 62.2 28.2 15.7 14.3 84.7 34.2 18.3 16.6 203.6 43.2 82.0 80.0 5.6 6.6 6.5
Caribbean Trinidad &Tobago 62.7 67.6 69.6 69.9 56.5 29.8 20.8 19.0 68.3 34.0 23.4 21.3 82.0 84.0 9.6 16.0 21.0
Central America Costa Rica 61.6 74.6 79.3 79.9 18.2 8.7 8.4 21.6 10.0 9.6 124.5 37.1 33.0 38.0 13.9 16.0 11.0
Central America El Salvador 51.3 59.8 71.6 72.3 126.3 59.4 15.2 13.5 187.1 80.2 17.7 15.7 64.6 58.7 71.0 69.0 29.2 31.0 39.0
Central America Guatemala 45.5 59.6 71.0 72.0 148.1 72.8 28.4 25.8 221.8 101.3 34.5 31.0 105.2 140.0 140.0 83.0 65.0 60.0
Central America Honduras 46.3 63.6 72.9 73.8 141.2 56.0 21.0 18.9 210.9 75.0 24.9 22.2 45.6 120.0 120.0 79.7 73.0 54.0
Central America Mexico 57.1 68.8 76.7 77.4 101.5 45.4 14.4 12.5 146.7 58.7 16.8 14.5 176.2 70.9 47.0 49.0 19.3 21.0 21.0
Central America Nicaragua 47.0 60.7 73.8 74.8 134.4 60.6 22.0 20.0 200.0 82.2 26.1 23.5 176.3 40.3 110.0 100.0 70.2 44.0 55.0
Central America Panama 60.9 71.8 76.9 77.6 66.8 30.1 16.8 15.4 91.8 36.8 19.7 17.9 180.5 52.1 82.0 85.0 27.5 61.0 48.0
South America Argentina 65.2 70.6 75.7 76.2 29.0 13.0 11.9 33.1 14.6 13.3 56.4 76.0 69.0 52.7 33.0 24.0
South America Bolivia 42.7 55.7 66.3 67.2 179.1 98.8 34.7 31.2 298.3 147.3 44.0 39.1 230.0 200.0 127.1 158.0 123.0
South America Brazil 54.7 64.5 73.1 73.9 130.0 61.9 14.6 12.3 172.9 75.8 16.3 13.7 48.2 68.0 69.0 61.9 51.0 46.0
South America Chile 57.0 71.8 79.1 79.8 127.7 18.9 7.5 7.1 157.6 22.4 8.7 8.2 286.2 47.4 24.0 22.0 54.8 17.0 16.0
South America Colombia 56.7 67.6 73.4 74.0 88.9 34.2 15.9 14.5 126.7 42.5 18.6 16.9 216.1 81.8 85.0 83.0 40.0 38.0 32.0
South America Ecuador 53.1 66.1 75.6 76.5 120.6 54.7 20.9 19.1 178.1 72.8 24.7 22.5 284.7 136.6 90.0 87.0 53.5 83.0 56.0
South America Guyana 58.2 61.3 65.7 66.2 67.8 51.0 32.3 29.9 93.4 67.0 39.8 36.6 66.5 230.0 250.0 28.6 115.0 109.0
South America Paraguay 63.8 67.3 72.0 72.3 63.3 42.9 20.5 18.7 86.3 54.9 24.2 21.9 121.4 109.1 110.0 110.0 52.1 49.0 44.0
South America Peru 47.7 63.0 73.9 74.8 136.9 70.9 15.2 12.9 229.5 104.4 19.6 16.7 48.3 100.0 89.0 125.2 150.0 124.0
South America Suriname 59.7 67.0 70.3 71.0 45.8 22.3 20.3 54.1 25.1 22.8 150.0 130.0 13.3 62.0 39.0

(continued)
Supplemental Table 8.3 (continued)

Avg. years life Infant <1/1k live Child mortality Maternal mortality
expectancy born <5/1K rate TB incidence per 100k
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013-14 1960 1985 2010 2013-14 1960 1985 2010 2013-14 1960 1985 2010 2013-14
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t
South America Uruguay 67.9 71.6 76.6 77.1 57.6 25.3 10.6 9.5 63.9 28.6 12.3 11.1 126.7 42.1 23.0 14.0 39.9 21.0 30.0
South America Venezuela 59.5 69.7 74.2 74.6 59.9 29.4 13.7 12.9 81.0 35.8 16.0 14.9 100.2 53.7 110.0 110.0 27.8 34.0 33.0
Caribbean (N=7) 58.2 67.4 72.0 72.6 93.6 43.7 23.9 20.2 131.1 58.0 40.8 24.9 100.3 45.9 127.4 115.1 20.2 63.0 49.9
Central America (N=7) 52.8 65.6 74.6 75.4 119.7 48.9 18.1 16.4 176.4 65.1 21.4 19.2 144.4 58.6 86.1 85.9 46.1 44.4 41.1
South America (N=12) 57.2 66.3 73.0 73.6 103.2 46.9 18.4 16.7 148.8 61.6 22.0 19.8 189.2 69.0 108.0 102.8 56.4 67.6 56.3
Regional average 56.3 66.4 73.1 73.8 105.6 46.6 19.8 17.5 152.4 61.6 26.9 21.0 154.2 60.4 107.3 101.5 43.9 60.1 50.5
Avg. years life expectancy: Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same
throughout its life
Infant <1/1k live born: Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year
Child mortality <5/1K: Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year
Maternal mortality rate: Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per 100,000 live
births. The data are estimated with a regression model using information on the proportion of maternal deaths among non-AIDS deaths in women ages 15–49, fertility, birth attendants, and GDP
TB Incidence per 100k: Incidence of tuberculosis is the estimated number of new pulmonary, smear positive, and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis cases. Incidence includes patients with HIV
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
i World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
j World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
k World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
l World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
m http://www.who.int/healthinfo/mortality_data/en/; http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.CBRT.IN. estimate made from pregnancy related deaths, birth rate, and population
n http://www.who.int/healthinfo/mortality_data/en/; http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.CBRT.IN
o World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
p World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
q http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/
r http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/
s World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
t World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
Supplemental Table 8.4 Income
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Income
REGION: Latin America (N= 26)
GINI or other measure
GDP (Billions of constant 2005 USD) PCGDP (constant 2005 USD) % Growth in GDP of wealth disparity
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1985 2010 2013–14
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o
Caribbean Bahamas 1.5 5.1 7.6 7.9 13380.9 21708.1 21128.5 20689.6 10.7 4.8 1.5 1.0
Caribbean Belize 0.1 0.3 1.3 1.4 971.4 1846.5 4101.1 4103.9 4.9 1.1 3.3 1.5
Caribbean Cuba 38.9 55.4 60.3 3855.8 4913.9 5351.3 1.6 2.4 2.7
Caribbean Dominican Republic 3.5 13.6 45.3 53.7 1068.0 2080.2 4517.6 5100.8 −2.3 −2.1 8.3 7.3 47.8 47.2 45.7
Caribbean Haiti 4.5 5.2 452.1 497.4 −5.5 2.7
Caribbean Jamaica −2.9 −1.5 1.3 43.2 43.2
Caribbean Trinidad &Tobago 3.8 8.9 18.9 19.1 4423.2 7623.0 14203.5 14275.4 14.0 −4.1 0.2 1.6 42.6 42.6
Central America Costa Rica 2.5 7.7 25.0 29.4 1842.4 2838.4 5357.5 5962.4 −1.0 1.0 5.0 3.5 34.4 48.1 48.6
Central America El Salvador 8.8 18.3 19.8 1750.7 2949.6 3103.0 0.6 1.4 2.0 44.5 41.8
Central America Guatemala 4.8 13.6 32.6 37.7 1170.7 1712.8 2270.1 2380.0 4.3 −0.6 2.9 4.2 58.3 52.4 52.4
Central America Honduras 1.6 4.8 11.5 12.4 813.4 1127.9 1515.0 1495.1 1.9 4.2 3.7 3.5 55.1 53.4 57.4
Central America Mexico 127.6 516.9 953.1 1067.9 3299.0 6639.5 8084.6 8626.2 5.0 2.6 5.1 2.1 47.2 48.1
Central America Nicaragua 2.2 4.6 7.2 8.7 1256.1 1237.0 1228.8 1417.2 7.4 −4.1 3.2 4.7 45.7 45.7
Central America Panama 2.1 7.9 22.6 31.8 1830.9 3539.2 6145.3 8087.5 10.8 4.9 5.9 6.2 51.9 51.9
South America Argentina 77.0 132.6 294.5 332.6 3732.4 4369.6 7293.7 7955.6 5.4 −7.6 9.5 0.5 42.8 44.5 43.6
South America Bolivia 2.9 5.1 12.0 14.9 874.3 840.6 1177.0 1371.9 2.1 −1.7 4.1 5.4 49.7 46.6
South America Brazil 124.2 535.4 1108.5 1206.1 1706.1 3930.4 5678.3 5969.7 10.3 7.9 7.6 0.1 55.6 53.9 52.7
South America Chile 19.0 39.3 147.7 175.0 2479.2 3242.8 8609.3 9847.9 4.0 7.1 5.8 1.9 56.2 52.0 50.8
South America Colombia 23.2 74.2 183.0 222.6 1452.5 2465.4 3939.1 4549.4 5.3 3.1 4.0 4.6 53.1 55.5 53.5
South America Ecuador 7.2 23.4 49.0 60.5 1593.2 2613.6 3268.8 3782.4 1.5 3.9 3.5 3.8 50.5 49.3 46.6
South America Guyana 0.4 0.6 0.9 1.1 769.6 740.5 1168.9 1380.5 4.7 2.4 4.4 3.8
South America Paraguay 1.1 4.7 11.1 13.7 569.5 1270.1 1725.8 1979.5 6.9 4.5 13.1 4.4 51.8 48.0
South America Peru 18.6 45.7 104.6 127.7 1876.0 2342.9 3574.7 4151.1 7.4 2.1 8.5 2.4 45.7 44.9 45.3
South America Suriname 1.3 2.2 2.5 3393.8 4207.6 4569.2 −1.9 5.2 2.9
South America Uruguay 8.0 10.2 23.2 27.4 3151.8 3381.1 6878.3 8018.6 2.5 1.5 7.8 3.5 45.3 41.3
South America Venezuela 45.0 91.8 174.6 186.9 5939.8 5298.8 6010.0 6057.0 3.2 0.2 −1.5 −4.0 53.5 53.5
(continued)
Supplemental Table 8.4 (continued)
GINI or other measure
GDP (Billions of constant 2005 USD) PCGDP (constant 2005 USD) % Growth in GDP of wealth disparity
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1985 2010 2013–14
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o
Caribbean (N=7) 2.2 13.4 22.2 24.6 4960.9 7422.7 8219.4 8336.4 6.8 −0.3 1.3 2.6 44.5 47.2 43.8
Central America (N=7) 23.5 80.6 152.9 172.5 1702.1 2692.2 3935.8 4438.8 4.7 1.2 3.9 3.7 49.3 49.0 49.4
South America (N=12) 29.7 80.4 175.9 197.6 2194.9 2824.1 4460.9 4969.4 4.8 1.8 6.0 2.4 51.1 49.7 48.2
Regional Average 22.7 66.5 132.6 149.0 2581.0 3743.7 5216.0 5628.9 5.2 1.1 4.1 2.8 49.1 49.2 48.0
GDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP at purchaser's prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in
the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in constant 2005 U.S.
dollars. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic currencies using 2005 official exchange rates. For a few countries where the official exchange rate does not reflect the rate effectively
applied to actual foreign exchange transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used
PCGDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP per capita is gross domestic product divided by midyear population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus
any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degrada-
tion of natural resources. Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars
% Growth in GDP: Annual percentage growth rate of GDP at market prices based on constant local currency. Aggregates are based on constant 2005 U.S. dollars. GDP is the sum of gross value
added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for deprecia-
tion of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources
GINI or other measure of wealth disparity: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption expenditure among individuals or households within an economy
deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest
individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line.
Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality
a World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
b World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
c World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
d World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
e World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
f World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
g World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
h World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
i World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
j World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
k World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
l World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
m World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
n World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
o World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
8  Well-Being in Latin America 253

Supplemental Table 8.5  Subjective well-being

SOCIAL INDICATORS: Subjective Well-Being
REGION: Latin America (N= 26)
World Values Survey (WVS), 1981–2014
WVS 1 WVS 2 WVS 3 WVS 4 WVS 5 WVS 6
Country 1981–1984 1990–1994 1995–1998 1999–2004 2005–2009 2010–2014
Source a b c d e f
Caribbean Bahamas
Caribbean Belize
Caribbean Cuba
Caribbean Dominican 7.1
Republic
Caribbean Haiti
Caribbean Jamaica
Caribbean Trinidad 7.3 7.5
&Tobago
Central America Costa Rica
Central America El Salvador 7.5
Central America Guatemala 7.9
Central America Honduras
Central America Mexico 8.0 7.4 7.5 8.1 8.2 8.5
Central America Nicaragua
Central America Panama
South America Argentina 6.8 7.3 6.9 7.3 7.8 7.5
South America Bolivia
South America Brazil 7.4 7.7 7.8
South America Chile 7.6 6.9 7.1 7.2 7.3
South America Colombia 8.3 8.3 8.4
South America Ecuador 7.9
South America Guyana
South America Paraguay
South America Peru 6.4 6.4 7.0 7.1
South America Suriname
South America Uruguay 7.1 5.6 7.6
South America Venezuela 6.7 7.5
Caribbean (N=7) 7.1 7.3 7.5
Central America 8.0 7.4 7.5 8.1 8.1 8.5
(N=7)
South America 6.8 7.4 7.1 7.1 7.3 7.7
(N=12)
Regional Average 7.4 7.4 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.7
Mean life satisfaction: Averaged value of responses to the following survey question: All things considered, how satis-
fied are you with your life as a whole these days? Using this card on which 1 means you are “completely dissatisfied”
and 10 means you are “completely satisfied” where would you put your satisfaction with your life as a whole?
a WVS 1 1981–84: V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
b WVS 2 1990–04: V96.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
c WVS 3 1995–98: V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
d WVS 4 1999–04: V81.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
e WVS 5 2005–09: V22.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
f WVS 6 2010–14: V23.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
254 M. Rojas and J.d.J. García Vega

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 Well-Being in Canada
and the United States 9
Richard J. Estes, Kenneth C. Land,
Alex C. Michalos, Rhonda Phillips,
and M. Joseph Sirgy

This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in

unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.(Theodore Roosevelt, United States
President, 1901–1909)
(Roosevelt n.d.)
Two races share today the soil of Canada. These people had not always been friends.
But I hasten to say it. There is no longer any family here but the human family.
It matters not the language people speak, or the altars at which they kneel.(Wilfrid
Laurier, Former Canadian Prime Minister)
(Laurier n.d.)

prising more than 9.54 million miles2 of land-

9.1 Introduction mass with a combined population in excess of
464 million people and a regional economy larger
The three countries of North America—Canada, than 18.6 thousand million USD (trillion) in 2013
Mexico, and the United States—make up one of (Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] 2014). By
the world’s largest geographic regions—com- comparison, the Russian Federation, the world’s
largest country geographically, has a landmass of
17.1 million km2 and, in 2015, a countrywide
R.J. Estes (*) population of 146.2 million people.
School of Social Policy and Practice, University of The borders of the North American region are
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
e-mail: [email protected] defined by thousands of miles of mostly
unguarded coastlines, including those along the
K.C. Land
Duke Social Science Research Institute, Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Gulf of Mexico,
Duke University, Durham, NC, USA and, in the case of Canada, the Arctic Ocean
e-mail: [email protected] (Map 9.1). Canada also includes the 1.2-million-­
A.C. Michalos square-mile Hudson Bay, the largest body of
University of Northern British Columbia, inland salt water in North America. The United
Prince George, BC, Canada States and Canada share the five Great Lakes, or
e-mail: [email protected]
inland seas (Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron
R. Phillips
[or Michigan–Huron], Erie, and Ontario).
Honors College, Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN, USA Together, the Great Lakes hold more than 94,000
e-mail: [email protected] miles2 of fresh water and serve as major transpor-
M.J. Sirgy tation networks that terminate in Canada and,
Pamplin College of Business, Department of through their river systems, the southern tip of
Marketing, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State northern Central America. The Great Lakes also
University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA, USA
feed the region’s extensive Missouri (east to
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 257

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_9
258 R.J. Estes et al.

west) and Mississippi (north to south) Rivers, Canada and the United States is guarded. This
which unite most geographic regions of the reality contrasts sharply with the high levels of
United States. The United States shares land and border tension that exist between Mexico and the
water borders with Mexico and Central America United States. Today, America’s southern border
as well, the latter being joined by the Gulf of is punctuated with hundreds of miles of razor
Mexico, which is rich in fish, petroleum, and fences, high walls, deep ditches, and continuous
other natural resources that work to the benefit of surveillance by armed military and civilian
all of the countries that share access to the Gulf’s patrols (CIA 2015). The current approach to keep
rich salt waters. Mexicans from entering the United States ille-
Thus, both Canada and the United States are gally, however, has not been successful and, as of
Atlantic and Pacific powers. The United States is today, more than 11–12 million illegal immi-
a major influence in Mexico and Central America grants have crossed these boundaries in search of
as well because of the shared ties through the either improved economic opportunities or to
Gulf of Mexico. Since the late nineteenth and rejoin other members of their family who crossed
early twentieth centuries, the three-nation region the border in past years.
has been unified by an extensive railway network Canada’s population, despite the large amount
that connects all three countries to their respec- of land available to it, is affected by especially
tive major industrial and urban centers. Air trans- challenging and difficult winters, and its popula-
portation in the region is remarkably sophisticated tion is therefore substantially smaller than that of
and connects all of the region’s major cities to the United States. Canadians number approxi-
one another and to the rest of the world. Formally, mately 35.9 million people, a population that,
the North American region includes Mexico, though smaller than that of the United States,
which, for reasons related to Mexico’s long his- ranks 37th worldwide (Statistics Canada 2015).
tory, unique culture, and Spanish language, is
discussed in the chapter on Latin American and
the Caribbean (Chap. 8). 9.1.2 C
 enters of Global Legal
and Illegal Immigration

9.1.1 T
 he Region in Global Canada, like the United States, is home to many
Perspective illegal immigrants who, like those in the United
States, easily become “lost” in the country’s
The peoples of Canada and the United States crowded urban centers and in the vastness of its
share extensive social histories: their experience Northern Territories (Garciá 2006). Owing to the
as former European colonies; the size and rich- extremes of Canada’s winters, a disproportionate
ness of their economies and natural resource share of the country’s population, including its
base; the depth of their human resources; and the illegal immigrants, live along its relatively
variety of their social, political, cultural, reli- warmer southern border with the United States.
gious, racial, and ethnic makeup (Camarota The population concentrations of both countries
2012; Powell 2005). The residents of both coun- are clearly visible in the regional map (Map 9.1).
tries easily cross borders into one another’s
country.
North America, given the vastness of her size, 9.1.3 Economic, Cultural,
also has a great abundance of flora and animal and Education Exchanges
life—including many species not found else-
where in the world. The high level of trust that In addition to their many formal and informal
exists between the populations of the two coun- programs of educational and cultural exchange,
tries is reflected in the fact that only a small per- Canada and the United States are each other’s
centage of the 5525 miles of borders that separate largest economic partners, with a combined trad-
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 259

Map 9.1  Regional map of North America (CIA 2015; public domain)

ing level exceeding 25.9 % of the world’s total (World Bank 2014d). Economic trade between
economic output of USD 74,555 billion in 2015 the two countries continues to increase each year,
260 R.J. Estes et al.

especially in response to the identification of new provinces and three territories whose legislative
oil and other petrochemical energy reserves in authority is somewhat structured by the federal
Canada. Tourism between the two countries has constitutional acts of 1867 and 1982. The coun-
increased appreciably in recent decades. try’s aboriginal population also exerts consider-
able authority in Canadian federal affairs. The
size, composition, and responsibilities of each
9.1.4 Political Structures country’s geopolitical levels differ appreciably
and Characteristics from one another but all exert important influ-
ence at the federal level (CIA 2015; Statistics
Politically, the United States is a federal republic Canada 2014).
with 50 distinct state governments, 1 federal gov-
ernment, and 1 special administrative govern-
ment unit that governs the affairs of the District 9.1.5 International Political Reach
of Colombia, the territory in which the country’s
central government is located. The United States Both Canada and the United States are full and
also has literally tens of thousands of incorpo- active members of nearly all major intergovern-
rated villages, boroughs, towns, cities, and coun- mental bodies including those of the United
ties, each of which has its own local government Nations and its dozens of specialized agencies.
and, sometimes, conflicting legal or regulatory Both countries also cooperate extensively with
systems (National League of Cities 2015). The European political institutions and, in turn, are
large number of state and local governments, plus major partners in intergovernmental bodies that
the federal government, effectively brings gov- promote cooperation between Pacific and
ernment close to America’s citizens; at the same Atlantic nations as well as those of Latin America
time, though, they slow the pace of social and and the Caribbean. Because of Canada’s history
political change. This pattern of multiple layers of promoting peaceful development, it is fre-
of government is exactly what the country’s quently called upon to help settle disputes in
founding fathers intended in order to ensure the other countries and world regions. The military
existence of a comparatively weak central gov- resources of the United States, on the other hand,
ernment with political power located as close to often are called upon to aid in the settlement of
local citizens as possible (Hamilton et al. 2003). open conflicts between warring states. Both
This pattern continued until the country was countries also are recognized for their high levels
forced into a shattering Civil War (1861–1865) of international development assistance to devel-
over slavery that threatened the country’s integ- oping countries, i.e., 0.27 % of Canada’s gross
rity as a nation. The creation of a central tax sys- domestic product (GDP) (USD 4.85 billion) and
tem to finance the war in 1862 was one of a series 0.19 % of the America’s GDP (USD 31.55 bil-
of direct outgrowths of the war that in turn laid lion) in 2013 (OECD 2014b). The amount of for-
the foundation for a strong federal government eign aid given by the United States to developing
that, in time, assumed many of the responsibili- countries is a continuing source of debate within
ties of the local governments and individual the country, with many groups preferring that
states. these resources be redirected to rebuilding
Like the United States, Canada also has a fed- America’s failing infrastructure or inadequately
eral system of government. Unlike the United financed social programs (Lancaster 2006). As a
States, the country is a constitutional monarchy percentage of GDP, however, the level of devel-
with a Westminster-style parliament containing a opment aid and technical assistance provided by
bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate both countries to poorer countries is much smaller
whose members are appointed by the Prime than that provided by other affluent developed
Minister and a House of Commons whose mem- market economies of Europe, Oceania, and Asia
bers are elected by the people. There are ten (OECD 2014b).
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 261

9.1.6 Selected Regional American life, despite a robust system of public

Characteristics of Well-Being transfer programs (food, childcare, and health
care subsidies as well as subvention to publicly
Canada and the United States are defined by a financed housing). The fact that one in five of the
variety of cultural, political, and social character- nation’s children lives in poverty is especially
istics. For example, the American middle class tragic given the stability of the number over the
has experienced spectacular gains in wealth even past 150 years. Poverty in Canada is less pro-
in the presence of recurrent poverty in the coun- nounced than that which exists in the United
try ranging from 11 to 14 %, including one in five States. For its part, Canada has decided that pov-
children under the age of 16 (United States erty is too expensive a social problem to afford,
Census Bureau 2010, 2014a). Recurrent, seem- given the long-term contributions of poverty to
ingly intractable, poverty has resulted in high lev- heightened levels of crime, drug and substance
els of economic inequality in both countries, abuse, family and community violence, and rap-
especially among the Native American and idly deteriorating social infrastructure. These
aboriginal peoples, children and the aged, per- issues are especially pronounced among Canada’s
sons unable to speak official languages, those aboriginal youth, for whom rates of social and
with low levels of education, unskilled workers, emotional breakdown are high (Canadian
and others who, for a variety of social reasons, Broadcasting Corporation 2013).
are unable to participate fully in the highly com- Today, however, the social situation in both
petitive economic systems of both countries. Canada and the United States is such that
Further, recurring economic “boom and bust” government-­ supported educational opportunities
cycles impact different population subgroups and are available to all without cost. Increasingly, pri-
contribute to uneven well-being in education and mary health care continues to reach large numbers
health, especially for disadvantaged population of people in both countries, but the United States
groups (OECD 2014b; Sullivan et al. 2001). remains a relative social laggard among rich coun-
Figure 9.1 shows poverty levels in the United tries in this critical sector of well-being (Bresica
States for the 52-year period 1959–2011 (United and Super 2008; OECD 2014b). Even so, North
States Census Bureau 2014a). The figure also America’s progress on the health front continues,
shows the numbers of persons officially classi- with the result that residents of both Canada and
fied as poor and provides evidence concerning the United States have access to what are regarded
the seemingly intractable nature of poverty in as two of the world’s highest levels of health care.

Numbers in millions
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
Percent
25

15

-5
1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009

Fig. 9.1  Number in poverty and poverty rate: 1959–2011. (DeNavas-Walt et al. 2012)
262 R.J. Estes et al.

9.1.7 Major Well-Being Themes well-being in both Canada and the United States
since the end of the Second World War.
The nations of North America, though old rela-
tive to many newly independent nations of Africa
and Asia (and even those restructured countries 9.2 Settlement of North America
of Eastern and Central Europe and the Baltic
States), are still two of the youngest (and most This chapter provides an overview of well-being
successful) on the planet. From their formation in the predominately English-speaking countries
until today, the following themes have guided of the region—Canada (Anglo-French) and the
increases in the region’s pursuit of well-being United States (Anglo-Spanish). In addition to a
(Turner and Turner 2008; Zakaria 2007): discussion of the well-being of the Canadian and
American “middle mass,” this chapter also dis-
• An emphasis on participatory forms of self-­ cusses the considerable changes in the well-being
governance reaching from the local commu- status of the rapidly increasing racial, religious,
nity to the county and state levels and, and cultural minority populations of both coun-
ultimately, to the federal levels, including a tries. First, however, we provide a brief social and
mostly self-regulated form of taxation to sup- political history of Canada and the United States
port publicly financed services; from the perspective of the major themes charac-
• Isolation initially from problematic world teristic of each county since the last quarter of the
affairs but today, full immersion in all aspects eighteenth century. The chapter’s primary focus,
of international affairs—often at the expense however, is on regional changes in well-being
of investments in their respective domestic since the end of World War II, for which Canada
social programs and physical infrastructures; and the United States rank 8th and 5th, respec-
• A general attitude of openness and welcome tively, on the United Nations Human Development
to the stranger, especially to new arrivals in Index (HDI) (United Nations Development
both countries, though with some Programme [UNDP] 2013).
reservations;
• An emphasis on personal achievement through
work as the basis for advancing within the 9.2.1 Early Habitation
countries’ multilayered economic and social
systems; Evidence exists that human habitation of North
• An emphasis on the containment of diversity-­ America began at least 4000 years ago (Griggs
related social conflict, albeit America’s early 2014); most likely, though, human settlements in
history with slavery, even among the country’s North American date back as long ago as 40,000
founding fathers, undermined many of its Before the Common Era (Goebel et al. 2008).
most fundamental principles; Present-day North Americans of European origin
• An unparalleled emphasis on education, arrived in large numbers on the continent during
research, and a spirit of inventive inquiry that the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries but were pre-
led the region’s nations to emerge as premier ceded by smaller groups of Viking explorers who
world centers for higher education and for sci- crossed into what would become the Canadian
entific and technological innovation; Atlantic Provinces via Greenland in the tenth
• A long-standing and continuing emphasis on century (Gear and Gear 2015).
individualism even in the midst of group and
other collective activities;
• Sustained public and private investments in 9.2.2 Slavery and Indentured
science, technology, and the arts. Servants

These themes are dealt with throughout the “Americans,” though, especially those of the sev-
remainder of the chapter, but the primary focus is enteenth century, did not arrive on the continent
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 263

alone. They brought with them large numbers of one of the most dominant features of population
Black African slaves who were openly sold as increases in North America (Powell 2005;
chattel in America’s slave markets. Indeed, much Statistics Canada 2014).
of economic development and early expansion- One of the most important defining features of
ism that occurred in the American South occurred both countries, indeed that of the region as a
through slave labor. This single fact of American whole, is the emphasis on immigration as a way
social history has had a lasting impact on well-­ to provide refuge for persons experiencing con-
being in the United States: Disproportionate flict in their societies of origin. At the same time,
numbers of the country’s poor and jobless are the the steady flow of immigrants into both countries
blood descendants of the country’s early slaves made possible geographic expansion into the
(Kolchin 2003; United States Census Bureau largely unchartered territories of both countries
2014a). and served as a steady source of large numbers of
Many people also arrived in the United States agricultural, factory, and both highly skilled and
as indentured servants, i.e., persons whose sea unskilled laborers. Both countries are widely rec-
passage was paid for by another in exchange for ognized for their superior primary, secondary,
labor lasting a mutually agreed upon time period and tertiary educational systems and for their
(Salinger 2000). Most were adolescent boys and groundbreaking contributions to literature, the
girls who were needed for farm work or assis- arts, science, and technology. Interstellar explo-
tance with running large family homes or estates. ration and, perhaps, eventual interstellar travel
Indentured servants did, though, acquire market- are now part of the scientific agenda of the United
able skills during the period of their servitude, States.
skills that would serve them well in adulthood as
self-sufficient farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters,
and the like. 9.2.4 N
 orth America’s Newest
Arrivals

9.2.3 T
 he Migration of Free People Well-being for the middle mass of the North
to North America America population of approximately 353.2 mil-
lion people is high by global standards, and both
Canada and the United States also have been cen- the region’s population and social accomplish-
ters of global migration of “free people” from the ments continue to increase each year. Using the
earliest beginnings of both countries. Most of the United Nations HDI to assess social progress,
earliest settlers originated from Europe but, in average life expectancy in the region increased
time, large numbers flocked to the shores of both from an average of 65.7 years in 1945 to a record
nations from Africa, Asia, Central and South average for the region of 78.8 years in 2014—a
America, and, in recent years, from the newly net increase of 20 % in just a little less than 70
independent nations of the former Soviet Union. years! School enrollment at the primary level is
In all, between 1820 and 2014, the two countries virtually universal (99 %) as are rates of adult lit-
welcomed tens of millions of immigrants as per- eracy, albeit literacy includes languages other
manent residents, eventually citizens, of their than English and French—the two most fre-
countries. Legal, and even illegal, immigration to quently spoken languages in Canada (98 %) ver-
Canada also was high during this period and, dur- sus English and Spanish in the United States.
ing some decades, the percentages of immigrants Today, the work forces in both countries con-
admitted to both countries frequently equaled or sist primarily of “white- rather than “blue-collar”
exceeded natural population growth rates or unskilled workers, and the percentage of the
(Statistics Canada 2014; United States Census work force of each country engaged in agricul-
Bureau 2014a, b). Thus, population growth via ture and fishing is on the decline to well below
immigration has been, and is likely to remain, 5 %. Some interesting facts about the c­ omposition
264 R.J. Estes et al.

of the agricultural workforce in the United States ing, and health services as domestic social spend-
are as follows: (1) 75 % of the workers were born ing in these categories. Similarly, expenditures
in Mexico; (2) 53 % of all respondents to a for postmilitary re-education for veterans return-
national survey of agricultural workers were not ing to civilian life are grouped with “educational”
authorized to work in the United States; and (3) expenditures rather than being classified as mili-
foreign-born newcomers comprised 16 % of the tary defense spending; in effect, approximately
hired crop labor force (Bureau of Labor Statistics 22 and 25 % of the country’s central budget is
2014). All of these trends are likely to increase as allocated to military and military-related pur-
the percentage of the agricultural workforce con- poses, respectively, rather than the estimate of
tinues to shrink relative to increases in the coun- 19 % suggested by Fig. 9.2.
try’s white-collar workforce (Holzer and Demetra
2007; Bureau of Labor Statistics 2014).
Because of the high levels of immigration, 9.3 In Pursuit of Freedom
both Canada and the United States enjoy the con-
tinuous infusion of new workers representing The still young colonies of North America repre-
diverse racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic, and sented pathways to improved levels of well-being
religious backgrounds. “Diversity in the midst of for millions of immigrants who left the old world
unity,” or e pluribus unum (from many one), behind and embraced the many opportunities that
expresses the aspiration of the peoples of the new were available to them in a new world of their
world to build nations unified through their dif- own creation, i.e., a world with open participa-
ferences to an extent found elsewhere only in tory political systems, favorable economic oppor-
Australia and New Zealand—the two other tunities for those willing to work, a comparatively
Eurocentric societies that consist primarily of nonhierarchical social order, and a legal system
immigrants. based on laws rather than on men, within which
In addition to promoting rapid assimilation of all felt their basic right to justice to be protected.
large numbers of people into their societies and The United States differs from Canada in its
doing so with a minimum of diversity-related now nearly two-centuries-long problem of insti-
social conflict, the two nations also sought, at tutional racism (Horton and Horton 2006). The
least initially, to maintain comparatively passive country’s history of slavery continues to be
positions vis-à-vis conflicts occurring in the reflected in the disproportionate numbers of dis-
larger world community. Neither country, at least enfranchised Black Americans who live in splin-
from their earliest beginnings, wanted to involve tered families, possess lower than average levels
themselves in what appeared to be a seemingly of education (often well below high school level)
ceaseless series of wars and conflicts that (Layton 2015), experience high levels of jobless-
occurred in Europe and in the other world regions ness and interpersonal violence, and, as previ-
from which they fled. Canada has been more suc- ously noted, high levels of poverty (Bowser
cessful in attaining this goal than has the United 2006).
States, which today maintains the world’s largest Both the wealthy and the poor of the “old
and most expensive military force in the history world” arrived legally and illegally in Canada
of the world (Stockholm International Peace and and the United States over many decades and in
Research Institute [SIPRI] 2014). Figure 9.2 large numbers. Most began their work lives in the
shows U.S. expenditures for military and defense new world as farmers or as low-skilled urban
purposes relative to social spending. The struggle laborers who spoke little or no English and who,
in the United States today is to reduce even fur- for the most part, did not share a common culture
ther the country’s current expenditures for man- or set of beliefs either with other migrants or with
dated social programs, some measure of which is the longer term residents of the still young coun-
achieved by categorizing military expenditures tries. Then, as now, persons trained in professions
designated for military-related education, train- such as medicine, nursing, education, and the law
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 265

Fig. 9.2  President’s proposed budget by category of spending for FY 2016. (Data from National Priorities Project
2015)

had to abandon those professions inasmuch as (2013) estimated that the United States had more
their credentials were not recognized as valid in than 10.5–11.5 million slaves before Abraham
either Canada or the United States. For many, un- Lincoln, using his presidential authority, issued
and semiskilled labor became their new occupa- an executive order in 1863 known as the
tion while they prepared to meet the registration Emancipation Proclamation that ended slavery in
and licensing requirements of their new country the United States.
(Statistics Canada 2014; U.S. Department of In the United States, all men, in time all
Homeland Security 2014a, b). women as well, were born equal to one another
Among the immigrants, however, were many but some, mostly White landowners, were born
wealthy people including persons and families in more equal than others. This pattern is clearly
possession of large numbers of slaves. Slavery visible in Fig. 9.3, which illustrates voting pat-
and the slave trade were always problematic for terns for the years 1788 through 2010. The dra-
the United States, which, in its founding docu- matic shift in voting patterns reported for all
ments, granted freedom to all but, for reasons of population groups reflected in this table is
economic and social solidarity, permitted persons impressive and reflects the evolution of suffrage
already in possession of slaves to keep them and in America over more than two centuries, i.e.,
to exploit slave labor on large farming plantations 1788 through 2012.
that made up a disproportionate share of the total The American Constitution, a highly conten-
wealth generated by the early colonies (Yglesias tious document in its earliest years, made no pro-
2013). But the approval of slavery then and now visions for the suffrage of women, Black people,
always was a source of dissension in the United Native Americans, and others, to take part in the
States and divided families and even regions of political life of the country. Indeed, the
the country from one another. Steven Mintz Constitution’s silence on these matters ensured
266 R.J. Estes et al.

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1788
1796
1804
1812
1820
1828
1836
1844
1852
1860
1868
1876
1884
1892
1900
1908
1916
1924
1932
1940
1948
1956
1964
1972
1980
1988
1996
2004
2012
Fig. 9.3  United States popular vote as a percentage of total population, 1788–2012. (Data from Gans and Mullig 2011)

that none of these groups could participate either 9.3.1 Freedom, Business,
in the selection of their political representatives and Commerce
or in the making of the laws by which they were
to be governed. Voting, at least during the United It is often said that the “business of America is
States’ first century, was restricted in the main to business,” and its establishment certainly attests
educated or land-holding White men. In Canada, to that, with early efforts in private companies
Section 41 of the British North American Act enticing settlers to join efforts to build agricul-
1867 allowed that “every male British subject, tural ventures and cottage industries. Later, the
aged 21 years and upwards, being a householder, industrial revolution ignited industry at levels
shall have a vote.” unprecedented in the history of well-being. The
Related to the substance of Fig. 9.3 are the United States became an industrial powerhouse
equally impressive changes in access to state-­ early in the Industrial Revolution that began
financed public education that took place in the between 1820 and 1840 in Great Britain and
United States during the same time. These trends quickly spread to Western Europe and North
in educational opportunity are summarized for America within a few decades. In the process, the
the United States in Fig. 9.4 for the 70-year United States became the world’s leading econ-
period 1940–2009. Today, virtually all university omy by the late 1800s as the empires of Britain
students 18 years old or more, with the exception and the then great European powers waned
of foreign nationals, are eligible to vote in local, (United States Department of State 2015). This
state, and federal elections and do so in large orientation toward business and the interests of
numbers. The parallels that exist in the United the private sector resulted in extraordinarily posi-
States between legal suffrage and education are tive outcomes of well-being for the citizens and
important and suggest that many of the nation’s residents of the United States. Wealth of incalcu-
best educated people are actively engaged in the lable magnitude was generated along with the
nation’s political life. The relationship between emergence of a new and rapidly increasing “mid-
education, suffrage, and political activity in dle class” that ushered in a new age of prosperity
Canada parallels that which exists in the United for tens of millions of people in both of the
States. region’s countries. This profound social revolu-
tion sustained itself until the onset of the Great
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 267

100
90
25-29
80
years, completed 25 years or
70 high school or older, completed
more high school or
60
more
50
40 25-29
years, completed
30
bachelor's degree
20 or more 25 years or
older, completed
10 bachelor's degree
or more
0
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Fig. 9.4  Percentage of the population 25 years and over who have completed high school or college: selected years
1940–2009. (Data from United States Census Bureau 2015)

Depression that began in the late 1920s and the automobile, which made transportation
reached its apex in the 1930s. Given the sense of between home and work relatively easy, efficient,
positivist sentiment that existed in both countries and cost effective (Phillips and Pittman 2015).
during this period, there was little reason to ques- The structure and nature of the relationships
tion the idea that economic growth, combined between the land and the city fundamentally
with pioneering advances in agriculture and tech- changed along with the implications of land use
nology, would continue unabated. North in promoting well-being, especially for those
Americans envisioned nearly unlimited levels of succeeding in the new economic order. Today the
economic growth far into the future—certainly percentage of urban dwellers in Canada and the
until at least the beginning of the twentieth cen- United States exceeds 85 %, a factor that is posi-
tury (World Bank 1955). tively associated with advances in national and
Vast numbers of the population began to personal well-being (stemming from ease of
migrate from the countryside to cities, where access to health care, education, community ser-
industries of all types proved eager to provide vices, financial services, and the like).
them with at least middle level employment and The impact of large numbers of Europeans on
salaries for a single wage earner that were suffi- Native Americans and other early peoples of
cient to support entire families. Technological North America was devastating. Most of the lat-
innovations were subsequently introduced more ter found themselves displaced from their tradi-
rapidly and required decreasing numbers of peo- tional lands, and still others were plunged into
ple to produce the same or even higher levels of poverty, alcoholism, and other social ills. The
economic output. The population of North sudden, often fatal, spread of infectious diseases
America increased rapidly from 3.9 million in from immigrants (tuberculosis, typhus, polio,
1790, to 63.0 million in 1890, to 248.7 million in sexually transmitted diseases) and natives (influ-
1990 and, today, to 321.1 million (United States enza) to one another was also devastating. In
Census Bureau 2015). Suburbanization occurred time, far more than half of all Native Americans
at the same time as rapid increases in the popula- would perish as a result of these illnesses; how-
tion due, in large measure, to the introduction of ever, those who survived went on to live produc-
268 R.J. Estes et al.

tive lives, albeit many are still subject to racial understanding of their modes of transmission.
discrimination. However, natural immunities to the most com-
mon communicable diseases developed gradu-
ally over time such that their impact on the
9.3.2 Freedom, Religion, populations of both countries diminished rapidly
and Political Persecution by the early part of the twentieth century.
The capacity of the dwindling numbers of
Despite all of the obstacles they initially faced in Native Americans to maintain their economic
the new world, the idea of freedom from religious status in an increasingly competitive (and hostile)
and political persecution, coupled with the need market-driven environment was also limited by
to expand the resource base for supporting the the fact that the livestock around which much of
European population, served as a powerful incen- tribal and community life was organized were
tive for immigrants. The contradiction of found- hunted to near extinction. In the 1800s, for exam-
ing a country (the United States) in the late 1770s ple, an estimated 65 million bison roamed the
on the basis of freedom for all is that constitu- Great Plains, which stretch across the middle of
tionally guaranteed freedoms were available only the United States into Canada, supporting indig-
to White men. Slaves, women, Native Americans, enous populations sustainably (Malakoff and
and other designated minority groups were Birnhaum 1998). Within just a few years, the
excluded from universal suffrage. Ninety years entire population of bison was driven almost to
would pass before slavery was abolished in the extinction by White hunters killing for sport
United States. Britain abolished the slave trade in rather than for food. These behaviors had destruc-
1778, which applied to British colonies in Canada tive outcomes on the quality of life for indige-
(Government of Canada 2014). It would be nearly nous populations reliant on this ecosystem for
60 years after the abolition of slavery in the their existence.
United States (1865) before women gained the Not surprisingly, years of average life expec-
right to vote in the United States; Canada was tancy dropped precipitously during the most seri-
slightly ahead, with voting rights phased in from ous periods of communal infection and, at the
1916 to 1919 (Brescia and Super 2008; same time, rates of infant, child, and maternal
Government of Canada 2014). mortality rose dramatically (Silva 2011). But
these, too, gradually came under control for the
immigrant population. However, their devastat-
9.3.3 Freedom and Health ing impact on the indigenous population of North
America continued until only a comparatively
Immigrants to the new world brought with them small percentage of their numbers remained to
new infectious and communicable diseases repopulate (Statistics Canada 2014; United States
against which indigenous populations had little Census Bureau 2014a). In addition, Native
or no protection (Forghani 2014). These diseases Americans lost forever ownership and control
limited people’s sense of freedom inasmuch as over their lands even as their basic cultural teach-
they experienced a sense of assault both from ings came under attack by the new immigrants
within and without, and many lost their lives in who occupied their land. Alcoholism, drug use,
the process, especially from tuberculosis, typhus, and psychological depression appear to have
and influenza. The effects of many of these dis- been widespread throughout the more than 150-­
eases were exacerbated because of the small, year period during which patterns of social exclu-
congested, and highly contaminated living spaces sion and typically fatal infectious diseases
in which people of the time lived. These epidem- persisted among Native Americans. Further, and
ics resulted in the deaths of large numbers of both in both countries, native peoples were relegated
immigrant and indigenous populations who had to agriculturally unproductive tribal zones,
no immunity to these diseases and little or no known as “reservations” in the United States and
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 269

“reserves” in Canada, from which they could not figure, the rate of economic growth of the United
leave without permission of local authorities. States is significantly higher than that of Canada.
Nearly all of these zones were located consider- The GDP per capita figures are equally
able distances from the original homelands of impressive. The United States had a GDP per
most of the native peoples and were, and often capita of $46,405 in 2013–2014 compared to
continue to be, centers of material, social, health,$38,293 in Canada. The rate of growth in GDP
and educational deprivation. per capita has increased significantly and contin-
These factors significantly affected the per- uously since 1960 (Fig. 9.6). However, the actual
son’s sense of personal security and imposed rate of growth in both countries shows a slightly
limitations on when and where a person traveled different picture (Fig. 9.7). The percent growth in
as well as those with whom he or she chose to GDP for the United States was 2.6 % in 1960,
associate. During these years, many private, not-­ climbing to 4.2 % in 1985, and declining to 3.0 %
for-­
profit charitable organizations began to in 2010 and 2.4 % in 2013–2014. A similar pat-
emerge. Officially affiliated with religious tern of economic growth is shown in Fig. 9.7.
denominations, many of these people- and sector-­ Canada’s rate of economic growth was 3.2 % in
specific nongovernmental organizations eventu- 1960, climbing to 4.7 in 1985, and declining to
ally recast themselves to serve broader 3.4 in 2010 and 2.5 in 2013–2014.
populations and a wider range of social sectors, Canada seems to have done much better than
e.g., the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, the the United States with respect to economic
Allied Jewish Appeal, and the United Way ­equality. As Fig. 9.8 shows, Canada’s Gini index
(Worldwide Nongovernmental Organizations (an inequality measure: the higher the number,
2015). the greater the level of inequality) was 35.5 % in
1960, decreasing to 31.6 in 1985, but climbing
slightly in 2010 and 2013–2014 to 33.7 %. In
9.4 Well-Being of Canada contrast, economic inequality in the United States
and the United States has steadily increased since 1960 (Fig. 9.8). The
United States registered 36.4 % in 1960 (compa-
Economic, health, intellectual/educational, and rable to Canada’s Gini index at that time), but
subjective well-being are explored in the follow- economic equality climbed steadily since—reg-
ing sections. We discuss similarities as well as istering 38.9 % in 1985, 44 % in 2010, and
differences been the two countries. These sectors 44.8 % in 2013–2014. In sum, the North America
of human well-being are what people most often region has performed well in relation to eco-
consider to be the most important aspects of well-­ nomic well-being, except for the fact that eco-
being and, as elsewhere in the world, dominate nomic inequality seems to be on the rise in the
individual and collective well-being. United States.

9.4.1 Economic Well-Being: Average 9.4.2 Health Well-Being

Income Levels and Trends
Over Time The health well-being of the people of both the
United States and Canada has consistently
The U.S. GDP is the largest in the world. In gained ground since 1960. Health well-being
2013–2014, it was $14.7 trillion, moving up from outcomes tend to be judged using key health
$2.8 trillion in 1960—a high level of economic indicators such as life expectancy; infant, child,
growth (Fig. 9.5). In contrast, Canada registered and maternal mortality rates; and incidence of a
$232 billion in GDP in 1960, increasing to $1.360 common disease such as tuberculosis. Life
billion in 2013–2014 (Fig. 9.5). As shown in the expectancy has increased steadily in both coun-
270 R.J. Estes et al.

16,000
GDP (Billions of constant 2005 USD)
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1959 1965 1971 1977 1983 1989 1995 2001 2007 2013
Canada United States Regional Average

Fig. 9.5  Growth of gross domestic product (GDP) of the radation of natural resources. Data are in constant 2005
United States and Canada since 1960. GDP in billions at USD. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic
purchaser’s prices is the sum of gross value added by all currencies using 2005 official exchange rates. For a few
resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes countries where the official exchange rate does not reflect
and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the the rate effectively applied to actual foreign exchange
products. It is calculated without making deductions for transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used.
depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and deg- (Data from World Bank 2014a)

50,000
GDP per Capita (constant 2005 USD)

45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1959 1965 1971 1977 1983 1989 1995 2001 2007 2013

Canada United States Regional Average

Fig. 9.6  Growth of gross domestic product (GDP) per and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the
capita of the United States and Canada since 1960. GDP products. It is calculated without making deductions for
per capita is gross domestic product divided by midyear depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and deg-
population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all radation of natural resources. Data are in constant 2005
resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes USD. (Data from World Bank 2014a)

tries since 1960. In 1960, life expectancy was 2013–2014, 79 years in the United States and
69.8 years in the United States and 71.1 years in 81.8 in Canada (Fig. 9.9).
Canada; in 1985, 74.6 years in the United States Public health data show that the infant mortal-
and 76.3 years in Canada; in 2010, 78.5 years in ity rate decreased significantly in both the United
the United States and 80.9 in Canada; and in States and Canada since 1960 (Fig. 9.9). In the
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 271

5.0%

4.0%
GDP Growth

3.0%

2.0%

1.0%

0.0%
1959 1965 1971 1977 1983 1989 1995 2001 2007 2013
Canada United States Regional Average

Fig. 9.7  Rate of growth in gross domestic product (GDP) any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in
of the United States and Canada since 1960. GDP growth the value of the products. It is calculated without making
is equal to the annual percentage growth rate of GDP at deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for
market prices based on constant local currency. Aggregates depletion and degradation of natural resources. (Data
are based on constant 2005 USD. GDP is the sum of gross from World Bank 2014b)
value added by all resident producers in the economy plus

46

44

42

40
Gini Index

38

36

34

32

30
1959 1965 1971 1977 1983 1989 1995 2001 2007 2013

Canada United States Regional Average

Fig. 9.8  The Gini index of the United States and Canada since 1960. (Data from Galbraith 2014; United States Census
Bureau 2014b; World Bank 2015a)

United States, the infant mortality rate (number the increase in maternal mortality 1985 in the
of deaths of infants under 1 year old per 1000 live United States, which may be viewed as an anom-
births) decreased from 25.4 in 1960, to 18.4 in aly; Fig. 9.11), and the incidence of tuberculosis
1985, to 5.4 in 2010, and to 5.2 in 2013–2014. (Fig. 9.12). In sum, health statistics paint a posi-
Similarly, in Canada, the infant mortality rate tive picture of health well-being in United States
decreased from 26.6 in 1960, to 16.8 in 1985, to and Canada.
5.2 in 2010, to 4.8 in 2013–2014. Figures 9.10, How can we explain these results? Good
9.11 and 9.12 also show similar positive patterns health is a prerequisite for good outcomes in
for child and maternal mortality rates (except for well-being. It is a major focus of the concept of
272 R.J. Estes et al.

Fig. 9.9  Life expectancy and infant mortality in the United States and Canada since 1960. (Data from List of countries
by infant mortality rate 2015; Statistics Canada 1990; United States Census Bureau 1990; World 2015c)

35.0

30.0
Under-Five Mortality per 1,0000

25.0

20.0

15.0

10.0

5.0

0.0
1959 1965 1971 1977 1983 1989 1995 2001 2007 2013
Canada United States Regional Average

Fig. 9.10  Child mortality in the United States and Canada since 1960. (Data from UNICEF 2016)

well-being. Without access to quality health care within the system, Canada spends about 10 % of
and healthy environments, people will not thrive its GDP on health care, whereas the United States
over the long term. As health declines in a coun- spends nearly 18 % (World Bank 2015b). The
try, overall well-being also declines. Differences United States finally addressed the pressing issue
in health care have existed for some time between of large segments of the population remaining
the two countries. Canada long ago instituted uni- uninsured with the Patient Protection and
versal health care coverage, based on need rather Affordable Care Act. In a short time, the percent-
than on ability to pay. Although there are issues age of uninsured dropped from nearly a quarter
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 273

45.0
Maternal Mortality Ratio 40.0
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
1959 1965 1971 1977 1983 1989 1995 2001 2007 2013

Canada United States Regional Average

Fig. 9.11  Maternal mortality in the United States and maternal deaths among non-AIDS deaths in women ages
Canada since 1960. The maternal mortality ratio is the 15–49, fertility, birth attendants, and gross domestic prod-
number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes uct. (Data from Centers for Disease Control and
while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termina- Prevention (n.d., 2003); Public Health Agency of Canada
tion per 100,000 live births. The data are estimated with a 2008; Statistics Canada 2014; World Health Organization
regression model using information on the proportion of 2013)

35.0
Tuberculosis Incidence per 100,000

30.0

25.0

20.0

15.0

10.0

5.0

0.0
1959 1965 1971 1977 1983 1989 1995 2001 2007 2013
Canada United States Regional Average

Fig. 9.12  Tuberculosis incidence in the United States and Canada since 1960. (Data from Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention 2014; Davies 1967; World Health Organization 2015)

of the population to 11 %, with ten million 9.4.3 Intellectual/Educational

Americans signing up for health care. Well-Being
Disadvantaged populations are still struggling
with affordability, and many people do not have The quality of education and the extent to which
adequate access to health care facilities in the education contributes to societal quality of life
United States. are typically judged using indicators such as
274 R.J. Estes et al.

gross enrollment in secondary schools, adult lit- in 1960 to 89.1 % in 2013–2014. These increases
eracy, and gross enrollment in tertiary schools. represent a great achievement for both countries.
The statistics pertaining to these indicators paint In summary, both Canada and the United
a positive picture for the United States and States had relatively high scores on educational
Canada. With respect to gross secondary enroll- well-being indicators in comparison to the uni-
ment, Canada’s performance increased verse of the 186 countries with data in the Human
substantially over the last 50 years. In 1960,
­ Development Report 2013 (United Nations
Canada’s secondary enrollment rate was 66.4 %, Development Programme 2013). Compared to
increasing to more than 100 % in 2013–2014. the 34 relatively highly developed countries of
The increase in secondary enrollment in the the Office of Economic Cooperation and
United States was less pronounced—87.1 % in Development (OECD), however, the perfor-
1960, climbing to 94 % in 2013–2014 (Fig. 9.13). mances of Canada and the United States were
The data suggest an adult literacy rate of approxi- below average.
mately 96 % for both Canada and the United
States (Federal Reserve Archival System for
Economic Research 1975; United States Census 9.4.4 Subjective Well-Being
Bureau 2012). The progress in tertiary education
for both the United States and Canada is truly Just how satisfied and happy are Canadians and
remarkable. In Canada, tertiary school enroll- Americans? Numerous studies have compared
ment increased from 9.7 % in 1960 to 84.8 % in well-being with rankings of life satisfaction or
2013–2014 (Fig. 9.14). Similarly, in the United happiness for countries, states and provinces, cit-
States, tertiary education increased from 25.5 % ies, and towns. These studies indicate how we are

120

100
Gross Secondary Enrollment Rate

80

60

40

20

0
1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2014
Canada United States Regional Average

Fig. 9.13 Gross secondary school enrollment in the gross enrollment ratio can exceed 100 % due to the inclu-
United States and Canada since 1960. Percentage second- sion of over-aged and under-aged students because of
ary school enrollment = gross enrollment ratio, secondary, early or late school entrance and grade repetition. (Data
all programs. Total is the total enrollment in secondary from National Center for Education Statistics 2013;
education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of Statistics Canada n.d., 1960; World Bank 2014c)
the population of official secondary education age. The
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 275

100

90

80
Gross Terary Enrollment Rate

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2014
Canada United States Regional Average

Fig. 9.14  Gross tertiary school enrollment in the United tion of the 5-year-old age group that continues their
States and Canada since 1960. Percentage tertiary school education after leaving secondary school. (Data from
enrollment = gross enrollment ratio. Total is the total National Center for Education Statistics 2013; Statistics
enrollment in tertiary education (ISCED 5 and 6), regard- Canada 1960; World Bank 2014c)
less of age, expressed as a percentage of the total popula-

faring, both within our area and in relation to oth- tionship thereof to trends in family income, find-
ers. Numerous rankings and data are available for ing that the average happiness of Americans,
looking at well-being at the country level. One measured on a three-point scale corresponding to
that has gained considerable attention is the the three possible responses to the GSS happi-
World Happiness Report 2012 and 2013 ness question (not too happy = 1, pretty happy =
(Helliwell et al. 2013). This report ranked Canada 2, and very happy = 3) has oscillated from about
#6 in the world, whereas the United States was 2.1 to 2.26—in other words, just above pretty
#17. Just looking at these rankings implies that happy but not very happy. They also studied the
“money cannot buy happiness,” given that both relationship between trends in median household
are among the wealthiest countries on earth. income and the GSS average happiness levels,
There are many other reasons why happiness in finding that short-term increases (decreases) in
the United States is not at the highest level among median household income associated with peri-
countries of the world (and less so in Canada), ods of economic expansion (contraction) were
some related to health, others related to reflected in short-term increases (decreases) in
relationships. average happiness (Firebaugh and Tach 2012).
Since 1972, the General Social Survey (GSS), Although these analyses pertain to the United
which is conducted periodically in the United States, similar relationships hold for Canada,
States by the National Opinion Research Center, with the proviso that, as noted in Helliwell et al.
has included the following question: “Taken alto- (2013), the average happiness levels in popula-
gether, how would you say things are these tion surveys in Canada were higher than those in
days—would you say that you are very happy, the United States.
pretty happy, or not too happy?” Firebaugh and We also examined the survey data from the
Tach (2012) analyzed trends over time in the GSS World Values Survey (World Values Survey
data on responses to this question and the rela- Association 2015). People in both the United
276 R.J. Estes et al.

States and Canada have responded to large-scale want, what relevant others have, or what they
surveys (e.g., the World Values Survey) over the think they deserve or need or expected to have
last 30 years or so. The life satisfaction survey than they are by standard sets of demographic
item is as follows: “All things considered, how statistics (Michalos 1985). In large international
satisfied are you with your life as a whole these studies like that of Helliwell et al. (2013), such
days? Using this card on which 1 means you are determinants are simply not considered. Although
“completely dissatisfied” and 10 means you are we are fortunate that more research is being done
“completely satisfied” where would you put your on well-being than ever before, unfortunately,
satisfaction with your life as a whole?” some of the most powerful drivers of self-reported
On the average, the mean life satisfaction well-being are being neglected.
scores for people in Canada seem to hover around
7.8, whereas the average score in the United
States is slightly lower (around 7.5). These scores 9.5 Well-Being in Canada
indicate that both countries seem to have a strong
sense of well-being. In other words, the vast Canada was founded in 1867 as a parliamentary
majority of people residing in both countries democracy, a federation, and a constitutional
seem to be happy with life overall. The average monarchy and as a self-governing dominion with
scores in both countries seem to be remarkably strong ties to Great Britain, from which most of
stable—that is, the averages do not fluctuate from the country’s earliest settlors originated (Garciá
one year to the next. The stability of life satisfac- 2006). The country’s name is derived from the St.
tion scores at the national level has been widely Lawrence Iroquoian word “kanata” meaning vil-
documented across many countries. For example, lage or settlement. Canada is officially, though
a visit to the OECD Web site related to the OECD less functionally, bilingual (English and French)
Better Life Index (OECD 2014a) to examine the and is headed by Queen Elizabeth of the United
life satisfaction scores across countries over time Kingdom. The queen is represented in the daily
shows a remarkable stability over time. This phe- administration of the country’s affairs by a
nomenon has also been examined and widely Governor General, a cabinet, and an elected par-
debated, and the consensus seems to be that, liament. The country’s formal constitution is rel-
unless a country goes through periods of intense atively modern in origin, with the governance of
civil strife and conflict, life satisfaction scores the country based primarily on unwritten and
remain fairly stable over time (see Easterlin and written acts, customs, judicial decisions, and tra-
Angelescu 2011 and Cummins et al. 2011 for a ditions dating from 1763. The written part of the
discussion of this phenomenon). constitution consists of the Constitution Act of 29
As one might expect, researchers are much March 1867, which created a federation of four
better at collecting data on how people feel about provinces, and the Constitution Act of 17 April
their lives than they are at explaining why. Using 1982. Several amendments to the 1982
demographic indicators such as age, gender, eth- Constitution Act have been made, with the most
nicity, race, marital status, employment status, recent one introduced in 2011.
educational attainment, and income, researchers
are usually able to explain about 25 % or less of
the variation in people’s reported happiness or 9.5.1 Sociocultural Characteristics
life satisfaction (Helliwell et al. 2013). That of Canada
leaves a whopping 75 % or more typically unex-
plained. Hundreds of studies show that people’s The cultural mix of Canada is highly diverse
evaluations of their lives or of specific aspects of (CIA 2015; Day 2000). Based on estimates con-
their lives (e.g., job satisfaction, marital satisfac- structed in 2011 (CIA 2014), the country’s pre-
tion) are determined more by perceived discrep- dominant ethnic groups include Canadian (of
ancies between what they have and what they multigenerational origin), 32.2 %; English,
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 277

19.8 %; French, 15.5 %; Scottish, 14.4 %; Irish, prominent Canadians and, sometimes, to others.
13.8 %; and others (4.3 %). Canada’s most com- Not surprisingly, Canadian universities are
monly spoken languages are English (official), ranked among the top-tier institutions of higher
58.7 %; French (official), 22.0 %; and “others” learning worldwide and each year attract growing
that are mostly spoken at home (19.3 %) (CIA numbers of graduate students from countries as
2015). The country’s dominant religions are diverse as India, China, Pakistan, South Korea,
Catholicism, 40.6 % (includes Roman the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden,
Catholicism, 38.8 %; Orthodox Catholicism, and Australia.
1.6 %; other Catholicism, 0.2 %); Protestant,
20.3 % (includes United Church of Christ, 6.1 %;
Anglican, 5.0 %; Baptist, 1.9 %; Lutheran, 1.5 %; 9.5.3 Status of Women in Canada
Pentecostal, 1.5 %; Presbyterian, 1.4 %; “other”
Protestant, 2.9 %); “other” Christian, 6.3 %; and It is generally considered that women in Canada
others (32.8 %). fare reasonably well, with education, health, and
other indicators comparing favorably across the
world as well as to the United States. Although
9.5.2 Social and  Technical numerous issues remain, including the large
Accomplishments in Canada wage gap between women and men, Canada has
a rich history of addressing women’s rights and
Canada, like the United States, is widely recog- issues, beginning with the establishment of the
nized for welcoming new immigrants. The pro- Royal Commission on the Status of Women in
motion of social harmony among its diverse 1967. Their 1970 Report of the Royal Commission
population also is a major characteristic. Of on the Status of Women in Canada focused on
importance, too, is the fact that Canada is recog- recommendations to update the country’s legisla-
nized globally for its high levels of scientific and tive system and to tackle issues related to family
technological innovation especially in physics, law and representation for women. This commis-
chemistry, and medicine. Canadians, for exam- sion later led to a department of the federal gov-
ple, have received a dozen Nobel prizes since ernment, Status of Women Canada.
1901 for pioneering work in each of these fields: The current focus of Status of Women Canada
Sidney Altman, Chemistry 1989, for catalytic is to “achieve the full participation of women in
RNA; Sir Frederick Banting, Medicine 1923, for the economic, social, and democratic life of
discovering insulin; Willard Boyle, Physics 2009, Canada. Funding is provided to eligible organiza-
for discovering the charge-coupled device; tions in support of projects at the local, regional
Bertram Brockhouse, Physics 1994, for con- and national levels that address the following
densed matter; Gerhard Herzberg, Chemistry three priority areas:
1971, for molecular spectroscopy; David Hubel,
Medicine 1981, for mapping the visual cortex; • Ending violence against women and girls
Rudolph Marcus, Chemistry 1992, for electron • Improving women’s and girls’ economic secu-
transfer reactions (e.g., rust); John Polanyi, rity and prosperity
Chemistry 1986, for chemiluminescence; • Encouraging women and girls in leadership
Michael Smith, Chemistry 1993, for site-based and decision-making roles” (Status of Women
mutagenesis; Jack Szostak, Medicine 2009, for Canada 2014).
discovery of how telomeres work; Henry Taube,
Chemistry 1983, for electron transfer reactions; Twenty-five years after the 1970 report, Status
and Richard Taylor, Physics 1990, for verifying of Women Canada released the 1995 Beijing
the quark theory. Platform for Action for the United Nations Fourth
Canada also has its own systems of awards World Conference on Women. Fourteen indica-
and prizes that are given at regular intervals to tors were used in both reports, allowing us to
278 R.J. Estes et al.

make direct comparisons at two points in time. high among young people in these communities
All things considered, those indicators provided and far exceed those reported for other age
more evidence of improvement than of deteriora- groups, particularly among girls (Weeks 2015).
tion toward gender equality from 1970 to 1995. In the 2006 census, 1,172,790 (about 4 % of
Notable examples of improvements included the the total population of Canada) “identified them-
number of men and women attending school, selves as an aboriginal person”: 60 % were First
women as a percentage of full-time university Nations people; 33 %, Métis; and 4 %, Inuit.
enrollees, and the ratios of poverty rates of About 3 % had other aboriginal identities. On
women to men. Examples of areas of deteriora- average, the aboriginal population was and still is
tion included gender equality indexes for job younger than the nonaboriginal population.
training, total sexual assault rates, and ratio of Forty-three percent of First Nations people lived
supply to demand for childcare spaces. on reserves (Statistics Canada 2013a: 4).
From the Canadian Community Health
Surveys (Statistics Canada 2013a) samples of
9.5.4 Canadian Aboriginal Peoples surveys of aboriginal people 12 years of age and
older, not living on reserves, we learned that,
In 2011, 81 % of Canadians lived in urban areas, from 2007 to 2010, all three groups self-reported
and 19 % resided in rural areas. In general, it is poorer health than the nonaboriginal population,
not uncommon for people living in rural areas to with 50 % of the First Nations people, 54 % of
have more health problems, fewer governmental the Métis, and 55 % of the Inuit (55 %) claiming
services, higher mortality rates, lower incomes, “very good” or “‘excellent health” compared to
and lower levels of education; these issues may 63 % of the nonaboriginal population. Fifty-six
be more pronounced for aboriginal peoples. percent of First Nations people and 48 % of the
However, the 2011 National Household Survey nonaboriginal population “reported being diag-
showed a shift from rural to urban areas, with nosed with one or more chronic conditions.” “All
56 % of aboriginal people living in Canada’s three groups had higher rates of asthma,”
urban areas. Aboriginal peoples living in urban 13–14 % compared to 9 % of the nonaboriginal
areas face a number of issues, including poverty population. All three groups had “higher rates of
and income rates lower than those for the overall daily smoking,” with First Nations people, 32 %;
population. In both small and large metropolitan Métis, 30 %; and Inuit, 39 %, compared to 15 %
areas, aboriginal people experienced rates of for the nonaboriginal population. All three groups
unemployment greater than nonaboriginal people had higher rates of heavy drinking, with First
and the percentage of children living in low-­ Nations people, 26 %; Métis, 27 %; and Inuit,
income households was more than twice that of 26 %, compared to 19 % of the nonaboriginal
children of other urban dwellers (Government of population. All three groups had higher obesity
Canada 2010).1 Also, suicide rates are especially rates: First Nations people, 25 %; Métis, 22 %;
and Inuit, 26 %, compared to 16 % for the nona-
boriginal population. For First Nations people 45
The first national Aboriginal Peoples Survey, conducted
1 

by Statistics Canada in 1991, was so useful to researchers

years and older, 19 % had diabetes compared to
for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996) 11 % of the nonaboriginal population.
that they requested further studies. A second survey was Notwithstanding their relatively much poorer
undertaken in 2001, and a third, after the 2006 census, health, 92 % of Inuit, 89 % of First Nations peo-
after which the survey was conducted every 5 years. We
review the fourth survey, undertaken in 2012. The aim of
ple, and 90 % of Métis reported that they were
all these surveys is to provide “key statistics to inform satisfied with life as a whole compared to 93 % of
policy and programming activities aimed at improving the the nonaboriginal population.
well-being of Aboriginal Peoples.” In particular, the pur- From the Aboriginal Peoples Survey 2012, we
pose “is to identify the needs of Aboriginal people and
focus on issues such as education, employment, health,
can create a rough profile of the educational and
language, income, housing and mobility” (Statistics employment experiences of sampled aboriginal
Canada 2012a: 1). people for each of the three groups. We limited our
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 279

review to a selection of indicators for First Nations reserve Registered Indians, they found that the
people living off reserve. Seventy-two percent of latter had better scores than the former through-
First Nations people living off reserve, 42 % of out the period 1981–2001, although the gap
Inuit, and 77 % of Métis, ages 18–44 years, had “a between the two groups decreased from the
high school diploma or equivalent (completers)” beginning to the end of the period.
compared to 89 % of the nonaboriginal popula- Cooke et al. (2007) again applied a modified
tion. Twenty-eight percent of First Nations people, version of the HDI in an altered form to aborigi-
58 % of Inuit, and 23 % of Métis in this age group nal peoples in Australia, Canada, New Zealand,
“were not attending high school and had not met and the United States for the period 1990–2000.
the requirements for a high school diploma (leav- To nobody’s surprise, they immediately found
ers)” compared to 11 % of the nonaboriginal pop- that in all four countries “minority Indigenous
ulation. Forty-three percent of First Nations people populations” had “much poorer health and social
in this age group, 26 % of Inuit, and 47 % of Métis conditions than their non-Indigenous compatri-
had “a post-secondary qualification; that is, a cer- ots.” Comparisons of the overall HDI scores
tificate, diploma or degree above the high school showed that over the decade, the gap decreased
level” compared to 64 % of the nonaboriginal the most for United States nonaboriginal peoples
population (Statistics Canada 2013b: 6). versus American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Cooke et al. (2004) claimed that “there has not Australia had the worst performance, with the
been a systematic attempt to describe the changes gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
in the relative well-being of Aboriginal people scores versus Australia non-Aboriginal scores
and other Canadians in a single, easily under- increasing. The gaps for Canadian nonaboriginal
stood set of indicators.” Following up an earlier versus Canadian aboriginal and for New Zealand
study by Beavon and Cooke (2003), they calcu- nonaboriginal and Māori decreased approxi-
lated a modified version of the United Nations mately the same amount.
HDI (UNDP 1996) to address this problem for
the five census years 1981–2001. They compared
the Registered Indian population according to the 9.6  ell-Being in the United
W
Canadian Indian Act of 1976 with all Canadians States
who were not registered. The division is rough
because many First Nations peoples, Inuit, and The United States was established in 1776 when
Métis are not registered and therefore are 13 colonies of Great Britain declared their inde-
included in the general population. The results of pendence. Independence did not come easily to
these authors’ analyses revealed that, whereas the country. Wars followed, and many of the resi-
Registered Indians and other Canadians improved dents who self-identified as “British” chose to
their conditions in the period 1981–2001, gains leave the newly independent territories (or states),
were greater for the former population. However, as they were eventually called. Over time, how-
registered Indians made greater gains in life ever, the original 13 former colonies became sta-
expectancy and education than in average bilized, and more immigrants flowed into their
income. Within the class of Registered Indians, territories. In 1789, the country ratified what was
the overall HDI scores for women increased more then a highly contentious Constitution (1789)
than the scores for men, driven mainly by the and accompanying Bill of Rights that severely
stronger educational performance of women. The limited the role of government in the lives of indi-
gender gap in earnings for men and women was vidual people. The opening paragraph of the
reduced, though the men still had higher incomes Constitution emphasized the foundational com-
than the women throughout the period. mitment of the country to the promotion of well-­
Comparing the development of on- and off-­ being of all her residents and citizens.
280 R.J. Estes et al.

We the People of the United States, in Order to 9.6.1 S

 ocial and Demographic
form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the com-
Characteristics of the United
mon defence, promote the general Welfare, and States
secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and
our Posterity, do ordain and establish this As of 2014, the United States had a combined
Constitution for the United States of America.
population of nearly 320 million people, of which
more than a third were under the age of 25 years.
Though flawed in many important respects, The country’s major racial and ethnic groups are
especially concerning the status of women and Whites, 80.0 %; Blacks, 12.9 %; and others,
slaves (Goldstone 2005), the Constitution proved 7.1 %. The primary languages spoken are
to be an effective instrument of unification with English, 79.2 %; Spanish, 12.9 %; and others,
the result that, during the nineteenth and twenti- 7.9 %, which are mostly spoken at home (2011
eth centuries, an additional 37 states joined the estimate). The primary religions practiced in the
union. Those new members of the union, how- United States are varied, albeit most U.S. resi-
ever, joined the country either through a series of dents identify themselves as Christian (78.0 %):
protracted internal or intraregional wars (War of Protestant, 51.3 %; Roman Catholic, 23.9 %; and
1812, Mexican-American War, Spanish-­Mormon, 1.7 %. Non-Christians account for
American War) and land purchases made by the approximately 22.0 % of the total population
central government (e.g., the Louisiana Purchase (2007 estimates; CIA 2014).
of 1803, for which the United States paid France
a mere $11.3 million dollars and, peacefully,
doubled the size of the country). The American 9.6.2 Education and College
Civil War (1861–1865) severely threatened the Graduation in the United
country’s unity and resulted in the deaths of hun- States
dreds of thousands of Americans at the hands of
their fellow countrymen. Slavery was at the heart Approximately 85.2 % of the American high
of this conflict—a source of dissension that is school population graduate. Additionally, 22.2 %
still manifest in America’s continuing patterns of of the American population possess at least bach-
personal and institutional racism. Using his elor’s degrees. The numbers of persons with
authority as president, and through an Executive graduate degrees, including those with doctorates
Order,2 Abraham Lincoln signed the in medicine, science, technology, and the arts, are
Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, thereby increasing rapidly, especially among women.
forever ending slavery and the slave trade in the American music, art, dance, and culture in gen-
United States. Nonetheless, and with the sole eral are widely exported, and variations can be
exception of lingering divisions by race, the found in most countries. This remarkable pattern
United States has largely succeeded in integrat- of higher education, as well as groundbreaking
ing immigrants from throughout the world into a innovations in science and technology, are attrib-
commonwealth designed to advance the well-­ uted to a vigorous spirit of inquisitiveness, politi-
being of nearly all Americans. cal freedoms, and financial support for higher
education that pervades the society.

Presidential Executive Orders do not require the consent

2  9.6.3 I nnovations in Science
of the U.S. Congress to implement. However, an Executive and Technology in the United
Order can be easily rescinded by future presidents who do States
not agree with the intent or structure of the order. Thus,
such orders must be considered tentative only and, in
time, become the subject of Congressional debates and The advance of science and technology is one of
passage into laws if they are to remain permanent. the organizing principles on which the United
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 281

States was established. The country’s early and The cost to the United States of maintaining these
most original scientist was Benjamin Franklin, bases is extraordinary and is a source of consider-
who combined his interests in chemistry, physics, able consternation among both much of the
refractory science, and other areas of scientific American population and those of her allies who
inquiry with statesmanship and diplomacy. This are pursuing a less conflict-ridden world. The
approach was not regarded as unusual during the United States is also the world’s largest purchaser
early colonial period, and, indeed, people made and supplier of conventional and technical weap-
comparatively few distinctions between the many ons, many of which are sold to both sides of war-
areas of human activity in which people could ring groups (SIPRI 2014). Thus, despite their
involve themselves as long as the work in which early histories of comparative isolation in world
they were engaged was original and affairs, the United States and, reluctantly, Canada
contributive. are engaged in a range of extraregional and
Not surprisingly, and as of 2014, 340 national conflicts of which most of the world dis-
Americans or American organizations have been approves (List of ongoing armed conflicts 2015).
awarded 342 Noble Prizes for their contributions
to physiology or medicine (98), physics (88),
chemistry (67), economics (54), peace (22), and 9.6.5 Income Inequality
literature (11). Citizens of the country also regu- Within the United States
larly receive other global prizes and, in turn,
many are recognized by both public and private The generation of income and wealth, though
learned societies in the United States for their highly sensitive to market forces, is increasing
significant contributions to human knowledge steadily but so too are the numbers of persons
and understanding. officially classified as “poor” in the United States.
Generous levels of public support for innova- In the United States, this group increased from
tions in medicine, science, and technology also 11.3 % in 2000 to 14.5 % in 2014 (Gongloff
have made the many inventions and discoveries 2014; World Bank 2014d). In Canada, the per-
that originate in the United States possible— cent of people classified as “low income” after
ranging from the telephone to the Internet to tax dropped from 13.3 % in 1992 to 8.85 % in
identifying the causes of major diseases to inter- 2011 (Statistics Canada 2013c). In the United
stellar travel. Intergenerational transfers of funds States, this group increased from 11.3 % in 2000
plus private sources of support also are generous to 14.5 % in 2014 (Gongloff 2014; World Bank
but do not approach in dollar amounts the level of 2014d). One in five children in the United States
public support that is made available. lives in absolute poverty, the highest rate among
all economically advanced nations, which per-
sists despite America’s numerous public transfer
9.6.4 M
 ilitary and Defense programs, e.g., health and housing subsidies and
Expenditures Versus Social food stamps (Ingraham 2014). In Canada, in
Spending in the United States 2012, 19.1 % of children were classified as poor,
compared to 15.8 % in 1989 (Ogrodnik 2014).
Americans are involved in nearly every major Further, public and private cash and service trans-
world conflict. The country maintains 750 mili- fer programs have not been able to keep up with
tary bases outside of its borders with a combined the rapid increase in the numbers of children and
force in excess of 200,000 uniformed military youth. The extraordinary expenditures allocated
personnel and another 100,000 civilian workers to the decade-long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
(Johnson 2007). These figures exclude the even (SIPRI 2014), the increase in the already high
larger numbers of uniformed personnel stationed level of national debt, and the support of an
in the United States and the vast internal stores of extensive network of foreign military bases
conventional and nuclear weapons (SIPRI 2014). deprive the United States of resources needed to
282 R.J. Estes et al.

finance its social services and improvements to been made, although inequality is still pervasive.
its rapidly deteriorating physical and transporta- Both women and minorities are more likely to
tion infrastructures and its stocks of public hous- live in poverty than the majority of men, with
ing (United States Office of Management and the female-headed families having the lowest earn-
Budget 2015). The same pattern is continuing ings among all family types. For example,
into 2016, even as the level of the country’s African American women earn 64 cents for every
national debt continues to increase and the qual- dollar that White men earn (American Association
ity of its human services steadily declines for all of University Women 2015).
but the most advantaged in society, e.g., more Given their long history of inequality and rela-
favorable tax rates, favorable access to credit, and tive isolation, Native Americans have not fared
stores of private investment. well in comparison to the overall population or in
Wealth distribution in the United States has comparison to other racial and minority groups.
historically been inequitable, but in 2015, it The 2010 U.S Bureau of the Census reported that
reached its highest levels of inequality since the 5.2 million people identified as Native American
Great Recession (average 2010 Gini coefficients or Alaska Native, either alone or in combination
= 33.7 and 41.1 for Canada and the United States, with other races. Native Americans in the United
respectively). Even so, employment levels are States, including Alaska Natives, encounter sub-
comparatively high in both countries, well above stantial difficulties in well-being across eco-
94 % of all working age adults, even though the nomic, social, health, and environmental
percentage of long-term unemployed persons indicators. Compared with the experiences of the
continues to increase, i.e., 20.3 % and 1.9 % for total population of the United States, they experi-
Canada and the United States, respectively (Grant ence poorer health, lower earnings, and higher
2014; World Bank 2015b). This latter phenome- poverty rates (Smith-Kaprosy et al. 2012). The
non is attributed primarily to the aging of the American Community Survey, conducted annu-
region’s workforce, the high salaries older work- ally, shows that in 2013, median household
ers expect relative to younger workers, and the income for Native Americans and Alaska Natives
introduction of advanced commercial technolo- was 70 % of the national average. In the past,
gies for which many long-term unemployed Native Americans predominately resided on res-
workers have had little or no training. In both ervations, most typically in isolated rural areas.
Canada and the United States, the need for poorly Over the last 30 years, many in this population
educated, unskilled, and non-English speaking group have moved to urban areas, so that as of
workers is rapidly declining and, as predicted as 2010, seven out of ten Native Americans resided
early as 1984, will likely continue to drop as a in metropolitan areas (United States Census
result of the increasing mechanization and com- Bureau 2010). This trend is a significant change
puterization of most forms of production (Tofler from the past: In 1940, 8 % of this population
1984). group lived in urban areas; by 1970, this percent-
age had increased to 45 %. A large proportion of
urban Native Americans “live in or near poverty
9.6.6 The Well-Being and thus faces multiple barriers to obtaining care;
of Disadvantaged Population half of all non-elderly American Indians and
Groups in the United States Alaska Natives are poor or near-poor, with family
incomes below 200 % of the federal poverty
Ethnic and racial minorities, women, and chil- level” (Urban Indian Health Commission
dren in the United States tend to fare less well 2007: 1).
than men. For example, income inequality and As historical data such as the Current
educational gaps have long existed between the Population Survey show, women have made
genders and continue to the present (DeSilver progress in the labor force over the last five
2013). Over the last 50 years, much progress has decades. These data, gathered by the U.S. Census
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 283

Bureau, include indicators such as income dis- House report did include overall poverty rates,
parity and absolute income. However, there are examining these rates by racial minority by state
many other dimensions to consider in well-being. is more illuminating. In the Deep South, poverty
Although research on wage inequality and family rates for African American and Hispanic women
income distribution has been plentiful—the focus are nearly double the overall national rates for
of much research over this time period—less women in poverty. The situation on leadership
attention has been paid to the implications of varies widely as well, with 15 states having no
these trends for the well-being of women (Blau female elected leaders in the U.S. House of
1998). More comprehensive indicators are Representatives or Senate (Chu and Posner 2013:
needed to more fully gauge well-being. The first 22). The report grades each state, on a scale of A
attempt by the U.S. government to gauge well-­ to F, on all 36 indicators. Tables 9.1 and 9.2 pro-
being using a range of indicators took place in vide a look at the top five states versus the bottom
2011 with the release of Women in America, five.
Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being. The American Human Development Index
This effort, prompted by the White House (AHDI) provides a range of national and regional
Council on Women and Girls, gauged 40 factors comparisons presented by Measure of America, a
across the categories of (1) people, families, and nonpartisan project of the Social Science
income; (2) education; (3) employment; (4) Research Council. Their focus is to provide
health; and (5) crime (White House Council on accessible data with sound methodology for pro-
Women and Girls 2011).3 moting discussion of well-being in the United
A useful analysis involves Chu and Posner’s States. The index builds on the HDI. It filters data
(2013) work on the examination of differences in through the lenses of place, race, and gender.
the indicators among states, where the data reveal Indicators are calibrated on the topics of physical
wide variations, having important implications safety, political participation, sustainable envi-
for well-being assessments. Examples include ronment, respect of others, digital access, self-­
wide variation in income, with women in expression, religious freedom, equality before
California earning close to 85 cents for every dol-
lar a man makes, whereas women in Wyoming
earn far less at only 64 cents. Although the White Table 9.1  Legal immigration to the United States, 1820–
2014. (United States Department of Homeland Security
2014a)
The mission of the council, created in 2009 by President
3 
Modal year Number Population (%)
Obama, is to foster a “coordinated Federal response to the 1820 8385 8.7
challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure
that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how 1840 84,066 4.9
their policies and programs impact women and families” 1860 153,640 4.9
(White House Council on Women and Girls 2011: iii). 1880 457,257 9.1
This report, for the first time in U.S. government history, 1900 448,572 6.0
compiled information across federal statistical agencies to
1920 430,001 4.1
establish baseline information on women. Some of the
factors gauged status over 40 years, others used more 1940 70,756 0.1
recent time frames. Using a set of 36 indicators in the 1960 265,398 1.5
areas of economic security, leadership, and health, the 1980 524,295 2.3
Center for American Progress (a nonpartisan nonprofit 2000 841,002 3.0
organization founded in 2003) produced a report by Chu
2010 1,042,626 3.4
and Posner in 2013. This report, The State of Women in
America: A 50-State Analysis of How Women Are Faring 2014 990,583 3.1
Across the Nation, presented far more in-depth data about The figures summarized in this table exclude the more
“well-being” than the typical indicators expected from the than 11–12 million illegal immigrants that entered the
White House report. This document includes data gath- United States after 2000 (United States Department of
ered from federal sources, just as with the other report, yet Homeland Security 2014a). Though substantially fewer in
goes beyond it to look at indicators such as access to con- number, illegal immigration to Canada also is high and
traceptives, paid family leave, and minority women in may outnumber those admitted legally. (Statistics Canada
public office. 2014)
284 R.J. Estes et al.

Table 9.2  Comparison of women’s status in the United Table 9.3  American human development index: exami-
States by top and bottom five states. (Center for American nation of changes in life expectancy and earnings from
Progress Action Fund 2015) 2000 to 2010 between racial and ethnic groups. (Data
from Lewis and Burds-Sharps 2014)
Top fivea
1. Maryland Change in life Changes in
2. Hawaii expectancy Race/ethnic group earnings
3. Vermont +1.9 years United States −$2185
4. California No change Native Americans −$1613
5. Delaware +1.4 years Whites −$2281
Bottom fivea +2.1 years Asian Americans +$1149
46. Mississippi +2.4 years Latinos −$1411
47. Alabama +2.9 years African −$1871
48. Oklahoma Americans
49. Utah
50. Louisiana
a
Analysis based on 34 factors: wage gap (overall wage Table 9.3 reports changes from 2000 to
gap, African American wage gap, and Hispanic wage 2010 in the life expectancy and income statistics
gap); minimum wage (minimum wage impact); women in of the AHDI for the total United States popula-
poverty (poverty rate, African American poverty rate,
tion and five race/ethnic subpopulations. The
Hispanic poverty rate, Asian American poverty rate, and
Native American poverty rate); paid family and medical report provides analyses of minority groups on
leave policies (paid family leave, temporary disability health, education, and income. The researchers
insurance, and paid sick leave); early childhood education reported the following:
(access to and spending on early childhood education);
women’s leadership in public office (Congress, executive
statewide offices, state legislature, and minority women • Asian Americans are better off than other
officeholders); women’s leadership at work (management race/ethnic groups in terms of health, educa-
gap, African American management gap, Hispanic man- tion, and income.
agement gap, Asian American management gap, and
• Latinos score high on life expectancy; they
Native American management gap); Implementation of
Affordable Care Act protections (overall uninsured, have the second longest life span, outliving
African American uninsured, Hispanic uninsured, and Whites, on average, by nearly 4 years.
Medicaid expansion); access to reproductive health ser- • African Americans, although not as healthy,
vices; ensuring healthy pregnancy and delivery
have higher educational outcomes and earn-
ings than Latinos and Native Americans.
the law, voice and autonomy, and family and • Progress in health was fastest among African
community. Various elements within the AHDI Americans over the last decade—an increase
that focus on underrepresented populations pro- of nearly 3 years in life expectancy.
vide a deeper understanding of conditions • Native Americans were the only group whose
impacting well-being. Findings by Lewis and life expectancy did not increase over the last
Burds-Sharps (2014), the authors of the 2013– decade.
2014 report of the AHDI, include the following:
Another population group deserves attention
1. The top-scoring racial/ethnic group on the for measuring well-being: children. In many
AHDI is Asian Americans (7.21), followed by ways, because they cannot be advocates for them-
Whites (5.43), Latinos (4.05), African selves, children are the most vulnerable group.4
Americans (3.81), and Native Americans (3.55).
2. Latinos outlive Whites by an average of 4
In the United States, several indicator sets are used for
4 
years, with the second longest life span. assessing well-being. These include Kids Count, by the
3. African Americans have the shortest life span; Annie Casey Foundation, which provides comprehensive
their educational outcomes and earnings are data at the state, regional, and local levels. The data center
maintains statistics and other information on the educa-
higher than those of Latinos and Native
tional, social, economic, and physical well-being of chil-
Americans (Lewis and Burds-Sharps 2014: 4). dren across hundreds of indicators, including those
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 285

104

102

100
Percent of Base Year

98

96

94

92

90
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Fig. 9.15  Child well-being index, 1975–2013

These national and state-level data sets, Figure 9.15 shows historical changes in the
together with other related data series, have national CWI for the years 1975–2013. As the
formed the basis for research on the composite figure shows, this measure of trends in U.S. child
United States Child and Youth Well-Being Index and youth well-being went into a long recession
(CWI) developed by Land (1983, 2012, 2014) from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s; this reces-
and Land and associates (Land et al. 2012).5 sion was largely associated with changes in the
structures of American families (toward more
examining the impacts of poverty and race on child out- single parenting and increased participation of
comes (Annie E. Casey Foundation 2014). The Kids women in the labor force). From 2000 to 2003, it
Count Data Book, released each year, ranks states on 16
indicators or measures of child well-being and discusses
recovered to, or slightly above, 1975 levels. This
trends. The U.S. government conducts research on condi- recovery was largely associated with cohort
tions impacting children. The Federal Interagency Forum changes in parenting (toward more “helicopter
on Child and Family Statistics (2014) produces an annual parenting” styles in reaction to the recession of
report, America’s Children: Key National Indicators of
Well-Being. Children, ages 0–17, account for about one
the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s and the adapta-
quarter of the United States population, with 22 % living tion of childcare institutions to the noted changes
in poverty. Seven domains are tracked to characterize the in family structures, e.g., after-school daycare
well-being of children: family and social environment; programs for working parents. The recession was
economic circumstances; health care; physical environ-
ment and safety; behavior; education; and health. Much of
followed by twenty-first century fluctuations
the data tabulated in the indicators include race and eth- associated with economic cycles—a short reces-
nicity. Indicators range from standard types, such as the sion in 2002–2003, a recovery in 2004–2007, a
number of children living in single-parent households, to decline associated with the Great Recession of
more specific types such as adolescent birth rates and the
location of children in counties experiencing air quality
2008–2009, and a slow recovery in 2010–2012.
issues.
The basic national CWI is an index composed from 28
5 

key indicators of child and youth well-being in the United tional well-being. The objective of the national CWI is to
States grouped into seven domains of well-being that have measure annual changes (improvements or deterioration)
been identified in prior research on subjective well-being: in well-being for America’s children ages 0 to 18 relative
family economic well-being, safe/risky behavior, health, to the values of its key indicators in a base year such as
social relationships, community engagement, and emo- 1975 (Land 2014).
286 R.J. Estes et al.

Fig. 9.16  U.S. state-level Child and Youth Well-Being Index, 2007, by quartiles. (O’Hare et al. (2013). © Springer
Science+Business Media 2012, with permission of Springer)

Originally formulated at the national level, the cation and support services, and these states have
CWI, in cooperation with the Kids Count project higher levels of child well-being on average. A
cited above, has recently been calculated at the key finding of the study, which is consistent with
state level for each of the 50 states (O’Hare et al. findings from many other studies, shows that
2013) and for metropolitan areas/regions within when children are situated in environments with
the states (Lee et al. 2009). Figure 9.16 contains a more resources they do better. Resources may be
map of the state-level CWIs grouped by quartiles private, such as family income, wealth, and paren-
from the highest to the lowest. Statistical analyses tal education, or public, such as welfare benefits,
by O’Hare et al. (2013) found that several factors health insurance, or school expenditures.
are associated with state differences in child well-
being, including state economic characteristics,
demographic composition, human capital, and 9.7 Cross-Country Comparisons
state policy measures. The human capital factors of Well-Being of
most highly correlated with child well-being are Disadvantaged Groups
characteristics of adults including levels of educa- in Canada and the United
tion and health insurance coverage as well as lev- States
els of disability—all indicative of activities and
investments that increase resources in people. The The United Nation’s HDI is the most comprehen-
economic factors most highly correlated with sive set of indicators and data regarding overall
overall child well-being include employment, well-being at the country level. These reports
income, and wealth. The policy measures that are provide rankings of countries by overall as well
most highly correlated with child well-being are as by some disaggregated data. Of the latter, it is
the state and local tax rates. States that have higher particularly useful to consider the inequality-­
tax rates are also more generous in providing edu- adjusted HDI as well as the gender inequality
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 287

index. The United States ranks third in the overall Canada is performing better than the United
HDI category (with a score of 93 %), and Canada States with respect to the well-being of women
ranks #11 with a score of 91 % (UNDP 2014). and children.
When adjusted for inequality, the overall scores Of special note is the fact that the social chal-
drop—for the United States it falls from 94 % to lenges confronting the United States in particular
82 %, a significant 12 percentage point decrease. have proven to be formidable in that only a com-
For Canada, the score drops 9 percentage points, paratively small number of racial minorities have
from 91 % to 83 %. The calculations for the gen- advanced to the country’s dwindling middle class
der inequality index are different, with higher (Sullivan et al. 2001). Fewer still are in positions
percentages indicating more loss in achievement of national and international leadership as heads
for women and girls. Canada fares better on this of major corporations, albeit that pattern is
count, with a global rank of 18 and a loss of 11 changing in response to the civil rights move-
percentage points versus the United States’ fall to ments of the 1960s, 1970s, and, more recently,
42nd place with a loss of 25 percentage points. the 1980s and 1990s (Black Profiles 2015). Less
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) pernicious forms of economic inequality charac-
issues the Innocenti Report Card periodically. As terize Canada, but it, too, continues to struggle
described, the need for nations to commit to child with a wide range of social issues affecting its
well-being is “compelling both in principle and racial minorities, women, and its aboriginal pop-
in practice [and to] fulfill that commitment, mea- ulation (Reynolds 2015).
suring progress in protecting and promoting the
well-being of children is essential to policy-­
making, to advocacy, to the cost-effective alloca- 9.8 Contemporary Well-Being
tion of limited resources, and to the processes of Themes in North America:
transparency and accountability” (UNICEF Post World War II
Office of Research 2014: 11).
Five dimensions of well-being of children The history of immigration, innovation, and tech-
were considered: material well-being, health and nological advances, combined with the shattering
safety, housing and environment, behaviors and inequities of slavery in the United States (and
risks, and education. A total of 26 indicators were continuing long after slavery was abolished) and
included. These indicators were combined to of the domination of indigenous populations,
rank the 29 countries with an overall well-being provides insight into how people perceive well-­
index as well as to rank the countries in each of being. Immigration alone has had a major impact
the five dimensions. The top five positions are on how both societies approach an understanding
held by the Scandinavian countries on all mea- of well-being. The migrants who settled in
sures, and the bottom five are held by Greece, the Canada and the United States in the wake of the
United States, Lithuania, Latvia, and Romania. chaos following the two great wars that origi-
Canada ranks 17 overall. This international com- nated in Europe have likewise had a major impact
parison is consistent with that of the analysis by on how societies perceive well-being and on the
Land et al. (2011) of the average ranks of five preference for policies to support it. Many chil-
Anglophone countries on 19 indicators of child dren of the Great Depression never fully recov-
and youth well-being, in which Canada was ered from that experience (an experience that
ranked first followed by Australia, the United permanently shaped the criteria they used to
States, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. assess their own well-being and helped shape the
Overall, the gender inequality index adjust- criteria of subsequent generations). Even more
ments of the HDI and the international compari- notable is the fact that the legacy of slavery is a
sons of child well-being indicators show that permanent feature of United States cultural life.
288 R.J. Estes et al.

Issues of inequity alongside that of opportunity ple in both countries is considered to be very high
continue to be of major concern. The fact that the compared to the world at large. The United States
income gap between the richest and poorest is continues to be the world’s leading economy in
widening has multifaceted implications for terms of both GDP overall and GDP per capita.
well-being. The health well-being of the people of North
Since World War II, the pace of growth accel- America continues to be highly favorable com-
erated and the population increased rapidly, pared to the vast majority of countries world-
which fed the need for new housing and broad-­ wide. Average life expectancy is high and
based social development. Policies were initiated continues to rise. The same can be said about
to create a commercial mortgage market, and the other health indicators such as infant and child
resulting housing boom did not abate until the mortality rates. The recent changes in the health-
global financial crisis originated in the United care system in the United States are likely to fur-
States in 2007 (United States Department of State ther improve the health well-being of Americans.
2015). Well-being became more focused on sur- Both countries are doing well with respect to
viving rather than on thriving as unemployment intellectual/educational well-being. Both coun-
rates soared and houses were foreclosed upon at tries are education magnets for many of the
astounding rates. At the time of this writing, the world’s citizens who seek high quality education,
United States is still the largest economy in the both at secondary schools and educational insti-
world, although forecasters say that China will tutions of higher learning.
surpass it at some point in the future. Economics North Americans self-assess their sense of
have dominated life in the United States, whereas subjective well-being at a very high level, as evi-
Canada has strived for a more egalitarian dent in results from the majority of World Values
society. Surveys since 1981 and in the more recently con-
Themes around the decline of the middle ducted Gallup Organization’s Happiness polls.
class, income inequities, and lack of opportunity Canadians and Americans tend to be happy in
and access to health care and other necessary general, with Canadians reporting a slightly
amenities of life have become more prominent. higher level of life satisfaction than residents of
At the same time, advances in technology con- the United States. Other indicators of intellectual
tinue to accelerate, and gains have been made on well-being show that both Americans and
a number of fronts. Concepts of well-being in Canadians, along with their counterparts in other
Canada and the United States are rooted in the economically advanced countries, are highly lit-
histories that continue to permeate our collective erate and well-educated compared to people from
lives. other developed countries. It is likely that further
innovations in educational systems in both coun-
tries will further elevate the quality of education,
9.9 Conclusion producing minds that will make Americans and
Canadians highly competitive in the ever-­
In summary, both Canada and the United States evolving world economy.
are, among the countries of the world, at the Although considerable progress has been
highest end of human development and quality of achieved over recent decades in attaining social,
life/well-being. With respect to the relative rank- political, and economic parity for women and
ings of these two countries, the outcome depends other minority groups, much more is needed to
on the specific indicators and indices that are decrease disparity in economic, health, and edu-
used. In general, however, Canada tends to rank cational well-being. We remain highly optimistic
ahead of the United States on a number of well-­ that the pace of social progress for these once dis-
being dimensions and indices, as indicated in the advantaged populations will continue to rise in
foregoing. The economic well-being of the peo- both countries.
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 289

Supplemental Tables

Supplemental Table 9.1 Demography
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Demography
REGION: North America (N = 2)
Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban
2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
Canada 17.9 25.9 34.0 35.5 2.3 0.9 1.1 1.1 69.1 76.0 81.0 82.0
United 180.7 237.9 309.3 318.9 1.7 0.9 0.8 0.7 70.0 74.0 81.0 81.0
States
Regional 99.3 131.9 171.7 177.2 2.0 0.9 1.0 0.9 69.5 75.0 81.0 81.5
average
Population: Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of
legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally
considered part of the population of their country of origin. The values shown are midyear estimates
% Population growth rate: Population growth (annual %) is the exponential rate of growth of the midyear population
from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage
% Urban: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated
using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects
a Statistics Canada, 1990; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 1990. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html; http://www.
census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html
b Statistics Canada, 1990; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 1990. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html; http://www.
census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html
c Statistics Canada, 2015; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 2015. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html; http://www.
census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html
d Statistics Canada, 2015; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 2015. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html; http://www.
census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html
e Statistics Canada, 1990; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 1990. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
f Statistics Canada, 1990; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 1990. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
g Statistics Canada, 2015; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 2015. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
h Statistics Canada, 2015; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 2015. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
i United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
j United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
k United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
l United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
290 R.J. Estes et al.

Supplemental Table 9.2 Education
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Education
REGION: North America (N = 2)
% Secondary school enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education
2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
Canada 66.4 98.7 102.3 111.2 NA 96.2 96.2 9.7 70.3 81.9 84.8
United 87.1 94.2 93.2 94.0 97.8 NA 95.7 95.7 25.5 58.2 93.3 89.1
States
Regional 76.8 96.4 97.8 102.6 97.8 NA 96.0 96.0 17.6 64.2 87.6 86.9
Average
% Secondary school enrollment: Gross enrollment ratio. Secondary. All programs. Total is the total enrollment in sec-
ondary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population of official secondary education age.
GER can exceed 100 % due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school
entrance and grade repetition
% Adult literacy: Adult (15+) literacy rate (%). Total is the percentage of the population age 15 and above who can, with
understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, “literacy” also encompasses
“numeracy,” the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of
literates aged 15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100
% Tertiary education: Gross enrollment ratio. Tertiary (ISCED 5 and 6). Total is the total enrollment in tertiary educa-
tion (ISCED 5 and 6), regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the total population of the five-year age group that
continues their education after leaving secondary school.
NA = not available a Historical Statistics of Canada: Section W: Education; National Center for Education Statistics,
Digest of Educational Statistics 2013. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-516-x/sectionw/4147445-eng.htm; https://nces.
ed.gov/programs/digest/current_tables.asp. Note: US value is for 1961
b UNESCO Institute for Statistics
c UNESCO Institute for Statistics
d UNESCO Institute for Statistics
e U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to
1970. http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/past_years.html; https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/?id=237#!5809.
Note: US adult literacy calculated from illiteracy; values are for ages 14+ instead of 15+; also value is from 1959
f NA
g Skills in Canada: First Results from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-555-x/89-555-x2013001-eng.htm. Note: US and CA values are for 2012
h Skills in Canada: First Results from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-555-x/89-555-x2013001-eng.htm. Note: used percent of people at or above level 1 as
literacy rate (not sure if this is the correct interpretation -- the data uses a newer model than older adult literacy
conceptions)
i Historical Statistics of Canada: Section W: Education; National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Educational
Statistics 2013. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-516-x/sectionw/4147445-eng.htm; https://nces.ed.gov/programs/
digest/current_tables.asp. Note: CA value is for 1967; definition used here may not be compatible (uses 18–24 instead
of 18–22); same is true for the US data point (age range, that is)
j UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. Note: CA value from 1986
k CANSIM Table 477–0019: Postsecondary enrollments, by registration status, Pan-Canadian Standard Classification
of Education (PCSCE), Classification of Instructional Programs, Primary Grouping (CIP_PG), sex and immigration
status; CANSIM Table 051–0001: Estimates of population, by age group and sex for July 1, Canada, provinces and
territories; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&id=4770019; http://data.
worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. Note: CA values computed by dividing postsecondary enrollment by 18–22
year old population
l CANSIM Table 477–0019: Postsecondary enrollments, by registration status, Pan-Canadian Standard Classification of
Education (PCSCE), Classification of Instructional Programs, Primary Grouping (CIP_PG), sex and immigration sta-
tus; CANSIM Table 051–0001: Estimates of population, by age group and sex for July 1, Canada, provinces and terri-
tories; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&id=4770019; http://data.
worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR
Supplemental Table 9.3 Health
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Health
REGION: North America (N = 2)
Avg. years life expectancy Infant <1/1K live born Child mortality <5/1K Maternal mortality rate TB incidence per 100k
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 14 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t
Canada 71.1 76.3 80.9 81.8 26.6 16.8 5.2 4.8 33.2 9.0 5.7 5.5 40.0 3.4 13.0 11.0 30.2 8.3 5.0 5.0
United 69.8 74.6 78.5 79.0 25.4 18.4 5.4 5.2 30.6 9.0 7.6 7.6 37.1 7.8 27.0 28.0 30.7 9.3 4.1 3.3
States
Regional 70.5 75.5 79.7 80.4 26.0 17.6 5.3 5.0 31.9 9.0 6.7 6.6 38.6 5.6 20.0 19.5 30.5 8.8 4.6 4.2
Average
Avg. years life expectancy: Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to
stay the same throughout its life
Infant <1/1K live born: Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1000 live births in a given year
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States

Child Mortality <5/1K: Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age 5, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the
specified year
Maternal mortality rate: Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per
100,000 live births. The data are estimated with a regression model using information on the proportion of maternal deaths among non-AIDS deaths in women ages 15–49, fertil-
ity, birth attendants, and GDP
TB incidence per 100K: Incidence of tuberculosis is the estimated number of new pulmonary, smear-positive, and extrapulmonary tuberculosis cases. Incidence includes patients
with HIV
a Statistics Canada, 1990; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 1990. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html; http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html
b Statistics Canada, 1990; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 1990. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html; http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html
c Statistics Canada, 2015; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 2015. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html; http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html
d Statistics Canada, 2015; U.S. Statistical Abstracts 2015. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html; http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html
e CIA World Factbook via Wikipedia,2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate
f CIA World Factbook via Wikipedia,2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate
g CIA World Factbook via Wikipedia,2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate
h CIA World Factbook via Wikipedia,2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate
i UNICEF. 2016. Child Survival, 2015. http://www.data.unicef.org/child-survival/under-five
j UNICEF. 2016 Child Survival, 2015. http://www.data.unicef.org/child-survival/under-five
k UNICEF. 2016. Child Survival, 2015. http://www.data.unicef.org/child-survival/under-five
l UNICEF. 2016. Child Survival, 2015. http://www.data.unicef.org/child-survival/under-five
m Historical Statistics of Canada: Section B: Vital Statistics; Vital Statistics of the United States, 1960. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-516-x/sectionb/4147437-eng.htm; http://
www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/vsus/vsus_1939_1964.htm
(continued)
291
Supplemental Table 9.3 (continued)
292

n Canadian Perinatal Health Report, 2008; Vital Statistics of the United States, 1985. http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/2008/cphr-rspc/index-eng.php; http://www.cdc.gov/
nchs/products/vsus/vsus_1980_2003.htm
o World Health Organization, Maternal mortality ratio. http://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.1390?lang=en. Note: not sure if this is cited correctly. I could not find a suggested
citation on the page with the data.
p World Health Organization, Maternal mortality ratio. http://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.1390?lang=en
q Davies, J. W. (1967). Epidemics of Tuberculosis in Canada in the Sixties. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 96(16), 1156–1160; CDC. Reported Tuberculosis in the
United States, 2013. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, September 2014. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1922842/#reference-
sec; http://www.cdc.gov/tb/statistics/reports/2013/default.htm. Note: 1963 value is used for CA
r World Health Organization, Global Tuberculosis Report; CDC. Reported Tuberculosis in the United States, 2013. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
CDC, September 2014. http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/; http://www.cdc.gov/tb/statistics/reports/2013/default.htm. Note: for 1985 CA had to take new inci-
dences and divide by 1985 population; case detection rate is not available for years earlier than 1990 so the value may be lower than the real value
s World Health Organization, Global Tuberculosis Report
t World Health Organization, Global Tuberculosis Report
R.J. Estes et al.
Supplemental Table 9.4 Income
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Income
REGION: North America (N = 2)
% Growth in Gini or other measure of
GDP (Billions of constant 2005 USD) PCGDP (Constant 2005 USD) GDP wealth disparity
2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p
Canada 231.6 678.5 1240.0 1361.0 12931.0 26154.2 36465.7 38293.3 3.2 4.7 3.4 2.5 35.5 31.6 33.7 33.7
United 2853.1 6985.4 13599.3 14796.6 15791.9 29359.7 43961.2 46405.3 2.6 4.2 2.5 2.4 36.4 38.9 44.0 44.8
States
Regional 1542.4 3831.9 7419.6 8078.8 14361.4 27756.9 40213.4 42349.3 2.9 4.5 3.0 2.5 35.9 35.3 38.8 39.3
Average
GDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP at purchaser’s prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies
not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States

Data are in constant 2005 USD. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic currencies using 2005 official exchange rates. For a few countries where the official
exchange rate does not reflect the rate effectively applied to actual foreign exchange transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used
PCGDP (constant 2005 USD): Per capita GDP (PCGDP) is gross domestic product divided by midyear population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers
in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated
assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars
% Growth in GDP: Annual percentage growth rate of GDP at market prices based on constant local currency. Aggregates are based on constant 2005 U.S. dollars. GDP is the
sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated
without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources
GINI or other measure of wealth disparity: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption expenditure among individuals or households
within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of
recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed
as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality
a World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
b World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
c World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
d World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
e World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
f World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
g World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
h World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
i World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
(continued)
293
Supplemental Table 9.4 (continued)
294

j World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
k World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
l World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
m Inequality Project: Estimated Household Income Inequality Data Set (EHII); US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://utip.gov.utexas.edu/data.html;
https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/inequality/. Note: CA taken from 1963
n World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI; https://www.census.
gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/inequality/. Note: CA taken from 1987
o World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI; https://www.census.
gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/inequality/
p World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI; https://www.census.
gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/inequality/. Note: most recent CA from 2010
R.J. Estes et al.
9  Well-Being in Canada and the United States 295

Supplemental Table 9.5  Subjective Well-Being

SOCIAL INDICATORS: Subjective Well-Being
REGION: North America (N = 2)
WVS 1 WVS 2 WVS 3 WVS 4 WVS 5 WVS 6
1981–1984 1990–1994 1995–1998 1999–2004 2005–2009 2010–2014
Country
Source a b c d e f
Canada NA 7.8 7.8
United States 7.7 NA 7.7 7.7 7.3 7.4
Regional Average 7.7 NA 7.7 7.7 7.5 7.4
Mean life satisfaction: Averaged value of responses to the following survey question: All things considered, how satis-
fied are you with your life as a whole these days? Using this card on which 1 means you are “completely dissatisfied”
and 10 means you are “completely satisfied” where would you put your satisfaction with your life as a whole?
NA = not available
a World Values Survey Wave 1, 1981–1984. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp
b World Values Survey Wave 2, 1990–1994. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp
c World Values Survey Wave 3, 1995–1998. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp
d World Values Survey Wave 4, 1999–2004. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp
e World Values Survey Wave 5, 2005–2009. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp
f World Values Survey Wave 6, 2010–2014. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSContents.jsp

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 The History of Well-Being in East
Asia: From Global Conflict 10
to Global Leadership

Takashi Inoguchi and Richard J. Estes

There is no way to happiness

Happiness is the way. (Hanh n.d.)
The mind is the source of happiness and unhappiness.
(Buddha n.d.)
Vulnerability is the only authentic state.
Being vulnerable means being open,
for wounding, but also for pleasure.
Being open to the wounds of life means
also being open to the bounty and beauty.
Don’t mask or deny your vulnerability:
it is your greatest asset.
Be vulnerable: quake and shake in your boots with it.
the new goodness that is coming to you,
in the form of people, situations, and things can only come to you
when you are vulnerable, i.e. open.
(Russell 1999)

10.1 Introduction Macau SAR, Japan, North Korea, South Korea,

Mongolia, and Taiwan (Map 10.1). Together,
East Asia is among the largest, most culturally diverse, these eight societies and territories have a com-
and economically robust regions of the world. bined population of 1600 million people or about
The region comprises China, Hong Kong SAR,1 22 % of the world’s total in 2015. The region
occupies approximately 28 % of the Asian conti-
nent, the world’s largest, and somewhat more
Hong Kong and Macau are not, of course, independent
1 
than 8 % of the world’s total land mass. The East
nation-states. Rather they are Special Administrative
Regions (SARs) within the People’s Republic of China Asian region is 15 % larger than Europe but has
and, as such, experience considerable freedom of choice a population density that ranges from a low of
in all sectors except the selection of their chief executive two people per square mile for Mongolia to a
and the ability to conduct international affairs. Both
high of 6390 people per square mile for Hong
SARs, however, differ appreciably from other provinces
of China and are therefore sometimes included in the Kong with a region-wide average of 340 people
chapter’s more detailed analyses (Estes et al. 2002). per square mile (versus 188 and 59 persons per
T. Inoguchi (*) square mile for Europe and North America,
University of Niigata Prefecture, Niigata, Japan respectively). The majority of the region’s capi-
e-mail: [email protected] tal cities are among the world’s leading metropo-
R.J. Estes lises—Beijing, Seoul, Taipei, and Tokyo—and,
School of Social Policy and Practice, University of taken together, exert considerable influence on
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA the world’s economies, politics, and even its
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 301

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_10
302 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

Map 10.1  Regional map of Asia (CIA 2015a; public domain)

10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 303

b­ road-based social development outcomes. The 10.1.1 Framework

region’s two largest societies, China and Japan,
but especially China, have historically wielded a This chapter explores the changing nature, state,
major influence on all aspects of the region’s and achievements in advancing well-being among
social, cultural, and religious life, including the nations of East Asia. More particularly, the
through their ancient religions and philosophies, chapter attempts to answer the following ques-
e.g., Buddhism, Confucianism (and Neo- tions that will help us better understand the under-
Confucianism), Shamanism in Korea, Shintoism lying well-being dynamics of the region:
in Japan, Daoism and, in recent years,
Christianity in South Korea (de Mente 2009; • What is the current state of well-being in East
Nadeau 2014). Asia and within the region’s member
Well-being in East Asia is remarkably high countries?
when measured by a variety of objective and sub- • To what extent does East Asia’s current state of
jective indicators. Japan, for example, leads the well-being differ from that of its past but par-
world in years of average life expectancy (aver- ticularly with levels of well-being that existed
age = 84.6) as does South Korea (average = 81.0) following the end of the Second World War
and Taiwan (average = 80.6 years) versus average (Japan), the wars of liberation fought in China
years of life expectancy for the United States of and the Koreas, and the devastating wars that
just 79.8 (Inoguchi 2012). occurred in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos,
Achievements in average years of life expec- and Vietnam), large elements of which spilled
tancy are remarkable and mirror the region’s over into the East Asian region as well?
20-year successes in reducing infant and child • What are the underlying sociocultural-­
mortality rates and increasing levels of both per religious factors that account for the differ-
capita gross domestic product (PCGNP) and ences in the attainment of well-being for the
per capita gross national income (Perkins region’s nations?
2013). The region’s highly favorable position • What have been East Asia’s most significant
on these key components of the United Nation’s well-being accomplishments and challenges
Human Development Index is especially since at least 1990?
impressive in that East Asia contains one of the • To what extent do all areas of the region share
world’s two population “super giants”— the same or at least similar patterns of well-­
China—whose population makes up 92 % of being gains and losses?
the region’s total. Since the introduction of the • What impact does the continuing negative
country’s “Four Modernizations” program by social, political, and economic trends occur-
Deng Xiaoping in 1978, China has succeeded ring in North Korea have on East Asia’s well-­
in lifting literally hundreds of millions of its being more generally?
rural poor from absolute poverty to economi- • In what ways, and to what extent, has well-­
cally sustainable and even higher levels of liv- being in East Asia been impacted by the
ing. The privatization of most smaller and region’s dramatic political and military events:
communal farms, the increase in the levels of at
least local political participation, and the –– The creation of the communist People’s
aggressive adoption of an open market eco- Republic of China (PRC) in 1949
nomic system, albeit one with “Chinese charac- –– The Korean War, which ended with the
teristics,” has accelerated China’s remarkable country’s division into a communist North
rate of social and economic development and, and a democratic South in 1953
thereby, has hastened the rate of improvements –– The granting of full autonomy and interna-
in well-being throughout the entire East Asian tional recognition to Mongolia (often
region (Perkins 2013). referred to as “outer Mongolia”) in 1961
304 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

–– The return of Hong Kong SAR from Great For purposes of comparison, we occasionally
Britain in 1997 and Macau SAR from report similar data for the United States, which is
Portugal in 1999 to the PRC also a Pacific Rim country in that it shares the
–– The continuing political, sometimes mili- Pacific Ocean with East Asia, Singapore (a pre-
tary, tensions between the Republic of dominately Chinese society geographically
China (Taiwan) and the PRC? grouped with the Southeast Asian group of
nations), and selected countries of Indo-China
that have predominately ethnic Chinese popula-
10.1.2 Study Countries and Societies tions and strong ties to East Asia, especially
Vietnam. In including selected non-East Asian
Though the eight societies (a term that is used to countries in the analyses, the authors make no
include both sovereign nations and two of China’s claims concerning the political relationships that
SARs [Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR]) that may or may not exist between the countries of the
make up the East Asian region share many geo- region and countries that clearly fall outside the
political, social, and cultural characteristics with region, e.g., the United States, which has made
one another, there are important differences major contributions to promoting East Asia’s
between them as well. We have, therefore, cho- political and economic development.3
sen to focus on only a subset of the region’s soci-
eties, i.e., China (PRC), Japan, North Korea,
South Korea, and Taiwan (Republic of China). 10.2 Well-Being
These five societies account for almost 95 % of
the region’s total population (United Nations A complete picture of well-being in East Asia
Population Division 2012). Well-being patterns can only be ascertained from an analysis of both
for Hong Kong SAR2 and Macau SAR are not objective and subjective forces that are at work in
treated separately in this chapter inasmuch as the region. The objective indicators measure the
these regions are semiautonomous territories of visible outcomes that are attained through social
the PRC, and their well-being data are presented investments whereas subjective indicators reflect
as part of the data reported for the PRC. We also the cognitions and feelings that people experi-
have excluded North Korea from major aspects ence and, therefore, are the invisible outcomes of
of our analysis because most of the data needed well-being investments. Often though, objective
for North Korea are either unavailable, incom- and subjective assessments can be polar oppo-
plete, or unreliable. Where possible, though, we sites, especially in cultures that place less empha-
include selected data for North Korea in the fig- sis on consumption of goods and services and
ures when we think the data are reasonably reli- more emphasis on improved levels of personal,
able. Where possible, we also include data for interpersonal, familial, and community relation-
Mongolia but much of the data needed for ships. For such cultures, social investments, i.e.,
Mongolia are either missing or incomplete. In accumulating social capital, are valued more sig-
any case, we have attempted to optimize use of nificantly than the accumulation of the material,
the social indicator data that are available.
America’s major contributions to the region have taken a
3 

variety of forms: (1) military occupation of Japan follow-

ing the end of World War II; (2) military alliance with
These recently reacquired territories of the PRC enjoy
2 
South Korea, where it fought to help bring to an end a
considerable autonomy in managing their social, eco- protracted war (1950–1953) between the communist
nomic, and internal affairs. All matters relating to internal North and democratic South and where it continues to
security, defense, international agreements and treaties, provide a significant military presence; and (3) defense
and the like are under the direct control of the central gov- treaty with Taiwan, for whom the United States continues
ernment of the PRC in Beijing. In time, all internal and to extend its defense umbrella to prevent invasion of this
external matters relating to the functioning of these terri- small, but densely populated, island nation by the PRC
tories will be transferred to China’s central government. (Hickey 2005; Winkler 2012).
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 305

always transitory, consumer goods and services. break from the PRC in 1949. In Japan, temples
This view of well-being is consistent with the and monasteries have served as centuries-long
teachings of the region’s much admired religions repositories of that country’s social, political,
and philosophies and is reflected in the values, economic, cultural, and religious history as well
norms, and traditions around which East Asian (Oxtoby and Amore 2010).
societies are organized. Critically important textual and nontextual
Our discussion of well-being in the East Asia materials do exist, however, that document much
region focuses on the three components that are of the region’s history from as early as 600 Before
used to form the United Nations Human the Common Era (BCE) to the present. The
Development Index as well as self-assessment underlying teachings and values promulgated
made by the region’s people of their own state of through oral traditions and narratives taught by
social, psychological, and emotional well-being, the region’s various religions also provide us
life satisfaction, and quality of life. Thus, this with important insights into the organizing prin-
chapter follows more or less the same model of ciples around which much of the region has been
analysis used by the authors of the other regional organized, i.e., those promulgated through
chapters: the extent of social improvements in Buddhism (since about 563 BCE forward) and
health as measured by advances in years of aver- Daoism (since about 550 BCE forward) (Fig.
age life expectancy and reductions in infant and 10.1). These principles are deeply embedded in
child death rates; improvements in education as the region’s history and continue to be relevant in
reflected in the access of children to primary and the contemporary Asian world (Fig. 10.2):
secondary schools and of young adults and others
to university and technical schools; and, finally, • an emphasis on collective “needs” rather than
the region’s generation of wealth and income and personal “wants” in the pursuit of well-being;
the extent of its distribution to the region’s popu- • the pursuit of personal and interpersonal
lation. We also examine regional changes in self-­ peace, balance, and social harmony in all
assessed (subjective) well-being, especially aspects of private and social life;
self-assessments made by the region’s different • deferential attitudes toward persons and insti-
population groups, i.e., men vs. women, children tutions occupying positions of authority;
vs. adults, the young vs. the old, recognized eth- • personal adherence to a code of social conduct
nic and sexual minorities, and people who live on that informs individual and collective roles
the periphery of society. and responsibilities at each level of social
organization;
• filial piety toward the elderly and others; and,
10.3 Brief History • a concern for individual and collective pros-
perity within the values and norms of each
The history of East Asia spans at least 40,000 society (de Bary 2000).
years, likely longer. Much information about the
region’s earliest history, however, has been lost Although what may be called the Chinese cen-
due to the destruction of ancient settlements, trality of East Asia is not questioned, it must be
archeological sites, sculptures, and written docu- noted that Zhonghua, a small area located at the
ments. Much historical information was also lost midstream basin of the Yellow River, was the ori-
during the “cultural revolution” (1966–1976) in gin of the ancient Chinese state and that only
the PRC due to the destruction of ancient struc- through interactions between ancient Chinese
tures and the massive amounts of textual material and surrounding non-Chinese including Persians,
contained within them. Fortunately, many impor- Uighurs, Mongols, Tibetans, Manchus, Thais,
tant artifacts and critical written records were Burmese, Vietnamese, Koreans, and Japanese,
transported from pre-PRC to Taiwan from the has China become what it is today. By interac-
seventeenth century until the island’s formal tions we mean the invasion and occupation by
306 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

(1279–1368 CE) by Mongols; and Qing (1644–

1912) by Manchus, Mongols, and Uighurs. The
Chinese civilization has been a key factor in
assimilating those and other invaders and occupi-
ers. It consists of rice agriculture, Chinese ideo-
graphs, and weapons technology. In the current
PRC, Manchus, Thais, Burmese, and Vietnamese
are well assimilated; Tibetans and Uighurs are
often defiant dissidents whereas Mongols and
Koreans are to a lesser degree.

10.3.1 From Chaos to Order

Fig. 10.1  The symbol of opposites in Chinese philoso- and the Foundations
phy—yin and yang of the Modern Nation-States

As already suggested, the history of East Asia is

long, rich, and multilayered. However, much of
the region’s history is linked to the history of
China, which comprises more than 90 % of the
region’s combined population. Although each of
the region’s countries has its own rich history,
many of the countries, such as Japan, have influ-
enced religious thought, philosophy, and politics
worldwide.
The unification of all ethnically related
Chinese people into a geographically distinct
and shared space has been a central dynamic
(Callahan 2015) of China’s history. It has been
China’s goal for more than a thousand years.
Today it is almost a reality following the return
of Hong Kong and Macau from colonial powers
(Estes 2005a, b). The challenges confronting
premodern China, however, were not unlike
those confronting the region’s younger nations
today: (1) the absence of a shared sense of iden-
tity among the various Chinese clans that
resided in a vast, largely unmapped, territory;
Fig. 10.2  Teaching Buddha (563 BCE–480 BCE), Gupta (2) competing linguistic dialects with no unify-
period (Archaeological Museum, Sarnath, India; photo by ing common dialect or language; (3) recurrent
Tevaprapas Makklay; Creative Commons Attribution-­ intra- and interregional conflict; (4) the absence
Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)
of public symbols that promote a sense of unity
among the country’s peoples (including a com-
non-Chinese and the assimilation of non-Chinese mon language or at least dialect, a country-wide
into what is now broadly called the Chinese state. integrated military, shared financial and mone-
Alternately, these Chinese states were ruled by tary systems, and the like). Each of East Asia’s
non-Chinese: most notably, Tang (618–906 societies underwent more or less the same pro-
Common Era [CE]) by Persians and Turks; Yuan cess of unification but did so at different times
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 307

with different sets of organizational priorities

(Ryu 2007).
The most important dynasties that shaped
early China and, in turn, the entirety of East Asia
were the short-lived, but highly influential, Qin
Dynasty of 221 BCE to 206 BCE and the four-­
centuries long Han Dynasty of 206 BCE to 220
CE. The former dynasty brought about the long
sought after unification of China under the
authority of a single emperor and formally
demarcated China’s borders from those of Korea
and Mongolia. The division of the region into the
Chinese “mainland” and, in time, into Mongolia
and Korea was to prove long-lasting and contrib-
uted to a flourishing of unique cultural identities
for all three countries. The Qin dynasty also
helped to formalize the political separation of
present-day Japan and Taiwan from the Chinese
mainland, although many conflicts, and even
occupations, have ensued over subsequent centu-
ries concerning China’s role in each of these Fig. 10.3  Genghis Khan (1162–1227) (From Dschingis
Khan und seine Erben [exhibition catalogue], Münich
nations. Another of the significant political 2005, p. 304; public domain)
achievements of the Qin dynasty was the confine-
ment of the warring and land-ambitious Mongols
who, in fact, ruled China and much of East Asia to a great flourishing of the arts and sciences
for centuries (including, of course, Genghis Khan throughout the East Asia region, especially in
[1162 CE–1227 CE; Fig. 10.3] and his succes- painting, sculpture, poetry, dance, and even in
sors). Today, Mongolia is a divided society, with daily dress. All of these innovations were sup-
“Inner” Mongolia and its capital, Hothot ported by the communal values derived from East
(Huhehaote), located in the PRC and “Outer” Asia’s ancient religions, i.e., Daoism, Shintoism
Mongolia and its capital, Ulaanbaatar, existing as in Japan (1000 BCE forward), Buddhism, and
an independent nation. Mongolia has had its own Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism. Common
discrete territory since at least 1206 CE, albeit to these religions and to their contributions to
the country underwent many wars with and occu- well-being were their essentially nontheistic
pation by neighboring states. nature combined with well-articulated practices
Among the many factors that made possible for achieving high levels of individual and collec-
East Asia’s innovations in science, technology, tive well-being. Most of these religions and phil-
and the humanities, including the printing tech- osophical traditions taught the importance of
nique and gun powder, is the fact that they moderation and following the “middle way” as
occurred through trial and error observations as the ideal path for achieving spiritual, psychologi-
well as through the application of scientific cal, and material well-being. At the same time, it
method that would be recognized as valid even must be pointed out that their emphasis may not
today. Further, all of the region’s seminal contri- be compatible with the values of contemporary
butions to its own and to greater Asia’s well-­ society. Some examples include the emphasis on
being brought unprecedented prosperity to a humility (Confucianism), forbearance and toler-
large percentage of Asia’s total population. In ance (Buddhism), and harmony (Daoism).
turn, the centuries of relative peace and prosper- Extremes along either end of any continuum
ity that followed China’s unification contributed were to be avoided no matter how attractive they
308 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

may appear on the surface, i.e., to be self-­denying, among the major elements that distinguish East
self-punishing, or living in abject poverty versus Asia from other world regions and, in turn, sug-
achieving great wealth and influence. Also, gest many of the approaches used to advance
emphasis was placed on the attainment of these individual and collective well-being (Inoguchi
preconditions for well-being within a communal, and Fujii 2011; Kivimäki 2011).
collectivist process rather than one that each indi- The material contributions of ancient China,
vidual would initiate and complete on his own and of East Asia more generally, to well-being
(Iwai and Ueda 2011; Nadeau 2014). were many and varied. They included:
Among its many other accomplishments, the
Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) brought to • the invention of paper (made from many
China a well-organized, efficient bureaucracy fibrous products including wood, bamboo,
that served as a direct interface between the and cloth);
emperor, his surrogates, and people at all levels • large-scale shipbuilding (still a major industry
of social organization. The emergence of a highly in China, Japan, and Korea);
effective and efficient civil servant class permit- • the compass (necessary to sea travel, house-
ted the development of systems for transmitting building, and the like);
and enforcing the emperor’s will at a fast pace. • the cultivation of silk and the development of
Not since the civil servant class of the former a silk trade (both China and Japan excelled in
pharaohs of Egypt did the world witness such a its making). The process of making silk did
narrowing of the time gap between imperial com- not spread to Byzantium, Arabia, and the West
mands and actions throughout all regions of a until many centuries after the formation of the
vast, multilingual empire. East Asian civilization, “Silk Road” through China and Central Asia;
given the basic tenets of its religions, rituals, and • the invention of porcelain (a major source of
philosophies, found the hierarchical nature of a trade between East Asia and Europe. The
civil service class highly compatible with its complex processes required to make porcelain
search for progressively higher levels of soci- were replicated in Europe until late in the
etally promoted well-being (de Bary 2000; eighteenth century);
Inoguchi 2013; Oxtoby and Amore 2010). • the invention of innovative approaches to
The comparative peace and security brought printing;
to the region by the Han Dynasty also contributed • the invention of gun powder initially used for
to heightened levels of well-being that, in time, fireworks but quickly adapted to military use;
found expression in the arts, the humanities, the • significant innovations in medicine, but espe-
physical and social sciences, and mathematics cially through the introduction of acupunc-
and astronomy. These developments also resulted ture, acupressure, understanding of the “Qi”
in the formalization of relations with modern-day (ch’i; organic, material energy), as well as
Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan including com- innovations in surgery and herbal medicine;
plex, and expensive, systems of tributes between and
these countries and China in exchange for inde- • important intellectual innovations in philoso-
pendence, peace, normalization of at least phy, mathematics, engineering, geology, and
regional sea and land trade, and the promotion of weaponry.
religious, educational, and cultural exchanges.
Today, the vast majority of China’s population is In the social arenas, the nations of East Asia
of the Han lineage (more than 91 %) and, through traditionally have emphasized orderliness and
them, the ideals and social organization promoted harmony in both their public and private lives.
through the dynasty’s four centuries of rule in the Thus, the following norms have been more domi-
distant past continue to be advanced. Thus, politi- nant throughout this region than in other regions
cal, social, cultural, and religious continuities are that have been discussed in the book:
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 309

• deference to men in all matters pertaining to ans, never-married women, and others who were
public and public affairs; judged to be worthy of the charity of others.
• for men, the centrality of work and the work- Much of this charity was provided anonymously
place as their central life interest; and rarely, if ever, did benefactors and beneficia-
• for both men and women a strong preference ries meet one another. Aid, in general, was not
for boys as their firstborn child; given to unknown persons apart from that pro-
• for women, a deferential role toward men and, vided by monasteries and temples to designated
in the absence of a husband, toward their groups of people (Dubs 1951).
eldest male child; Increases in the level of well-being that
• for children, filial piety and deference toward resulted from the gradual unification of East
parents, other older family members, the Asia’s nation-states are reflected in dramatic
elderly in general, and toward public officials increases in overall years of life expectancy (from
and other representatives of the government; about 35 years in early nineteenth century to an
and average of more than 80 years today); lower rates
• for men, women, and children alike, compli- of infant and child mortality (which were well
ance with the collective norms, traditions, and below 15 per 1000 live births in 2012); higher
related social expectations of their local com- levels of both formal and informal education
munities and the larger society of which all are (which touched nearly every child in the region);
a part (de Mente 2009; Iwai and Ueda 2011). and, of course, significant improvements in each
region’s financial and monetary systems. These
These expectations carried over to the subtle- changes occurred rapidly and steadily over a
ties of all aspects of family life. Rarely, for exam- comparatively brief period and, ultimately, for-
ple, would non-blood-related persons be ever altered East Asia’s socio-political-economic-­
considered suitable for adoption and, in the rare cultural and even religious profile. The changes
occasions in which nonsanguine adoptions do (or also had a profound impact on the extent to which
did) occur, they were primarily of boys (Estes foreigners from other Asian regions and the
2001). Girls were almost never adopted outside world at large would be welcomed into the
of their extended families of origin, which forced region’s newly established countries. Long gone
many girls into pauperism, commercial or sexual are the days when items stamped “made in Japan”
exploitation, work as housemaids or servants, or “made in China” were only cheap, mass-­
and, not infrequently, early death from exposure. produced goods (Hanley and Yamamura 1977;
The underlying premise of these practices was Lee 2000; Perkins 2013; Vogel 1979).
that, in time, women married, left home, and
became members of someone else’s family or
clan. On the other hand, boys remained forever 10.3.2 East Asia’s Modern History:
active members of their families of origin and, Social Chaos, Hegemony,
not infrequently, assumed the financial and social Defeat, and the Emergence
responsibilities of their father upon his death. of “Modern” Nation-States
Wives traditionally assisted their husbands in
carrying out these familial obligations (Iwai and As discussed previously, despite East Asia’s
Ueda 2011; Iwai and Yasuda 2011). present-day prosperity, even in the modern era,
Charity and benevolence toward strangers, to the region’s nations have been the focal point of
the extent that they existed at all, were organized many national, regional, and global conflicts.
through monasteries and temples that received These conflicts have their roots in the seven-
financial and in-kind support from their members teenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and up through the
and the general community in support of the middle of the twentieth centuries. All were large
monks and nuns themselves, childless war veter- scale and all resulted in death and destruction not
310 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

Elsewhere in the greater East Asian region,

wars in Indo-China (Cambodia, Laos, and
Vietnam) also influenced East Asian and global
political development. These conflicts have had a
profound impact on the region’s development
and have shaped the attitudes of many East Asian
nations toward France and the United States in
particular, the two leading Western powers
against which regional wars were fought. The
independence of predominately Chinese-­
populated Singapore (74 %) from Malaysia in
1965 also impacted the region’s democratic and
open market economic orientation (Barr and
Skrbis 2008; Inoguchi 1991).
Social, political, economic, and cultural devel-
opments in Japan also have exerted a profound
influence on the region’s overall successes in
well-being. Japan’s unique, innovative approach
to socioeconomic and political-cultural develop-
ment is tied to a number of major political phi-
losophers and statespersons. One example is
Kinjiro Ninomiya (1787–1856), a prominent
Fig. 10.4  Mao Zedong (1893–1976) (Photo by Georg
Denda; http://www.panoramio.com/user/128586?with_
agricultural and business leader, moralist,
photo-­id=701721; Creative Commons Attribution-Share ­economist, and beloved statesperson who was
Alike 3.0 Unported license) born of humble origins and who succeeded in
introducing agricultural reforms that virtually
ended famines throughout Japan and hunger in
previously experienced by the region’s societies. much of the larger East Asian region. Figure 10.5
The conflicts took place primarily within the shows a typical sculpture of Ninomiya and
region but many of the most recent ones were depicts him as an older boy or young man carry-
global in nature: (1) the Pacific front of the ing firewood on his back while reading, repre-
Second World War in 1945; (2) the popular revo- senting two of the core values of East Asia—hard
lution in China led by Mao Zedong (Fig. 10.4) work and scholarship. Such sculptures once were
that resulted in the imposition of communist rule commonplace in all Japanese educational institu-
on the country in 1949; (3) the forced separation tions but are rarely seen today. Ninomiya himself
of the two Koreas; (4) the reunification of Hong rarely appears even in modern day textbooks
Kong (1997) and Macau (1999) with the Chinese despite the enormity of the contribution he made
mainland; and (5) recurring, often serious, con- to Japanese society and greater East Asia (Iwai
frontations between the region’s two Chinas, i.e., 2010; Johnson 1982).
the PRC and Taiwan. Mongolia transitioned more Table 10.1 summarizes the major historical
peacefully as a satellite state of the former Soviet challenges and achievements that have confronted
Union to a sovereign nation-state in its own right the East Asian regions since the nineteenth century.
(1991). Currently, only the Republic of China The table focuses on major social, political, mili-
(Taiwan) remains a disputed territory, a situation tary, economic, and cultural events that occurred at
that has been exacerbated by the exclusion of the same point for the world, the region, and for
Taiwan as a member state of the United Nations three of East Asia’s most culturally distinctive
in 1971 (Estes 2005a). countries: China, Japan, and South Korea.
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 311

as it increases, greater demands are placed on

both the public and private sectors of society to
provide a more comprehensive range of programs
and services to an increasing number of people,
especially for the new arrivals, e.g., children, and
those who are living longer. In most societies,
population growth also occurs through the migra-
tion from other, usually poorer, countries and
regions of the world of people desiring increased
economic opportunities. Thus, changes in gross
population size are a function of births plus
migrants, less deaths that occur on an annual
basis.
Figure 10.6 summarizes population growth
trends for each of the East Asian countries
included in this analysis as well as for the region
as a whole. The data reported cover 60 years and
reflect the remarkable changes in population that
have occurred in East Asia since 1950.
Fig. 10.5 Kinjiro Ninomiya (1787–1856) statue
(Museum of History of Folklore of Kawaba; photo by
Figure 10.7 shows the magnitude of the net
Qurren; Creative Commons Attricution-Share Alike 3.0 population increases with which all of the
Unported Generic license) region’s countries are struggling, though the
nature of the struggle differs for each country.
China’s population increase has slowed some-
10.4 Social Progress what since the introduction of the one-child pol-
and Challenges Since 1990 icy in 1979. After three decades, its consequence
is a dramatic decrease in the number of births. A
This section focuses on those domains of well-­ more serious issue now is the reality that the age
being that are central to the discussions contained dependent population of children under 15 and
in this volume: regional progress over time in adults aged 65 and older are increasing more rap-
health, education, income, and wealth and sub- idly that the economically active members of the
jective well-being. The following discussion par- population (16–64 years). The situation is exac-
allels that of the book’s other regional chapters erbated by the comparatively weak social nets
and provides comparative analyses of well-being that characterize the majority of the region’s
trends occurring in East Asia and in other world countries. In the intermediate term of 10–15
regions. We focus on well-being accomplish- years, China’s net reproductive rate is estimated
ments and challenges experienced by the region to further decline below 1.2, the same as that of
from 1990 to 2015. In some cases, and where South Korea, the lowest in East Asia. At that rate,
information is available, we include data for China’s population decline would be
other Asian nations as well (Estes 1990, 1991, accelerated.
1996b, 2007; Maddison 2007). Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan struggle with
their rapidly growing numbers of older people
whose average years of life expectancy are well
10.4.1 Population and Fertility above those of the world as a whole. Many years
of peace, stability, and prosperity have contrib-
Population issues are always of particular interest uted to this remarkable longevity. Japan’s popu-
to well-being specialists. In most parts of the lation has tripled since 1945; both longevity and
world, population size is steadily increasing, and, government expenditure on the social safety net
312 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

Table 10.1  East Asian Timeline, 1823 to the Present (AsiaBarometer 2006)
North and South
Year World China Japan Korea
1823 United States
proclaims Monroe
Doctrine, making
Latin America
part of U.S. sphere
1839 First Opium War
1842 Treaty of Nanjing
opens Chinese ports
and provides
preferential treatment
for Western nationals
1854 Perry’s military threats
result in Convention of
Kanagawa, ending
Japan’s isolation
policy. Other treaties
follow, providing
preferential treatment
for Western nationals
1856 Second Opium War
1858 Treaties of Tianjin
open more ports and
open interior to
Westerners. Later
treaties signed in
Shanghai condone
opium trade
1861– U.S. Civil War
1865
1868 Meiji Restoration
1869 Suez Canal opens
1870 Backlash against
Western presence
results in “Tianjin
massacre”
1876 Japan opens Korean ports under Treaty of
Ganghwa
1882 U.S. enacts China Exclusion Act restricting
immigration by Asians
1884 Sino-French war
1889 Japan adopts formal
constitution as part of
bid to renegotiate
treaties on a more
equal basis
1894– First Sino-Japanese war (ends with Japan
1895 victorious)
China cedes Taiwan to Japan and grants Japan free
hand in Korea
1895 China recognizes Korean independence under Treaty of Shimonoseki
(continued)
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 313

Table 10.1 (continued)
North and South
Year World China Japan Korea
1898– Boxer Rebellion
1901 against Western
domination
1904– Russo-Japanese war
1905 (ends with Japan
victorious)
1903 Wright brothers’
flight
1905 Korea becomes Japanese protectorate
1906 San Francisco
earthquake
1910 Japan annexes Korea
1911 Xinhai Revolution
overthrows Qing
dynasty
1912 Kuomintang (KMT)
party established
1912 Great Kanto
earthquake destroys
Tokyo/Yokohama
1912 Republic of China
(Taiwan) established
1914 Outbreak of World
War I
1914 Panama Canal
opens
1915 Japan issues 21 demands
1917 Russian revolution
1918 End of World War
I
1919 Treaty of
Versailles imposes
stiff reparation
requirements on
Germany
1921 Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) founded
1922 USSR established
1923 Washington Naval Washington Naval
Treaty seeks to Treaty denounced
limit sizes of within Japan as
French, Italian, discriminatory and
Japanese, UK, and unduly restrictive
US navies
1924 U.S. Immigration Act prohibits immigration by East Asians
c. Chinese civil war
1927 (CCP vs KMT) starts
1928 Kellogg-Briand Kellogg-Briand Pact
Pact signed signed
renouncing war as
an instrument of
national policy
(continued)
314 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

Table 10.1 (continued)
North and South
Year World China Japan Korea
1929 Start of Great
Depression
1931 Mukden incident provides pretext for Japanese
invasion of Manchuria and start of second
Sino-Japanese war
1933 Japan quits League of
Nations
1934 CCP embarks on
Long March
1937 Nanjing massacre
1937 Marco Polo Bridge incident extends Japanese
invasion to China proper
1938 Munich agreement
gives
Czechoslovakia to
Germany
1941 Japan bombs Pearl
Harbor, bringing the
United States formally
into the war
1945 Bombing of Bombing of Korea gains
Dresden Hiroshima and independence but is
Nagasaki divided into north
End of World War Japan surrenders and south
II in Europe administrations
End of World War
II in Asia
1946 Postwar constitution
promulgated
1948 North and South
Koreas established
as separate states
1949 North Atlantic CCP forces defeat
Treaty the KMT, which flees
Organization to Taiwan; CCP
created establishes the
People’s Republic of
China
1950 Outbreak of Korean
war
1951 China annexes Tibet
1951 San Francisco peace
treaty restores
Japanese sovereignty
1952 Occupation of Japan
ends. Japan signs Joint
Security Treaty with
the United States
1953 Korean war
cease-fire signed,
dividing peninsula
at 38th parallel
(continued)
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 315

Table 10.1 (continued)
North and South
Year World China Japan Korea
1956 Hundred Flowers
campaign starts
1958 Great Leap Forward
starts
1959 Hawaii becomes
U.S. state
1961 Berlin Wall goes Great Leap Forward
up ends
1962 Cuban missile
crisis
1964 Tokyo Olympics
1965 Japan normalizes relations with (South)
Korea
1965 Communists
purged in
Indonesia
1966 Cultural Revolution
starts
1971 Mainland China
replaces Taiwan in
the United Nations
1972 Okinawa reverts to
Japan, yet U.S. bases
remain
1972 Japan and (mainland) China normalize diplomatic
elations
1973 Oil crisis develops
as supplies are
curtailed and
prices soar
1975 End of Vietnam
War
1976 Cultural Revolution
ends
1979 Iranian Revolution One-child policy
begun
1980 Four modernizations Gwangju massacre
begun
1988 Olympics/
para-Olympics held
in Seoul
1989 Tiananmen Square
cleared
1989 Berlin Wall falls
1990 Two-digit economic South establishes
growth in 1990s diplomatic relations
with Russia
1991 Deceleration of high North and South
growth and deflation Korea join the
begin United Nations
(continued)
316 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

Table 10.1 (continued)
North and South
Year World China Japan Korea
1992 Establishes South establishes
diplomatic relations diplomatic relations
with (South) Korea with China
1992 Maastricht Treaty
creates European
Union
1994 Kim Il-Sung dies
and son, Kim
Jong-Il, takes reins
in North Korea
1995 Aum Shinrikyo sarin
gas attack in Tokyo
1995 Hanshin earthquake
devastates Kobe
1997 Hong Kong reverts to
China (from UK)
2001 New York World
Trade Center
destroyed
2002 Japan-Korea jointly host the World Cup of
the Fédération Internationale de Football
Association
2003 United States
attacks Iraq
2005 Kyoto Protocol Conflict between
goes into effect China and Japan
begins
2007 Collapse of
subprime loans
triggers global
recession
2008 Olympics/
Paralympics held in
Beijing
2010 Arab Spring starts
2011 Kim Jong-Il dies
and son, Kim
Jong-Un, takes
reins in North
Korea
2011 Fukushima nuclear
accident
 10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 317

1600

1400

1200
Millions of People

1000

800

600

400

200

0
China Japan North Korea South Korea Taiwan
1950 543.78 82.20 10.55 19.21 7.89
1980 984.02 115.91 17.37 37.45 17.85
2010 1359.82 127.35 24.50 48.45 23.12

Fig. 10.6  East Asian population in millions for selected countries, 2015 (Data from United Nations Population
Division 2012)

+200%
+180%
+160%
Populat ion Growt h Rat e

+140%
+120%
+100%
+80%
+60%
+40%
+20%
+0%
1950 1980 2010
Japan 0.00% 41.01% 54.93%
North Korea 0.00% 64.64% 132.23%
China 0.00% 80.96% 150.07%
South Korea 0.00% 94.95% 152.21%
Taiwan 0.00% 126.24% 193.03%
Axis Title
Japan North Korea China South Korea Taiwan

Fig. 10.7  East Asian population growth rate, 1950–2010 (Data from United Nations Population Division 2012)
318 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

have grown alarmingly large whereas the produc- better and more balanced diets, better health care,
tive population (15–60 years old) is rapidly and modernization, e.g., home, farm, factory, and
shrinking. The Japanese government expenditure office equipment that makes work less strenuous
on social policy has surpassed that of the United (Estes 1996a). At the same time, the region’s
Kingdom and is on a par with that of the extended longevity statistics and improved natal
Netherlands. The net reproductive rate has been care initiatives have been accompanied by
below 2.0 for years in all three of these societies ­declining fertility rates, although the data on fer-
(cf. South Korea, 1.20; Japan, 1.46; and Taiwan tility are skewed somewhat by China’s imposi-
2.42). tion in 1979 of a one-child per family policy. This
Thus, the region’s countries and societies, policy has been partially modified because it has
even with lower than average fertility levels, can brought dramatic increases in the number of
be expected to continue to struggle with all of the China’s rapidly aging population and still shrink-
social welfare issues surrounding population ing population of young people.
growth much as they have in the recent past
(Fig. 10.8).
10.4.3 Leading Causes of Death

10.4.2 Life Expectancy and Infant The 12-item short form (SF-12) health survey
Mortality developed by the New England Medical Center
attempts to measure quality of life in eight dimen-
Along with this East Asian prosperity has been a sions: total health, physical functioning, every-
general improvement in health care, as reflected day physical limitations, everyday emotional
in both longevity and decreased infant mortality limitations, bodily pain, mental health, vitality,
rates (Figs. 10.9, 10.10, and 10.11). East Asians and social functioning. The results allow not only
are generally living longer, which is attributed to cross-societal comparisons but also age and

1960–1965 2005 –2010

6 6

China South Korea

5 5

4 4
Ferlity Rate

Ferlity Rate

North Korea

3 3
North Korea
2 2 South Korea
Japan
Japan

1 1 China

0 0
0 200 400 600 0 200 400 600
Populaon Density Populaon Density

Fig. 10.8  Fertility rates in selected Asian countries, 2000–2004 and 2010–2014 (Data from World Bank 2014)
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 319

Life Expectancy Percent Change in Life Expectancy

90

80 108% China

70
49% South Korea
60

50 24% North Korea

40
22% Japan
30
1960 1977 1994 2011

China Japan 12% United States

North Korea South Korea
United States East Asia Average 0% 50% 100% 150%

Fig. 10.9  Average years of life expectancy in selected Fig. 10.10  Percentage increase in average life expec-
East Asian countries, 1960–2011 (Data from UNPOP tancy from 1960 to 2011 (Data from AsiaBarometer 2006)
2015)

90 Japan
South Korea

80
China
70 Japan
Life Expectancy

North Korea
60 North Korea

50 South Korea

40
China

30
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Infant Mortality
1950 2010

Fig. 10.11  Infant mortality in East Asian countries: 1950, 1980, 2013 (Data from United Nations Development
Programme 2014; World Health Organization 2014b)
320 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

Table 10.2  Top ten causes of death in selected Asian countries, 2013 (Data from World Health Organization 2014b)
Korea, Korea, United
World China Japan North South Taiwan States
Coronary heart disease 1 3 3 1 2 2 1
Stroke 2 1 1 3 1 3 3
Influenza and pneumonia 3 2 2 4
Lung disease 4 2 7 6 5
Diarrheal diseases 5
HIV/AIDS 6
Lung cancers 7 4 4 6 3
Tuberculosis 8 5
Diabetes mellitus 9 8 4 7 7
Road traffic accidents 10 7 8 8
Hypertension 10 4 9 10
Other injuries 9 5
Liver disease 10 8
Suicide 8 7 10
Kidney disease 9 9
Stomach cancer 6 5 5
Liver cancer 5 7 6
Colorectal cancers 6 9 9
Violence 10
Esophageal cancer 8
Pancreatic cancer 10
Lung cancer 2
Alzheimer’s disease/ 4
dementia
Breast cancer 6
Malignant neoplasms 1

g­ ender comparisons within a society (Table 10.2). 10.4.4 Suicide: The Ultimate Despair

For example, they show Japanese age/gender dif- on the Part of Individuals
ferences as relatively slight and South Korean and Societies
age/gender differences as the most pronounced
among the East Asian societies, China being Suicide may be seen to correlate inversely with
somewhere in the middle on most measures. psychological well-being in that it is thought to
What do the narrower Japanese age/gender gaps be the ultimate expression of the individual’s
or, conversely the wider Korean gaps, mean? inability to deal with his/her perceived prob-
Iwai and Hanibuchi (2013) explained that (1) lems—what the unknown author quoted on the
since Japanese scores decline with age, they title page might call an escape from the unhappi-
should not be interpreted as meaning that ness of being unable to cope (Fig. 10.12). As the
Japanese live long and healthy lives irrespective 2013 OECD Factbook notes, “The intentional
of age or gender and (2) they may indicate that killing of oneself can be evidence not only of per-
the inevitable deterioration of health among older sonal breakdown, but also of a deterioration of
cohorts does not prevent them from being active the social context in which an individual lives….
in their work and other roles. Because of this, suicide is often used as a proxy
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 321

180
160
140
Suicides per 100,000

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
14- 15-29 30-49 50-69 70+ All ages
China 0.5 4.2 5.1 15.7 51.5 8.7
Japan 0.5 18.4 26.8 31.8 25.5 23.1
Korea, North 3.3 33.2 33.7 67.2 156.6 39.5
Korea, South 1.2 18.2 35.7 50.4 116.2 36.6
Singapore 0.9 4.2 37.5 38.0 16.5 23.5
China Japan Korea, North Korea, South Singapore

Fig. 10.12  East Asian suicide rates for selected countries by age, 2012 (Data from World Health Organization 2014a)

indicator of the mental health status of a popula- make it more difficult to sustain the extended or
tion.” As such, it follows that “a comprehensive even nuclear family in the city than in the coun-
multisectoral suicide prevention strategy is tryside, the question arises as to what East Asian
needed” and “Communities … can provide social family values are and how they impact
support to vulnerable individuals and engage in well-being.
follow-up care, fight stigma and support those When asked which is more important, indi-
bereaved by suicide” (World Health Organization vidual happiness or family happiness, Taiwanese
WHO 2014a). and South Koreans responded in favor of family
happiness whereas Chinese and Japanese respon-
dents said that family happiness was less of a pri-
10.5 East Asian Family ority. However, people in all four East Asian
and Social Life societies in their 20s gave individual happiness a
high priority.
Family, not only the nuclear family but, by exten- What does the division of labor within the
sion, the extended family, is generally thought to family look like in East Asia? The prevailing pat-
provide identity stability and support in coping tern in China is for both husband and wife to hold
with problems. Dysfunctional families are the full-time jobs. That said, fully one third of
obvious counterexample, but the fact that “dys- Chinese couples who work full time work
functional” is defined as not offering such per- together at family businesses. This same pattern
sonal support and even impeding the ability to of both spouses working full time, with wives
cope highlights the importance of family to well-­ often working for the family business, is also
being. If one accepts the importance of family common in South Korea and Taiwan. In Japan,
and the fact that the difficulties created by space the prevailing pattern is for both husband and
and other constraints caused by urbanization wife to work but with the husband working full
322 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

time at one firm while the wife works part-time colleagues, and neighbors. Financial support
elsewhere. The distribution of labor for house- from financial institutions and public sources is
hold chores perhaps parallels this. Even though minimal in all four societies, as is operational
the prevailing pattern is for East Asian husbands support from care service providers. It is not
to do far less than their wives even when both coincidental that the highest suicide figures for
work full time, Chinese husbands are more older people are in the countries where traditional
involved at home, fixing dinner and cleaning the family support networks are most frayed.
house several times a week, whereas Japanese Although it originated in China, Confucianism
husbands are the least involved. informs all of the East Asian societies. Having
These are, however, the patterns for couples been adopted by the ruling class, this system of
who do not yet have children. Once they have social rituals and consideration designed to pro-
children, Japanese and South Korean wives typi- mote harmony is often invoked to prioritize obe-
cally quit working full time late in the pregnancy dience/deference (to parents, elders, and other
and remain at home to raise their children; authority figures) over independence and initia-
Chinese and Taiwanese wives keep working full tive. As such, it finds its echo in, for example, the
time even when their children are young, presum- characterization of the Japanese in the 1890
ably because the extended family is more intact Japanese Imperial Rescript on Education as
and they have family nearby to help them. “ever united in loyalty and filial piety” and its
When these East Asian wives were asked if injunction that they “be filial to your parents,
they were happy with their marriages, about half affectionate to your brothers and sisters; as hus-
of the Japanese and South Korean wives said bands and wives be harmonious, as friends true; .
they were happily married and only about 10 % . . advance public good and promote common
said they were unhappily married. Yet even the interests; always respect the Constitution and
10 % of “unhappy” wives was higher than the observe the laws” (Government of Japan 1890) It
number of unhappy Chinese and Taiwanese has been a major philosophical mainstay of fam-
wives. There is, however, a generational aspect ily and community solidarity and support.
to these data in that Japanese and South Korean Indeed, this Confucian tradition is one reason
wives are significantly more likely to express that East Asian societies are generally regarded
unhappiness in their 40s and beyond—a phe- as collectivist societies. When Iwai and Ueda
nomenon not seen among Chinese and Taiwanese (2011) asked representative samples in the four
wives. This difference might be attributable to countries whether they agree with the proposition
the difference between the Japanese and South that, in a collectivist society, silence is golden
Korean nuclear family pattern and the fact that even when you are dissatisfied, South Korean,
Chinese and Taiwanese extended-families have Chinese, and Taiwanese respondents voiced
many members living, if not together, at least strong agreement with this proposition and
close to one another. Japanese, weak agreement. Corroborating this
Looking at the sources of care and support for finding, Hofstede et al. (2010)) individuality
the aged, there is much more emotional support rankings put Japan 35th, China 58th, South Korea
from China and Taiwan than from South Korea 65th, and Taiwan 66th among the 75 societies
and Japan. The same relationship holds for oper- they examined. In a similar vein, respondents
ational support and for emotional support from were asked if they thought they should follow
friends, colleagues, and neighbors. China also their boss’s instructions even if they disagreed
leads in narrow and extended-family financial with them. Chinese and Taiwanese respondents
support. Of the four countries, China provides the agreed more strongly than Japanese and South
most and Japan, the least, financial support from Koreans did, suggesting that the Confucian influ-
friends, colleagues, and neighbors. The same ence is stronger in China and Taiwan than in
holds true for operational support from friends, Japan and South Korea.
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 323

10.6 Education done wrong, it is a deadening ritual undertaken in

preparation for further deadening. In such situa-
A number of nonmaterial measures contribute to tions, education is a ticket to social class (e.g.,
enhanced well-being, among them educational white-collar vs. blue-collar vs. unemployed)
opportunity. Education becomes increasingly membership rather than an indication of psycho-
important and educational level becomes an indi- logical well-being, although there is some corre-
cator of well-being as the society becomes more lation in that higher social class is often
advanced technologically and comes to rely more accompanied by financial rewards that lead at
on written than verbal communication. Modern least to material well-being.
prosperity has (1) demanded higher skill levels for As part of the AsiaBarometer project
gainful employment and (2) enabled both society (AsiaBarometer 2006), Inoguchi and his team
at large and individual citizens and families to asked parents to select the two most important
better afford the costs of higher education (includ- items from a list of qualities that children might
ing the opportunity cost of deferred earnings). In be encouraged to learn (Inoguchi 2011). These
addition, governments have promoted continued values are learned at an early age, with values and
education both to enhance international competi- norms most visibly inculcated by parents. As
tiveness and as an instrument of social integra- shown in Fig. 10.13, independence, diligence,
tion. It is thus encouraging that most of the East and honesty were the clear leaders in China,
Asian countries and societies have stipulated at South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, and
least 9 years of education as compulsory and that Singapore, with Japan an obvious outlier in pri-
the people often opt for more. Similarly, East Asia oritizing consideration for others and putting
boasts a number of world-class universities and independence a distant third. Given that
research facilities. The main value of education Confucius advocated both the virtue of indepen-
comes not from higher earnings but from enabling dence (“Do not be concerned that no one recog-
people to deal successfully with the problems nizes our merits. Be concerned that you may not
they face and to enhance their own and their soci- recognize others.”) and the virtue of consider-
eties’ well-being. ation for others (“Consideration for others is the
Chen (2012) reported that survey data from basis of a good life and a good society.”), it would
the four East Asian countries show a common clearly be misleading to call China Confucian
pattern in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. and Japan non-Confucian. Both are Confucian
Although both monetary and nonmonetary fac- with different emphases.
tors play a role in explaining the relationship Independence is a top-three quality empha-
between education and higher reports of happi- sized everywhere in East Asia except Japan. Why
ness in these countries, the monetary factor is the difference? The other East Asian societies are
relatively unimportant, and nonmonetary factors all continental and have suffered frequent con-
such as interpersonal networks and greater cos- quests, revolutions, wars, and other civil distur-
mopolitanism account for a significant part of the bances. Japan has been largely spared these kinds
correlation between education and happiness. of events. A student of Mongol history, Okada
China deviates from this pattern because of the (1999), argued that societies that fell under the
higher relative importance of personal income to Mongol empire’s sway tended to be politically
happiness. authoritarian whereas societies outside the reach
That said, there are times and places where of the Mongolian empire (e.g., Japan) were more
educational achievement is a mere rite-of-­passage able to develop free market-oriented societies. In
formality that people go through to obtain the addition, the continental societies are all more or
necessary certification and not because they are less recent-settler societies. China, Hong Kong,
interested in or even plan to use the content being Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam
taught. Done right, education is empowering; are full of migrants, both internal and external.
324 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

Vietnam 34.0% 37.3% 34.9% 27.3% 11.3% 33.9%

Taiwan 35.7% 44.5% 38.3% 12.5% 11.3% 15.8% 11.3% 21.0%

South Korea 37.0% 25.3% 37.6% 41.0% 11.3% 12.0% 12.1%

Singapore 44.7% 25.6% 55.3% 18.2% 8.7%8.4% 22.3%

Japan 18.7% 8.4% 32.8% 27.5% 65.6% 16.4% 14.9%

Hong Kong 33.9% 35.7% 41.3% 16.7% 14.8% 14.7% 12.6% 18.2%

China 47.6% 43.0% 33.6% 11.9% 8.4%11.7% 25.2%

Independence Diligence Honesty

Sincerity Consideraon for others Humility
Religiosity Paence Compeveness
Respect for the elderly Respect for teachers D.K.

Fig. 10.13  Ranking of values children should learn in the total percentage for each country per line exceeds 100
selected Asian countries, 2006. Percentages reflect per- %. D.K. = don’t know (Data from AsiaBarometer 2006)
centage of people within each of the value categories so

Diligence used to be a key virtue stressed in Chinese periphery (e.g., Japan, Korea, Taiwan,
Japanese compulsory education textbooks. and Vietnam) than in China itself, which stresses
Kinjiro Ninomiya (1787–1856), discussed previ- the result of sincerity rather than sincerity itself.
ously, was held up as an exemplary figure for the Consideration for others scores highest only
way he first worked his way out of poverty and in Japan, perhaps because the other societies are
then served as a moral administrator in develop- more mobile, have shorter-lasting relationships,
ing local economies, and statues of him (typically and hence have lower expectations that such con-
reading a book as he carried a heavy load of fire- sideration will be repaid. Humility is ranked rela-
wood) were common sights in Japanese school- tively high in Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan but
yards. Yet he has disappeared from not in China, Japan, Singapore, or Vietnam.
twenty-first-century Japanese primary and junior Patience is seen as anachronistic everywhere
high school textbooks. In the other countries in East Asia except Japan. Even in Japan, the
studied, individual competition is highly valued favorite make-good storyline has shifted from
as a means to survive and thrive, as epitomized Oshin, a girl patiently persevering in the face of
by the fact that the entrance examinations for hardship and separation from her parents, to
prestigious universities are more competitive Hanzawa Naoki, a hard-driving and somewhat
than they are in Japan. impulsive businessman wreaking revenge for
Honesty is another virtue stressed in the decades-old slights.
Confucian doctrine. Recent-settler societies are Respect for the elderly is definitely a Confucian
societies of strangers living in close proximity, virtue, and it is highly regarded in culturally
and honesty is an essential virtue in such a soci- Chinese societies such as Vietnam, China,
ety. Likewise, sincerity is also stressed in the Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in that
Confucian doctrine, yet it is stressed more in the order—i.e., in negative correlation to per capita
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 325

income. Although people profess respect for the in many countries as people seek solace and
elderly, it is unclear how much of this is sincere belonging, but it is not clear to what extent this
and how much is pro forma. The suicide data desecularization will reverse the twentieth-­
deserve another look. Perhaps “Confucian capi- century trend toward scientific secularism.
talism” would be an oxymoron? Studies of “religion” in East Asia can be mislead-
ing because, as discussed in Chap. 3, East Asian
languages had no term corresponding to the
10.7 R
 eligions and Religious English word “religion.” Therefore, as research-
Traditions ers in the following studies of “religious affilia-
tion” ask East Asian people if they have a
Overt religiosity does not dominate in East Asian religious tradition with which they affiliate them-
societies the way it does in some Judeo-Christian selves, most people answer negatively unless
and Islamic societies. Official China, for exam- they have made a personal commitment to follow
ple, has long been wary of organized religions as a particular set of religious ideas. Overall, most
potential countervailing forces; yet the Chinese people throughout East Asia do not do this, but
and Japanese cultures are so multitheistic that they do visit Buddhist, Daoist, Confucian, and
ordinary people may well have a Christian wed- folk religious temples and even sometimes
ding and a Buddhist funeral with occasional vis- Christian churches, “to worship” (lit: “to bow to
its to local folk religion shrines and temples in a deity and to light incense”) when they need help
between in search of ways to improve their every- in their lives, when they want extra good luck, or
day well-being. East Asia is perhaps the most during important festival dates. These patterns
secular region in Asia; South Asia is the most are reflected in the data pertaining to religious
religious, be it Christian, Islam, or Hindu; and affiliation summarized in Fig. 10.14.
Central and Southeast Asia fall in the middle. For decades, East Asia has been one of the
Religion seems to be making a modest comeback world’s most rapidly developing regions. Indeed,

Taiwan 21.3% 5.5% 44.2% 16.2% 12.7%

South Korea 22.9% 29.4% 46.4%

North Korea 12.3% 12.9% 71.3%

Japan 36.2% 57.0%

China 18.2% 5.1% 21.9% 52.2%

Buddhist Chrisan Folk religion Jewish Muslim Unaffiliated

Fig. 10.14  Percent religious affiliation by East Asian country, 2010 (Data from Central Intelligence Agency 2015b)
326 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

the region’s annual rate of economic expansion the volume’s four sectors of well-being, i.e.,
ranged from 6 % to as much as 12–13 % and even health, education, income, and subjective well-­
higher for the PRC (World Bank 2014). The being. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to
result of these rapid rates of economic growth, in a detailed discussion of the gains and continuing
combination with low to modest levels of growth challenges faced by the region in each sector of
in Europe and North America, is that China now well-being (Estes 2007; Estes and Van Roy
ranks as the second largest economy (USD 9; 1992).
181.2 million; 12.6 %) in the world, and Japan is
third (USD 4; 898.5 million; 6.7 %)—even allow-
ing for the sluggish pace of economic growth that 10.7.1 Financial Well-Being
has characterized the Japanese economy since
the early 1990s. Thus, China and Japan, along Economic prosperity is widely accepted as a pre-
with first-ranked United States (USD 16; 768.1 requisite for economic well-being. Thus, it is
million; 23.0 %), now account for more than instructive to look at different levels of economic
USD 30,844.3 million, or approximately 42.3 % prosperity that exist in each society and, in turn,
of the planet’s total economic output. to draw comparisons between these countries and
Despite the region’s long history of warfare others with very different income and wealth pro-
between bordering states, the East Asian region files. Among the many measures available to
has been at peace with itself for much of the past assess economic well-being are GDP and, taking
three decades. Peace, in combination with new the size of each country’s population into consid-
affluence, has resulted in impressive gains in the eration, PCGDP. As reported in Figs. 10.15,
region and in the well-being of the member coun- 10.16, and 10.17, all East Asian countries and
tries. The gains are represented in all areas of societies—with the exception of North Korea—
social development and are reflected in all four of have GDP and PCGDP levels that compare favor-

7,000

6,000

5,000
GDP (Millions USD)

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0
1960 1980 2010
China 61 189 5,950
Japan 44 1,090 5,500
South Korea 4 64 1,010

Fig. 10.15  Gross domestic product (GDP) in USD in selected East Asian countries, 1960–2010 (Data from World
Bank 2014)
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 327

$90,000

Pe r Capit a Gross Dom e st ic Product

$80,000
$70,000
$60,000
$50,000
$40,000
$30,000
$20,000
$10,000
$0
1960 1980 2010
China 92 313 4,437
Japan 479 9,313 42,917
South Korea 422 1,778 22,151
Taiwan 2,363 18,488
United States 2,902 15,447 80,413
NA Axis Title
China Japan South Korea Taiwan United States

Fig. 10.16  Per capita gross domestic product (in USD) in selected East Asian countries, 1960–2010 (Data from World
Bank 2014)

4 64 1010

44
5500

1090

61
5950

189

1960 1980 2010

China Japan South Korea

Fig. 10.17  Relative sizes of gross domestic products (Data from World Bank 2014)

ably with those of other economically leading trends in GDP and PCGDP and, therefore, is not
nations of the world. The improvement in PCGDP unique to the East Asian region, which struggles
that occurred between 1980 and 2015, however, with the same economic investments and finan-
did not occur in a straight line; indeed, there were cial flows as do other economically advanced
many periods in which net economic losses were countries (World Bank 2014). The overall direc-
more typical. This pattern is comparable to global tion of these changes is, however, decidedly posi-
328 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

tive and, today, the majority of the region’s Panama, 51.9., Colombia, 53.5, Costa Rica, 48.2,
countries are among the most significant wealth-­ and Paraguay, 48.0.
producing nations worldwide. On average, the countries of East Asia have
Gini scores that reflect high levels of income
inequality both within and between the region’s
10.7.2 Gini Coefficients countries, i.e., China (47.0), Japan (38.1), South
and Subjective and Objective Korea (35.1), and Taiwan (35.1). These high lev-
Assessments of Well-Being els of financial inequality parallel those found in
the United States (41.1) and the Russian
Gini coefficients are an economic tool used to Federation (41.7). In all respects, these Gini
assess the extent to which income and wealth are scores reflect values that are more consistent with
distributed more or less equally in a society economically developing nations than those
(Fig. 10.18). Ranging from “0” to “100,” scores reported for countries with fully developed econ-
closer to 0 indicate less inequality in access to omies (World Bank 2014) (Fig. 10.18). These
and the distribution of income and wealth; con- severe disparities in income inequality are mani-
versely, scores closer to “100” indicate high lev- festing themselves in growing levels of economic
els of income and wealth inequality within and discontent throughout the East Asia region—a
between a nation’s various population groups. At phenomenon that the region has not experienced
the global level, the most favorable Gini scores for many decades. Thus, objective economic per-
are reported for the Scandinavian countries: formances profoundly impact subjective assess-
Denmark 26.9, Finland, 27.8, Norway, 26.8; con- ment of well-being, with the result that the two
versely the societies with the highest levels of core domains of well-being cannot really be sep-
financial inequality are in Latin America, i.e., arated from one another (Wan 2007).

50
47.0
44.7
45

40 38.1
Gini Coefficients

35.1
35

30 31.6

24.9
25

20
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008
South Korea Japan China

Fig. 10.18  Trending direction of most recent Gini coefficients for the largest East Asian countries, 1992–2008 (Data
from United Nations Development Programme 2014; World Bank 2014)
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 329

10.8 Technical Infrastructure lives (e.g., weather forecasts for agricultural

Quality communities) but also in terms of integrating
them into the society and keeping them con-
It is impossible to overemphasize the importance nected with family and friends even when these
of public utility infrastructure to everyday well-­ people do not live nearby. Many of the later-­
being (Fig. 10.19). As shown, East Asian societ- developing East Asian societies are bypassing
ies generally have good access to core public fixed-line networks and going directly to mobile/
utilities. Although taken from official ­government cellular service. In China, for example, many are
sources and needing to be understood as such, the even bypassing subscribing to mobile services
available data show that electricity is nearly 100 and are instead going online with prepaid access.
% available in all of the societies; safe drinking Many observers see automobile ownership as
water is 92 % available in China and 95–100 % a measure of prosperity and well-being, despite
available elsewhere. Similarly, liquefied propane the serious pollution and other problems that
gas/city gas is 73.5 % available in China and accompany automobile ownership and use. This
93–99 % elsewhere. This situation, while much paper cites two sets of data: paved road length
better than before, is still not as good as it should (which is linked to automobile ownership but is
be, and both inadequate hygiene and sanitation also indicative of the distribution system and
facilities and pollution pose long-term threats to mobility in general) and rail track (a measure of
the people’s well-being (Inoguchi 2006). both mobility efficiency and social infrastructure
Telephone service is another oft-cited mea- development). The four leading East Asian
sure of development and prosperity (Fig. 10.20). countries have made obvious progress here as
Communications connectivity is important not well. Figure 10.21 shows the land area and trans-
just in terms of giving more people better access port infrastructure for each of the region’s
to information that they can use in their daily countries.

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50% 100% 100% 100% 100% 98% 100% 100% 100%

92% 95%
40%
75%
65%
30%

20%

10%

0%
China Japan Singapore South Korea Vietnam United States
Access to safe water supply Access to enhanced sewage treatment

Fig. 10.19  Access to core public utilities in selected East Asian countries, 2012 (Data from World Bank 2014)
 330 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

100%

90% 24%
80% 37%
52% 51%
70% 58% 59%
Percent of Subscribers

64%
68%
60% 80% 79% 80%
93%
50%

40% 76%
30% 63%
48% 49%
20% 42% 41%
36%
32%
10% 20% 21% 20%
7%
0%
2000 2012 2000 2012 2000 2012 2000 2012 2000 2012 2000 2012
China Hong Kong Japan Singapore South Korea Vietnam

Landline Mobile

Fig. 10.20  Comparison of landline and mobile subscribers in 2000 and 2012 (Data from World Bank 2014)

United States 4,304.7 210.4

Taiwan 41.0 1.1

South Korea 83.2 3.4

North Korea 0.7 5.2

Japan 973.2 20.1

China 3,450.0 76.6

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Paved roadway Railway

Fig. 10.21  Paved roadway (km) vs. railway and per land area of country (km2) (Data from 18dao 2015; NationMaster
2015)
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 331

10.9 P
 sychological or Subjective Only a handful of the population had the access
Well-Being necessary to bring about what, then, was regarded
as a high level of social and economic inclusion.
In large part, deriving from but nonetheless tran- The typical picture was one of deprivation,
scending public performance on the objective denial, and having to suspend a concern for the
measures just described, are self-assessed, or future in order to focus on meeting the basic day-­
subjective, feelings of well-being. These two to-­day needs that confronted the majority of the
dimensions of well-being differ significantly population. People’s attitudes toward having to
from one another. Fortunately, we have sophisti- live under such harsh conditions were not con-
cated methods for assessing the extent to which frontational in nature. Over time, however, the
people are happy with their lives as they are cur- living conditions of many population groups
rently living them. Questions to be asked of peo- began to change for the better, e.g., access to
ple in obtaining these self-assessments include, ­better food on a predictable and sustainable basis,
but are not limited to, “Do you think life is good?” governmental approval to build more secure liv-
or “Do you feel trapped in a ‘no-exit’ maze of ing units, and regular employment even in low
personal nonrewards and despair?” The answers paying jobs; at the same time, the majority of the
that result from these questions are intriguing and population did not share in these benefits. Thus,
reinforce the individual’s sense of personal and the material and subjective well-being of the few
collective achievements in both the objective and improved dramatically within a short time
subjective arenas of well-being. whereas the self-assessments of well-being of the
Thus, although the overall levels of economic many declined precipitously in an environment
and social prosperity noted above are encourag- within which a minority were able to rebuild their
ing from a well-being perspective, concern has lives to at least a prewar level. These disparities
been expressed that the distribution of wealth resulted in many internal conflicts between the
within and between the region’s societies is relatively advantaged and the relatively disadvan-
increasingly unequal, and this inequality may be taged population groups, a process that under-
a factor that correlates with subjective dissatis- mined the already fledgling political, economic,
faction and a subjective social disconnect as peo- and social welfare systems that clearly were
ple become more aware of the discrepancy. That designed to meet all of the victims of war—at
is to suggest that a profound sense of relative least in principle. The end result of these dispari-
deprivation slowly, but profoundly, creeps into a ties, of course, was that personal and communal
population as major income groups recognize the hardships became less acceptable when some
imbalances that exist between actual and relative people were living luxuriously and their neigh-
attained levels of objective and subjective bors were unable to escape poverty no matter
achievement. The larger the gap in the imbalance, how hard they worked (Graham 2011; Walker
the greater is the likelihood that subjective assess- and Smith 2011).
ments of well-being will decline (Gornick and As mentioned briefly above, longevity and
Jantti 2014; Inoguchi and Fujii 2011). infant mortality are significant social data but do
The period following the end of the Second not necessarily reflect how the individual feels
World War in Japan offers valuable insights into about his or her own health. Although inherently
how this mix of objective and subjective assess- subjective, self-assessment of health is an impor-
ments of well-being interact with one another. tant component of personal well-being. Of the
Following the war, for example, only a minority four East Asian societies, China and South Korea
of Japanese lived under circumstances in which register high health self-assessments and Japan
their daily needs, housing needs, the ability to and Taiwan register cautiously good self-­
return to university, and the like could be met. assessments. In large part, chronic diseases such
332 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

100%
4.7% 6.0% 7.2%
90% 12.8%

80% 31.5% 31.4%

70% 32.1% 40.5%
60%
50%
40% 44.0% 47.1%
44.2% 33.7%
30%
20%
10% 18.2% 14.9% 16.5%
9.5%
0%
China Japan South Korea Taiwan
Extremely happy Rather happy Can’t say one way or the other
Rather unhappy Extremely unhappy

Fig. 10.22  Self-assessment of personal happiness in selected East Asia (Data from Inoguchi and Fujii 2011)

as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular region’s rich historic past, which has had
difficulties, and respiratory problems increase major socio-political-cultural-religious
with age and become increasingly important as impacts not only on the region but on the rest
the East Asian societies age. Figure 10.22 sum- of the world as well.
marizes the major findings with respect to how • Through the region’s ancient religions and
selected groups of East Asian citizens and resi- philosophical systems, East Asia teaches com-
dents view their satisfaction with life and with passion toward others, including toward
happiness. strangers. In fact, however, the region has
spun a comparatively weak social safety net to
care for its elderly, disabled poor, and others
10.10 Discussion and Conclusions who cannot participate fully in East Asia’s
“economic miracle.”
We began this chapter with a series of questions
that guided our exploration of a complex body of Japan may perhaps be an outlier in East Asia
objective and subjective well-being data with in two senses. First, Japan registered a govern-
respect to changes in development that occurred ment social policy expenditure higher than that of
in East Asia. Among others, our major findings the United Kingdom and on a par with that of the
include the following: Netherlands. Second, given alarmingly increas-
ing government debts and the need to reduce gov-
• East Asia has been and continues to be one of ernment expenditure on social issues, those with
the world’s most rapidly developing regions lower income may feel the crunch similar to
and experiences high levels of self-assessed those in the rest of East Asia.
well-being. Instead, the region’s cultures and, in turn, their
• The region’s contemporary development pat- governments emphasize individual savings and
terns are linked to one another and to the family social care responsibility to meet the
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 333

majority of these needs. Government involve- considerable pride, and the presence of chil-
ment in this sector is limited to small pensions for dren, but especially boys.
previous members of its civil service, to widows, • On the negative side, the countries and societ-
to childless single persons, and to the poor who ies of East Asia are confronted by a wide
are found in every community. But the levels of range of recurrent natural and man-made
financial security provided through the publicly disasters. In recent years these have included:
administered systems of social welfare tend to be –– The near meltdown of the Fukushima
minimal. Local temples and monasteries pick up nuclear plant in Japan (United Nations
the void left by the absence of help from the pub- Economic and Social Commission for Asia
lic sector. and the Pacific [UNESCAP] 2015)
–– The devastating destruction brought about
• Nonconsanguine adoptions are a rarity in East by an earthquake of large expanses of Kobe
Asia and, to the extent they do occur, the pref- in Japan (UNESCAP 2015)
erence is for the adoption of boys rather than –– Less frequent, and certainly more con-
girls, for whom other forms of social support tained, flooding associated with China’s
must be found. extensive rivers and other waterways
• Economic development has been one of the (UNESCAP 2015)
region’s most significant social –– Devastating and recurring earthquakes in
accomplishment. both China and Japan (UNESCAP 2015)
–– East Asia, for example, contains two of the –– Frequent tsunamis among the coastal cities
world’s three largest economies and, in of virtually all of East Asia’s major territo-
general, levels of PCGDP and per capita ries (UNESCAP 2015)
gross national income are well above world –– Air pollution of nearly unbreathable levels
averages. related to the burning of fossil fuels (coal)
–– Similarly, cell phone ownership, paved in China, Taiwan, and, often, South Korea
roads, railways, and other transportation (UNESCAP 2015)
and communications infrastructures are –– The accumulation of large amounts of
among the world’s most developed, even nuclear waste in all of the region’s coun-
when compared with those of the United tries dependent on nuclear power as a
States. major energy source (UNESCAP 2015)
–– Long gone are the days when products with –– The rapid spread of frequent public health
the notation “made in Japan” or “made in pandemics from China to other areas of East
China” were considered cheaply produced, Asia and, owing to airplane travel, quickly
mass market items. As was the case for to other world regions, e.g., avian flu epi-
nearly a thousand years, selected products demics, severe acute respiratory syndrome,
of Japan and China, especially in the elec- or SARS, among others (WHO 2014b)
tronics sector, are considered to be among • Also problematic for a majority of East Asian
the best available in the global market countries are continuing problems with over-
place. population, albeit the nature of the dilemmas
• Self-assessed levels of well-being are excep- differs enormously from one country to
tionally high in the majority of East Asian another, e.g., on-going rapid population
countries. Positive ratings on self-assessment growth in China, which ranks 2nd behind
tools are closely related to the levels of educa- India in the size of the total population, and,
tional and income attainment, the presence of owing to declining fertility and increases in
a strong sense of social mobility, engagement overall years of life expectation, rapid popula-
in productive work in which individuals take tion aging in Japan, Taiwan, and even China
334 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

(United Nations Population Division 2012). poisons the wells for future generations is an
The complex social care needs of the region’s obvious don’t. In many areas, the East Asian
elderly are placing extraordinarily high levels economies have learned how to curb much of
of demands on East Asia capacity to provide their pollution, both industrial and personal.
adequately for their needs (UNESCAP 2014). Desulphurization scrubbers on smoke stacks,
emission regulations for automobiles, and sew-
age treatment plants are just a few examples.
10.11 Looking Ahead Having come this far and possessing
advanced design and technology skills, it is
The East Asian countries, with the notable excep- incumbent upon the East Asian economies to
tion of North Korea, have achieved remarkable move to the next stage and develop solutions to
progress in well-being and their people have ben- some of the urgent pollution issues facing the
efitted enormously. Some of these accomplish- global community. Climate change and sea-
ments have been government-directed, yet level increases associated with global warming
government policy obviously had to be backed up represent just two of the many issues needing to
and supplemented by private initiative as people be addressed worldwide. Other imperatives are
saw the benefits to development. the need to check and reverse desertification, to
Modernization and industrialization have ensure adequate fresh water supplies in tandem
raised standards of living throughout the region with robust water conservation programs, to
and enhanced physical well-being in general wean our economies from fossil fuels, and to
(Estes and Van Roy 1992). Yet, these forces have vigorously promote and protect species diver-
also had their downside, as epitomized by pollu- sity. These are all e­ ssential if our current well-
tion at public-disaster levels (e.g., the mercury being is to be more than just a one-off blip on
poisoning of Minamata in Japan; the current lev- the radar of history.
els of air, water, and soil pollution in China; and Moreover, all of these changes have to be done
the near meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear against the backdrop of declining and aging pop-
plant in Japan). Conducive to enhanced well-­ ulations. As fertility rates have fallen well below
being, modernization and industrialization have the developed-country 2-to-1 replacement rate
not had unmitigated results. Including green- (with less developed countries needing higher
house gas emissions and climate change, it is fertility rates to offset their higher infant mortal-
clear the East Asian economies must do more to ity rates) and as improved health and living con-
develop and adopt nonpolluting (or, at a mini- ditions have extended lifespans, many societies
mum, less-polluting) manufacturing processes are finding their social security structures stressed
and lifestyles. by having fewer working-age people to support
There are clearly lessons here that other coun- more retired people and by having fewer young
tries can learn, with the understanding that not all people to maintain infrastructure, production,
East Asian economies offer the same lessons and and distribution systems. Nevertheless, it is
that not all lessons apply equally to all situations. hoped that this demographic issue, which is by
Some of the lessons from East Asia are dos and no means restricted to East Asia, can spur these
others are don’ts. Allowing room for innovation societies to devise innovative solutions applica-
is an obvious do; rampant pollution that, in effect, ble to enhanced well-being worldwide.
Supplemental Tables

Supplemental Table 10.1 Demography
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Demography
REGION: Asia (N= 24)
Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
East Asia China 667.1 1051.0 1337.7 1364.3 1.8 1.4 0.5 0.5 16.2 22.9 49.2 54.4
East Asia Hong Kong SAR 3.1 5.5 7.0 7.2 4.5 1.1 0.7 0.8 85.2 92.9 100.0 100.0
East Asia Japan 92.5 120.8 128.1 127.1 0.9 0.6 0.0 −0.2 63.3 76.7 90.5 93.0
East Asia Korea, North 11.4 18.8 24.5 25.0 2.5 1.6 0.5 0.5 40.2 57.6 60.2 60.7
East Asia Korea, South 25.0 40.8 49.4 50.4 2.9 1.0 0.5 0.4 27.7 64.9 81.9 82.4
East Asia Mongolia 1.0 1.9 2.7 2.9 2.5 2.7 1.5 1.5 35.7 55.0 67.6 71.2
East Asia Taiwan 10.6 19.3 23.2 23.4 3.7 1.3 0.2 0.3
South Central Asia Afghanistan 8.8 11.5 28.4 31.3 2.0 −2.8 2.5 2.4 8.2 17.0 24.7 26.3
South Central Asia Bangladesh 49.5 94.3 151.1 158.5 2.8 2.7 1.1 1.2 5.1 17.5 30.5 33.5
South Central Asia Bhutan 0.2 0.5 0.7 0.8 2.3 2.8 1.7 1.5 3.6 12.9 34.8 37.9
South Central Asia India 449.6 781.7 1205.6 1267.4 2.0 2.2 1.3 1.2 17.9 24.3 30.9 32.4
South Central Asia Iran 22.0 47.5 74.5 78.5 2.6 4.0 1.2 1.3 33.7 53.4 70.6 72.9
South Central Asia Nepal 9.5 16.1 26.8 28.1 1.7 2.3 1.1 1.2 3.5 7.4 16.8 18.2
South Central Asia Pakistan 45.5 94.8 173.1 185.1 2.4 3.4 1.8 1.6 22.1 29.3 36.6 38.3
South Central Asia Sri Lanka 9.9 15.8 20.7 20.6 2.8 1.5 1.0 0.8 16.4 18.6 18.3 18.3
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership

South East Asia Cambodia 5.7 7.8 14.4 15.4 2.5 3.6 1.5 1.8 10.3 13.9 19.8 20.5
South East Asia Indonesia 88.7 162.5 240.7 252.8 2.4 2.1 1.3 1.2 14.6 26.1 49.9 53.0
South East Asia Lao, PDR 2.1 3.7 6.4 6.9 2.3 2.8 2.0 1.8 7.9 13.8 33.1 37.6
South East Asia Malaysia 8.2 15.8 28.3 30.2 3.2 2.8 1.7 1.6 26.6 45.9 70.9 74.0
South East Asia Myanmar 21.5 38.5 51.9 53.7 2.2 2.1 0.8 0.9 19.2 24.1 31.4 33.6
South East Asia Philippines 26.3 54.3 93.4 100.1 3.3 2.7 1.7 1.7 30.3 43.0 45.3 44.5
South East Asia Singapore 1.6 2.7 5.1 5.5 6.4 0.1 1.8 1.3 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
South East Asia Thailand 27.4 52.0 66.4 67.2 3.0 1.8 0.2 0.3 19.7 28.1 44.1 49.2
335

(continued)
Supplemental Table 10.1 (continued)
336

Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban

Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
South East Asia Viet Nam 34.7 58.9 86.9 90.7 1.6 2.0 1.0 1.1 14.7 19.6 30.4 33.0
East Asia (N=7) 115.8 179.7 224.7 228.6 2.7 1.4 0.6 0.5 44.7 61.7 74.9 77.0
South Central 74.4 132.8 210.1 221.3 2.3 2.0 1.5 1.4 13.8 22.6 32.9 34.7
Asia (N=8)
South East Asia 24.0 44.0 65.9 69.2 3.0 2.2 1.3 1.3 27.0 34.9 47.2 49.5
(N=9)
Regional average 67.6 113.2 160.3 166.4 2.7 1.9 1.2 1.1 27.1 37.6 49.5 51.5
Population: Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship–except for refugees not perma-
nently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. The values shown are midyear estimates
% Population Growth Rate: Population growth (annual %) is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage
% Urban: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios
from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL. Taiwan: http://www.populstat.info/Asia/taiwanc.htm
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL. Taiwan: http://www.indexmundi.com/taiwan/population.html
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL. Taiwan: http://www.indexmundi.com/taiwan/population.html
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL. Taiwan: http://www.indexmundi.com/taiwan/population.html
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW. Taiwan: http://www.populstat.info/Asia/taiwanc.htm
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW. Taiwan: http://www.indexmundi.com/taiwan/population.html
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW. Taiwan: http://www.indexmundi.com/taiwan/population.html
h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW. Taiwan: http://www.indexmundi.com/taiwan/population.html
i World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
j World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
k World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
l World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes
Supplemental Table 10.2 Education
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Education
REGION: Asia (N= 24)
% Secondary school enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
East Asia China 32.2 83.1 92.4 65.5 95.1 95.1 2.5 23.3 29.7
East Asia Hong Kong SAR 72.4 87.2 99.3 12.2 57.8 66.8
East Asia Japan 94.9 101.6 101.8 29.0 58.1 61.5
East Asia Korea, North 97.0 100.0 100.0
East Asia Korea, South 90.6 97.1 99.0 31.6 101.0 96.6
East Asia Mongolia 87.5 91.6 91.6 98.3 98.3 23.8 53.8 62.3
East Asia Taiwan
South Central Asia Afghanistan 13.3 50.2 54.3 31.7 31.7 2.2 3.9 3.7
South Central Asia Bangladesh 20.1 49.9 53.6 58.8 58.8 5.0 10.5 13.2
South Central Asia Bhutan 11.9 66.3 77.7 52.8 0.7 7.0 10.9
South Central Asia India 34.9 65.1 71.5 62.8 5.8 18.2 24.7
South Central Asia Iran 44.1 81.1 86.3 52.3 85.0 84.3 43.1 57.9
South Central Asia Nepal 27.5 60.4 67.0 8.8 57.4 57.4 3.5 14.4 17.2
South Central Asia Pakistan 19.1 34.1 38.3 55.4 54.7 2.9 6.6 9.8
South Central Asia Sri Lanka 61.1 97.2 99.2 91.2 91.2 3.7 16.0 18.8
South East Asia Cambodia 45.0 45.0 73.9 73.9 0.3 14.1 15.8
South East Asia Indonesia 34.8 78.4 83.1 92.6 92.8 6.2 24.9 31.5
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership

South East Asia Lao, PDR 21.4 44.8 50.5 72.7 1.5 16.1 17.7
South East Asia Malaysia 53.7 66.9 70.8 93.1 93.1 5.6 37.1 37.2
South East Asia Myanmar 23.1 50.2 50.2 78.6 92.6 92.6 4.8 13.8 13.4
South East Asia Philippines 67.1 84.6 85.4 95.4 95.4 27.7 29.4 33.8
South East Asia Singapore 95.9 96.4
South East Asia Thailand 30.7 83.5 85.9 96.4 96.4 20.6 50.0 51.2
South East Asia Viet Nam 43.0 93.5 93.5 1.9 22.4 24.6
East Asia (N=7) 75.5 92.1 96.8 81.3 97.8 97.8 19.8 58.8 63.4
337

(continued)
Supplemental Table 10.2 (continued)
338

% Secondary school enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education

Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
South Central 29.0 63.0 68.5 8.8 52.3 63.2 61.7 3.4 15.0 19.5
Asia (N=8)
South East Asia 38.5 64.8 64.2 78.6 91.7 89.7 8.6 26.0 28.2
(N=9)
Regional average 44.2 70.9 73.6 8.8 73.3 82.7 79.7 9.6 29.6 33.3
% Secondary school enrollment: Gross enrollment ratio. Secondary. All programs. Total is the total enrollment in secondary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percent-
age of the population of official secondary education age. GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school
entrance and grade repetition
% Adult literacy: Adult (15+) literacy rate (%). Total is the percentage of the population age 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement
on their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number
of literates aged 15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100
% Tertiary education: Gross enrollment ratio. Tertiary (ISCED 5 and 6). Total is the total enrollment in tertiary education (ISCED 5 and 6), regardless of age, expressed as a
percentage of the total population of the five-year age group following on from secondary school leaving
Note: can also find data directly from UNESCO (World Bank has same values since data comes from UNESCO)
a
b World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
c World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
d World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
e UNESCO (1970) – Literacy 1967–1969 Progress Achieved in Literacy Throughout the World. Paris (1970)
f World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
g World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
h World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
i
j World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
k World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
l World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes
Supplemental Table 10.3 Health
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Health
REGION: Asia (N= 24)
Avg. years life Infant <1/1k live Child mortality Maternal mortality TB incidence per
expectancy born <5/1K rate 100k
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t
East Asia China 43.5 68.3 74.9 75.4 42.1 13.6 10.9 53.8 15.8 12.7 36.0 32.0 21.6 92.0 70.0
East Asia Hong Kong 67.0 76.4 83.0 83.8 49.8 5.2 138.3 94.0 76.0
SAR
East Asia Japan 67.7 77.7 82.8 83.3 30.4 5.5 2.4 2.1 39.7 7.5 3.2 2.9 131.0 14.0 6.0 6.0 48.5 24.0 18.0
East Asia Korea, 51.1 67.4 68.9 69.8 27.7 24.8 21.7 35.1 31.3 27.4 98.0 87.0 383.0 429.0
North
East Asia Korea, 53.0 68.5 80.6 81.5 80.6 8.5 3.5 3.2 113.6 9.9 4.1 3.7 17.4 21.0 27.0 213.6 97.0 97.0
South
East Asia Mongolia 48.4 58.4 66.9 67.5 94.3 29.3 26.4 135.2 35.7 31.8 74.0 68.0 155.8 227.0 181.0
East Asia Taiwan
South Afghanistan 31.6 44.4 59.6 60.9 234.9 146.7 75.3 70.2 359.5 219.6 105.2 97.3 500.0 400.0 93.2 189.0 189.0
Central
Asia
South Bangladesh 47.0 57.4 69.5 70.7 176.0 117.8 38.9 33.2 263.8 173.3 49.1 41.1 200.0 170.0 44.3 225.0 224.0
Central
Asia
South Bhutan 32.4 48.6 67.0 68.3 113.0 34.2 29.7 165.4 42.5 36.2 140.0 120.0 228.7 287.0 169.0
Central
Asia
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership

South India 41.4 57.1 65.7 66.5 164.9 100.6 46.4 41.4 247.4 145.2 60.2 52.7 220.0 190.0 149.5 209.0 171.0
Central
Asia
South Iran 44.9 55.7 73.1 74.1 56.1 16.4 14.4 75.1 19.2 16.8 25.0 23.0 18.4 20.0 21.0
Central
Asia
South Nepal 38.5 51.2 67.1 68.4 221.6 120.5 36.2 32.2 330.0 177.8 45.3 39.7 220.0 190.0 0.3 163.0 156.0
Central
Asia
339

(continued)
 340

Supplemental Table 10.3 (continued)

Avg. years life Infant <1/1k live Child mortality Maternal mortality TB incidence per
expectancy born <5/1K rate 100k
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t
South Pakistan 46.4 59.6 66.1 66.6 186.4 114.6 73.4 69.0 253.9 150.8 91.8 85.5 190.0 170.0 117.6 276.0 275.0
Central
Asia
South Sri Lanka 59.7 69.3 73.8 74.2 70.7 25.2 9.2 8.2 98.0 30.2 10.7 9.6 302.5 50.6 32.0 29.0 37.2 66.0 66.0
Central
Asia
South Cambodia 41.2 52.9 70.6 71.7 87.4 37.3 32.5 120.9 43.8 37.9 200.0 170.0 130.4 511.0 400.0
East Asia
South Indonesia 44.8 61.2 70.2 70.8 149.9 73.7 27.4 24.5 224.7 102.7 33.2 29.3 210.0 190.0 10.9 199.0 183.0
East Asia
South Lao, PDR 43.2 50.9 66.9 68.2 122.9 59.0 53.8 181.7 79.6 71.4 270.0 220.0 115.8 270.0 197.0
East Asia
South Malaysia 59.5 69.5 74.5 75.0 67.3 18.6 7.2 7.2 92.7 21.8 8.5 8.5 242.3 37.1 31.0 29.0 67.0 75.0 99.0
East Asia
South Myanmar 42.7 56.9 64.6 65.1 86.5 43.7 39.8 122.9 56.1 50.5 220.0 200.0 27.3 403.0 373.0
East Asia
South Philippines 57.8 63.8 68.2 68.7 66.8 50.2 25.0 23.5 104.1 74.8 32.1 29.9 153.2 120.0 120.0 278.0 337.0 292.0
East Asia
South Singapore 65.7 73.9 81.5 82.3 35.5 8.8 2.2 2.2 47.8 10.9 2.8 2.8 44.2 4.4 4.0 6.0 71.3 35.0 47.0
East Asia
South Thailand 55.2 67.9 73.8 74.4 102.1 38.3 12.5 11.3 147.6 48.2 14.5 13.1 329.6 35.5 28.0 26.0 149.2 157.0 119.0
East Asia
South Viet Nam 59.1 68.9 75.3 75.8 76.1 41.7 20.6 19.0 120.6 59.7 25.9 23.8 51.0 49.0 79.7 176.0 144.0
East Asia
East Asia 55.1 69.5 76.2 76.9 55.5 35.6 14.7 12.9 76.7 48.3 18.0 15.7 90.4 12.2 47.0 44.0 115.6 152.8 145.2
(N=7)
South 42.7 55.4 67.7 68.7 175.8 99.3 41.3 37.3 258.8 142.2 53.0 47.4 302.5 50.6 190.9 161.5 86.1 179.4 158.9
Central
Asia (N=8)
T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes
 South East 52.1 62.9 71.7 72.5 83.0 58.7 26.1 23.8 122.9 82.6 32.9 29.7 192.3 25.7 126.0 112.2 103.3 240.3 206.0
Asia (N=9)
Regional 49.6 62.0 71.5 72.3 118.8 68.2 29.0 26.2 174.5 96.5 36.8 32.9 178.9 23.5 131.6 114.6 99.8 196.3 173.7
Average
Avg. years life expectancy: Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay
the same throughout its life
Infant <1/1k live born: Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1000 live births in a given year
Child mortality <5/1K: Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the
specified year
Maternal mortality rate: Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per
100,000 live births. The data are estimated with a regression model using information on the proportion of maternal deaths among non-AIDS deaths in women ages 15–49, fertility,
birth attendants, and GDP
TB incidence per 100k: Incidence of tuberculosis is the estimated number of new pulmonary, smear positive, and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis cases. Incidence includes patients
with HIV
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
i World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
j World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
k World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
l World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
m http://www.who.int/healthinfo/mortality_data/en/; http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.CBRT.IN. Note: some estimates made from pregnancy related deaths, birth rate,
and population
n http://www.who.int/healthinfo/mortality_data/en/; http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.CBRT.IN
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership

o World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT

p World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
q http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/
r http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/
s World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
t World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
341
 342

Supplemental Table 10.4 Income
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Income
REGION: Asia (N= 24)
GDP (Billions of constant 2005 PCGDP (Constant 2005 % Growth in GINI or other measure of
USD) USD) GDP wealth disparity
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p
East Asia China 80.8 359.7 3867.4 5274.1 121.2 342.2 2891.1 3865.9 −27.3 13.6 10.6 7.4 29.9 42.1 37.0
East Asia Hong Kong 69.0 220.1 247.8 12655.3 31328.4 34222.3 0.8 6.8 2.5
SAR
East Asia Japan 654.9 3018.2 4648.5 4779.5 7079.4 24994.7 36296.3 37595.2 12.0 6.3 4.7 −0.1 32.1 32.1
East Asia Korea,
North
East Asia Korea, 27.7 230.6 1098.7 1238.7 1106.8 5650.2 22236.1 24565.6 4.9 7.5 6.5 3.3
South
East Asia Mongolia 1.5 3.5 5.5 801.6 1273.2 1901.0 5.7 6.4 7.8 36.5 36.5
East Asia Taiwan
South Afghanistan 10.2 12.9 360.7 413.4 8.4 2.0 27.8 27.8
Central
Asia
South Bangladesh 14.4 28.5 93.2 119.0 291.6 302.6 616.9 750.4 6.1 3.3 5.6 6.1 26.9 32.1 32.1
Central
Asia
South Bhutan 0.2 1.3 1.6 408.3 1796.8 2068.4 4.2 11.7 6.3 38.7 38.7
Central
Asia
South India 102.7 262.3 1243.7 1600.3 228.3 335.5 1031.6 1262.6 3.7 5.3 10.3 7.4 31.9 33.9 33.6
Central
Asia
South Iran 100.2 239.5 231.4 2108.6 3215.7 2949.3 2.1 6.6 1.5 47.4
Central
Asia
T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes
South Nepal 1.7 3.4 10.1 12.0 177.8 209.5 376.3 426.5 1.9 6.1 4.8 5.5 32.8 32.8
Central
Asia
South Pakistan 10.0 44.0 129.5 151.6 219.4 464.2 748.0 818.9 6.0 7.6 1.6 5.4 33.4 29.6 29.6
Central
Asia
South Sri Lanka 3.3 10.2 33.3 44.1 336.7 644.2 1610.1 2135.7 4.2 5.0 8.0 7.4 32.5 36.4 36.4
Central
Asia
South Cambodia 8.7 11.5 605.2 744.9 6.0 7.0 33.6 31.8
East Asia
South Indonesia 25.4 106.4 377.9 471.7 286.0 654.7 1570.2 1865.9 6.1 3.5 6.2 5.0 29.3 35.6 38.1
East Asia
South Lao, PDR 0.9 4.0 5.5 244.5 628.8 793.9 5.1 8.5 7.5 36.2 36.2
East Asia
South Malaysia 8.1 41.1 178.7 220.5 986.5 2609.3 6319.0 7304.1 7.6 −1.1 7.4 6.0 47.0 46.2 46.2
East Asia
South Myanmar 0.5 2.9 8.2 8.5
East Asia
South Philippines 18.3 49.3 131.1 165.1 696.1 907.1 1403.4 1649.4 5.6 −7.3 7.6 6.1 41.0 43.0 43.0
East Asia
South Singapore 4.2 33.4 176.5 208.3 2529.9 12192.9 34758.4 38087.9 8.1 −0.7 15.2 2.9
East Asia
South Thailand 54.5 210.1 232.0 1046.5 3163.9 3451.3 4.6 7.8 0.7 43.8 39.4 39.4
East Asia
South Viet Nam 15.7 78.3 97.8 267.5 900.5 1077.9 3.8 6.4 6.0 39.3 35.6
East Asia
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership

East Asia 254.5 735.8 1967.6 2309.1 2769.1 8888.8 18805.0 20430.0 −3.4 6.8 7.0 4.2 29.9 36.9 35.2
(N=7)
South 26.4 64.1 220.1 271.6 250.8 639.0 1219.5 1353.1 4.4 4.8 7.1 5.2 34.4 33.1 33.0
Central
Asia (N=8)
(continued)
343
Supplemental Table 10.4 (continued)
344

GDP (Billions of constant 2005 PCGDP (Constant 2005 % Growth in GINI or other measure of
USD) USD) GDP wealth disparity
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p
South East 14.0 43.0 145.7 176.5 1124.6 2560.4 6168.7 6871.9 5.6 1.3 8.2 5.5 40.3 39.0 38.6
Asia (N=9)
Regional 79.3 233.1 607.8 720.5 1171.6 3517.9 7291.9 7997.6 3.0 3.9 7.5 5.1 36.3 36.2 35.7
Average
GDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP at purchaser's prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies
not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.
Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic currencies using 2005 official exchange rates. For a few countries where the official
exchange rate does not reflect the rate effectively applied to actual foreign exchange transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used
PCGDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP per capita is gross domestic product divided by midyear population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the
economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets
or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars
% Growth in GDP: Annual percentage growth rate of GDP at market prices based on constant local currency. Aggregates are based on constant 2005 U.S. dollars. GDP is the
sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated
without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources
GINI or other measure of wealth disparity: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption expenditure among individuals or households
within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of
recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed
as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality
a World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
b World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
c World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
d World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
e World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
f World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
g World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
h World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
i World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
j World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
k World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
l World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
m
n World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
o World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

p World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
10  The History of Well-Being in East Asia: From Global Conflict to Global Leadership 345

Supplemental Table 10.5  Subjective well-being

SOCIAL INDICATORS: Subjective well-being
REGION: Asia (N= 24)
World Values Survey (WVS), 1981-2014
WVS 1 WVS 2 WVS 3 WVS 4 WVS 5 WVS 6
Country 1981–1984 1990–1994 1995–1998 1999–2004 2005–2009 2010-2014
Source a b c d e f
East Asia China 7.3 6.8 6.5 6.8 6.9
East Asia Hong Kong 6.4 6.9
SAR
East Asia Japan 6.6 6.5 6.6 6.5 7.0 6.9
East Asia Korea,
North
East Asia Korea, 5.3 6.7 6.2 6.4 6.5
South
East Asia Mongolia
East Asia Taiwan 6.6 6.6 6.9
South Afghanistan
Central
Asia
South Bangladesh 6.4 5.8
Central
Asia
South Bhutan
Central
Asia
South India 6.7 6.5 5.1 5.8 5.1
Central
Asia
South Iran 6.4 6.4
Central
Asia
South Nepal
Central
Asia
South Pakistan 4.9 7.5
Central
Asia
South Sri Lanka
Central
Asia
South Cambodia
East Asia
South Indonesia 7.0 6.9
East Asia
South Lao, PDR
East Asia
South Malaysia 6.8 7.1
East Asia
South Myanmar
East Asia
South Philippines 6.8 6.7 7.3
East Asia
(continued)
346 T. Inoguchi and R.J. Estes

Supplemental Table 10.5 (continued)

World Values Survey (WVS), 1981-2014
WVS 1 WVS 2 WVS 3 WVS 4 WVS 5 WVS 6
Country 1981–1984 1990–1994 1995–1998 1999–2004 2005–2009 2010-2014
Source a b c d e f
South Singapore 7.1 7.0
East Asia
South Thailand 7.2 7.6
East Asia
South Viet Nam 6.5 7.1
East Asia
East Asia 6.0 6.8 6.7 6.4 6.6 6.8
(N=7)
South 6.7 6.5 5.5 6.1 6.3
Central
Asia (N=8)
South East 6.8 6.8 7.0 7.2
Asia (N=9)
Regional 6.0 6.8 6.6 6.2 6.7 6.9
Average
Mean life satisfaction: Averaged value of responses to the following survey question: All things considered, how satis-
fied are you with your life as a whole these days? Using this card on which 1 means you are “completely dissatisfied”
and 10 means you are “completely satisfied” where would you put your satisfaction with your life as a whole?
a WVS 1 1981–84: V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
b WVS 2 1990–04: V96.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
c WVS 3 1995–98: V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
d WVS 4 1999–04: V81.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
e WVS 5 2005–09: V22.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
f WVS 6 2010–14: V23.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?

Countries. Social Indicators Research, 106(1),

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Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) (2014). Ageing. Wan, M. (2007). The political economy of East Asia: Striving
Retrieved March, 2015 from http://www.unescap.org/ for wealth and power. Thousand Oaks: CQ Press.
our-work/social-development/ageing/about. Winkler, S. (2012). Taiwan’s UN dilemma: To be or not to
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for be. Taiwan-US Quarterly Analysis (9). Brookings
Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) (2015). Overview of Institution. http://www.brookings.edu/research/
natural disasters and their impacts in Asia and the opinions/2012/06/20-taiwan-un-winkler. Accessed 10
Pacific, 1970–2014. Retrieved March, 2015 from Jan 2016.
http://www.unescap.org/resources/overview-natural- World Bank. (2014). World development indicators.
disasters-and-their-impacts-asia-­and-­pacific-1970- http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-­
2014. development-­indicators. Accessed 10 Jan 2016.
United Nations Population Division (UNPOP). (2012). World Health Organization (WHO). (2014a). Preventing
World population prospects—2012 revision. suicide: A global imperative. Geneva: WHO. http://
New York: United Nations Population Division. www.who.int/mental_health/suicide-prevention/
United Nations Population Division (UNPOP). (2015). world_report_2014/en/. Accessed 10 Jan 2016.
World population ageing—2015. New York: United World Health Organization (WHO). (2014b). Annual sta-
Nations Population Division. http://www.un.org/en/ tistical report, 2014. Geneva: WHO.
 The History of Well-Being
in South Asia 11
Vijay Kumar Shrotryia and Krishna Mazumdar

Where the mind is without fear

and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the World has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards protection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost
its way into the desert sand of dead habit;
Into that heaven of freedom and goodwill,
Let my country awake.
(Tagore 1920)

11.1 Introduction constitutes the southern border of South Asia,

thereby opening the region to the outside world
South Asia is located in the southern extremity of (Malhotra 2009).
the culturally and politically diverse Eurasian According to the famous German philosopher
continent. The region’s geographical boundaries, G.W.F. Hegel (1899: 146), the region is an object
which include the highest mountain ranges in the of desire:
world to the north and encircling seas and oceans From the most ancient times downwards, all
on two sides, set the whole of the Indian subcon- nations have directed their wishes and longings to
tinent apart from the rest of the world. gaining access to the treasures of this land of mar-
Nevertheless, over the centuries, the region could vels, the most costly which the Earth presents; the
treasures of Nature—pearls, diamonds, perfumes,
not escape foreign invasions and migrations, rose-essences, elephants, lions—also treasures of
mainly from Middle Eastern and Western colo- wisdom. The way by which these treasures have
nizers. The region’s most recent newcomers passed to the West, has all times been a matter of
came over the Khyber and Bolan passes on the World-historical importance, bound up with the
fate of nations.
western side. Some groups came to settle; some
came to plunder and conquer. More than 3000 The original inhabitants of the region, together
years ago, seafaring groups interested in trade with the foreign invaders and foreign traders
accessed the region via the Indian Ocean, which from Europe (Portuguese, Dutch, English,
French) and the Middle East (Arabs and Turks),
representing all regions, religions, and races,
V.K. Shrotryia (*)
Department of Commerce, Delhi School of have coexisted with minimal conflict for centu-
Economics, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India ries. This layering of different cultures, which
e-mail: [email protected] can be described as a combination of Indo-Aryan,
K. Mazumdar Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian, Mughal, Arab,
Economic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Persian, Turkic, British, Portuguese, and Dutch,
Calcutta, India among others, has given a unique identity to
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 349

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_11
350 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

South Asia that is unparalleled in the world. The and dissimilarities in religious practices, and con-
region is characterized by immense diversity certed claims on Kashmir have affected their
within a broad contour of unity (Bose and Jalal relationship politically.
2011). In sum, the region and its people present a This chapter examines well-being in all eight
picture of diversity in unity in almost all aspects. of the region’s countries. Some 1600 million peo-
South Asia is one of the world’s largest, most ple comprise the population of South Asia, inhab-
densely populated (Fig. 11.1), and most ­culturally iting just 4440 km2—approximately 24 % of the
diverse regions (Petraglia and Boivin 2014: 339). planet’s total population of 6915 million in 2010,
It possesses two major characteristics: (1) and about 5 % of the planet’s 93 million km2 of
Geographically, culturally, economically, philo- habitable land (Fig. 11.1). The population den-
sophically, and historically, the region is sity of the region is the highest and most con-
Indocentric, which means that Indian culture has, gested in the world, ranging from a high of 1142
in one way or another, influenced all of the coun- people per km2 for Bangladesh to a low of 20
tries of the region; (2) the power structure is people per km2 for Bhutan. The population den-
unbalanced and asymmetric (Muni 1979). The sity for all of India is 416 persons per km2 in con-
geography of India made it vulnerable to invaders trast to a population density of 6650 persons per
from the northwest (Kaplan 2010). Hence India km2 for Hong Kong, the world’s most densely
plays a key role as it comprises the largest area populated city.
geographically and has the largest population in South Asia is subject to recurring floods, mud-
the region. India faces conflict with Pakistan to slides, frequent earthquakes, and temperature
the west and with China to the northeast, but extremes, which renders it one of the most con-
these conflicts are very different because, histori- sistently geologically vulnerable areas in the
cally and religiously, the ties between India and world. The casualties and deaths associated with
Pakistan are much closer than the ties between these natural disasters are extraordinarily high, as
India and China. Since Pakistan became indepen- is the level of human suffering brought on by
dent in 1947, the relationship between the two these frequent disasters. The risks to life and
countries has been characterized by similarities property associated with these disasters is com-

Fig. 11.1  Surface areas Surface Area Populaon

and population distribution
by major world regions
(Data from World Bank 3% 3% 6% 5%
2012a: 20–22)
11% 14% 27%
21%
5%

26% 10%

7%
30% 32%

South Asia
Middle East & N. Africa
East Asia & Pacific Sub-Saharan Africa
Europe & Central Asia Euro Area
Lan America &
Caribbean
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 351

pounded by the absence of viable programs of 11.2 T

 he Search for Unity
national and regional disaster mitigation even in Amid Diversity
areas in which disasters occur on a recurrent
basis. South Asia is one of the most culturally and reli-
About half of Bangladesh is flooded each year giously diverse regions on the planet. The people
(Dewan et al. 2003), which threatens its ability to of South Asia, for example, speak at least 20
survive as a sovereign nation. Various studies of major languages, such as Hindi, Bengali, English,
Bangladesh (Agrawala et al. 2003; Dewan et al. Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Nepali,
2003; Huq 2002; Schiermeier 2014; World Bank Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, Pashto, Dari, Dzongkha,
2000) have looked into the challenges this coun- and Dhivehi. If one includes the most important
try faces as a result of having to build and rebuild dialects, the number increases to more than 200.
homes in response to frequent floods. “A destruc- Because India is the largest country in the region,
tive combination of earthquakes, floods, droughts Hindi is the most frequently spoken language
and other hazards make South Asia the world’s (422 million people); Bengali is the second most
most disaster-prone region” (Oxfam International frequently spoken language (210 million people).
2008). Countries throughout South Asia experi- However, English has become an important and
ence many deaths, extensive property damage, officially accepted language in most parts (India
and a profound sense of physical insecurity and Pakistan) of South Asia. The number of
because of the realities of the extreme physical schools offering courses in their respective ver-
environment in which they live (see Green 2012; naculars is not growing as quickly as are English
Oxfam International 2007; Raychaudhuri 1985). medium schools or colleges. Within India, the
Thus far, the countries of South Asia have residents of different provinces use English to
required sustained and high levels of foreign communicate with each other: For example, a
disaster and humanitarian assistance from coun- person from northern India finds it easier to com-
tries both within the region and from the world as municate in English with a person from southern
a whole. India; similarly, English is the most commonly
The region as a whole has one of the poorest used language in northeastern India. Young peo-
economies. However, when we look at the Human ple who learn English are more employable and
Development Index (HDI), which takes into have access to literature not available in the ver-
account the broad indicators of health, education, nacular. Overall, learning English has added to
and income, we see that the region is trying to the well-being of the residents because it has
respond to the global challenges in all spheres. opened larger opportunities for employment.
When we compare nations in South Asia, we see Urdu is also a major language, especially in
that Sri Lanka scored highest on the HDI, fol- Pakistan. Urdu is linguistically similar to Hindi.
lowed by India and Bangladesh, for the period Hindi and Urdu together comprise Hindustani.
1980–2010 (Fig. 11.2). The other languages fall into several major lin-
Geographical and cultural diversity makes this guistic groups: the Dravidian languages, the
region rich and unique. It is surrounded by moun- Indo-Aryan languages, the Indo-Iranian lan-
tains, oceans, and arable land and boasts some of guages, the Indo-European languages. Pashto
the best island locations. Even though the coun- and Balochi, which are widely spoken in Pakistan,
tries have been making efforts at organizational are a subbranch of the Indo-Iranian languages.
and individual levels to be together, the ethnic Peoples of the Tibeto-Burman ethnic group resid-
and religious tensions have had a negative effect ing in Nepal and Bhutan speak Austro-Asiatic
on the general well-being. languages. Most of the South Asian languages
 352 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

0.8 2013

0.75
0.7
0.70
Human Development Index

0.6
0.59

0.58
0.5

0.56
0.4
0.54

0.3 0.54

0.47
0.2
1980 1991 2002 2013 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Afghanistan Pakistan Nepal Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Sri Lanka

Fig. 11.2  Human Development Index scores for selected South Asian countries, 1980–2010 (Data from UNDP 2014:
165–166)

are written using various abugida, such as the nial period (large parts of South Asia were
Brahmi script. Other languages of the region are European colonies during the seventeenth to
written using derivatives of the Persian-Arabic twentieth centuries). Consequently, Christianity
script, such as Urdu, Pashto, and Sindhi. Despite in its all forms is practiced by a large fraction of
the existence of so many diverse languages, the population. Two other great religions,
South Asia has made enormous contributions to Buddhism and Jainism, have their roots in this
world literature from ancient to modern times region. A small fraction of the population prac-
(Bose and Jalal 2011: 4). As discussed by tices Sikhism. Hindus and Muslims constitute a
Sreekumar (2014), this region is the second rich- huge majority of the population in the region.
est in the world in terms of language diversity. The religious tensions in the region seem to be
The residents of this region are practitioners more political than among individuals. Harmony
of all of the major world religions. Hinduism, among peoples of all faiths and a feeling of one-
with its ancient roots, modern transformations, ness are evident in the behavior of the people.
and many other interpretations, plays a vital part There are many localities in India as well as
in the culture of the region. Most Hindus are resi- Pakistan where Hindus and Muslims live togeth-
dents of India. Many inhabitants of South Asia er.1 Interreligious marriages are common, and
are followers of the Islamic faith. Islam was first many younger people appear to be able to live
brought to South Asia by Arab traders and further with others irrespective of their religious back-
propagated by Muslim Turk and Mughal con- ground, which is expected to strengthen the unity
querors. Christianity, brought to this region by among the masses of the region.
Portuguese, Dutch, French, English, and other
European traders, spread widely during the colo- For detailed examples see Williams (2007).
1 
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 353

Most of the countries of this region were colo- Soviet invasion in 1979 resulted in a civil war. In
nies of European countries prior to 1950. In 1947, 1989, the withdrawal of the Soviets left the cities
British India was divided into two independent under government control, whereas the country-
sovereign states on the basis of religion: India side was under the control of Muslim
(primarily Hindu) and Pakistan (primarily fundamentalists.
Muslim).2 Therefore, the initial conditions of Bhutan, which is located in the Himalayan
well-being found in British India were similar for region, is the youngest democracy in the world. It
both India and Pakistan. Pakistan comprised two is predominantly a Buddhist nation and has a
geographic entities before 1971—East Pakistan population of less than one million people. In
and West Pakistan (later Bangladesh). West 1907, the governor of Tongsa was elected the first
Pakistan was politically dominant, whereas East king of Bhutan. After India received her indepen-
Pakistan was comparatively isolated and had dence, it provided both financial and operational
weak administrative systems. In 1971, East support to help Bhutan maintain her sovereignty
Pakistan fought a war of liberation with West and peace and order along the northern border.
Pakistan that resulted in the formation of a new In 1768, the ruler of the principality of Gurkha
independent nation, Bangladesh (approximately in the west, conquered the Kathmandu valley and
143,998 km2). began a phase of expansion that ended in his
Today, even after the demarcation of India and defeat by the Chinese in Tibet (1792) and by the
Pakistan, India is home to about one sixth of the British in India (1816). From 1846 to 1950,
world’s population. According to its constitution, members of the Rana family served as hereditary
which was adopted in 1950, India is the largest chief ministers of a powerless monarchy. Their
multiparty participatory democracy in the world. isolationist policies preserved Nepal’s indepen-
Pakistan has undergone recurrent periods of dence at the expense of its development.
political turmoil since it became independent; it Culturally, the Maldives is the most homoge-
took 23 years after it gained independence to neous state in South Asia. It has a common reli-
hold the first general election. Bangladesh, the gion (Islam) and a common language (Divehi),
youngest nation of the region, has also had politi- both of which give the country a strong national
cal problems ever since its inception. identity. It is the least populous country in South
Sri Lanka obtained its independence in 1948 Asia (about 500,000 people) and also one of the
after 450 years of colonial rule by the Portuguese, most peaceful. Historically, it was ruled by a sul-
the Dutch, and the British (roughly 150 years tan. From 1887 to 1965, the Maldives islands
each). The Sri Lankan population is mainly were a self-governed British protectorate. In
Buddhist. The rest of the population is Hindu, 1968, the ad-Din sultanate was abolished in favor
Muslim, and Christian. They speak Sinhala and of a republican system of government.
Tamil, though English is also an official lan- The religious, cultural, and linguistic diversity
guage. The rivalry between the Tamil and the that characterizes this region has led to ethnic
Sinhalese has led to internal struggles (Ross and disputes and problems that divide the different
Savada 1988). groups and has resulted in clashes, internal
The history of each of the other South Asian unrest, and tensions. This diversity also has
countries—Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, and resulted in appreciable decreases in individual
Maldives—is different. Afghan independence and collective well-being as reflected in down-
was secured in 1921 after three wars with the ward trends in the domains of health, education,
British. Unrest in Afghanistan continued until a employment, income, wealth, and subjective
coup in 1973 ended the reign of King Muhammad well-being (SWB).
Zahir Shah. A close relationship with the USSR Social discrimination against population sub-
followed the Saur Revolution in 1978, and the groups in South Asia has also reached an all-time
high, despite policies and laws enacted to reduce
See Guha (2007), Tharoor (2007), and Wallbank (1965).
2 
these tensions. The problem is especially severe
354 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

in India because of its large population, but it is 11.3 S

 outh Asian Association
equally serious in the smaller South Asian coun- for Regional Cooperation
tries. These tensions persist despite the gradual
separation from India of the recently autonomous In 1985, seven independent South Asian coun-
nations of Bangladesh (formerly West Pakistan) tries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives,
and Pakistan, which were territories within his- Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka—formed the
toric India. The struggles between Pakistan and South Asian Association for Regional
India in the politically divided territory of Cooperation (SAARC) to strengthen mutual
Kashmir illustrate the magnitude of the unre- cooperation and resource sharing in agriculture,
solved tensions that exist within South Asia on a rural development, telecommunication, meteo-
larger scale (Uppsala Conflict Data Program rology, and health and population activities. The
2015), especially those recurrent confrontations major objective of SAARC as defined in its char-
between the region’s two nuclear states—India ter was to promote the welfare of the people of
and Pakistan (Ganguly and Kapur 2012: 27). the region and to help improve their quality of
Afghanistan has faced many challenges in deal- life (QOL) in addition to boosting economic
ing with the Kabul Marxists and the Soviet occu- growth and sociocultural cooperation and devel-
pation. Bhutan and Nepal have never been opment. SAARC also promoted mutual collabo-
conquered or colonized. Because they are sand- ration and assistance in economic, social,
wiched between two of the most populous nations cultural, technical, and scientific areas. As the
in the world, China and India, they struggle to organization grew, it kept adding more areas and
maintain peace and security in an otherwise activities. In 2007, Afghanistan also joined
conflict-­
ridden region. Afghanistan, Pakistan, SAARC, so at present the organization has eight
Nepal, and Sri Lanka have other internal prob- member countries.
lems that continually hinder their progress. In 2004, all of the member countries of
India’s friendly relations with Nepal and Bhutan SAARC signed a social charter that defined tar-
have promoted the free movement of people and gets for eradicating poverty, stabilizing popula-
vehicles across borders and have helped these tion growth, empowering women, mobilizing
countries to avail goods and services and explore youth, developing human resources, protecting
opportunities that contribute to improving their children, and promoting health and nutrition.4
indicators of social well-being. The goal was to assure the well-being of the peo-
The problems and challenges within this geo- ple of the region by coordinating efforts and
graphically, ethnically, culturally, and linguisti- resources to reach these targets. We discuss
cally diverse region have affected relationships below how the different countries are performing
among these countries. The “clash of civiliza- in the areas of health, education, social welfare,
tions” within South Asia threatens the unity of income and wealth, and technology. We also see
the region and, as a result, has affected well-­ the impact of these changes on the region’s most
being. We next discuss the emergence of the vulnerable population groups that traditionally
South Asian Association for Regional have lived on the margins of South Asian
Cooperation,3 which has introduced many initia- societies.
tives to unite the region and to improve the well-­ Over the last three decades, SAARC has
being of its people. become a vibrant organization, engaging in many
activities to ensure a better QOL and improved
well-being for its people. SAARC is unique
among international organizations and is itself a
member of other major regional and international

For details visit: http://saarc-sec.org/areaofcooperation/

4 

SAARC’s official Web site: http://www.saarc-sec.org/.

3 
detail.php?activity_id=7
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 355

organizations. It operates using an important as a discipline when, in the eighteenth century, he

instrument called the Integrated Plan of Action stated that human effort is the greatest wealth of
and various coordination committees involving a nation. Health, education, and income (or phys-
all of the states of the region. To boost trade and ical wealth) are the domains that are indicative of
commerce and to improve the gross domestic one’s standard of living, and, taken together, they
product (GDP) in the region, the member coun- are used to translate human effort into human
tries signed the SAARC Preferential Trading efficiency, thereby assuring well-being.
Arrangement, which allows the movement of SWB helps balance the discussion of the
more than 5000 commodities. The SAARC Food objective indicators inasmuch as the measures
Security Reserve was initiated to meet the emer- used for this domain reflect how people actually
gent needs of the member countries. The South experience and feel about changes in well-being
Asian Development Fund was created to finance that have and have not occurred over time.
industrial development, poverty alleviation pro- Scholars differ on how to measure and compare
grams, and environmental protection programs SWB across sections, groups, regions, nations,
and to protect against balance of payment prob- and communities. Recent efforts to quantify
lems. SAARC has made committed efforts to SWB have gained in importance, and different
deal with gender-related issues, child welfare and agencies have developed their models of mea-
development, and health- and education-related surements. Before we discuss the progress of
issues and has signed various agreements with South Asia in these domains, however, some
other concerned agencies to improve the well-­ background is needed with respect to the current
being of the people. SAARC is also a powerful size, composition, and challenges that confront
contributor to promoting health, well-being, and the modern states of South Asia. These social,
QOL of all people in the region. political, and economic challenges are different
Looking at the history of this region and at the for each country because each state has its own
unifying institutions such as SAARC, it could be set of national priorities, goals, and plans of
stated that SAARC has contributed to the overall action with respect to how best to pursue the
development and to maintaining its identity as an social progress of its citizens.
effective institution to represent all of South Asia. Though the literal meaning of the phrase
The following discussion looks at the trends seen “well-being” seems clear to the average lay per-
in well-being indicators and uses narrative expe- son, research has shown that it connotes different
riences to offer conclusions for a better under- meanings to different people (Mazumdar 2003).
standing of the issues under consideration. We treat well-being as a broad concept (with spe-
cific indicators) that indicates the level of human
development of a region or of a country and that
11.4 Well-Being in South Asia covers both monetary and nonmonetary aspects
of human development such as demography,
The remainder of this chapter is organized around health, education, gender disparity, the economy,
the four core domains of well-being used as the and the environment.
point of departure for all of the book’s regional The conceptual background of well-being has
chapters: (1) health; (2) education; (3) income already been discussed in Chap. 10, hence this
and wealth; and (4) SWB. The first three domains section presents the contemporary status of well-­
are components of the widely used United being as reflected through different data sources
Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) for the broader domains of education, health,
HDI, which has been used to monitor well-being income, and SWB apart from looking at the
since 1990. The Human Development Report was demographic profile of the region. As observed
based on the premise that people are the real in other parts of the world, South Asia has expe-
wealth of a nation. This approach was a key focus rienced transformative developments across
even in Adam Smith’s thinking about economics nations in the last 60 years. The pace of economic
356 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

development has been remarkable; however, its world. There have been discussions about how to
progress in terms of social indicators has not absorb young workers into the workplace,
been as good as that in other parts of the world, as thereby boosting economic growth; at the same
discussed below. time, many young workers have left the region,
We studied different variables over time from seeking and responding to employment opportu-
all eight countries of the region in order to iden- nities available elsewhere in the world.
tify a general trend in the progress of well-being. With nearly one quarter of the world’s popula-
Improving the well-being of people has been a tion in 2010, the growth rate of South Asia’s
great challenge for the policy makers in the population of 1.6 % per annum from 2000 to
respective countries, and these nations have 2010 was far higher than the world average of
responded to this challenge by offering various 1.2 % per annum during the same period. Data
welfare programs designed to develop better from 1960 to 2013 show that the population of
social infrastructures (health and education facil- South Asia increased on average 2.9 times. The
ities), thereby ensuring good health and educa- total population increase in Bangladesh, Bhutan,
tion. These countries have based the framework Pakistan, and Nepal has been greater than the
of their policies on the premise of welfare eco- average; however, it has been lower than the aver-
nomics. The living conditions of the population age in India and Sri Lanka. Further, when we
in the whole of South Asia have improved con- look at population increases by country over the
siderably. Our analyses are based primarily on last 50 years, we note sharp increases (8.8–9.6 %
data published by the World Bank (for health, and 8.1–11.1 %, respectively) in Bangladesh and
education, and income), as are the Human Pakistan. The Muslim population has resisted
Development Reports from different years. To attempts at family planning, birth control, and
study SWB or life satisfaction, we used data from other similar initiatives. Bhutan and Nepal have
the World Database of Happiness and the World experienced a marginal increase in population
Values Survey (WVS) across select countries. levels (0.04–0.05 % and 1.7–1.7 %, respectively)
Though we attempted to compare data across the whereas India and Sri Lanka have seen decreases
decades from 1960 onward, inconsistencies and (79.7–76.4 % and 1.8–1.3 %, respectively).
nonavailability of data, especially in the initial These changes are the result of measures taken
decades, posed a challenge. by the state to deal with population control and of
improvements in medicine and better access to
health care. Though population numbers are
11.4.1 Demographic Profile viewed as a problem in the region, over the years
Sri Lanka has shown balanced control in this
Population size and density, birth rate, death rate, area.
and fertility rate all have significant roles in The population density of South Asia is the
describing the well-being of the inhabitants of a highest in the world. From 1960 to 2013, the pop-
country. The larger the population and the higher ulation density in all of the countries increased.
the rate of population growth of a country, the Bangladesh had the highest population density of
greater is the need to provide more resources for the region. South Asia grows by one million peo-
education, housing, health care, and employment ple every month (World Bank 2012b: 48). The
for that population. Population growth and unem- population growth rate, crude birth rate, crude
ployment have posed serious challenges for this death rate, and fertility rate of South Asia were
region. The subcontinent covers about 5 million higher than those of other regions of the world.
square kilometers, less than 4 % of the total sur- However, these demographic indicators declined
face area of the planet. About one fourth of the in all of the sample countries.
world’s population resides in this region—result- In their efforts to convince people of the harm-
ing in about 342 persons per km2 compared to an ful effects of imbalances between population size
average of 53 persons per km2 for the rest of the and resources, policy makers must deal with the
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 357

challenges of illiteracy, child labor, early mar- forward are making improvements in the avail-
riages, prevalence of superstitious beliefs, and ability of job opportunities for young workers, in
traditional, conservative thinking. The respective education, and in the health infrastructure.
states have undertaken many initiatives to intro-
duce family planning measures and to create
awareness among the masses about the problems 11.4.2 Education Well-Being
of overpopulation. The smallest of the eight
countries of the region, Maldives, does not have Education is one of the most important factors
any official birth control policy, though some used to gauge the well-being of a population.
international agencies like the World Health South Asia has the lowest literacy rate in the
Organization have initiated programs to help world (Fig. 11.3). In India, which comprises
improve health standards. However, the govern- 90 % of the population in this region, only 24 %
ment of this country has not initiated any action of people above the age of 15 could, with under-
to develop a policy related to setting a standard of standing, read and write a short, simple statement
family size. In India in the 1970s and 1980s, poli- about their everyday life, apart from knowing
cies to control population growth were initiated simple arithmetic calculations. We used this mea-
and encouraged. Though the size of the ­population sure, the Adult Literacy Rate (ALR), to compare
increased, the population growth rate decreased. the general education status of the nations in
South Asia as a whole faces a number of South Asia.
demographic challenges: (1) reducing fertility Figure 11.3 shows that this region has a long
rates and improving key health parameters; (2) way to go to reach the level of other regions. The
dealing with an aging population and a health Millennium Development Goal objective of edu-
care infrastructure that has not improved over cation for all will take a few more decades to
time; and (3) absorbing an increasing number of achieve. Though countries like the Maldives and
young working-age people not covered under Sri Lanka have outperformed the other countries
social security. When one looks at the demo- of the region, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh
graphic transition of this region over the last 50 need to put more effort into eradicating
years, it is evident that the highest priorities going illiteracy.

Euro Area 98%

Sub-Saharan Africa 62%

Middle East and North Africa 74%

Lan America and Caribbean 91%

Europe and Central Asia 98%

East Asia and Pacific 94%

South Asia 61%

50% 55% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100%

Fig. 11.3  Adult literacy rate: South Asia compared with other major world regions (Data from World Bank 2012a)
358 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Bangladesh India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka

Fig. 11.4  Change in adult literacy rates for selected South Asian countries, 1960–2010 (Data from World Bank 2012a:
94–96)

In 2010, the ALR for South Asia was only the percentage of GDP spent on education in
61 %, whereas that of the world was 89 %. South South Asia was only 2.5 %, whereas the global
Asian countries showed improvements in ALR average was 4.5 %. The same pattern holds true
from 1960 to 2010 as depicted in Fig. 11.4. for the individual countries. In India, Bangladesh,
Though we do not have time series data for the and Bhutan, the public expenditure on education
Maldives, data available in bits and pieces show as a percentage of GDP and of total government
remarkable transitional trends in adult literacy. expenditure decreased between 2001 and 2010.
The time series data for Afghanistan and Bhutan Despite having one of the lowest public expendi-
are sparse, yet the World Bank data series reports tures for education (percentage of GDP), Sri
that Afghanistan had an ALR of 18.2 % in 1979 Lanka (2.1 % in 2009) had one of the highest lit-
that improved to 31.7 % in 2011. Education is a eracy rates because they were able to sustain rela-
major challenge in Afghanistan. For Bhutan, tively high rates of literacy over the last five
World Bank data are available only for 2005 decades.
(ALR); in that year, 52.8 % adults were literate. Although Maldives is a small country, it has
The policies of the country indicate that the polit- the highest literacy rate in the region. The ALR
ical leadership is concerned about education. for men and women is the same, which indicates
Many programs have been launched to improve an unparalleled gender equality measure. In com-
overall literacy rates, thereby improving the well-­ parison, girls in Pakistan and children of low
being of its residents. socioeconomic status or from rural regions con-
One might attribute the low achievement and tinue to have less access to primary education
slow progress in education in this region to the (Dundar et al. 2014: 2). Overall, members of the
fact that South Asian countries have spent less on same gender, especially women, are motivated by
education than other countries at a similar level success stories from other women, and therefore
of development (Rama et al. 2015: 20). In 2010, perform better in educational settings. Beaman
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 359

and colleagues (2012) found that girl students comes. SSA interventions have annually bene-
were more highly motivated to succeed when fited around 130 million children in government
their local administration was led by women. schools and another 17 million enrolled in
Pakistan and Afghanistan still lag behind the government-­aided private schools. Some 71 mil-
other countries in the region as far as education lion girls, 27 million children from India’s disad-
standards are concerned. It is disheartening to vantaged groups, 15 million tribal children, and
note that education and skill development are 2.8 million children with special needs have
among the two most neglected areas of economic gained access to education. SSA outcomes have
development in Pakistan (Amjad et al. 2015). contributed to the government’s push to enact a
Afghanistan was ranked 147 out of 148 countries national right to education law to guarantee free
in gender inequality index in 2012. There is a and compulsory basic education for all children
huge gap between the literacy rates of men and (World Bank 2013a: 6).
women in Afghanistan: only 5.8 % of adult In order to expand the number of secondary
women have secondary or higher education com- schools to ensure universal enrollment for the
pared with 34 % of men. ninth and tenth standards by 2018, Rashtriya
The countries of South Asia have initiated Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (Universalization
many programs during the last decade to respond of Secondary Education movement) was
to the challenge of providing education for every- launched in 2009. In the same year, the Indian
one. Bangladesh has provided programs for Parliament passed the Right to Education Act,
inclusive education for students with special which mandated free compulsory education for
needs (Malak 2013). To improve teacher training, all children between the ages of 6 and 14. This
equity, quality, and access, it initiated programs act provides for a minimum school infrastructure
such as Teaching Quality Improvement in such as a building, a library, toilets, and an appro-
Secondary Education Project 2005; Secondary priate pupil-to-teacher ratio. This act is one of the
Education Quality and Access Enhancement landmark decisions to improve the enrollment
Project, 2008; and Higher Secondary Female rate, and it has positively affected the rate. In
Stipend Project, 2009. The National Education 2013, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan
Policy was introduced in 2010 to reform educa- (RUSA or National Higher Education Movement
tion delivery mechanisms, and the Third Primary in English) was launched to fund institutions of
Education Development Program was launched higher education run by the state governments. It
in 2011. The Bhutan Education Development includes about 306 state universities and 8500
Project, 2003 was initiated to boost enrollment of colleges across different states and union territo-
children up to the tenth standard. Different 5-year ries. The funding is supposed to be norm-based
plans have focused on education. The Bhutan and outcome-oriented.
2020 document clearly states that “Education The experience of Nepal in improving educa-
must prepare young people for the world of work tional standards is really interesting. Community
and instill an acceptance on the dignity of labour” schools were initially run by the communities
(Planning Commission 1999: 19). themselves; however, the central government of
The government of India launched three Nepal took them over and initiated efforts to
important flagship initiatives to boost the educa- improve the system and its delivery. However,
tion sector as a whole. To achieve universal ele- this initiative backfired, and in 2001 the Education
mentary enrollment and retention by 2010, Sarva Act was amended to hand the schools back to the
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) (Education for All move- communities (Dundar et al. 2014: 358). Nepal
ment) was conceived and implemented from initiated the Basic Primary Education Project, the
2002 onward. This initiative was strongly sup- Community School Support Program, the
ported by the World Bank. SSA also recruited Secondary Education Support Program, and the
and trained teachers, provided textbooks and Education for All Program to improve the enroll-
teaching materials, and monitored learning out- ment rate and the universalization of education at
360 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

different levels. In 2009, the School Sector available for middle level education. Education is
Reform Program was launched to improve the considered an important business opportunity,
quality of education for primary and middle and it is becoming part of public-private partner-
school children. These initiatives helped the ship ventures. This trend is, however, occurring
country to improve its educational parameters. only in the urban areas; ironically, about 70 % of
Education has been an important agenda of the the total population of South Asia still resides in
SAARC. Ever since its formation in 1983, the villages.
eight member states have discussed education The quality of teachers is an issue that plagues
and developed cooperative projects through dif- this region as a whole. Many South Asian teach-
ferent committees and regional centers located ers barely know more than their students (Dundar
within member countries.5 The SAARC Human et al. 2014: 23). This concern has added to the
Resource Development Centre was initiated in slow improvement in education-related indica-
Pakistan for the benefit of all the member states tors and does not contribute to improving the
to undertake research, provide training, and dis- standard of education as a whole. A Goldman
seminate information on human resource devel- Sachs report found that India scored poorly rela-
opment issues. tive to BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and
All of these initiatives have resulted in an South Africa) and below the average relative to
improvement in last decade in the primary net emerging economies in terms of school quality
enrollment percentage from 75 % in 2001 to and that its growth and productivity were affected
about 88 % in 2010, which is more in line with by low educational standards across the board
that of other regions (Dundar et al. 2014: 63). (O’Neill and Poddar 2008). Though there are
Although South Asia is the most illiterate region political commitments toward education for all,
in the world, literacy rates rose in all of the coun- they have not reached the masses. The relation-
tries between 1960 and 2010. However, learning ship between teachers and politicians has nega-
outcomes and the average level of skill acquisi- tively influenced teacher quality and
tion are still low in both absolute and relative accountability in government schools in India
terms. Mean student achievements in mathemat- (Beteille 2009). Militancy also hinders the cause
ics, reading, and language are low throughout the of education in some parts of South Asia. In
region, except for Sri Lanka; a large number of Nepal, the civil conflict due to Maoist insurgency
children do not master basic primary-school has adversely affected education for girls, but
skills even by grade 5 (Dundar et al. 2014: 86). overall it has not significantly reduced the num-
Sri Lanka and Maldives have maintained the ber of years of education for either boys or girls
highest literacy rate and surpassed the global lit- (Valente 2011). Many households do not send
eracy average in 2010. their children to school, especially their girls in
Participation of private entrepreneurs in the Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Pakistan, many
education sector is on the rise across South Asia girls who wish to attend school must deal with
except for Bhutan, where only a few private two types of social boundaries: caste boundaries
schools (and only in some urban pockets) are and gender boundaries. Low-caste girls may face
discrimination if they attend a school dominated
SAARC’s member states include Afghanistan,
5 
by high castes, and all girls are subject to purdah,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri a form of female seclusion that restricts women’s
Lanka. The countries and political organization that have
observer status in SAARC include Australia, China, the
mobility and social interactions. These social
European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South constraints limit educational opportunities for
Korea and the United States. Myanmar has expressed girls (World Bank 2015a: 52). World Bank
interest in upgrading its status from an observer to a full Education Strategy 2020, which targets access,
member of SAARC. Russia has applied for observer sta-
tus membership of SAARC. Turkey applied for observer
equity, quality and governance, will be a reality
status membership of SAARC in 2012..South Africa has only when employment opportunities for stu-
participated in SAARC regional meetings. dents improve.
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 361

Although educational well-being in South at the time of its birth remain more or less the
Asia has improved over the last 60 years, it has same throughout his or her life span.
not kept pace with gains in the rest of the world. Life expectancy for the people of South Asia
International agencies have made contributions has increased from 1960 to 2012, though it has
to improve educational outcomes in South Asia, approached but not reached world average levels
but inherent territorial problems, religious stig- (Fig. 11.5). In this context, during the post-World
mas, gender inequality, and concentration on War II period, there were significant increases in
quantity rather than quality have greatly hindered life expectancy around the world, which is con-
the cause of educational well-being in the region. sidered a notable achievement in the history of
Unlike in ancient times, when education was humans (Ram 1998). The increase over the last
considered necessary for building character, 62 years has been dramatic, especially among
gaining knowledge, creating learned societies, low income populations that, increasingly, live
and spreading scholarship to the other parts of the on average as long as 71 years. This increase is
world, today education is considered necessary the result of efforts made to improve health facili-
only to prepare one to earn a living in the market-­ ties. Bhutan and Nepal have increased the life
driven economy. The great institutions of this expectancy of their citizens by 36 and 29 years,
region, such as Takshila and Nalanda, which respectively, a remarkable achievement, espe-
developed a strong culture of learning, knowl- cially given the low levels of per capita income of
edge, and wisdom, have lost their relevance in the majority of the citizens. Average life expec-
modern times. Efforts are underway to revive tancy in Sri Lanka increased from a low of 60
these institutions, but overcoming market forces years in 1960 to more than 74 years by 2012.
and looking beyond mere educational indicators Again, this achievement is remarkable for a com-
are large challenges to overcome. The region has paratively poor country. Sri Lanka and the
the potential to improve educational well-being. Maldives are considered outliers in terms of
We feel that, as time passes, educational advances health parameters. During the last 20 years, the
will not just be reflected through indicators but average life expectancy trends in all South Asian
will empower the residents with a rich cultural countries have increased and continue to be com-
outlook. petitive with world standards. East Asian coun-
tries such as China, Japan, and the Republic of
Korea had higher gains in average life expectancy
11.4.3 Health Well-Being than did the majority of Southeast Asian coun-
tries—Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
The demographic profile of a country is closely Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The coun-
related to its health profile. We discuss issues tries of South Asia—India, Pakistan, and
related to health and track the parameters of life Bangladesh—experienced comparable gains by
expectancy, infant and child mortality rates, and 2012 (World Health Organization 2012).
disease prevalence over the past 50 years. Public Afghanistan had the lowest average life expec-
health scholars agree that years of average life tancy in 2012. Even when one compares the 2012
expectancy at birth is a major contributor to well-­ rate with the 1960 rate, the rates of Bhutan,
being and is both an indicator of the health of a Nepal, and Maldives are better than those of
country and of the quality of its health care sys- Afghanistan.
tems. Overall health and years of average life In general, women live longer than men in
expectancy are also affected by access to health most countries of South Asia, albeit average years
services and the quality of the services provided. for life expectations for the region’s men is on the
Life expectancy is defined as the number of years rise. As countries progress along this critical
a randomly selected newborn is expected to live, dimension of human development, the gap
provided that the prevailing patterns of mortality between the rate of survival to age 65 of both men
 362 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

Maldives 2012
1970
80 80 Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
75 75
Bhutan
70 70 Nepal
Sri Lanka Pakistan
India
65 65
Life Expectancy

Life Expectancy
60 60
Pakistan Afghanistan
55 55
50 India
50
Maldives
45 Nepal 45
Bangladesh
40 Afghanistan 40
35 35
Bhutan
30 30
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Infant Mortality Infant Mortality

Fig. 11.5  Life expectancy at birth for selected South Asian countries, 1960–2010 (Compiled from data published by
the World Bank [World Development Indicators] for different years)

and women is increasing. The average years of decline in the IMR, which is a positive indicator.
life expectancy of women, though, is expected to As reflected in educational and other health indi-
continue to exceed that of men, e.g., the chances cators, Sri Lanka has been successful in control-
that a woman born in 1960 in Bhutan would ling the IMR, and the trend in India is similar to
increase to 65 years continues to be approxi- that of the region. Pakistan and Afghanistan have
mately 20 % higher than that attained by men. performed poorly on this indicator. Overall, the
Similarly, life expectancy projections for a woman IMR for South Asia has declined, and it is
born in 1960 in Sri Lanka would reach age 65 expected that it will continue to decline in the
have increased to an average of 64 % of all women future. In 2012, South Asia had an IMR of 37.81
in the country. Over time, these conditions have deaths per 1000 live births compared to the world
changed, and the male-female gap has grown. On IMR of 35. In 2012, Sri Lanka and Maldives had
average, 86.5 % of the women born in Sri Lanka extremely low IMRs, whereas Pakistan and
in 2012 could reach age 65 whereas only 72 % of Afghanistan had the highest IMRs (Fig. 11.7).
Sri Lankan men born in 2012 are expected to Although Sri Lanka has had consistently low
reach 65—still higher than during earlier decades IMRs, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal have bet-
but the male-female gap in average years of life ter IMRs than India. When we relate the IMR to
expectancy persists. The pattern is region wide the availability of physicians per 1000 people, we
even as further advances in years of male average find that the region suffers from a shortage of
life expectancy continue to improve. physicians: In 2010, the world had 1.4 doctors
Infant mortality rate (IMR) data reflect the (2.9 hospital beds per 1000 people) per 1000 peo-
quality of nutrition and hygiene during the early ple, whereas this region had 0.6 (0.9 hospital
stages of life, which contributes to life expec- beds per 1000 people). The exception was
tancy as well. Figure 11.6 indicates a gradual Pakistan, which had more doctors per 1000
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 363

250

200
Infant Mortality

150

100

50

0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives
Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka South Asia

Fig. 11.6  Infant mortality rate for selected South Asian countries, 1960–2010 (Compiled from data published by the
World Bank [World Development Indicators] for different years)

Afghanistan 72.0

Pakistan 70.6

India 42.9

South Asia 37.8

Bangladesh 34.9

Nepal 33.4

Bhutan 31.0

Maldives 9.2

Sri Lanka 8.5

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Infant Mortality

Fig. 11.7  Infant mortality rate for selected South Asian countries, 2012 (Data from World Bank 2015b)

p­ eople compared to the other countries of the contributing factor to the poor life expectancy is
region but which had a high IMR. the comparatively low level of public investment
The poor health outcomes in South Asia can in local, regional, and national health services. In
be attributed to low expenditures for health care 2010, the health care expenditure of South Asia
and lack of an adequate health care infrastruc- as percentage of GDP, for example, was less than
ture, especially in the rural environments in 3.8 % of public expenditures, whereas the world
which much of the region’s population resides. A expenditures for health for the same period aver-
364 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

aged 10.8 %. This big gap in allocation of funds Panel on Climate Change 2007). The region faces
for improving health has adversely affected the major health challenges: poor sanitation, poor
parameters used to measure health well-being. maternal health, poor access to health care ser-
South Asia rates somewhat better than sub-­ vices, and the prevalence of many emerging
Saharan Africa on health parameters; otherwise, chronic diseases.
its overall level of health performance ranks far SAARC has undertaken many initiatives6
behind virtually every other subregion of the designed to improve public responses to health
world. This ranking reflects decades of neglect hazards, diseases, and other health-related prob-
on the part of central and local governments in lems. Though many research institutions7 have
developing health infrastructures. India’s famed been established in the region, many scholars
traditional healing systems of Ayurveda and sim- (see Sadana et al. 2004; Yazbeck and Peters 2003)
ilar types of innovative medicine, because of the have observed that health research has not
focus on one case at a time, have contributed rela- matured in this region and that it will take time
tively little to advances in public or communal for health to become a priority. The Global Forum
health. Higher than average levels of per capita for Health Research (2001) called the research
GDI have not succeeded in reversing the region’s gap in developing countries “the 10/90 gap,”
generally downward trend with respect to health, whereby a meager 10 % of health research fund-
health care, and the means used to promote high ing is allocated to 90 % of the disease burden fac-
levels of health for increasingly large numbers of ing the world.
people. The last decade has seen a proliferation A major problem the region faces is how to
of Ayurvedic products, and the governments have implement the existing and proposed programs
promoted private sector investment in health, and how to reach out to needy people. Lapses
especially in supporting yoga and Ayurveda. In occur in implementing the programs. Corruption
December 2014, the United Nations General at different levels creates a major hindrance in
Assembly recognized the importance of yoga for reaching the masses. In Bangladesh and Nepal,
better well-being and hence declared June 21 as government health providers were pressured to
International Yoga Day. provide free medicine to people whom they knew
Though the region’s expenditure on health were not ill but who were selling it to others or
care has increased steadily during the last who wanted it for their livestock (World Bank
decades, the resulting modest gains have been 2015a: 195). In some of the states in India, scams
sidelined by the high rates of population growth are perpetrated by people who are supposed to
not only in India but in other South Asian coun- deliver state-proposed expenditures to the peo-
tries, e.g., Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Sri ple. A former Prime Minister of India once said
Lanka—all of which rank among the lowest in that in India only 10 % of the expenditure reaches
the world in terms of national public sector
spending on health as a percentage of GDP.
The SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre was
6 
Sri Lanka, an exceptional country in this
established in 1992 in Nepal, with the goal of treating and
region, does extremely well on health parameters preventing tuberculosis. This center coordinates and
despite having internal governance problems. In implements regional activities related to TB and HIV/
India, one sees disparities in health parameters by AIDS. The health ministers of the member countries of
SAARC meet periodically to review progress and to
region as well as between the poor and the rich
develop strategies to improve the health well-being of the
(Yazbeck and Peters 2003). Some states like residents of the region. Steps are underway to develop the
Kerala are doing much better than states like Telemedicine Network Project for resource sharing within
Uttar Pradesh. In 2000, the global burden of diar- the region.
rhea and malnutrition, attributable to climate
7 
Bangladesh Medical Research Council, 1972; Health
Research and Epidemiology Unit, Bhutan, 1995; Indian
change, was highest in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Council for Medical Research, 1911; Pakistan Medical
Bhutan, and the Maldives and is expected to Research Council, 1962; Nepal Health Research Council,
remain the same until 2030 (Intergovernmental 1991; National Health Research Council, Sri Lanka 1996.
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 365

the people for whom it was meant (Basu 2006: taxation rates than their counterparts elsewhere in
216). the world. Gold, diamonds, fine shawls, spices,
Although South Asia has experienced some and opium were sold in the markets during that
improvements in the parameters related to health period (Von 2007). Three centuries ago, the gen-
well-being, these improvements have not kept eral economic well-being of the residents in this
pace with improvements in other parts of the part of the world was much better than that of the
world. Whereas government expenditures for residents of other parts of the world.
health as a percentage of GDP have not increased A comparison of the GDP using 1990 prices
significantly, private expenditures have increased, (USD) shows that, between 1600 and 1947, the
which indicates that in general people are becom- GDP for India increased more than three times
ing aware of health issues and expenditures on whereas that for the United Kingdom increased
health are increasing. Health outcomes for Sri more than 50 times, corresponding to a per capita
Lanka and Maldives are excellent whereas those increase of 1.1 times and 6.5 times, respectively.
for Pakistan and Afghanistan are poor. India, Further, a comparison of per capita income
which has a large percentage of the overall between 1947 and 2008 shows that India had
­population, has the greater challenge. South Asia much faster growth (4.8 times) than the United
has a long way to go to improve the health well- Kingdom (3.7 times) (Maddison 2006). During
being of its people. the last 60 years, India has grown at a faster pace
than other parts of the world. At the same time,
social indicators and outcomes have not improved
11.4.4 Economic Well-Being in the same proportion, as per expectations. The
challenge is to sustain this growth and to translate
In the contemporary world, GDP has been con- it into improving the well-being of the people.
sidered an important indicator of the progress of The GDP per capita of South Asia grew six-
a nation. It is believed that economic empower- fold from 1960 to 2010 (Fig. 11.8); Sri Lanka has
ment results in broadening choices and freedoms, grown much faster than the other countries, fol-
thereby improving well-being. Income is a prime lowed by India. Maldives seems to be the richest
measure of satisfaction for an individual. country and Nepal, the poorest country of the
Similarly, production is the measure of satisfac- region so far as GDP is concerned. The growth of
tion for a nation. the region during the last 22 years has been much
Densely populated South Asia is emerging as faster than the growth during the previous 30
the world’s most deprived region. The per capita years, which is the result of liberalization policies
purchasing power parity gross national product of various governments. The flow of capital
(GNP) in 2010 was only USD 3124. This region, through these countries and beyond has been
which has 24 % of the world’s population, pro- positive during the last 15 years. In India, how-
duces only 6.7 % of the world’s purchasing power ever, the GDP did not grow at the expected rate
parity dollar income. According to the classical because of problems related to governance, cor-
work of Maddison (1995), India (including ruption, and political compromises. The coalition
Bangladesh and Pakistan) and China were domi- government could not make the kinds of deci-
nating economies until 1870; they contributed sions that would boost the economy. However,
about two thirds of world GDP. “Moghul India the present government, which won by a signifi-
had a bigger industry than any other country cant majority, seems committed to make India a
which became a European colony, and was unique manufacturing hub through a “Make in India”
in being an industrial exporter in pre-­ colonial campaign targeted toward inviting other coun-
times. A large part of this industry was destroyed tries to invest in India. Policies are being put in
as a consequence of British rule” (Maddison place to strengthen the Indian economy.
1995: 115). In the sixteenth century, on average, Policies put in place to respond to market
Indians had relatively higher incomes and lower forces and expectations are yielding positive
 366 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

2500

2000

Afghanistan
Bangladesh
1500
GDP per Capita

Bhutan
India
Nepal
1000
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
South Asia
500

0
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012

Fig. 11.8  Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita for selected South Asian countries, 1960–2010 (constant 2005
USD) (Data from International Monetary Fund 2014)

Euro Area 1.6%

Sub-Saharan Africa 2.3%

Middle East and North Africa 2.5%

Lan America and Caribbean 5.0%

Europe and Central Asia 5.3%

South Asia 6.6%

East Asia and Pacific 8.9%

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10%

Fig. 11.9  Rate of growth in gross domestic product in selected world regions including South Asia, 2012 (Data from
World Bank 2012a: 22)

results in terms of economic growth. In 2012, the holds in this region has increased. At the same
GDP of Southeast Asia grew by 8.9 % and that of time, the gap between rich and the poor is widen-
South Asia grew by 6.6 % (Fig. 11.9); the GDPs ing, which is a cause of worry.
of all other parts of the world have grown at much As is evident from the preceding discussion,
lower rates. The purchasing power of the house- the region has a high level of poverty, which con-
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 367

tributes to its slow growth. In 2013, 98 % of the and, in turn, will be expressed as a positive atti-
population in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa tude that can be measured using standardized
lived on less than $10 a day (World Bank 2013b: subjective well-being tools (Costanza et al.
58). According to the World Bank, though the 2007). SWB refers to how people experience the
percentage of the total population living below quality of their lives and includes to both emo-
the poverty line in South Asia declined from tional reactions and cognitive judgments. The
1981 to 2008, the number of people living below best way to assess a person’s life satisfaction is to
the absolute poverty line (earning USD 1.25 per ask the person directly. This approach reduces
day) increased from 568 million in 1981 to 571 the possibility of manipulation; at the same time,
million in 2008. In fact, South Asia has more it is limited because it represents the individual’s
poor people than all other regions of the world. It response at a specific point in time. However, it is
has been estimated that, from 2005 to 2008, 20 % considered the best way to obtain firsthand opin-
of the total population of the region was under- ion of a person’s level of satisfaction with differ-
nourished. In addition, one third of the adult ent variables. “Assessing the appraisal of life in a
women residing in this region were anemic. The nation requires that the total of experienced well-­
developmental process in Bangladesh has been being is estimated. This sum of experience is
marred by internal power struggles between the denoted by the concept of ‘happiness.’ Happiness
political parties. As Karim (2013) put it, the is a person’s overall evaluation of his/her life as-­
country stands at the crossroads between hope a-­whole” (Veenhoven 1996). Different agencies
and depression. Bangladesh and Nepal are classi- and individuals have conducted surveys using
fied as low income economies, whereas India, suitable tools to track the status of life satisfac-
Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are considered lower tion (or happiness) across world regions.
middle income economies (World Bank 2013b). SWB data for this region are not consistently
Despite the many problems in the region, it available in a uniform format, making compari-
has performed satisfactorily in terms of economic sons difficult. However, we were able to obtain
growth rate. The economic growth rate in India some data for India and for some of the other
has improved over the last 25 years, but at a countries of the region through the World
slower rate than expected because of corruption Database of Happiness, the WVS, and the Gallup
and governance deficit. However, the new gov- opinion poll.
ernment has taken effective measures to boost the The World Database of Happiness gauges life
economy by instituting a better system for satisfaction using the Cantril ladder: “Suppose
whistle-­blowing and accountability that is the top of the ladder represents the best possible
expected to build confidence among investors life for you and the bottom of the ladder the worst
and common people. Political disturbances in possible life, where on this ladder do you feel you
Pakistan and Bangladesh have affected the personally stand at the present time.” As pro-
momentum of growth in that region. Real GDP jected by Veenhoven (n.d.), the mean value for
projections for South Asia by the International life satisfaction in 2011 for the South Asian
Monetary Fund (2014) for the coming years are region was 4.94. Only scattered data were avail-
positive. able for Bangladesh (1996, 2002), India (1990,
1996), and Pakistan (2001, 2012); compiled
mean values for 2000 to 2009 are shown in Fig.
11.4.5 Subjective Well-Being Profile 11.10. Happy life years (Veenhoven 1996), which
is the product of the measures of life expectancy
In this section, we look at SWB, which is used as and of life satisfaction, provides a closer look at
a proxy for both quality of life, happiness, and the relationship between these objective and sub-
well-being more generally. Determination of jective measures. The happy life years score
QOL is based on the premise that once human could be a better measure for studying health
needs are fulfilled, SWB will steadily increase well-being because it goes beyond life expec-
368 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

37 5.6

5.5
36 36.2
5.4
35 35.1
5.3
Happy Life Years

LS Mean Values
34 5.2

33 33.3 33.3 5.1

32.5 5
32
4.9
31
4.8

30 4.7
Bangladesh India Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka
2011 Happy Life Years 2000-2009 LS Mean Values

Fig. 11.10  Subjective well-being for selected South Asian countries, 2000–2009 and 2011 (Compiled from World
Database of Happiness dataset, Veenhoven 2015)

tancy and takes into account subjective measures countries of South Asia. However, when one
that are based on people’s own perceptions. In looks at the happy life years, Sri Lanka ranks
2011, Sri Lanka had the highest (36.2 years) level first. As discussed previously, this result is attrib-
of average happy life years. Pakistan (32.5 years) utable to the high life expectancy rate. In general,
had the lowest (Fig. 11.10). There is not much there is little variation in the expression of satis-
variation in this measure in South Asia. In 1990, faction among the people of this region (lowest 5,
India, which was the only South Asian country highest 5.5). When we look at WVS data over
included in the study of 48 nations, had 36.44 time (Fig. 11.11), we see a downward trend in
happy life years. Of the 48 nations, only six had Bangladesh and India and an upward trend in
lower happy life years scores than India, and Pakistan. In light of the internal problems that
Iceland had the highest value at 62.4 (Veenhoven Pakistan has experienced in the last 5 years, it is
1996). difficult to believe that the residents have experi-
The WVS provides data on life satisfaction enced such a high level of life satisfaction.
(or, in some waves, satisfaction with life). India Because of the small number of respondents
was included in five of the six waves of data col- for these surveys (e.g., Wave VI, 1591 for India
lected (1990–2014). The data for Bangladesh and and 1200 for Pakistan) and the scattered nature of
Pakistan are available only in two waves (fourth the data, it is difficult to be convinced that these
and sixth waves and third and fourth waves, surveys reflect the SWB of the people of the
respectively). The WVS does not provide data for region correctly. Also, because SWB responses
the other countries of this region. The respon- are subjective and reflect the respondent’s feel-
dents are asked to reply on a 10-point scale (1 ings at a moment in time, it is difficult to believe
being dissatisfied and 10 being satisfied) to the that they provide an accurate picture. Between
question, “All things considered, how satisfied 2007 and 2011, the number of people who
are you with your life as a whole these days.” reported that they were “very happy” increased
Data from the World Database of Happiness 2 % globally; however, for India it increased by
indicate that the people in India have a higher 5 %. In this study, India was the only country
level of life satisfaction than those in the other from South Asia (Wright 2012).
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 369

8.00
7.54

7.00 6.70
6.41 6.53

6.00 5.78 5.80

5.14 5.08
5.00 4.85
1990-1994
1995-1998
4.00
2000-2004
2005-2009
3.00
2010-2014

2.00

1.00

0.00
Bangladesh India Pakistan

Fig. 11.11  Average life satisfaction values in selected 5-year intervals for selected South Asian countries, 1990–2014
(Waves 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) (Compiled from different waves of data from the World Values Survey)

The downtrend of SWB in India is under- Nations gathering in Geneva. Ever since, GNH
standable in view of the negative sentiments has become the foundation of socioeconomic
across India because of poor governance (Das thinking in Bhutan and has guided public policy
2012). However, the Indian population feels toward the well-being of its citizens. Government
hopeful that the government that took over in planners concentrated on measures that would
2014 will introduce public policies designed to result in the happiness of people rather than just
create a more positive environment whereby on economic growth. This thinking led to poli-
India is able to regain its lost glory. cies which would assure a better QOL for the
The reporting of SWB data from South Asia people, thereby creating a happy society. As cre-
has been highly inconsistent both in terms of ating a happy society became a national priority
trends over time and of the countries represented. in Bhutan, all ministries and departments
However, given the lack of reliable data, one can involved in developing public policies worked
only use what is available. This situation ­provides with decision makers and implementing agencies
a great opportunity to better organize the collec- to initiate and execute the policies and programs
tion of data from the region to ensure better that would result in GNH. In order to further
regional comparisons. operationalize this concept and to deliberate on
different aspects that involve well-being, many
workshops, seminars, and conferences were
11.5 Bhutan’s Experiments organized. These events helped clarify GNH and
with Gross National raised issues that were crucial to its practical
Happiness application. Because this planning process
remained at the policy level for more than three
Bhutan is a small nation of about one million decades (1970s–1990s), its impact on well-being
people whose government is seriously interested has yet to be felt. Several international confer-
in the happiness and general well-being of its ences and workshops were held during the first
people. In 1972, the Bhutanese king spoke about decade of the twenty-first century to discuss how
gross national happiness (GNH) at a United to operationalize and measure GNH.
370 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

In 2008, the Planning Commission became economic forces, environmental preservation,

the GNH Commission. It was headed by the cultural and spiritual values and good gover-
prime minister, who was assisted by bureaucrats nance” (Planning Commission Secretariat: Royal
and policy makers. The GNH Commission Government of Bhutan 2000: 20). The premise of
assigned the task of developing practical, target-­ QOL is derived from the theory that, once a per-
oriented indicators for GNH to the Centre for son’s basic human needs are fulfilled, the indi-
Bhutan Studies, which published a short guide to vidual experiences positive SWB. A better QOL
the GNH Index in 2010 and developed a nation- is supposed to improve the satisfaction level of
wide index (comprehensive GNH Index) of the people vis-à-vis their happiness.
satisfaction level (impact of public policies on GNH is based on four pillars: incorporating
well-being of citizens) of people related to differ- equitable and balanced socioeconomic develop-
ent aspects of QOL (based on nine domains, each ment; preserving and promoting cultural and
having equal weight). spiritual heritage; conserving the environment;
Bhutan achieved 72.5 % forest coverage and maintaining good governance in every aspect
(United Nations 2001) because the National of government. Bhutan has taken the initiative in
Assembly (the highest legislative body) had man- prioritizing happiness over several economic
dated that the country should maintain at least indicators. Almost all of the planning documents
60 % of the land area under forest cover for all underscore the fact that GNH is the top priority
time (Planning Commission Secretariat: Royal of the government of Bhutan. Spiritualism and
Government of Bhutan 2002). A fact sheet pub- culture are two important issues for
lished by the government in 2006 showed that a GNH. Traditional thinking and the different com-
large percentage of people reported a happy sta- ponents of GNH are reflected in Fig. 11.12,
tus of life. Many of the parameters indicated which contains an outline of the Bhutan 2020
favorable conditions: access to primary health document published in 1999. In 2010, the gov-
care was greater than 90 %; access to safe drink- ernment began to focus on measuring GNH.
ing water in rural areas was about 65 %; more Table 11.1 identifies 4 pillars, 9 domains, and 16
than 90 % of the children were immunized; life key result areas to evaluate the outcome of their
expectancy at birth increased to 66 years public policies to improve well-being or
(Planning Commission Secretariat: Royal happiness.
Government of Bhutan 2000). Bhutan was the The focus on improving economic indicators
first South Asian country to attain the status of has led policy makers to overestimate the strength
Normal Iodine Nutrition Country (Royal of the GDP. Policy makers have assumed that a
Government of Bhutan 2005: 29) and has been nation can develop only by concentrating on
identified as a Millennium Development Goals improving economic growth. For poor countries,
fast-track country on the basis of governance the main concerns are always health and hygiene,
qualification (United Nations Millennium Project education, social security, alleviation of poverty,
2005, p. 234). It has been one of the most suc- gender-related issues, and participation by and
cessful countries in South Asia in the develop- empowerment of the people. In such situations,
ment and delivery of social welfare (Rutland the priority of the state must shift from economic
1999) and has enjoyed a strong growth record growth to the well-being of its citizens. Rural-­
over the last decade because of sound macroeco- urban differences in QOL of people in eastern
nomic management, good governance, and rapid Bhutan during 2001 and 2005 (Shrotryia 2009)
development of hydroelectric power resources indicated that the pace of providing physical
(International Monetary Fund 2004). The philos- infrastructure was faster in rural areas; however,
ophy of GNH is based on the basics of the QOL the satisfaction level did not rise accordingly.
of the people. “The pursuit of GNH calls for a Bhutan can attest to the fact that despite con-
multi-dimensional approach to development that straints and pressures, it can sustain its develop-
seeks to maintain harmony and balance between mental process. GNH has inspired the citizens of
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 371

Independence, Sovereignty &

MAIN GOAL Security of the Nation-State

GUIDING Identity, unity & Harmony,

PRINCIPLES stability, self-reliance,
sustainability

CENTRAL THE MAXIMISATION OF

DEVELOPMENT GROSS NATIONAL
CONCEPT HAPPINESS

MAIN OBJECTIVES

Human Culture & Balanced & Governance Environmentally

Development Heritage Equitable Sustainable
Development Development

Fig. 11.12  Normative architecture for future change and development (Planning Commission: Royal Government of
Bhutan 1999: 15)

Table 11.1  Gross National Happiness Framework, Bhutan

Pillar one Pillar two Pillar three Pillar four
Sustainable and equitable Preservation and Conservation of the Good governance
socioeconomic development promotion of culture environment
Nine domains
1. Living standards 4. Cultural diversity and 8. Ecological diversity 9. Good governance
resilience
2. Education 5. Community vitality
3. Health 6. Time use
7. Psychological
well-being
Sixteen key result areas
1. Sustained economic 5. Strengthened Bhutanese 7. Carbon neutral/green 11. Public service
growth identity, social cohesion, and climate resilient delivery
and harmony development
2. Poverty reduced and 6. Indigenous wisdom, 8. Sustainable utilization 12. Democracy and
MDG Plus achieved arts, and crafts promoted and management of governance strengthened
for sustainable livelihood natural resources
3. Food secure and 9. Water security 13. Gender friendly
sustained environment for women’s
participation
4. Full employment 10. Improved disaster 14. Corruption reduced
resilience and 15. Safe society
management 16. Needs of vulnerable
mainstreamed groups addressed
372 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

this kingdom to maintain peace, tranquility, and on India, which translates into a huge liquidity
sovereignty (Shrotryia 2006). problem.
Bhutan adopted its written constitution on 18 Because it is still a young democracy, Bhutan
July 2008 and included “happiness and well-­ will continue to change over time. Comparisons
being of people for all time” in its preamble. of QOL measures before and after the introduc-
Article 9 (2) states that “The State shall strive to tion of democracy will be important projects for
promote those conditions that will enable the future scholars. It is observed that the SWB of its
pursuit of GNH.” The country has concentrated citizens is demonstrably better than that of coun-
its energy and resources during the last two tries that focus on attaining high levels of income,
decades on decentralization and participation, a testimony to the effectiveness of the GNH
both of which are considered essential elements project.
of GNH. The life of Bhutan citizens has been
transformed during the last two decades, but
especially in the last 7 years since the people 11.6 Discussion and Conclusions
elected their first democratic government in
2008. The number of private medical clinics is on The focus of this chapter is the well-being since
the rise because some government doctors prefer 1960 of the South Asian countries of Afghanistan,
to operate private clinics. These clinics are pri- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal,
marily in urban areas. Because these clinics pro- Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. As mentioned previ-
vide choices for the people who can afford them, ously, South Asia is geographically, culturally,
many people also feel that they contribute to a and religiously diverse. This diversity, sometimes
class-based society. Royal University of Bhutan considered a strength, has also been a source of
came into being in 2003 through a Royal Charter. political conflict both past and present. The
Previously, the citizens of Bhutan depended on region continues to struggle with military con-
the Indian educational system because the only flicts that originate both within and outside the
college was an affiliate of the University of Delhi, region. These conflicts continuously threaten to
India. The Charter sets out a rationale of this uni- disrupt the peace throughout the region and the
versity to disseminate knowledge for the eco- world as a whole. Sreekumar (2014) reported an
nomic and cultural development of Bhutan and to inverse relationship between the number of lan-
promote well-being of its people. guages spoken in a particular region and the well-­
The number of college graduates is increas- being of the people residing in that region.
ing, which is slowly causing an unemployment The region’s accomplishments in the areas of
problem. Bhutan is developing its own informa- health, education, income, wealth, and SWB are
tion and communications technology systems; modest compared with the gains attained by other
many transactions go through the Internet, which regions of the world. The slow pace of develop-
has exposed their society to the outer world. The ment is attributable to the region’s continuing
residents feel that, having chosen a democratic high rates of fertility and increasing years of
government, they are more open and have easier average life expectancy. Few of the region’s gov-
access to high government officials. Transparency ernments possess the resources needed to bring
and accountability of the bureaucracy have about lower fertility rates, and none of the
improved, and there is better communication region’s countries, understandably, wishes to
between the citizens and their leaders. The media reduce the years of average life expectancy.
have become proactive toward issues of common Institutions of higher learning are available and
concern. Capital investment in infrastructure affordable, albeit the quality is highly varied.
projects has increased, which has resulted in bet- Many of the region’s people, especially the
ter roads and the development of the townships. young people, are unemployed; some migrate to
The economy still suffers from a balance-of-­ other parts of the world in search of improved
payment problem, and Bhutan is still dependent economic opportunities. The brain drain phe-
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 373

nomenon is visibly prevalent across South Asia. Von (2007: 11) described the region as fol-
Dependency on foreign remittance is wide- lows: “In the beginning, there were two nations.
spread throughout the region. The instability One was a vast, mighty and magnificent empire,
and poor conditions are a disincentive for the brilliantly organized and culturally unified, which
region’s governments to provide income secu- dominated a massive swath of the earth. The
rity for the region’s historically most vulnerable other was an undeveloped, semifeudal realm,
populations, e.g., widows and their children; the riven by religious factionalism and barely able to
aged; unemployed workers; persons belonging feed its illiterate, diseased and stinking masses.
to socially disadvantaged groups, and persons The first nation was India. The second was
with chronic illnesses or permanent disabilities England. The year was 1577, and the Mughal
that prevent them from working. The govern- emperors were in the process of uniting India.”
ment expects families, neighbors, local commu- Though these sentences describe India, they were
nities, and religious organizations to provide the written when India included Bangladesh and
basic material needs of these persons, albeit Pakistan. These sentences provide a historical
many remain outside the care of even these perspective of the general well-being of the pop-
informal systems of social welfare. Poverty is ulation of this nation. The experiences of the last
widespread and highly visible in most of the 60 years tell a totally different story. When we
countries of South Asia, as are begging and the compare the general well-being of the people of
disfigurement of children to increase their value this region with that of the residents of other
as beggars. regions, the results are disturbing. Though these
Except for large-scale initiatives undertaken sovereign nations exhibit a strong commitment to
in South Asia by the SAARC and the United improving the well-being of their respective pop-
Nation’s Millennium Development Campaign, ulations, conditions have not improved as
few global initiatives, apart from projects tar- expected, whether we look at education, health,
geted at local villages and communities, are or income. Overall, Sri Lanka has been able to
designed to assist the nations of the region in make progress as far as social indicators are con-
reducing the low levels of social development cerned. This achievement becomes all the more
and well-being that have existed for decades. important because the country is also trying to
Even recent, sometimes dramatic, increases in deal with its internal problems.
the per capita income level have not succeeded in The region has Sri Lanka and Maldives, both
lifting the great population of South Asia to of which have positive well-being indicators. It
increasingly higher levels of social achievement. also has Afghanistan, which has suffered terribly
The situation is puzzling, given the tremendous during the last few decades. It is considered one
wealth, highly developed land, air, and sea trans- of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the
portation systems, and rich human capital world. Its GDP is largely dependent on aid and
resources that exist in the region. Our best assess- remittances from Afghans abroad; about 85 % of
ment of the lag in well-being relates to the its budget comes from abroad and nearly half of
region’s continued high rates of population all government money is spent on security. The
increase; the existence, despite its illegality, of Kabul bank scandal that occurred from 2010 to
the caste system; the inferior status conferred on 2013 almost bankrupted the state. The indicators
women; and, more existentially, the philosophies reflect the poor status of the country as a whole.
of the region that teach acceptance of one’s lot in When one looks at the HDIs of the countries in
society rather than social achievement and social this region (Fig. 11.13), one sees that Sri Lanka
mobility as the prime goal of each individual. and Maldives have outperformed the other coun-
Certainly, all of these factors contribute to the tries in the areas of education, health and income;
region’s relative pattern of social stagnation even Pakistan and Afghanistan are lowest on the scale.
as progress is made in one or more critical social Although the region is still heavily rural, in 20
indicators. years (1990–2010), 5 % of the population moved
374 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

0.8
0.75
0.70
0.7

0.6 0.58 0.59

0.56
Human Development Index

0.54 0.54

0.5 0.47

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
Afghanistan Pakistan Nepal Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Sri Lanka

Fig. 11.13  Human Development Index: growth rates for selected South Asian countries, 2013 (Data from UNDP
2014)

from rural to urban areas.8 Though studies show lags significantly behind that of other world
that unemployed people report lower levels of regions. This multilingual, multireligion, multi-
happiness and life satisfaction than their ethnic, multicultural region is the poorest, most
employed counterparts (Blanchflower and illiterate, most malnourished, and least gender-­
Oswald 2011; Winkelmann and Winkelmann sensitive region in the world. Though women
1998), farmers in South Asia report even lower have started participating in the workforce and
levels of life satisfaction than the unemployed the discussion on women empowerment is on the
whereas self-employed and wage earners of this political and social agenda for policy and prac-
region report similar levels of life satisfaction. tice, the region is still recognized as one where
Overall, only sub-Saharan African populations the conditions of women have not improved com-
report lower levels of life satisfaction than South pared to other regions of the world. A field study
Asian populations (World Bank 2012b). (Datta 2013) done in India (Awadh plains and
In recent years, South Asia has become the Uttarakhand region) observed that women tend to
fastest growing region of the world, with per cap- have lower levels of well-being because they are
ita GDP growth accelerating in the last couple of less valued within the household and the commu-
decades. The indicators of social development nity. This proud region of the 5000-year-old
also have shown improvement in health and edu- Indus Valley civilizations still lags in social
cation and a decline in the population growth development.
rate. Although the QOL of the people in South Considerable resources are channeled into
Asia has improved over recent decades, it still military budgets rather than into human develop-
ment. The region experiences repeated border
hostilities, recurrent internal communal and eth-
In 1990, 75.1 % of the South Asian population resided in
8 

rural areas; in 2000, the number dropped to 72.6 % and in nic conflicts, and outbreaks of violence in differ-
2010, to 69.9 % (Trading Economics 2015). ent areas. The partition of British India into two
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 375

states, India and Pakistan, in 1947 and the seces- government. In this system, one third of the total
sion of Bangladesh in 1971 caused two big political seats are reserved for women. This sys-
shocks in the subcontinent. The QOL for many tem provides a large political platform for
people deteriorated because of these two massive women, thereby impacting the lives of all women
events. In general, all of the countries of the in the region by empowering them to express
region have experienced internal conflict in the their views in the development of their
last two decades, and the resulting casualties communities.
have outnumbered those from interstate conflicts. Hsieh and Klenow (2009) reported that if
Moreover, since 2001, more of the conflicts have resource allocation in China and India were as
been in the poorer regions of these countries than efficient as it is in the United States, productivity
elsewhere (United Nations Development would increase by as much as 50 % in China and
Programme (UNDP) 2013: 40). The idea that all 60 % in India. In the last half century, resource
human beings, irrespective of caste, creed, color, allocation has been a considerable challenge for
or religion, are equal should be instilled in the South Asia. Using a monetary indicator as a mea-
minds of children. In this context, the roles and sure of well-being assumes that individuals or
responsibilities of parents and teachers are households can freely reallocate their resources
crucial. among consumption, health, and education. If so,
In South Asia, 44.4 % of the population live measuring the amount of resources available to
on $1.25–2.50 a day. Many who recently joined individuals or households is enough to assess the
the middle class could easily fall back into pov- maximum well-being they can attain (Rama et al.
erty with a sudden change in circumstances 2015: 45). Availability of choices would facilitate
(UNDP 2014: 34). Poverty is ongoing in most of better living conditions of for all residents.
the countries of this region. Poor health is both a The region has a long way to go to improve
consequence and a cause of poverty. Increased literacy levels and learning outcomes. The vari-
inequality should not be the price of economic ous governments have made huge investments in
growth. The policies of a developing country this sector, but learning outcomes have not
should be designed to allow it to grow economi- improved significantly, primarily because of the
cally and to distribute the fruits of economic poor quality of the teachers. Improving the qual-
growth efficiently and effectively to deal with ity of teachers is perhaps the most significant way
gender disparity. For example, in Sri Lanka, poli- to improve learning outcomes, and its benefits
cies enacted during the colonial and postcolonial are expected to translate into national economic
eras produced significant progress in well-being. gains (Dundar et al. 2014: 22). The conditions of
South Asia reduced the proportion of the popula- higher education are not satisfactory compared to
tion living on less than $1.25 a day (in 2005 pur- those in other parts of the world. India has close
chasing power parity terms) from 61 % in 1981 to to 20 million students in higher education, nearly
36 % in 2008, yet more than half a billion people as many as the United States; both countries are
remained extremely poor (UNDP 2013: 56). outpaced by China, with 30 million postsecond-
Though the students are taught about the ary students (World Bank 2012b: 7). The World
Gandhian way of living and told what Mahatma Bank (2011) reported that, although overall
Gandhi said—“the earth has enough to satisfy enrollment has improved, many fewer girls and
everybody’s need but not anybody’s greed,” the members of disadvantaged groups than boys are
fact that acquiring more wealth motivates most of enrolled in primary and secondary schools in
the population in one way or another has nega- many sub-Saharan countries and some parts of
tively affected the sense of well-being, especially South Asia. In Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri
in India. Lanka, religion also explains part of the inequal-
Revival of the Panchayat system in India ity in access to primary education. In India, caste
resulted in wide-spread local participation in explains more than religion (Rama et al. 2015:
376 V.K. Shrotryia and K. Mazumdar

111) because caste dominates religion when it adversely affects the development of the brain
comes to inequality as far as access to primary and cognitive faculties. These children enter
education is concerned. school with huge learning disadvantages, and the
As mentioned earlier in the chapter, diversity effects are compounded over time. The challenge
is embedded in the basic fabric of the region. for this region is to address this issue. The gov-
Among the eight countries of the region, India is ernments have introduced different programs
the most diverse in terms of language, ethnicity, (e.g., Indian government’s Mid-Day Meal plan)
religion, caste, and tribes. The education, health, to respond to this challenge. Dundar et al. (2014)
and economic well-being of disadvantaged stated that “since early childhood nutrition has
groups in India has posed a great challenge for traditionally been outside the realm of education
the state in terms of devising and implementing ministry activities in the region, a multisectoral
programs to improve their well-being. The con- approach is central to ensuring children receive
stitution of India includes provisions to safeguard such inputs.” Surprisingly, many people feel that
the interests of people belonging to educationally public spending for health is directed more
and socially disadvantaged groups because of toward people who are financially secure than to
their caste. They have been formally grouped in the poorest population groups and that it is pro-
three categories: Scheduled Castes, Schedule gressive at the lower levels but regressive at sec-
Tribes, and Other Backward Class. Together, ondary and especially tertiary levels (Rama et al.
they comprise more than 50 % of the population. 2015: 97). Sub-Saharan Africa has the greatest
These groups have a low level of general well-­ inequality in health whereas South Asia has the
being because they live under poor educational, greatest inequality in education (UNDP 2013:
health, and economic conditions. For this reason, 14). In South Asia, more people have cellular
successive governments have advocated and car- phones than toilets, which illustrates the failure
ried out a jobs reservation policy (a proxy for of governments to provide the most basic ser-
affirmative action) for these groups of people. It vices (World Bank 2013b).
has resulted in providing better opportunities for Despite initiatives in the region to decentral-
them and in improving their well-being. The ize, South Asia continues to encounter chal-
country as a whole witnessed a transformation in lenges: inadequate resources; political
their well-being because today members of these interventions; inconsistent practices; and a low
groups hold key positions in government as well level of stakeholder engagement. Dundar et al.
as in private institutions. Dirks (2001: 3) rightly (2014) commented that decentralization reforms
stated that “when thinking of India it is hard not in South Asia have been much weaker than are
to think of caste. …caste has become a central needed to be effective from the perspective of
symbol for India.” student learning.
In this region, social and local identities are Efforts to speed up economic growth and gov-
stronger than national identities. India is a Hindu ernmental reforms introduced to improve the eco-
majority secular state and, though clashes have nomic well-being of people were criticized by
occurred between Muslims and Hindus, a harmo- left-leaning political groups, who charged that
nious coexistence is also evident in many areas of such moves were detrimental to the poor (Chandra
the country. Other parts of the region also have et al. 1999: 369). It was a challenge for the states
minority-majority conflicts, for example, Tamil to respond with strong policies for alleviating
and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka and Shia-Sunni con- poverty. Muni (1979) identified factors that
flict in Pakistan, which includes the threat from obstructed the development of regionalism in
the Baluchs. South Asia: colonial legacies; problems of
South Asia has the world’s largest number of national integration; nation building; unequal eco-
malnourished children. Inadequate nutrition nomic development and regime stability; power
11  The History of Well-Being in South Asia 377

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Acknowledgement  We would like to express our thank- Okayama University, 8(1), 53–62.
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and an anonymous reviewer for sharing their comments making of modern India. Princeton: Princeton
and insights for this chapter. We also acknowledge the University Press.
expert assistance provided by Pamela Fried in the editing Dundar, H., Béteille, T., Riboud, M., & Deolalikar, A.
and formatting of our chapter and by David Walker in the (2014). Student learning in South Asia: Challenges,
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 The History of Well-Being
in Southeast Asia 12
Mahar Mangahas and Edilberto C. De Jesus

One who doesn’t see from where he came

Won’t arrive at where he’s going —old Tagalog proverb1

12.1 W
 ell-Being in Southeast II (WWII), as the countries acquired their inde-
Asia: A Historical Approach pendence, in line with the global movement
toward decolonization. The task of consolidating
The well-being of the Southeast Asia region in their governments, in many cases after further
the early twenty-first century is the net outcome violent conflicts engendered by the Cold War,
of centuries of diverse histories. The peoples of took a quarter century or more and for some
Southeast Asia began to exercise independent countries is not completed.
self-government—which is itself an element of The timing, pace, and pattern of colonization
well-being—only in the latter half of the twenti- and the motives and the means used to establish
eth century. Thus this story begins with a discus- control followed no simple template. In the
sion of the impact of colonization by the various Philippines, for example, Spain and the United
Western powers. The centuries of foreign occu- States imposed the model of central, direct rule.
pation that underlay the formation of the present In the Malay Peninsula, on the other hand,
nation-states were not a benign preparation for England exercised indirect rule, governing
independence. Colonization was a force that in through indigenous political structures and their
many ways harmed and hindered, though in some officials. In both cases, the colonial powers had
ways also promoted, the well-being of the indig- to enroll indigenous staff in governance, and the
enous and immigrant peoples in the region. degree of central control conformed to the condi-
The second part of the story is the rapid emer- tions on the ground and to the competence of the
gence of modern Southeast Asia after World War colonial officials in charge. Under either model,
extensive contact and collaboration with the
colonial government became a source of power.
The authors are grateful to Iremae D. Labucay for research
But, in a region with a multiplicity of ethnolin-
assistance. guistic communities, indirect rule gave better
“Ang hindi tumingin sa pinanggalingan/Ay hindi makaka-
1  chances for the indigenous officials and their
rating sa paroroonan.” dominant ethnic group—often later immigrants
M. Mangahas (*)
to the territory—to consolidate their power over
Social Weather Stations, Quezon City, Philippines the smaller communities of the First Peoples, and
e-mail: [email protected] independence permitted this established elite to
E.C. De Jesus maintain their dominance (Cheong 1999).
Asian Institute of Management, Makati, Philippines

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 381

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_12
382 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

Although compressed over a shorter period, land and island Southeast Asia (SarDesai 2012;
the process of decolonization, affected by colo- Steinberg et al. 1985).
nial policies, the impact of WWII, and the com- The term Southeast Asia itself had a relatively
plications of Cold War politics, presented newly recent WWII origin. In August, 1943, Lord Louis
independent nations with different sets of chal- Mountbatten assumed leadership over a new
lenges. Colonization and decolonization gave Southeast Asia Command (SACSEA), compris-
these nations different starting points but did not ing all Allied land, sea, and air forces in Burma,
determine their respective, present-day condi- Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Siam (Thailand), the Malay
tions of well-being. Each nation owns the result Peninsula, and Sumatra (as part of the Netherlands
of its own governance effort. East Indies). Sri Lanka is now grouped with
The historical overview provides a necessary South Asia. Southeast Asia now includes Brunei,
context to appreciate the well-being of Southeast Indonesia as a whole, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam,
Asian peoples according to available quantitative Singapore and the Philippines, plus the old
tools originally developed in advanced countries SACSEA members, Burma (now Myanmar),
to chart their own progress along health, educa- Malaysia and Thailand. These ten countries are
tion, income, and other welfare dimensions, all members of the Association of Southeast
while taking for granted certain basic standards Asian Nations, or ASEAN, which has become
of democracy, the rule of law, public security, and the more popular brand-name for the region,
accountable governance. although for the time being it excludes Timor
“Well-being” is a moving target, located by Leste, formerly a part of Indonesia (Map 12.1).
multiple indicators defined by the expectations of Present-day Southeast Asia is a region of diz-
each society and the daily challenges of life that zying diversity. The countries differ radically, not
its people confront. Statistics help to clarify the only in the sizes of their territories and popula-
situation and identify the problems of social tions but also in ethnicity, language, religion, and
development in Southeast Asia. form of government. Each country also accom-
modates differences that exist internally among
its citizens. All profess themselves to be demo-
12.1.1 Present Profile cratic, but they differ in political organization,
of Southeast Asia orientation, and practices.
Southeast Asia extends some 4000 km from
Early scholars used the term Indochina to desig- north to south and 5000 km from east to west.
nate the countries now collectively known as The countries range from gigantic Indonesia,
Southeast Asia, though the territory was not actu- with 1.8 million square kilometers (km2), most of
ally situated between India and China.2 The term it water, to city-state Singapore, with 687 km2.
itself later became more narrowly identified with Two small countries, Brunei (5.3 thousand km2)
the countries of Vietnam, Lao People’s and Timor Leste (15 thousand km2), co-exist with
Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and Cambodia seven countries with hundreds of thousands of
(constituting “French Indochina”), but the square kilometers in land area apiece, ranging
Indochina label did serve to identify the great from Cambodia (177) to Myanmar (654). More
Indic and Sinic civilizations as the competing than half of Southeast Asia’s 4.5 million km2 in
sources of cultural, religious, economic, and land and sea area lie off the Asian mainland. The
political influence for the countries of both main- great Indonesian and Philippine archipelagoes,
the eastern side of Malaysia, and Brunei and
Timor Leste are in the Pacific Rim’s Ring of Fire,
the location of great volcanic eruptions, earth-
Also commonly known as part of the Far East—a
2 
quakes, and tsunamis and the path of typhoons
Eurocentric term “othering” Asian countries as distant and
different. originating in the Pacific Ocean. The interna-
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 383

Map 12.1  Regional map of Southeast Asia (CIA 2015; public domain)

tional seaway between the western and eastern high population densities are the Philippines (330
sides of Southeast Asia brings the total area to people/km2) and Vietnam (289 people/km2). The
some 10 million km2. Philippines’ demographic disadvantage will con-
The populations per country range from 250 tinue for some time, because of its relatively high
million in Indonesia to less than half a million in 1.7 % annual population growth rate. Indonesia
Brunei (World Bank 2014c). Population pressure (density 138 people/km2) and Thailand (density
impinges on well-being. The two countries with 131 people/km2)—both known for aggressive
384 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

family-planning programs—have more manage- same survival issues as early human communities
able populations. Elsewhere, the population den- elsewhere.
sity rate is at most 90 people/km2. The extreme Within a colonial context, the connection
density of Singapore (7713 people/km2) is nor- between governance and well-being was ambigu-
mal for a modern city (World Bank 2014c) ous. The well-being of the colony and its peoples
(Supplemental Fig. 12.1). was not the principal mission of colonial offi-
Each country’s present ethnic complexity is cials; their mandate was to promote the well-­
due to its colonial history, involving the progres- being and the interests of the mother country and
sive conquest of many tribes and nations and her people. To derive sustained benefit from the
their forcible assembly into an overseas posses- colony, however, the government had to address
sion. During the period of its empire, Britain security and subsistence issues and other aspects
imported many Bengalis and Tamils to work in of well-being, such as the health and education of
the Malay Peninsula. For centuries, Chinese from the indigenous inhabitants, because safe, healthy,
China have migrated to Southeast Asia, espe- educated people contributed to the prosperity of
cially to Singapore (Tate 1979; Trocki 1999). the colony.
The Philippines offers an instructive example
of the process of state formation. Spanish explor-
12.1.2 Impact of Colonial Rule ers arrived in the islands in the sixteenth century,
before the indigenous communities had orga-
The modern states in Southeast Asia did not nized into kingdoms, as had already happened in
emerge from a gradual or organic process of Cambodia, Java, and Burma. It was thus easier
communities voluntarily coalescing to form an for the Spaniards to incorporate the archipelago
increasingly larger and more complex political into the kingdom of Spain. Although the
organization. The formation of the states was not Spaniards liked to describe their colonization not
bloodless. The eventual outcome usually featured as conquest but as “pacification” (Chandler et al.
one or a few big winners and many losers, whose 2005; de la Costa 1965), it was not accomplished
well-being suffered drastic, sometimes fatal, without violence. Pacification was often achieved
damage. The stronger states had a greater capac- at the expense of the welfare of the inhabitants,
ity to sustain bigger, materially wealthier, and notwithstanding efforts of missionaries to moder-
organizationally more complex communities, ate the abuses of soldiers and officials. Invariably,
with higher standards of well-being. the indigenous populations suffered even more
Colonial rule, because of the timing and man- when they tried, unsuccessfully, to resist the for-
ner of its imposition and of its eventual dissolu- eign invaders. Once conquered, they had to sub-
tion, also impacted each country differently. mit to restrictions on where and how they lived
Because foreign control was enforced by differ- their lives and to government claims on their
ent Western powers, endured for varying lengths land, labor, and loyalties. It was not surprising,
of time, and ended under different circumstances, therefore, that at the colony’s edges, where open
the emergent independent states had educational seaways or formidable mountains more easily
systems, bureaucratic structures, and political offered the option of flight, people voted with
practices more closely resembling those of their their feet and chose autonomy over submission.
former colonizers than those of their neighbors. Flight defeated the key objective of the colonial
Given the cultural diversity of the region and the government to gather the population in settle-
distinctive historical experiences of the countries ments they could more easily manage.3
that comprise it, tracing how concepts of well-­
being and happiness have developed and changed 3 
This theme is developed in Scott (2009), The Art of Not
over time is challenging. However, in a historical Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland
context, the peoples of the region had to face the Southeast Asia.
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 385

Once a population had submitted to foreign between the rulers and the ruled in the European
rule, peace (or at least the reduction of violence) colonies, as well as in independent Siam, assumed
was arguably the positive outcome of colonial a different character.
consolidation. Colonial governments sought to In the Americas, the European powers estab-
suppress the capacity of indigenous groups to lished colonies of settlements populated by sig-
threaten their own control and achieved it with a nificant numbers of the colonizers. In Southeast
fair measure of success. In the process, they also Asia, on the other hand, they established colonies
reduced the ability of indigenous communities to of occupation, where they deployed a limited
war against each other and to inflict collateral number of government and church functionaries.
damage on noncombatants.4 Distance, the tropical climate, and the lack of
In areas where colonial control was effective, easily exploitable resources discouraged
the subjects benefited from reduced levels of vio- European migration to the region, and the gov-
lence and from access, albeit limited, to whatever ernments could not afford the cost of sending
technology, infrastructure, income opportunities, large numbers of Europeans to staff the adminis-
and public services the government implemented tration of the colonies. As long as the concerns
or dispensed. The missionaries themselves took were limited to security and the maintenance of
the initiative to provide social services by build- basically unrestricted trade in a few port cities,
ing and maintaining the first schools, hospitals, officials did not need a large bureaucracy to deal
and orphanages for the indigenous communities with the indigenous peoples, and there was no
(de la Costa 1965). need to invest in teaching them European lan-
Colonial rule also brought a measure of pros- guages (Tarling 1999; Tate 1979).6
perity to some sectors. Manila, as the outpost of In the second half of the eighteenth century in
Spanish power in Asia, became a thriving center the Philippines and a century later in the rest of
of international trade (de la Costa 1965).5 Southeast Asia (including still-independent
Similarly, Portuguese Malacca and Dutch Batavia Siam), governments became bigger in terms of
(Jakarta) also flourished as trade centers the staff and resources they could command and
(Steinberg et al. 1985; Tate 1979). more ambitious in the objectives they pursued.
Improvements in transportation, with the devel-
opment of the steamship and the railroads, and
12.1.3 Health and Education the discovery of markets for tropical products,
in Colonial Southeast Asia such as coffee, tea, sugar, rubber, and hardwood,
opened the potential for expanding the export
The initial peace dividend that a colonial govern- trade between the region and Europe. The expan-
ment provided depended on the colonial mission sion of commercial agriculture and the cash
and policies as well as on how these were pur- economy also established markets in the colonies
sued and implemented over time. By the latter for products imported from the West (Tarling
half of the nineteenth century, the relations 1999; Tate 1979).
Developing this potential meant a more inten-
sive engagement with the local population, which
The missionaries claimed that the Spanish presence pro-
4 
had to be persuaded or coerced to produce the
tected the people from exploitation by their indigenous
commodities desired by the marketplace. This
superiors: “They no longer receive from one another the
vexations and injuries they used to, the freemen from the
chiefs, the little people from the great …” (de la Costa Spain was an exception. The conversion of the natives to
6 

1965, p. 25). Christianity was an explicit and the proclaimed rationale

The galleon trade with Mexico prompted the growth of
5 
for the colonial enterprise. Given their small numbers and
other businesses and the establishment of the parian, the the diverse linguistic groups dispersed in small settle-
first Chinatown of Manila, which gathered “tradesmen of ments across the archipelago, the missionaries had to
all the trades and crafts that flourish in a commonwealth learn the local languages to convey their religious beliefs
…” (De la Costa 1965, p. 39). to the natives.
386 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

situation pushed the state to intrude more deeply colonies in the region for people with leprosy
into village life and imposed a different role for (Tate 1979).
the ruler: The introduction of Western medicine and
In traditional Southeast Asia, the main function of medical services brought down the death rate and
the ruler was to be, symbolizing in his person an led to a surge in the region’s population. In the
agreed-on social order, a cultural ideal, and a state 1930s, the region had 25.6 million people. By
of harmony with the cosmos. The new colonial and 1940, the population had increased to 150.4 mil-
Siamese governments existed primarily to do, pro-
viding themselves with a permanently crowded lion. Immigration from China and India contrib-
agenda of specific tasks to accomplish. (Steinberg uted to this growth, particularly in the Malay
et al. 1985, p. 217) Peninsula. But the Great Depression ended unre-
stricted immigration. The British implemented in
Public health received particular attention the Federated Malay States an Immigration
from colonial regimes, not least because they did Restriction Ordinance in 1930, by which time the
not want their staff, imported at great cost from Malays were no longer the majority population in
the homeland, succumbing to strange and deadly the Malay Peninsula. An oversight made it apply
diseases like beriberi, cholera, dysentery, malaria, only to male immigrants, leading to a rush of
tuberculosis, and typhus. Southeast Asia had a Chinese women to the region, but the British
reputation as one of the unhealthiest places in the closed this loophole in 1938 (Tate 1979).
world (Tate 1979).7 With greater reach and larger goals, bigger
Enlightened self-interest dictated that colonial government required more specialists to staff
governments also extend medical services to the public school and health systems, agricultural
indigenous population, since epidemics did not research stations, forestry services, and archeo-
recognize racial distinctions and could easily logical departments. Even for general adminis-
spread from one group to another. Of more direct trative functions, it needed literate personnel to
concern was the health of the labor force working maintain written records and submit reports in
in the mines and forests where malaria was the language colonial officials could understand.
endemic. Western medical research, sanitary reg- The colonies could tap the services of Asian
ulations, health information campaigns, and mass immigrants, mainly Chinese, who had more
vaccinations combined to help colonial govern- exposure to colonial systems. The British could
ments contain and subsequently prevent the worst also deploy people from their older outposts in
epidemics. Bubonic plague, for instance, killed India to Southeast Asia. The obvious recourse
14,000 in Java in 1911, but only 50 in 1937 (Tate was to enlist the services of the indigenous popu-
1979). lation. Despite their reservations, colonial gov-
In some areas, Christian missionary organiza- ernments had to establish schools to train the
tions supplemented, if not led, the government needed specialists (Steinberg et al. 1985).
efforts. Missionaries introduced the first modern Policy on education for the colonial subjects
medical services in Brunei in the mid-nineteenth was, therefore, generally utilitarian. The colonial
century. The Anglicans built the first dispensary governments were content to allow traditional
in Sarawak in 1849 and the first hospital 10 years educational systems in the indigenous languages
later. The Jesuits in Palawan and the Lutherans in to continue and even gave them some support.
Central Sumatra ran some of the first successful But education in the language of the colonial
power was limited to the subject matters and to
the numbers of persons the colony needed for the
At the turn of the century, cholera took a deadly toll on
7 
new tasks of government.
the Philippine population. By 1915, deaths from cholera Such was Dutch policy in the Netherlands
had dropped from 100,000 to 820 a year and the fatalities
from smallpox, from 40,000 to 276 a year. Over a period
East Indies, where administration was conducted
of 40 years, improved nutrition for the children reportedly in Malay. In 1907, they began adopting existing
added 4 inches to the height of the average Filipino. native primary schools to teach the children in
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 387

Dutch. Access to higher education for the indig- its own religion. Earlier than the other colonial
enous population, as intended, remained powers, Spain found it necessary to employ bap-
restricted (Dahm 1968).8 tized “indios” and those of Chinese descent in
In Burma, the British allowed the Buddhist village or barangay administration. Education
monasteries to take care of educating the children was also useful for those appointed and later
but encouraged the expansion of the curriculum elected into the lower reaches of the colonial
by providing books on subjects such as arithme- bureaucracy and for the colonial specialist
tic and land measurement. Most colonial powers services.
shared the British view of the education fit for Nonetheless, education in Spain’s Asian col-
Malaya: “The government has never desired to ony appeared to be valued as it had been when
give the children a smattering, or even a larger universities first began to emerge in medieval
quantity, of knowledge which will not help them Europe—because knowledge was intrinsically
to more useful and happy lives than they now good and worth pursuing for its own sake. The
lead. To the Malay, the principal value of school class of ilustrados, the enlightened ones, who
attendance is to teach him habits of order, punc- studied in Spanish universities and provided the
tuality and obedience” (Steinberg et al. 1985, intellectual leadership for political reforms and
p. 263). the independence campaign in the colony were
French intervention in Vietnam resulted in the not all men of wealth, but they were all men of
collapse of the Confucian civil service examina- learning. The potential of indigenous individuals
tion system introduced by the Chinese. Proud of given the opportunity for education to raise ques-
its own cultural achievements, France manifested tions about colonial rule was precisely what other
an inclination, not entirely absent among other colonial governments did not want to encourage.
colonial powers, to expand the colonial mission They could not, however, dispense with the need
toward the goal of extending the benefits of for subordinates trained in modern technical
French civilization to the natives by providing skills.
them French education. The French also pre- The transfer of the Philippines to American
ferred to see the administration of the colony colonial rule altered in fundamental ways the
conducted in their own language. Admission to character of the educational system established
the colonial civil service required completion of by Spain. It ended the control of the Roman
the traditional education in the village vernacular Catholic Church over education, established a
and 10 years of the French educational system public education system from the elementary
(Chandler et al. 2005; Steinberg et al. 1985). grades to the university level, and encouraged the
Because of historical accidents, education in participation of the private sector in the delivery
the Philippines took a turn different from that of education, thus expanding access to education.
taken in other colonies. Spain had the good for- The widely proclaimed American goal of self-­
tune to arrive in the archipelago at a time when government for the Filipinos required political
Catholicism reigned supreme in Europe and education to prevent “a vast mass of ignorant
when the indigenous population had not yet people easily and blindly led by the compara-
developed a strong, unifying religious institution. tively few.”9 In relative terms, therefore, looking
It was the only colonial power in the region that specifically at education, but even beyond that,
succeeded in converting the colonial subjects to the Philippines emerged from the Second World

In 1920, only four schools taught in Dutch, attended by

8 
The Secretary of War and later president, William
9 

more Europeans and Chinese than Indonesians. In their Howard Taft, cautioned in 1908 that the “work of instruc-
first decade of operation, the schools produced seven tion in individual rights will require many years before the
Indonesian graduates a year. The government opened the country is rid of the feudal relation of dependence which
Technical College, Bandung, in 1920 because of the so many of the common people now feel towards their
“scarcity of specialists in technical fields” (Dahm 1968, wealthy or educated leaders” (Steinberg et al. 1985,
pp. 28–31). p. 278).
388 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

War in better shape than the rest of the region. The classic construction of the plural society
The Republic, unfortunately, failed to build on took place in Burma, where different races occu-
what the colonial powers had established.10 pied distinct occupational niches (Furnival 1948;
Trocki 1999). The British controlled the top
rungs of government and ruled the colony through
12.1.4 The Plural Societies Burmese clerks and traditional village leaders.
of Southeast Asia They also dominated the top echelons of the
economy with the help of Chinese and Indian
The racial distribution of enrollment in subordinates. Burmese monks took care of the
Indonesia’s Dutch-language schools illustrates temples. The Chinese also handled trade. The
the phenomenon that colonial rule created and cultivation of rice paddy fields remained with the
passed on to the independent states that suc- Burmese farmers. The British imported laborers
ceeded them: the plural society. Although they from their India colony to work on the planta-
studied in the same schools, each of the different tions. They also brought in recruits from indige-
ethnic groups that came to populate the colony nous tribes in the uplands to serve in the
had their own language and culture, generally military.
belonged to different faith communities, and per- The process of fixing the frontiers of the
formed specific roles within the polity (Trocki Southeast Asian states complicated their demo-
1999). graphics and reinforced pluralism. It resulted in
All Southeast Asian countries had their share communities that shared kinship, ethnicity, reli-
of indigenous minority communities, most of gion, and history being divided from each other
them making their homes in the highland areas. by arbitrary political boundaries (Trocki 1999).
Colonial policies added foreign immigrants to Brunei, Sabah, and the Sulu Archipelago, with
the demographic mix. All colonial powers, their Malay and Muslim populations, could have
despite intermittent concerns, welcomed the formed a single state but eventually ended up fly-
Chinese, although they also imposed restrictions ing three different national flags. The arbitrary
on the occupations they could perform, where boundaries also resulted in enfolding communi-
they could reside, and how far they could travel. ties divided along primordial lines of blood, lan-
The Chinese came, despite sporadic incidents of guage, and religion, within one political unit.
massacres, hoping to make enough money in the Thus, the Muslims of the Sulu Archipelago and
colonies to take back to China. Initially, only men Central Mindanao ended up as a minority among
migrated to the colonies. Many of them married Christians. Filipinos and Malay Muslims in the
(in the Philippines after being baptized as northern part of the Malay Peninsula became
Catholics) and started families with the local subjects of a Thai, Buddhist king.
women. In the nineteenth century, the men were It would have been ideal if the various groups
able to bring in Chinese brides. At this time, the could have remained with their appointed tasks.
British also promoted migration from their Indian But Chinese traders also had to deal with Burmese
territories (Chandler et al. 2005; Steinberg et al. customers, and some Indians also branched out
1985; Tate 1979). into money-lending. With more contact among
these communities came the risk of communal
friction, which the colonial government had to
control. Because colonies served as production
The educational system suffered from inadequate bud-
10 

get support, particularly during the period of martial law units to generate resources for the home govern-
(1972–1986). The Philippines will be shifting from a 10- ment, peace among the communities was impor-
to 12-year cycle of preuniversity education only in 2016. tant; communal clashes would disrupt the smooth
It will be saddled with the dubious record of having toler- functioning of the system and depress profitabil-
ated for decades a basic educational system inferior to that
which it had inherited from its colonial rulers. ity. Preserving peace among the different ethnic
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 389

groups figured mainly as an operational security The legacy of functional specialization posed
problem familiar to colonial governments. a challenge. Not every Chinese migrant who set-
At one level, decolonization involved a trans- tled in Southeast Asia amassed a fortune, but
fer of sovereign power from foreign to indige- having focused their time and talent on trade and
nous rulers. The completion of this transfer thus business, the Chinese emerged after indepen-
accomplished the objective of nationalist advo- dence controlling significant portions of the
cates of independence, who rejected the argu- economy in several of the countries. On the other
ment that the benefits conferred by colonial rule hand, the indigenous population comprised the
justified its continuation. Manuel L. Quezon, majority (a narrow one in the case of Malaysia)
who led the campaign for Philippine indepen- and had participated in the colonial bureaucracy.
dence from the United States and was elected When independence came, one race held the
president of the Commonwealth in 1935, simpli- reins of government and commanded most of the
fied the issue, declaring that he would prefer to voters. Another race controlled the levers of the
see “a government run like hell by Filipinos than economy and directed the flow of money. In such
one run like heaven by Americans.” a situation, consensus on how scarce resources
The brash statement boosted Quezon’s popu- should be deployed for the well-being of the pub-
larity but was actually problematic, both in the lic became difficult to achieve. In other societies,
context of the Philippines and when projected as the failure to reach this consensus has led, in
a proposition for colonial Southeast Asia. The extreme cases, to ethnic or religious cleansing.
statement appeared to concede that the colonizers Yet nothing like the partition in India or the geno-
could better ensure the well-being of the country, cidal bloodletting in Rwanda has happened in
a point that many colonial subjects living on the Southeast Asia thus far. The expulsion of
margins would dispute and the liberals among Singapore from Malaysia was a more benign
European and American colonizers would at form of ethnic cleansing.
least qualify. It also offered the acceptability of The peace dividends provided by colonial
trading off good governance for self-­governments depended on the colonial mission
governance—both a debatable proposition and a and policies; on the way these were pursued and
false dilemma. implemented; on the relations established during
However badly run, whether by locals or for- colonial rule between the government and the
eigners, government is rarely hell for the small subject population; and on the process of decolo-
group of people close to the decision makers at nization initiated by WWII. Independence trans-
the top. The privileged position of foreign colo- ferred to the indigenous leaders the responsibility
nizers offended the sense of autonomy and self-­ for constructing a strong state, capable of main-
worth of the indigenous elite and depreciated taining order and delivering essential services.
their objective well-being and subjective They also had to address the bigger challenge of
happiness. But access to education, economic creating a cohesive nation, even when the mag-
­
opportunities, and political influence gave them netic field in which they operated left them with
the opportunity to bargain with the colonial constituent parts that tended to repel each other.
regime and to protect their interests. The majority The process of decolonization and the task of
of the population had little, if any, contact with creating secure, culturally cohesive, politically
officials beyond the village level. The ethnic stable, and economically as well as ecologically
identity of these officials would be of less con- sustainable nation-states, continue in Southeast
cern than their immediate needs for security, sus- Asia as works in progress. To do and to be remain
tenance, survival, and, over the long term, a more the challenges for the sovereign states of the
secure future for their children. region.
390 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

12.2 T
 he Emergence of Modern On the eve of WWII, Great Britain owned
Southeast Asia Penang, Malacca, Singapore, and the island of
Labuan as the Crown Colony of the Straits
12.2.1 Acquiring Independence Settlements. British residents appointed by the
Crown ruled the Federated Malay States of
Whereas the colonization of Southeast Asia hap- Pahang, Selangor, Perak, and Negeri Sembilan
pened over the course of four centuries, the through their traditional Malay rulers. The
decolonization occurred rapidly, over only a few remaining five Malay states in the peninsula,
decades. Well before its surprise attacks on Pearl Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, and Terengganu,
Harbor and Manila (December 1941), Japan had referred to as the Unfederated Malay States, were
already occupied French Indochina and British protectorates, like Brunei and the two
Portuguese Timor (1940). By 1942, Japan had states of Sabah and Sarawak in North Borneo
occupied British New Guinea, the Philippines, (Chandler et al. 2005; SarDesai 2012; Tarling
Malaya, the Straits Settlements (Singapore), 1999; Turnbull 1999).
Sarawak, Brunei, North Borneo, and the Dutch After WWII, a British initiative to consolidate
East Indies, and “allied” itself with Thailand. The these territories, which became the independent
defeat of the Western colonial powers led to an states of Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei, into a
end of the myth of “white supremacy” in the single Crown Colony met resistance from Malay
minds of the indigenous peoples, and, perhaps leaders who objected to granting citizenship to
even more so in the minds of the Western colo- ethnic Chinese. Thus the Malayan Union estab-
nizers (McCoy 1980). Japan encouraged inde- lished in 1946 excluded Singapore, which was by
pendence movements in the colonies it occupied. then inhabited predominantly by ethnic Chinese.
It portrayed itself as benevolent, but without suc- The Federation of Malaya, which replaced it in
cess, because it proceeded to act like a traditional 1948, included the nine Malay states in the pen-
colonizer in exploiting local resources. insula and the British Straits Settlements of
Meanwhile, various insurgencies gathered Penang and Malacca, but not Singapore. Malay
strength across the region (Chandler et al. 2005; suspicion of Singapore and the Chinese grew
Stockwell 1999; Tarling 1999; Turnbull 1999). during the period of the Malayan Emergency
The Philippines, appropriated by Spain in the (1948–1960), when the Malayan Communist
sixteenth century, was the first Southeast Asian Party, dominated by ethnic Chinese, waged its
territory governed as a Western colony. It declared guerrilla war against the British (Chandler et al.
its independence in 1898 but was frustrated by 2005; SarDesai 2012; Tarling 1999; Turnbull
Spain’s cession of the islands to the United States 1999).
and by the US victory in the inevitable Philippine-­ Independence for the Federation in 1957 and
American War (1899–1902). The United States, the defeat of the Malayan Communist Party
due to strong anti-imperialist sentiment at home, paved the way for its expansion into the
passed legislation in 1916, pledging eventually to Federation of Malaysia in 1963, with the addition
recognize Philippine independence, and then, in of the states of Sabah and Sarawak in North
1933, providing for a 10-year transition to Borneo and Singapore, which had also become
­independence after establishment of a Philippine independent earlier that year. Continuing tension
Commonwealth (in 1935) (Chandler et al. 2005; between Malays and Chinese, however, made
SarDesai 2012; Tarling 1999; Turnbull 1999).11 policy differences difficult to reconcile. The
expulsion of Singapore from the Federation in
When the Philippines became the first of the region’s 1965 led to the birth of the Republic of Singapore
11 

colonized countries to achieve independence in 1946, the and a separate state of Malaysia with a securely
leaders of its new government had not been at war with
the United States; instead, they were seeking US assis-
Malay majority. Brunei did not regain its inde-
tance to fight fellow Filipinos who had subscribed to a pendence until 1984 (Chandler et al. 2005;
nationalist/communist ideology. SarDesai 2012; Tarling 1999; Turnbull 1999).
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 391

British opposition to self-rule alienated for and regained its independence under a United
Burmese nationalist leaders, many of whom Nations-sponsored process of self-determination
joined the Burma Independence Army to fight in 2002 (Chandler et al. 2005; SarDesai 2012).12
with Japan against England from 1942 to 1944.
Disaffection with the Japanese occupation of
Burma, during which 170,000–250,000 civilians 12.2.2 Post-independence Conflicts
reportedly died, and the signs of a coming Allied
victory in the war moved the Burmese to change The violence that accompanied and in some cases
sides in 1945. The timely switch paved the way delayed the transition to independence in
for a peaceful transition to independence in 1948 Southeast Asia unfortunately continued even
(Chandler et al. 2005; SarDesai 2012; Tarling after the transfer of sovereignty to the countries’
1999; Turnbull 1999). original inhabitants. After attaining indepen-
In the Indonesian archipelago, the Dutch East dence from the colonial rulers, the new holders of
India Company had become the dominant eco- power had to guard against violent opposition.
nomic, political, and military power by the early The causes of the internal and external conflicts
seventeenth century. With the Company’s bank- that continue to afflict the region today trace their
ruptcy and formal dissolution in 1800, the Dutch origins to its colonial past. Independence, instead
governed Indonesia as a colony known as the of bridging the social, economic, and political
Netherlands East Indies. The colony’s occupa- cleavages created during the period of foreign
tion by Japan strengthened the Indonesian inde- occupation within each country and across the
pendence movement, which successfully resisted region, exacerbated communal animosities and
a recolonization effort attempted by the Dutch provoked recourse to arms.
after the Japanese surrender in 1945. Armed The Cold War and the military intervention of
resistance, supported by international pressure, the United States in Vietnam complicated the
won Indonesian independence from the path to independence for the constituent parts of
Netherlands in 1949. Yet the Netherlands did not French Indochina, namely Vietnam, Laos, and
surrender all of the East Indies. Neither did all Cambodia. Vietnam finally achieved indepen-
peoples—not the Acehnese nor the Moluccans, dence as a unified state in 1975, when North
in particular—of the East Indies readily agree to Vietnam defeated South Vietnam, which had
be absorbed into an Indonesia dominated by the been supported by the United States (Chandler
Javanese (Chandler et al. 2005; SarDesai 2012; et al. 2005; Turnbull 1999).
Tarling 1999; Turnbull 1999). France had imposed a protectorate on
Vietnam, which had declared independence Cambodia in 1863 and on Laos in 1893. Both
from France in 1945, achieved it in 1954, after its achieved formal independence in 1953, but both
victory at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. The became entangled in the Vietnam War. The
Geneva Conference of 1954 resulted in the divi- Communist Pathet Lao, Communist Vietnam’s
sion of the country, at the 17th parallel, into North ally, waged civil war against the Lao constitu-
and South Vietnam and the withdrawal of France tional monarchy for more than two decades until
from all of its Indochinese colonies (Chandler it finally assumed power following the American
et al. 2005; SarDesai 2012; Tarling 1999; Turnbull defeat in Vietnam in 1975 (Chandler et al. 2005;
1999). Turnbull 1999). It abolished the monarchy and
The last chapter of decolonization in Southeast renamed the country as the Lao People’s
Asia involved the liberation of a Southeast Asian Democratic Republic.
state from a Southeast Asian colonial power. The
Portuguese colony of East Timor, or Timor Leste,
declared its independence in 1975 but could not
Timor Leste has had observer status in ASEAN since
12 

defend itself from Indonesian invasion and 2002. It became a member of the Southeast Asia Ministers
annexation as its 27th province in 1976. It fought of Education Organizations (SEAMEO) in 2006.
392 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

Cambodia’s constitutional monarchy suc- General Suharto in 1965 and President

cumbed to the Khmer Rouge regime in 1975, Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 both used the threat of
which, apparently emulating Mao’s Great Leap a communist takeover to justify their seizure of
Forward, only duplicated and exceeded the mod- power in Indonesia and in the Philippines, respec-
el’s disastrous results. Although the Khmer tively. Because the Chinese community, already
Rouge and North Vietnam had been allies in the widely resented for its wealth and perceived con-
war against the United States, the Khmer Rouge trol of the economy, had been identified as sup-
pursued xenophobic policies, such as forced portive of the Indonesian Communist Party, the
repatriation of Vietnamese citizens, that pro- allegation became the justification for the mas-
voked Vietnam to invade Cambodia in 197913 and sacre of an estimated 500,000 people and the dis-
to support the People’s Republic of Kampuchea enfranchisement of a million of its members.
against the Khmer Rouge in a civil war that Marcos did not launch a pogrom against the
dragged on until the Paris Peace Accord of 1991 Chinese, but his imposition of martial law gave
(Chandler et al. 2005; Turnbull 1999). More him the power to go after “leftist” forces and
Cambodians died at the hands of fellow those who rejected his overthrow of the country’s
Cambodians in the purge perpetrated by the democratic system (Chandler et al. 2005;
Khmer Rouge of its internal enemies than at the Turnbull 1999).16
hands of the Vietnamese.14 A United Nations In 1964 in Singapore, race riots between eth-
Mission administered Cambodia for a year until nic Malays and ethnic Chinese were among the
1993, when it supervised elections that registered causes of Singapore’s split-off from Malaysia
a 90 % turnout of registered voters. into an independent state in 1965. Singapore and
The communist insurgencies that flared in Malaysia had a brief war with Indonesia in the
Southeast Asia gained numbers and strength early 1960s. Indonesian President Sukarno had
together with the nationalist struggles against identified neocolonialism as an enemy to be van-
colonial rule. The Philippine government has quished and regarded Malaysia as a neocolonial-
been battling a communist insurgency, the ist creation (Chandler et al. 2005; Turnbull 1999).
longest-­lasting in the world, since the 1930s, Some issues hinged on territorial disputes
when it was still a Commonwealth under the (Chandler et al. 2005; Stockwell 1999; Tarling
United States (Chandler et al. 2005; Turnbull 1999; Turnbull 1999). Even though Cambodia
1999).15 and Thailand were both ASEAN members, their
troops inflicted casualties on each other over the
territory surrounding the Preah Vihar temple, a
This conflagration was similar to wars between the
13 

Vietnamese and Cambodian kingdoms in precolonial Cambodian UNESCO Heritage site.17 Although
times. The Vietnamese forces took less than a month to no formal declaration of war was issued, the
capture Phnom Penh, but the complete withdrawal of the Philippines and Malaysia faced off in the 1970s
Vietnamese military presence in Cambodia only hap-
pened after 10 years, in 1989. After losing their capital,
the Khmer Rouge retreated west to bases near the Thai 16 
In both Indonesia and the Philippines, a focal point of
border, where, in another reflection of tangled ideological internal conflict was the clash between those who wanted
lines, they continued to receive assistance from a liberal, representative democratic system of government
Communist China against Communist Vietnam. and those, usually the parties already holding power, who
Various studies have estimated the death toll from exe-
14 
preferred a “guided democracy” of a more authoritarian,
cutions and starvation and disease to be from a conserva- top-down governance system.
tive 1.8 million to a high of 3.42 million people, with 2.2 The temple had been ruled as Cambodian in 1962 by the
17 

million as the likely count, roughly 20–30 % of the popu- International Court of Justice, but Thailand still claimed
lation (Rummel 1998; SarDesai 2012; Sharp n.d.; Turnbull the area around the temple itself. Shooting erupted across
1999). the disputed border from time to time in 2009–2011, caus-
Its conflict with the Communist Party of the Philippines
15 
ing several deaths and displacing thousands. In November
resulted in 20,000–27,000 deaths from 1969 to 2008 2013, the Court ruled the immediate area around the tem-
(Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ple as Cambodian but said that its ruling did not include
[SIPRI] 2009). another disputed temple area 3 km away.
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 393

as Muslim secessionist groups in Mindanao drew In Myanmar, the military used force freely
support from relatives in Sabah.18 Vietnam, both against those who opposed their coup and
Malaysia, and the Philippines have overlapping against other ethnic communities in the uplands.
territorial claims in the South China Sea or Although the military allowed the restoration of
Western Philippine Sea, although all recognize civilian government, the issue of communal strife
China as the bigger threat in this area. remains, and not just with the hill tribes. The con-
The Government of the Philippines has been flict of the government with the Karen National
engaged in low-intensity conflict with Muslim Union resulted in more than 15,400 deaths from
rebels in the south since independence, but the 1948 (when the conflict began) to 2008 (SIPRI
organization of the Moro Nationalist Liberation 2009). More recently, the Buddhist attacks
Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front against the minority Rohingya Muslims have
(MILF) led to episodes of more intense fighting again focused attention on the challenge posed by
during the late 1960s, the period of martial law plural societies (Perlez 2014).
(1972–1986), and the late 1990s. The conflict Thus the state of security has been tenuous in
with the MILF resulted in about 37,000 deaths several Southeast Asian countries, despite their
between 1986 and 2008 as well as the displace- attainment of independent self-governance. This
ment of the thousands of families who fled from problem could not but affect the capacities of the
the fighting (Stockholm International Peace governments to provide the public services nec-
Research Institute [SIPRI] 2009). Several years essary for the basic well-being of the people to
of negotiations between the Government of the improve over time.
Phillipines and MILF led the two sides to accept
a Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro
(October, 2012) and a Comprehensive Agreement 12.3 W
 ell-Being in Contemporary
on the Bangsamoro (March, 2014); however, Southeast Asia
preparations in the Congress of the Philippines to
pass a Bangsamoro Basic Law have been stalled This section examines the state of well-being in
by the backlash caused by a botched police oper- the region, in basic dimensions, using presently
ation in January 2015 against international terror- available quantitative tools. It uses an eclectic
ists in Mamasapano, a territory where MILF approach20 to select indicators salient to the
forces were stationed (Hermoso 2015). region’s colonial and postcolonial history, with
Polarization as to political preferences devel- an eye for comparisons across Southeast Asian
oped in Thailand and Burma. Most Thai military countries and between the region and the rest of
coups were relatively bloodless because of the the world. It examines movements over time as
reverence many Thais still have for the reigning data are available.
king, Bhumibol Adulyadev. But the victory of the The indicators are organized under the broad
military factions who resisted any change in the categories of (1) security and good governance,
monarchical system claimed many victims, espe- (2) social and economic well-being, and (3) sub-
cially university students, in the 1970s.19 jective well-being. The first category covers what
the peoples of Southeast Asia have struggled for

The Sultan of Sulu, a citizen of the Philippines, still has

18 

claims of ownership over Sabah that have not been democracy and criticism of his government are banned
resolved. (Fuller 2014).
The discussion of Thailand does not take into account
19 
The development of measures of well-being along a par-
20 

the new military regime installed 22 May 2014 under ticular dimension tends to be led by nongovernmental
General Prayut Chan-ocha. In July, General Prayut issued institutions or networks whose specific advocacy is to
an interim constitution, granting himself sweeping pow- enhance well-being in that specific dimension. Because
ers; in August, a military-dominated national legislature the most salient dimensions tend to be politically sensi-
elected him prime minister. General Prayut launched mul- tive, official statistical agencies avoid such
tiple crackdowns on dissents. Public discussion about measurements.
 394 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

since colonial times: a peaceful and secure exis- working of democracy; and the Corruption
tence, under a democratic and accountable gov- Perceptions Index (CPI).
ernment, independent of foreign power. This
category is the most important, because the 12.3.1.1 The Global Peace Index
aspects of well-being discussed under the other The Institute for Economics and Peace has pro-
categories are essentially the dividends of peace duced a cross-country GPI annually since 2008.
and good governance. It involves the scoring of countries, by experts,
The second category covers, firstly, the uni- on the states of peace along the three themes of
versal desire of all peoples to attain economic militarization (seven indicators), societal safety
circumstances, education, and health that are and security (ten indicators), and domestic and
decent and reasonable by societal standards, and, international conflict (five indicators). The GPI is
secondly, the status of women vis-à-vis men. The scaled from 1 to 5, 1 being the peaceful end
third category covers the state of satisfaction with (Institute for Economics and Peace 2014). Figure
personal life, according to the people’s own sub- 12.1 shows GPI scores in Southeast Asia. By
jective standards. world standards, scores of 1.5 or less (the average
for Western Europe) are peaceful; scores from
1.6 to 2.0 are decent (North America is 1.7), and
12.3.1 Security and Good scores over 2.0 are cause for concern.
Governance Southeast Asia, as a whole, had a borderline
score of 2.0 as of 2014. It is much more peaceful
The four indicators selected for this category are than other regions of the world with a similar his-
the Global Peace Index (GPI); the Democracy tory of colonial occupation, like sub-Saharan
Index; the proportion of people satisfied with the Africa, the Middle East and North Africa

2.7
Least Peaceful

2.5 Myanmar
Philippines
Thailand
2.3
Cambodia
Global Peace Index

2.1
SEA10
Timor-Leste
1.9
Indonesia
Vietnam
1.7 Lao PDR
Malaysia
Most Peaceful

Singapore
1.5

1.3
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Fig. 12.1  Global Peace Index (GPI) scores for selected and quantitative indicators. All scores for each indicator
Southeast Asian countries, 2008–2014. The GPI provides are normalized on a scale of 1–5. The closer the overall
the “numerical measure of how at peace a country is with GPI score is to 1, the more peaceful the country is (Data
itself and other countries” (p. 32) based on 22 qualitative from the Institute for Economics and Peace 2014)
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 395

(MENA), and South Asia. It is slightly more severe than those in such former colonies as
peaceful than Latin America, where the colonial India, Brazil, South Africa, and Nigeria. Thailand,
history is characterized by settlement rather than the Philippines, and Myanmar have problems
by occupation. It is roughly as peaceful as central with domestic/international conflict but not as
and Eastern Europe, but not as peaceful as severe as those of India and Nigeria.
Western Europe or North America. The data show that several countries of
However, there is much variation within Southeast Asia continue to deal with serious
Southeast Asia. Singapore and Malaysia are very problems related to the absence of peace. These
peaceful,21 and Lao PDR, Vietnam, Timor Leste, problems are probably the result of discrimina-
and Indonesia are relatively peaceful. On the tion against minority groups, but this idea needs
other hand, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, confirmation by group-specific data.
and Thailand are all problematic. The borderline
score of Southeast Asia reflects generally calm 12.3.1.2 The Democracy Index
situations in militarization and domestic/interna- The Economic Intelligence Unit, an independent
tional conflict combined with a troubled situation firm within the Economist business group, has
in society and security. constructed a cross-country Democracy Index
Timor Leste, Myanmar, Cambodia, the (Fig. 12.2). It is based on ratings for a total of 60
Philippines, and Thailand have serious societal indicators in five categories22 and has been com-
safety and security problems, but they are less puted six times from 2006 to 2012. The catego-

10 10
Most Democrac
Most Democrac

9 8.4 8.6
9
Democracy Index Scores (2012)

8
8 7
Timor-Leste 6.4
Indonesia 6 5.5 5.6
7 Thailand 5.2
Democracy Index Scores

Malaysia 5 4.3
6 Philippines
Singapore 4 3.7
SEA10
Least Democrac

5 Cambodia 3
2
4
1
3 Vietnam 0
Myanmar
Least Democrac

2 Lao PDR

0
2006 2008 2010 2011 2012 World

Fig. 12.2  Democracy Index Scores for selected Southeast Asian countries and major world regions, 2006–2012 (Data
from Economist Intelligence Unit 2012)

Each category is rated from 0 to 10, where 10 is the

22 

Except for the state of Sabah, where security is a major

21 
democratic extreme. The overall index is the average of
issue, especially on the eastern coast where immigrant ter- the five category indexes. Of the 60 indicators, 48 are
rorists from the Philippines threaten the peace of all rated by experts, and 12 are based on opinion surveys if
communities. available.
396 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

ries, with their respective number of indicators in time-series has wide amplitude, with remarkably
parentheses, are electoral process and pluralism sharp peaks during the popular presidential elec-
(12), functioning of government (14), political tions of 1992, 1998, and 2010, but its average is
participation (9), political culture (8), and civil not too different from the European and Latin
liberties (17). American averages.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit The average Philippine satisfaction with
(2012), the quality of democracy differs widely democracy in over 50 surveys is markedly below
across Southeast Asia, but none of the countries the averages of Cambodia (80 %), Indonesia
is a full democracy (defined as an index level of 8 (58 %), Malaysia (69 %), Singapore (86 %),
and up). Instead, the region has (1) five so-called Thailand (83 %), and Vietnam (85 %), from
flawed democracies (index level 6–7.9), namely much fewer surveys. It should be noted that being
Timor Leste, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and under an authoritarian system does not preclude a
the Philippines; (2) two so-called hybrid regimes large majority of citizens from being satisfied
(defined as 4–5.9), namely Singapore and with how democracy works in their country.
Cambodia; and (3) three authoritarian regimes
(index level below 4), namely Vietnam, Myanmar, 12.3.1.4 T  he Corruption Perceptions
and Lao PDR. On this index, the quality of Index
democracy in Southeast Asia as a whole is below Transparency International (2013) is a nongov-
the world average, superior only to sub-Saharan ernmental organization that monitors corporate
Africa and MENA. and political corruption in international develop-
Applying the Economist Intelligence Unit ter- ment. Its CPI is an annual score of the degree of
minology to the components of democracy, full corruption in the public sector of a country, based
democracy in the electoral process prevails in on surveys and assessments collected by a variety
Timor Leste and the Philippines. Full democracy of reputable institutions.24 As currently con-
in civil liberties prevails only in the Philippines. structed, the CPI has a scale of 0–100, where 0 is
In other respects, democracy is “flawed,” at completely corrupt and 100 is very clean; CPI
best, throughout the region. Lao PDR, Myanmar, scores are available only for 2012 and 2013.25
and Vietnam are entirely authoritarian, except in The CPI depicts Singapore (scoring 86 in
political culture. Cambodia and Singapore are 2013) as outstandingly noncorrupt and Malaysia
authoritarian in political participation. The
Philippines is authoritarian in political culture.
Singapore and Indonesia do relatively well in Southeast Asian countries. This question is different from
the item “preference for democracy over authoritarian-
governmental functioning and civil liberties. ism.” In the Philippines, the margin of preference for
Malaysia is the best in governmental functioning democracy is wide, even in times when satisfaction with
but is weak in civil liberties. “how democracy works” is low (Social Weather Stations
2013).
The Transparency International data are from private
24 
12.3.1.3 Satisfaction
international research firms that periodically survey their
with the Working clients in the countries scored. The data represent the per-
of Democracy ceptions mainly of executives of domestic offices of mul-
Following the examples set by the Eurobarometer tinational companies based in developed Western
countries. On the other hand, the Philippines conducted
and Latinobarometro, public satisfaction with the
eleven surveys, in 2000–2013, of Filipino business execu-
working of democracy has been polled in the tives on the topic of corruption (Social Weather Stations
Philippines annually since 1991.23 The Philippine 2014); these surveys show a remarkable lessening of cor-
ruption since mid-2010, when the presidency shifted from
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (February 2001–June 2010) to
The Philippine opinion polls are conducted by Social
23  Benigno S. Aquino III.
Weather Stations, the Philippine member of the Asian 25 
Because the CPI scores for the years 2000–2011 were
Barometer Survey, a survey network that occasionally not comparable over time, the methodology was changed
asks the “how democracy works” question in some in 2012.
 12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 397

Least Corrupt 100

90
Singapore
Corruption Perception Index

80
70 65
60
50 Malaysia 43 45 43
SEA9 37
40 33 33
Philippines
Most Corrupt

30
Thailand
20 Indonesia
Vietnam
10 Lao PDR
0 Myanmar
Cambodia
2012 2013

2013 SEA9

Fig. 12.3  Corruption Perceptions Index scores for selected Southeast Asian countries, 2012–2013 (Data from
Transparency International 2013)

(scoring 50 in 2013) as moderately clean (Fig. (UNDP).26 The basic HDI combines (a) life
12.3). It points to a medium level of corruption expectancy at birth, (b) years of schooling of peo-
(scoring 31–36) in the Philippines, Thailand, ple presently aged 25 or more, (c) years of
Indonesia and Vietnam, and a high level of cor- schooling that a child of school entrance age may
ruption (scoring 20–26) in Lao PDR, Myanmar, expect, and (d) gross national income per capita
and Cambodia. From 2012 to 2013, the scores in 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars.
did not change by more than two points, except For each component, the UNDP scores a
for a 5- to 6-point improvement in the scores of country relative to the best achievement in the
Lao PDR and Myanmar. On the basis of the CPI, world, which is assigned the number 1.000, and
the degree of corruption in Southeast Asia is then averages its component scores.27 As of 2013,
above the world average. It is similar to that of within Southeast Asia, the HDI ranged from
MENA and less than those of sub-Saharan Africa, 0.901 in Singapore to 0.524 in Myanmar (Fig.
Eastern Europe, and central Asia. 12.4). In general, human development in
Southeast Asia is comparable to that in the Arab
States and better than that in South Asia and sub-­
12.3.2 Social and Economic
Well-Being The latest Human Development Report (7/24/2014)
26 

contains statistics through reference year 2013.

12.3.2.1 T he Human Development As of 2013, Norway had the highest HDI (0.944): Life
27 

expectancy was 81.5 years; adults completed 12.5 years of

Index school; children could expect 17.6 years of school; and
The most useful single statistic that melds several the GNI per capita was $63,909 (PPP, 2011). In the world
dimensions of social and economic well-being is as a whole, the HDI was 0.702; life expectancy was 70.8
the Human Development Index (HDI), produced years; adults had 7.7 years of school; children could
expect 12.2 years of school; and the GNI per capita was
by the United Nations Development Program $13,723.
398 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

1980 2013

Myanmar Myanmar
LAO PDR LAO PDR
Philippines Philippines
Vietnam Vietnam
Cambodia Cambodia
Thailand Brunei Thailand Brunei

Malaysia Malaysia

Singapore* Indonesia Singapore Indonesia

Timor-Leste** Timor-Leste

Human Development Index

0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00

Fig. 12.4  Human Development Index trends, selected from 2000 (Data from United Nations Development
Southeast Asia countries, 1980–2013. *Singapore base- Programme 2014a)
line data are from 1990. ** Timor-Leste baseline data are

Saharan Africa. It has been steadily improving 1980 and 2012 was 5.2 in Thailand, 4.2 in
since 1980, though the growth rate for many Cambodia, 4.0 in Indonesia, 3.9 in Lao PDR,
countries peaked in the 1990s and then slowed 3.3 in Vietnam, 3.1 in Brunei, 2.7 in Singapore,
down (UNDP 2014a, b). 2.6 in Myanmar, 2.3 in Malaysia, and 2.0 in
Life expectancy at birth rose throughout the Timor Leste, but only 1.0 in the Philippines.
region but at different rates. In 1960, it was above
60 years in Singapore and Brunei but below 50 12.3.2.2 P  overty and the Millennium
years in Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Development Goals
Cambodia, and Timor Leste. By 2013, it was In 2000, the United Nations set the year 2015 as
above 82 in Singapore, above 70 in Brunei, a target date for achieving a set of important
Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and social and economic objectives known as the
Cambodia, and between 65 and 69 in the Millennium Development Goals. The first two
Philippines, Lao PDR, Timor Leste, and goals of cutting in half, from 1990 to 2015,
Myanmar. extreme poverty (using the conventional poverty
Education expanded tremendously from 1980 line of $1.25/person/day used in global analysis)
to 2012, again at different rates per country—the and undernutrition have been achieved in
average years of schooling of an adult in Southeast Asia, except for the Philippines (United
Singapore rose from 3.7 to 10.2 years, or from Nations Statistics Division 2014). Other goals
fifth to first in the region (Supplemental Fig. have also been achieved in most countries of the
12.2). In 1980, adult schooling ranged between region (Asian Development Bank 2014; World
6.1 years in Brunei and the Philippines and 1.7 Bank 2014b).
years in Myanmar; by 2012 it ranged between In August 2014, the Asian Development Bank
10.2 years in Singapore and 4.0 years in Myanmar. (ADB) proposed an Asian regional poverty line
The average years of schooling for an adult of $1.51/person/day as an alternative to the
depend on the availability of schooling during ­conventional $1.25 line, which had been based
that person’s childhood years. The added number on official poverty lines of the world’s 15 poorest
of years of schooling provided per child between countries, 13 of which are African (ADB 2014).
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 399

2005 2010

Lao PDR
Philippines Philippines
Vietnam Lao PDR
Vietnam

Thailand Thailand

Cambodia Cambodia
Malaysia Malaysia

Indonesia Indonesia

Fig. 12.5  Proportion of population living below the “Asian Poverty Line” of $1.50 (purchasing power parity) per day
(%), selected Southeast Asia countries, 2005 and 2010 (Data from Asian Development Bank 2014)

The ADB based its Asian poverty line of $1.51 12.3.2.3 E  ducation and Health
instead on the official lines of the nine least Indicators
developed Asian countries,28 of which two Primary education enrollment rates have risen to
(Cambodia and Lao PDR) are in Southeast Asia well over 95 % in Southeast Asia—with the nota-
(ADB 2014). ble exception of the Philippines, where it fell
Poverty has declined in the region but at dif- from 98 % in 1990 to 89 % in 2009. The ratio of
ferent rates per country. Based on the ADB pov- girls to boys in primary education is at least 94 %
erty line, poverty has been virtually eradicated in (Supplemental Fig. 12.3).
Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. In 2005, the Public spending on education and health var-
poorest Southeast Asian country was Lao PDR ies widely. The most recent data (circa 2009/2013)
(54 % of the population poor), followed by for the percentage of GDP spent on public educa-
Cambodia (46 %), Vietnam (36 %), Indonesia tion are 7.6 % in Thailand, 6.3 % in Vietnam,
(33 %), the Philippines (31 %), Thailand (2.5 %), 5.9 % in Malaysia,30 3.6 % in Indonesia, 3.0 % in
and Malaysia (0.9 %).29 In 2010, on the other Singapore, 2.8 % in Lao PDR, 2.7 % in the
hand, the poorest of these countries was Lao PDR Philippines, 2.6 % in Cambodia, and 0.8 % in
(38 % poor), followed by Indonesia (28 %) and Myanmar. These rates all rose from earlier years,
the Philippines (26 %). Thus both Vietnam and except for Myanmar, which fell by 2.1 points,
Cambodia overtook the Philippines in reducing and Singapore, which lost an insignificant 0.1
poverty (Fig. 12.5). point. Southeast Asia’s average 3.8 % of GDP for
education was below the world average 4.1 %
The least developed countries are Afghanistan,
28 
and all other regional averages, except South
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Nepal, Asia’s 2.1 % (Supplemental Fig. 12.4).
Pakistan, the Solomon Islands, and Tajikistan. The dollar
amounts are in terms of PPP as of 2005. A PPP dollar is
worth what one dollar can buy in the United States in the
base year. The $1.51 standard is nevertheless still There was a significant reform in tertiary education in
30 

extremely low for Southeast Asia, where the latest official Malaysia in 1996, when the Private Higher Educational
poverty lines are Malaysia $3.02, Cambodia $1.88, Institutions Act finally permitted the legal establishment
Philippines $1.84, Thailand $1.75, Lao PDR $1.48, of private universities. This reform raised the opportuni-
Indonesia $1.43, and Viet Nam $1. 29 (ADB 2014). ties of nonbumiputras (i.e., Malaysian Chinese and
The ADB report on Asian poverty includes only seven
29 
Indians) to attend college, given the obligation of govern-
Southeast Asian countries. It does not include Singapore, ment universities to give priority to bumipatras or ethnic
which obviously succeeded in eradicating extreme pov- Malays. Malaysia now has 39 private colleges and univer-
erty very early. sities, exceeding the government’s 18.
 400 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

The latest (2012) percentages of GDP spent live births was 3 in Singapore compared with 8 in
on public health, on the other hand, were 3.0 % in Malaysia, 13 in Thailand, 23 in Vietnam, 29 in
Thailand, 2.8 % in Vietnam, 2.2 % in Malaysia, Indonesia, 30 in the Philippines, 38 in Cambodia,
1.7 % in Singapore, 1.7 % in the Philippines, 51 in Myanmar, and 71 in Lao PDR. Maternal
1.5 % in Lao PDR, 1.3 % in Cambodia, 1.2 % in mortality rates have dropped in all of the coun-
Indonesia, and 0.4 % in Myanmar. These per- tries, with the notable exception of the Philippines,
centages all grew over time, except for a drop of where deaths per 100,000 live births rose from
1.0 point in Lao PDR and no change in Myanmar. 110 in 1990 to 120 in 2013.
The Southeast Asian average of 1.8 % was an The percentage of married women below age
unsatisfactorily low rate of investment in health— 50 using contraceptives is high in Thailand
below the world’s average of 6.1 % and the aver- (80 %) and Vietnam (78 %) and is at least 46 %
ages of all other regions except that of South elsewhere. It is increasing in all countries (except
Asia, which was 1.3 % (Supplemental Fig. 12.5). Singapore, where it fell from 65 % in 1992 to
Objective indicators of health have been 62 % in 1997). The incidence of and the death
improving in Southeast Asia, with a few excep- rate from tuberculosis have fallen in all countries.
tions. Infant mortality rates have fallen over time, The availability of safe water and sanitation has
though they vary widely across countries—the grown, and the number of slums is falling.
number of deaths per 1000 live births, as of 2013,
was only 2 in Singapore compared to 7 in 12.3.2.4 The Status of Women
Malaysia, 11 in Thailand, 19 in Vietnam, 24 in According to the Global Gender Gap Reports of
the Philippines, 24 in Indonesia, 32 in Cambodia, the World Economic Forum (Hausmann et al.
40 in Myanmar, and 54 in Lao PDR (World Bank 2014), the status of women vis-à-vis men varies
2014c). widely across the region (Fig. 12.6). These
The under-5 mortality rate has also fallen and reports use a Global Gender Gap Index scaled
varies widely—the number of deaths per 1000 from 0 to 1: the closer the score is to 1, the more

0.90
Most Gender-Equal

0.86

0.80 0.78 0.78

0.75
Global Gender Gap Index

0.70 0.70 0.70

0.69
0.70 0.67 0.67 0.68
0.67
0.65 0.65 0.65 0.65 0.66
0.63

0.60
Least Gender-Equal

0.51
0.50
0.46

0.40

2006 2014

Fig. 12.6  Global Gender Gap Index, selected Southeast Asian countries, 2006–2014 (Data from Hausmann et al. 2014)
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 401

equal women are to men. Among the 142 coun- and victimization by crime and annual surveys of
tries indexed in 2014, the top-ranked country was happiness and satisfaction with life (Mangahas
Iceland (0.859) and the bottom-ranked country and Guerrero 2008). To show data for other coun-
was Yemen (0.514). tries as well, this section uses data for other coun-
Within Southeast Asia, the Philippines, with a tries obtained from the World Values Survey and
score of 0.781,31 was ranked 9th among the 142 the Gallup World Poll (Figs. 12.7 and 12.8).
countries, by far the most gender-equal country
in Southeast Asia. Singapore (0.705), Lao PDR 12.3.3.1 The World Values Survey
(0.704), and Thailand (0.703) were 59th, 60th, Six Southeast Asian countries, having institu-
and 61st, respectively, up to 11 points above the tions that belong to the network of the World
median of 0.694 (Brazil, 71st). Vietnam (0.692) Values Surveys (WVS), have data on their peo-
is 76th. Indonesia (0.6725) and Brunei ple’s subjective appraisals of their health and
Darussalam (0.6719) are 97th and 98th. Malaysia happiness. On the basis of recent waves of WVS
and Cambodia, both 0.652, or 22 points below in the region, the percentages of people calling
the median, were 107th and 108th.32 The index their health was either Very Good or Good fall
levels are so widely spread that Southeast Asia as into three groups: (1) a “high-health” group of
a whole—with the notable exception of the Malaysia (89) and Singapore (82); (2) a “medium-­
Philippines, 87 points above the median—is no health” group of Thailand (77) and Indonesia
more gender-equal than other regions of the (75); and (3) a “low-health” group of Vietnam
world. (58) and the Philippines (55) (Figs. 12.7 and 12.8
By moving from 0.752 in 2006 to 0.781 in and Supplemental Fig. 12.1).
2014, the Philippine index improved by 4.0 %. At least 90 % of WVS respondents say they
This level of improvement was second to are either Very Happy or Quite Happy; these
Singapore’s rise from 0.650 to 0.705, an increase combined responses are stable over time. The
of 7.6 %. Other Southeast Asian countries already percentage of people who report being “Very
indexed in 2006 improved by less: Cambodia, Happy” varies more widely—57 % in Malaysia
3.6 %; Thailand, 2.9 %; Indonesia, 2.8 % and (2012), 50 % in the Philippines33 (2012), 40 % in
Malaysia, 0.2 %. These changes show that the Thailand (2007), 38 % in Singapore (2012), 26 %
status of women vis-à-vis men is improving, at an in Indonesia (2006), and 23 % in Vietnam (2006)
uneven pace. (Figs. 12.7 and 12.8).

12.3.3.2 C  antril Ladder of Life Scale,

12.3.3 Subjective Well-Being Gallup World Poll
The Gallup World Poll (GWP), undertaken by the
Subjective indicators of well-being are not on the Gallup Organization in over 160 countries, has
agenda of official statistical agencies in Southeast been asking survey respondents annually since
Asia. There is no ASEAN Barometer. Only the 2005 to evaluate their satisfaction with life on a
Philippines has an institute focused on measuring scale of 0–10, where 0 and 10 signify, respec-
subjective well-being—Social Weather Stations, tively, the worst-possible life and the best-­
which does quarterly surveys of self-reported possible life that they can imagine—called the
poverty, hunger, satisfaction with governance, Cantril Ladder of Life Scale.
The new World Happiness Report (Helliwell
et al. 2013) has pooled GWP surveys from each
The overall country index is a simple average of subin-
31 

dexes—also on a scale of 0 to 1—based on the four

dimensions of educational attainment; health and sur- Social Weather Stations, the Philippine member of
33 

vival; economic participation and opportunity; and politi- WVS, has run the four-point happiness scale in 24 national
cal empowerment. surveys of adults since 1991. Its latest survey, in September
Myanmar and Timor Leste are not included in the report.
32 
2014, had 30 % Very Happy and 50 % Quite Happy.
 402 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

100

95

90
Malaysia
Subjecve State of Health

85
Singapore
80 United States
Thailand
75 Indonesia Australia

70

65

60 Vietnam
Philippines
55
Japan
50
1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

Fig. 12.7  Subjective state of health (% Very good +% Good), World Values Surveys, world regions, selected Southeast
Asian and selected comparison countries, 1996–2014 (Data from World Values Survey Association 2014)

100

Singapore
98
Malaysia

96

94 Indonesia Australia

Vietnam
92 Thailand
United States
Philippines
90
Japan
88

86
1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

Fig. 12.8  Feeling of happiness in selected Southeast Asian and comparison countries (percent “very happy” and per-
cent “quite happy”), World Values Surveys, 1996–2012 (Data from World Values Survey Association 2014)
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 403

country for 3 years, effectively tripling the sam- 12.4 T

 racking Southeast Asian
ple size to about 3000 per country. The GWP’s Well-Being into the Future
absolute ladder scores for 2010–2012 in
Southeast Asia are Singapore 6.5, Thailand 6.4, Indicators of both objective and subjective well-­
Malaysia 5.8, Vietnam 5.5, Indonesia 5.3, being have inevitably improved over time in
Philippines 5.0, Lao PDR 4.8, Myanmar 4.4, and Southeast Asia. What was acceptable as a stan-
Cambodia 4.1. As a region, Southeast Asia is dard of living for Homo sapiens at the dawn of
average—considerably below North America but civilization does not suffice for modern man.
well above South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa Welfare standards have also risen over time.
(Fig. 12.9). Advances in science and technology in the life
Ladder-scores in a country can fluctuate up or sciences and in organizational efficiency con-
down relatively quickly. Comparing the scores tinue to create opportunities for enhancing peo-
from 2010 to 2012 with those from 2005 to 2007, ple’s welfare. A historical review of the welfare
the World Happiness Report found that the scores trajectory in Southeast Asia suggests two points
rose in 60 countries, hardly changed in 29 coun- for further research and advocacy.
tries, and fell in 41 countries. Within Southeast Of late, the key issue that has surfaced, not
Asia in particular, there were significant increases just in Southeast Asia but all over the world, is
in Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Vietnam; the challenge of inclusive growth. Whether in
no real changes in the Philippines and Singapore; developed or underdeveloped economies, the
and significant decreases in Malaysia, Lao PDR, benefits of growth are not trickling down fast
and Myanmar. enough to improve the welfare of the poorest sec-

7.0 6.6 6.5

6.4
6.1
6.0 5.8 5.8
5.5
5.3 5.2 5.3 5.4
5.0
5.0 4.8 4.9 5.0
4.4
4.1
4.0 3.9

3.0

2.0
Malaysia

Philippines
Indonesia

Thailand
Myanmar
Cambodia

Laos

Singapore

Vietnam

2005/07 2010/2012

Fig. 12.9  “Cantril Ladder” satisfaction with life, Gallup sents the worst possible life for you. (3) On which step
World Poll, 2005/07 and 2010/12, selected Southeast of the ladder would you say you personally feel you
Asian countries. The Cantril Self-Anchoring (Ladder) stand at this time? (4) On which step do you think you
Scale was developed by pioneering social researcher Dr. will stand about 5 years from now? The Cantril Scale,
Hadley Cantril and consists of the following steps: (1) which has been used by a wide variety of researchers
Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered zero at the since its initial development, is one example of subjec-
bottom to 10 at the top. (2) The top of the ladder repre- tive well-being assessment (Data from Helliwell and
sents the best possible life for you and the bottom repre- Shun 2013)
 404 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

tors of society. In Southeast Asia, the most disad- flict. All of these groups need quantitative mea-
vantaged groups tend to be the cultural minorities. sures of their well-being as well as institutions to
In some countries of the region, they are still bat- undertake the measurements.
tling for independence, or at least, autonomy. Fortunately, women in Southeast Asia no longer
The second issue is that now, just as at the suffer the heavy-handed discrimination experienced
beginning of the colonial era, the fundamental by women in other countries. Women are, however,
welfare-related concern is the security of per- frequently victims when armed conflict arises. Even
sons, of their property, and of their rights. The when they are located away from the fighting, when
clearest marker of a failed state is its inability to violence does erupt, the number of women involved
provide security for its people. increases. Violence also comes from criminal ele-
National data on welfare indicators are neces- ments, another problem that underlines the critical
sary for tracing the trajectory of the development importance of governance. Failed states also tend to
of the nation-state. Unfortunately, the communi- show high levels of corruption.
ties whose welfare is at greatest risk are specific Average scores of national well-being will
groups living precariously at the edges (some- probably rise if government and other institutions
times literally) of society: minority groups, mar- can directly address the needs of these marginal-
ginalized by their language, race, religion, or ized sectors. Effective assistance requires more
economic status. They include, aside from the information about the condition of these groups.
indigenous tribes, landless peasants, informal This requirement argues for greater efforts to dis-
urban settlers, migrant laborers, unemployed aggregate national data to focus directly on the
youth, and refugees fleeing from areas of con- communities that need the most help.

12.5 Supplemental Figures

6
Timor-Leste

5
Ferlity Rate (births per woman)

4
Lao PDR Cambodia
Philippines
3
Malaysia Indonesia
Brunei
2 Singapore
Vietnam
Myanmar Thailand

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 7000 7500 8000
Populaon Density (people per km2)
Supplemental Fig. 12.1  Population Density and Fertility Rates, selected Southeast Asian Countries, 2012–2013
(Data from World Bank 2014c)
 12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 405

73,000
Singapore
Gross Naonal Income per capita (2011 PPP $)

72,000

Brunei
71,000

70,000
25,000
Malaysia
20,000
15,000 Timor-Leste
Lao PDR Thailand
10,000 Indonesia
Philippines
5,000 Myanmar Vietnam

0 Cambodia
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Mean Years of Schooling

Supplemental Fig. 12.2  Mean Years of Schooling and Gross National Income per capita (2011 PPP $) selected coun-
tries of Southeast Asia, 2013 (Data from United Nations Development Programme 2014a; World Bank 2014c)

100
99.1 Myanmar
Total net enrollment ratio in primary education (%)

95
95.1 Cambodia
90
100.7 Vietnam

85
93.9 Malaysia

80 94.5 Lao PDR

75 97.3 Thailand

70 100.0 Indonesia

65 97.8 Philippines

90.0 95.0 100.0 105.0

60
Raƒo of Girls to Boys
1990 2000 2010

Supplemental Fig. 12.3  Total net enrollment ratio in (Data from United Nations Statistics Division 2014;
primary education (%) and Ratio of girls to boys in pri- World Bank 2014a)
mary education: Southeast Asia—Earliest and latest years
 406 M. Mangahas and E.C. De Jesus

100
Total net enrollment rao in primary educaon(%)

Cambodia Vietnam
98
Malaysia
96 Lao PDR
Thailand
Indonesia

94

92

90

Philippines
88

86
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0
Public Spending on Educaon (% of GDP)

Supplemental Fig. 12.4  Public spending on education (% of GDP) and total net enrollment ratio in primary educa-
tion (%) (Data from United Nations Statistics Division 2014; World Bank 2014a, c)

Earliest Years Latest Years

35
Tuberculosis death rate (per 100,000 populaon)

30 Indonesia
Myanmar

25 Cambodia

20 Vietnam

Cambodia
15 Thailand
Indonesia Vietnam
Philippines Myanmar
Thailand
10
Malaysia Philippines
Lao PDR
Malaysia
5 Lao PDR
Singapore
Singapore
0
0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4
Public spending on health (% of GDP) Public spending on health (% of GDP)

Supplemental Fig. 12.5  Public spending on health (% of GDP) and Tuberculosis Rate (per 100,000 population)
(Data from United Nations Statistics Division 2014; World Bank 2014a, c)
12  The History of Well-Being in Southeast Asia 407

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 The History of Well-Being
in Europe
13
Wolfgang Glatzer and Jürgen Kohl

Well-being is a fashionable topic today, appearing on advertising billboards as well as in

numerous philosophical or scientific writings. This seems natural in a society that
endeavours to produce complete satisfaction for all its members.
Thus, after a period of strong economic growth granting easy access to mass
consumption, citizen’s concerns shift
towards the purpose which it arguably defeats: well-being.
Alexander Viadychenko (Council of Europe 2008)

13.1 Introduction cesses that have a negative impact on well-being:

wars, civil wars, riots, epidemics, famines, large
We start out by discussing how well-being in fires, plagues, natural disasters, illness and fatali-
Europe is perceived and monitored. We then shift ties—all of which lead to much pain, destruction,
to a presentation of concepts used to define and and death. Hence, one can say with a certain
measure the well-being of the people of Europe, degree of confidence that the history of the well-­
especially in the European Union. being of the people of Europe has not always
been positive—history shows a lack of sustain-
able peace and welfare. Even after World War II,
13.1.1 Monitoring Well-Being Europe did not experience peace and prosperity
because of the Cold War, a period not of open
Since the time of the ancient Greek philosophers warfare but of military and social tensions that
to the present, well-being has been a complex, had a negative impact on the well-being of many
comprehensive concept of fundamental interest Europeans. Even in recent decades, peace and
to mankind. Sometimes we find broad consensus prosperity were accompanied by new threats of
about the components of well-being, but more terrorism and other political disasters.
often we encounter divergent opinions. It is rela- Since the middle of the last century, research-
tively easy to identify historical events and pro- ers have introduced new instruments for assess-
ing well-being (Michalos 2014). Two
complimentary approaches have been developed
W. Glatzer (*)
Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, to measure social progress: “objective” and “sub-
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, jective” indicators of well-being batteries of
Frankfurt am Main, Germany social indicators are constructed on a worldwide
e-mail: [email protected] scale to monitor “subjectively” the quality of life
J. Kohl in societies and the well-being of individuals
Max Weber Institute of Sociology, University of (Land et al. 2012; Helliwell et al. 2013). People
Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]; are asked survey questions to determine how sat-
[email protected] isfied they are with their lives overall and with

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 409

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_13
410 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

various life domains such as social life, family regimes,2 in particular with regard to income
life, and work life. Survey responses, collected inequality and poverty and to participation in the
over the last several decades, are maintained in labor force. Although individuals are to some
comprehensive data archives (especially degree masters of their own well-being, individ-
Veenhoven 1993, 2000, 2015). ual well-being is also strongly influenced by
The goal of this chapter is to present the results macro characteristics of society and institutional
of well-being research for the European conti- arrangements that are beyond the control of the
nent with emphasis on the European Union with individual. Welfare state regimes are of special
its 28 member states, which includes the significance in Europe, where the concept of the
“Eurozone” of 19 countries sharing the currency welfare state had its origins—the welfare state
of the “Euro.” Attention is also given to the 47 influences the distribution of well-being among
European countries belonging to the Council of individuals and social groups. Finally, we draw
Europe,1 and to a few reference countries outside conclusions and highlight major challenges to the
of Europe. The well-being of the people in the well-being of Europeans that lie ahead.
European countries that belonged to the former
Soviet Union (i.e., Eastern bloc countries) is
reported in Chap. 15. 13.1.2 Terms and Concepts of Well-­
In our effort to describe well-being within a Being in Europe
European context, we first discuss the historical
development of European populations and states. When Adam Smith published in 1776 his famous
We then analyze the long-term development of book, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of
well-being in Europe, both cross-nationally and the Wealth of Nations, his ideas reflected the
in comparison to other world regions, using four challenging conditions of his time, namely, the
core dimensions of well-being: health, material accumulation of wealth. Today, we live in differ-
living conditions, education, and overall subjec- ent times in which living conditions are much
tive well-being. Next, we turn to the patterns of better; the focus now is changing to well-being,
well-being within countries and to social, politi- not merely the creation of wealth. Well-being is
cal, and economic inequalities that exist among not only a popular term present in everyday com-
population groups (e.g., age, gender, poverty, munication in many languages, but it is also a
education, unemployment, and social cohesion). scientific construct in the social sciences. The
We then discuss the well-being of smaller, often scientific exploration of well-being prompted a
disadvantaged groups such as ethnic minorities, public discussion, which in turn garnered the
immigrants, and other populations characterized attention of policy makers at supranational orga-
by Europeans as “socially excluded” from the nizations such as the Organization for Economic
mainstream of collective life. Cooperation and Development (OECD), the
We also examine how patterns of well-being European Union, and the European Commission.
are shaped by different types of welfare state

The term welfare regime or welfare state regime refers to

2 

complex socio-political-economic public policy arrange-

ments including governmental, business, and private
The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is an intergov-
1 
nongovernmental actors and activities. “To talk of ‘a
­
ernmental organization which includes 47 European states regime’ is to denote the fact that in the relation between
and promotes human rights, democracy and the rule of state and economy a complex of legal and organizational
law. It is separate from the European Union and cannot features are systematically interwoven” (Esping-Andersen
make binding laws for their members. 1990: 2).
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 411

13.1.2.1 W  ell-Being in Everyday about people’s lives. In social science research,

Language well-being, quality of life, and welfare are defined
The use of the term well-being dates back to in multidimensional ways and are examined
ancient Greek, when well-being was interpreted using a variety of social indicators. The varying
as “eudaimonia,” a concept that focuses on the approaches reflect emphasis either on objective
good life and good society. In Latin, the concept assessments of well-being (i.e., assessment of
salus was used to mean well-being too. Later, in well-being by experts) or on subjective evalua-
medieval Germany, “wol varn” reflected well-­ tions (i.e., people’s evaluations of their own
being in the sense of “to live happy” (Glatzer lives). The concept of well-being seems to be
2001). There are more languages than there are more closely associated with the latter, whereas
European states,3 many of which have a word the concepts of quality of life and welfare are
meaning well-being. Examples include bien-être associated with the former.
(French); bien estar (Spanish); benessere Many additional elements go into making a
(Italian). In German, well-being is represented by good society, for example, mutual trust, toler-
wohlfahrt, wohlergehen, and wohl, whereas ance, and confidence in institutions. Social and
wohlbefinden and wohlfühlen have exclusively economic sciences have developed broad con-
subjective denotations and demonstrate the ongo- ceptual and practical instruments for measuring
ing differentiation of well-being. and monitoring societies in Europe and the world.
In addition to the scientific use of these terms,
their presence in everyday language has increased 13.1.2.3 W  ell-Being in Supranational
significantly in relation to other related words Organizations
such as “wellness” and “feel good.” The terms The OECD, which includes most European states
well-being and quality of life seem to have been and other economically advanced countries as
adopted by the scientific community at large over well, promoted the concept of well-being (OECD
the past several decades. 1974) and proclaimed in 1976 “The heart of the
problem is the well-being of individual human
13.1.2.2 Well-Being in Economic beings and the way in which this is affected by
and Social Sciences their relations with other human beings” (OECD
Well-being, as an explicit scientific concept, 1976: 12). In recent years, the OECD has
emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century launched a Better Life Initiative (OECD 2011,
when the well-known economist Arthur Cecil 2013a), which attempts to capture the quality of
Pigou (1920) proposed the term qualité de vie in life of people in the OECD countries.
the sense of noneconomic welfare. Book titles The European Commission, the executive
containing the term well-being were not pub- body of the European Union, joined efforts to
lished before the 1970s. The concept of well-­ improve social reporting and monitoring in its
being in Germany incorporated other concepts memorandum GDP and Beyond (Commission of
such as the “good life” and “the good society” the European Communities 2009). The goal is to
(Allmendinger 2001) and is now a guiding con- develop a comprehensive set of social indicators
cept in modern German government initiatives. that are as appealing as the gross domestic prod-
Most research on well-being focuses on out- uct (GDP) but more inclusive of the environmen-
comes (years of average life expectancy) rather tal and social aspects of progress. In the
than inputs (e.g., social expenditures in health) or meantime, an expert group within the European
throughputs (e.g., particular health system Union has agreed on a detailed set of quality-of-­
arrangements), thus providing direct information life indicators covering the full range of dimen-
sions and bringing together objective and
subjective data (De Smedt 2015). The recom-
3 
For example, a small country like Switzerland has four
official languages: French, German, Italian, and mendations of the Report by the Commission on
Rhaeto-Romanic. the Measurement of Economic Performance and
412 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

Social Progress (Stiglitz et al. 2009) resulted in Europe (see Sect. 13.6 for a complete discussion
significant economic, sociological, and political of this issue).
discourse concerning the measurement of prog-
ress of societies.
Last but not least the Council of Europe par- 13.2 Historical Background
ticipated in this discussion, emphasizing “well-­
being for all” (le bien-être pour tous) or collective We discuss the historical background of the well-­
well-being (Council of Europe 2008; Farell 2015) being of people in Europe by first focusing on the
to overcome the shortcomings of individual well-­ emergence of Europe, then discussing the mod-
being. The debate reflects the notion of social ernization and political restructuring of Europe,
cohesion as a goal of modern society; hence, and ending with the consolidation of the European
well-being cannot be attained until it is shared Union.
among people.

13.1.2.4 W  ell-Being in the Welfare 13.2.1 The Emergence of Europe

State Debate
The idea of the welfare state originated in Western The history of the concept of well-being in
Europe in the second half of the nineteenth cen- Europe can be traced back over two millennia. In
tury and is more or less a distinctive characteris- Greek mythology, the god Zeus chose as a mis-
tic of European societies today (Bahle et al. tress an attractive woman named Europe. The
2010). Welfare state debates revolve primarily Greek explorer and geographer Pytheas of
around measures and instruments of welfare Massalia (380 Before the Common Era [BCE]–
institutions and social policy. But when welfare is 300 BCE) was, as historians tell it, the earliest
defined in terms of outcomes that are directly explorer who mapped out the geographic con-
related to people, then the idea of “welfare” tours of what is now Europe. Specifically, in
comes close to that of well-being: “The essence about 340 BCE, Pytheas explored the previously
of the welfare state is government-protected min- unknown region north of the Mediterranean Sea
imum standards of income, nutrition, health (Black 2005: 172).
assured to every citizen as a right, not as a char- Geographically, Europe is part of the large
ity” (Wilensky 1975: 1). In modern times, the continent of Eurasia—Europe and Asia— but
terms well-being and welfare are frequently used traditionally Europe is recognized as a continent
synonymously: Welfare or well-being refers to an of its own. Europe’s natural borders are roughly
overall condition reflecting happiness and con- the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Arctic Ocean
tentment, plus one’s standard of living (Library to the north, the Ural Mountains to the east, and
of Economics and Liberty 2015). the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It is charac-
There is often the misunderstanding that only terized by a broadly diversified natural environ-
the poor benefit from the welfare state, but the ment, which can be regarded as a major asset of
welfare state contributes to the well-being of all the continent (Andera 2006). According to geog-
citizens in different ways. Many social scientists raphers, the geographical conditions of Europe
argue that the welfare state provides societal con- are favorable for physical well-being (Landes
ditions designed to enhance well-being for all. 1999). For example, the Gulf Stream, which
The underlying rationale is mainly that the differ- moves through the Atlantic Ocean along Europe’s
ent types of welfare states impact well-being border, provides an amenable climate. Scientists
though the production of collective goods and the refer to the “privileged European climate” and a
redistribution of resources among social groups. “favourable environment” (Landes 1999: 18, 20).
However, a modern conception of the welfare Compared to other continents, Europe is geo-
state reflects the notion of self-sufficiency, a con- graphically privileged because the people of
cept central to the well-being of individuals in Europe did not experience large-scale natural
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 413

threats as on other continents such as earth- 2015); 19 share the Euro currency. Whereas the
quakes, volcanic eruptions, tornados, tsunamis, European Council is an organization whose main
and bushfires. However, geographers now ques- purpose is to integrate Europe in cultural and
tion whether this situation is sustainable. Climate democratic terms, the European Union is more
change may alter the continent’s physical political—its visionary goal is often the estab-
conditions.4 lishment of a supranational state. The small con-
Europe is the second smallest continent tinent of Europe currently has the same number
(Australia is the smallest), with a population of of states as Asia, fewer states than Africa, and
approximately 730 million people, of which many more than Latin and North America. At the
about 500 million people belong to the European beginning of the twenty-first century, Europe is
Union. The continent of Europe has never been viewed as a diverse constellation of many nation-­
ruled by one governmental unit, nor by a select states that have changed significantly during the
few. The Frankish empire of Charlemagne (768– course of history and are now on the path to build
814), who is sometimes called the “Father of a supranational state (see Sect. 13.2.3).
Europe,” was the only European empire that
encompassed most of Western Europe for several
decades. Charlemagne’s regime occurred during 13.2.2 Modernization and Political
the period of feudalism and involved most of Structuring
modern Europe—France and Germany, Austria
and Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands, The sociopolitical development of Europe,
and the upper half of Italy (Parker 1999: 106). according to some authors, reflects “moderniza-
When Charlemagne’s empire was divided among tion” (Glatzer 2001). Historical ethnologists
his heirs, it marked the beginning of a more than speak of the modernization of Europe as a singu-
1000-year process of splitting Europe into many lar process that traces its roots to the beginning of
middle-sized and small territories. Only the the past millennium (Peter 2011: 22), whereas
French governor Napoleon, who ruled for only sociologists regard modernization as a universal,
about 15 years (1799–1814), created another multidimensional process of social change begin-
Europe-like state. In time, Europe comprised ning with the Industrial Revolution in England
smaller and larger states that appeared and disap- (1760–1830) and the Political Revolution in
peared, following the worldwide pattern of the France (1789–1794) (Bendix 1969). Overall,
rise and decline of nations (Olson 1982). For modernization, despite some negative material
example, Poland and Hungary, which became and human costs, has had an overwhelmingly
large states in the Middle Ages, were gradually positive effect on well-being (Zapf 1979) and has
reduced in size and at times dissolved through increased individuals’ prospects for a better qual-
political conflicts and wars. In contrast, German ity of life (De Jong 2015).
areas were characterized by “Kleinstaaterei” (ter- The Scandinavian political scientist Stein
ritorial fragmentation), a proliferation of small Rokkan (1975, 2000) and others (cf. Flora 1983)
states in central Europe. In earlier centuries, summarized the sociopolitical history of Europe
Germany comprised 300 territorial units. Modern using a general model of political development.
Germany, now the largest state in the European This model comprises four phases that occurred
Union, was formed in 1871 by unifying 39 states in Europe, with particular national variations: (1)
under Prussian leadership. Europe includes 48 state formation, (2) nation building, (3) mass
states, all of which belong to the European democratization, and (4) the emergence of wel-
Council (Farell 2015) and 28 of which are mem- fare states. State formation refers to the establish-
bers of the European Union (European Union ment of a central authority (government) and an
administrative infrastructure (state bureaucracy)
For example, people in the Netherlands are fearful of a
4  that gained control over a territory and was able
rising ocean level. to defend its borders. In contrast, nation building
414 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

refers to the sociopolitical integration of people phase refers to the institutionalization of social
and the development of a national identity on the citizenship rights and the redistribution of wealth
basis of a common history, language, and values. via government programs. The different political
Although some European countries were already goals and visions of society, advocated by vari-
formed in the Middle Ages (e.g., England, ous political parties, are clearly reflected in the
France, Sweden), other countries did not achieve different types of welfare states that have emerged
national independence and territorial consolida- in Europe (mostly Western Europe) since the sec-
tion until the nineteenth (e.g., Germany, Italy, ond half of the nineteenth century. Irrespective of
Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway) or even the the specific ideological stance, the European wel-
twentieth century (e.g., Finland, Ireland, Czech fare state, broadly understood as an entity charac-
Republic, Slovakia, Hungary). The French terized by political intervention in markets,
Revolution of 1789 propagated the idea of differs significantly from most political entities
national sovereignty and the nation-state as a nor- elsewhere in the world. The concept of the wel-
mative ideal (which presupposes congruence fare state shifted public understanding of well-­
between nation and state). However, the nation-­ being from a liberal individualistic view to
states of Europe were besieged by conflict, include other concepts such as social solidarity,
nationalist and separatist movements, wars of social security, and social justice. In the times of
independence, the breakup of multinational globalization, the political structuring of Europe
empires (like the Austro-Hungarian monarchy), paved way for the current phase, the phase of
and a history of ever-changing borders (a process supranational unification, namely the European
that continues today). Union.
The third phase, mass democratization, refers
to the implementation of parliamentary rule and
civil liberties. The early states were far from 13.2.3 The Foundation and Growth
being democratic. In fact, most of them were of the European Union
absolute or constitutional monarchies.
Parliamentary rule was gradually instituted in the Efforts to enter into closer cooperation and even-
nineteenth century with significant national vari- tually to create a supranational partnership began
ation (Flora 1983). Limited suffrage for men was in the 1950s with the foundation in 1953 of the
granted before suffrage for women. Political par- European Coal and Steel Community and in 1957
ticipation rights for the masses, including the of the European Economic Community, which
right to organize, freedom of assembly, and free- was later renamed the European Union. The sub-
dom of the press, gave ordinary citizens a way to sequent growth of the European Union as a
express their political demands. This situation, in supranational political entity can be interpreted
turn, led to the foundation of political parties and as Europe’s response to the challenges of global-
mobilized the citizenry. Conservative, liberal, ization, a worldwide process that took place in
social-democratic, and socialist parties emerged recent decades (OECD 2010). Since the founda-
everywhere in Europe, but with different tion of the European Union in 1957, membership
“strengths,” with different ideas of what consti- has increased in several waves, including the
tuted well-being, and in different national con- so-­
called big Eastern enlargement of 2004
stellations and alliances. Such is the essence of (Fig. 13.1).
the variations of the political history of the The European Union now includes almost all
European nation-states since the nineteenth countries of the former Western Europe; only
century. Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland are not mem-
Following mass democratization, the emer- bers. Many Eastern European countries joined
gence of the welfare state marks the fourth phase the European Union after the fall of the Iron
in the political development of Europe. This Curtain, which separated East from West. These
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 415

Estonia

Lithunia

Latvia

Poland

Crech Republic

Cyprus

Malta

United Kingdom Slovakia

Ireland Portugal Slovenia

- - - -
Denmark Spain Hungary Croatia
1986

2013
1973

2004
Timeline
EU Accession
Countries
1957

1981

1995

2007
Founding Members Greece Austria Bulgaria
- - - -
France Finland Romania

Germany Sweden

Italy

Belgium

Netherlands

Luxembourg

Fig. 13.1  Expansion of the membership of the European Union (EU) since 1957 (Drawing by Kolja Glatzer; data from
European Union 2015)

include countries formerly part of the Russian The European Union has gone through the
Federation, which constituted the East bloc, and processes of state formation and nation building
those that were formerly part of Yugoslavia, and has evolved into multilevel state structures
which had an independent socialist regime. An involving national, subnational, and suprana-
immediate consequence of the successive waves tional organizations. The different levels of
of membership, especially of the southern and ­political responsibility have significant implica-
eastern European countries, has been an increase tions for the management of well-being. In 2015,
in socioeconomic diversity. Most of the European the European Union had 28 members (Fig. 13.2)
Union member states entered into a close finan- with significant differences in terms of popula-
cial relationship by introducing in 1999 a com- tion size, history, and socioeconomic conditions.
mon currency, the Euro. The Eurozone, which One can get an idea of the rate of growth of the
enforces financial integration and mutual depen- European Union by noting that 15 countries
dency, currently comprises 19 countries. joined from 1995 to 2004, whereas 28 have
416 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

Fig. 13.2 Member states of the European Union Commons) (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:

(EU-­28), 2014. (Ssolbergj [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://cre- Member_States_of_the_European_Union_(polar_stereo
ativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http:// graphic_projection)_EN.svg)
www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia

joined since 2013 (see Fig. 13.1). The sizes of • Northern Europe: Sweden (9.6), Denmark
the populations of the respective countries vary (5.6), Finland (5.5)
from 0.4 million for Malta to 80.8 million for • Central Europe: Germany (80.8), Poland
Germany (see bulleted list below). Six of the (38.5), the Czech Republic (10.5),5 Austria
countries are large, with more than 30 million (8.5), Slovakia (5.4), Slovenia (2.1)
citizens; seven of the countries are small, with • Western Europe: France (65.9), United
fewer than 3 million; and 15 are in between. Kingdom (64.3) (Majority Vote for “Brexit” in
Each of these 28 sovereign states has its own 2016), Netherlands (16.8), Belgium (11.2),
unique history of well-being that evolved under Luxembourg (0.5)
very different conditions. In earlier times, the • Southern Europe: Italy (60.8), Spain (46.5),
countries were often in conflict; however, they Greece (11.0), Portugal (10.4), Cyprus (0.9),
have managed to maintain peace for the last 70 Malta (0.4)
years. • Southeastern Europe: Romania (19.9),
The countries of the European Union com- Hungary (9.9), Bulgaria (7.2), Croatia (4.2)
prise well-known subareas characterized by spe-
cial relationships with one another (in parentheses, The Czech Republic and Slovakia, formerly unified, have
5 

millions of inhabitants): been separate states since 2001.

13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 417

• Northeastern Europe/Baltic States: Estonia European Union engenders a feeling of belong-

(1.3), Latvia (2.0), Lithuania (2.9) ing and enhances one’s sense of well-being,
researchers have long conducted public opinion
The majority of European countries are polls. These surveys ask about “attitudes toward
members of the European Union, but some sig- the unification of Western Europe,” “attitudes
nificant countries are not. As mentioned previ- toward the membership of the European com-
ously, three Western European countries, munity,” and “the feeling that one’s country has
Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland, are not mem- benefited from being a member of the European
bers of the European Union; the first two are Community” (European Commission 1994).
among the wealthiest countries in Europe. Some From 1973 to 1994, about two thirds of the
smaller countries in the Balkan region are not respondents felt that belonging to a unified
European Union members but a few of them are Europe was beneficial. Since 1994, a more crit-
on the candidate list: Albania, Bosnia- ical attitude, known as “Euroscepticism,” has
Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, emerged (Wessels 2007). Euroscepticism is
and Serbia, all of which, except for Albania, defined as the “body of criticism of the
were parts of the former Yugoslavia. The European Union (European Union), and oppo-
remaining geographically large part of Eastern sition to the process of political European inte-
Europe includes Belarus, Moldavia, Russia, and gration, existing throughout the political
the Ukraine. A small section of Turkey north of spectrum” (Euroscepticism 2015). Despite the
the Bosporus is also considered European terri- growing scepticism, Europeans exhibit consid-
tory.6 Several of the world’s smallest city states,7 erable trust in one another, which is in total
also known for their prosperous way of life do contrast to the hostile situation that existed in
not belong to the European Union. Stories about the first half of the twentieth century. And,
these states and their people are often covered in Europeans’ cohesion of today is of high rele-
the news media because of their wealth and vance for Europeans’ well-being (Delhey and
affluent lifestyle. Dragolov 2015).
The extreme diversity within Europe, char- In general, European identity is relatively
acterized by small and large states with differ- strong at the national level, moderate at regional
ent degrees of autonomy and independence, is and local levels, and weak at the European level.
rooted in long-standing traditions and cultures. Moreover, many Europeans link their national
To determine whether being a member of the identity with a European identity. “The highest
level of identification exists in the six original
6 
Some territories outside of the European continent—the member-countries, closely followed by
outermost regions—belong to the European Union European South; the farther away from this core
because they constitute a part a member country of the of the Union one gets in geographical and/or
European Union: Azores and Madeira, Canary Islands, temporal terms, the weaker identification
British, Dutch and French overseas territories, Greenland
and others. They are not under consideration in this study. becomes” (Scheuer and Schmitt 2009: 522).
The European city-states with a reputation for luxurious
7  Also, it has recently been noted that support for
lifestyles and happiness are the Pyrenean Principality of European integration is weaker among young
Andorra in the Pyrenees mountains with 76,000 inhabit- Europeans than among older Europeans. If they
ants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andorra); Liechtenstein, will become more pro-Europe over time is an
the Alps state, with 37,000 inhabitants (www.liechtenstein.
li/en/country-and-people/state); the Principality of open question and a problem for the future
Monaco, on the Mediterranean, 37,000 inhabitants development of Europe. Although the European
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco); San Marino, the Union has a long way to go to be considered a
oldest state in the world, with 32,000 inhabitants (en.wiki- successful supranational entity, its contribution
pedia.org/wiki/San Marino); and the Vatican City State, an
ecclesial state governed by the Pope (http://www.vati- to the 70 years of peace in Europe seems with-
canstate.va/). out question.
418 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

13.3 Long-Term Characteristics omy as well as its culture. Europe before WWI
of Well-Being in Europe amassed one third of the world GDP.
The increase of income and wealth afforded
Of the many multifaceted developments that have a higher standard of living for a large segment
influenced the well-being of the people of Europe, of people in Europe. At the turn of the twentieth
several are worth mentioning. We believe that the century, the average income provided a decent
most positive development is the success of gov- living for most. But the average increase in
ernmental policies in establishing long-term eco- income was accompanied by economic inequal-
nomic development and sustainable democracies. ity—the rich got richer and the poor became
The most negative developments are war, civil poorer. Economic well-being has long been
strike, and the extermination of millions of peo- equated with a decline in poverty. In medieval
ple. We discuss these two developments in some times, poverty was widespread: About 30–40 %
detail. of Europeans living in cities were poor. Poverty
has since come to be regarded as a social evil,
and the eradication of poverty an accepted soci-
13.3.1 Economic Development etal goal. Poverty has, in fact, diminished over
the millennia. It should be noted that poverty is
Europe has not always been a comparatively a complex concept and that today’s view of
prosperous continent in the long run. There was a poverty is not at all akin to the poverty that
decline in economic well-being in Western existed in medieval times (Atkinson 1998).
Europe in the first millennium: “By the year
1000, Europe’s income levels had fallen below
those in Asia and North Africa” (Maddison 2001: 13.3.2 The Spread of Democracy
49). However, during Late Medieval Era, early
economic progress enabled West European per That democracy is good for the well-being of
capita income to increase from $1000 to $1500. people is a universal conviction of philosophers
The big economic push later came with the rise and ordinary people alike. Democratic ideas were
of Capitalist economies and with the advent of strongly articulated in the French Revolution of
industrialization in Europe by the middle of the 1789. Democracy followed in many countries in
eighteenth century. Europe. Different “developments made it possi-
Under the leadership of the United Kingdom, ble for a majority of people in a majority of states
the countries of Europe increased their GDP per around the world to claim the benefits associated
capita, much more so in the west and the north with citizenship, and suffrage and practice
and less so in the south and east (Fig. 13.3). “By democracy” (Schaeffer 2015: 99). Especially
1820, its levels of income and productivity were WWI and WWII were followed by efforts to push
more than twice as high as in the rest of the world. for more political rights. After 1990, political sci-
By 1913, the income level in Western Europe and entists referred to an “explosion of democracy”
its offshoots was more than six times that in the when many communist countries adopted demo-
rest of the world” (Maddison 2001: 49). Scholars cratic constitutions. As far as we can tell, the cre-
refer to this economic success and modernization ation and implementation of democratic rights
of Europe as “European Exceptionalism” (Landes has always been a happy event for most people.
1999: 29). One can argue that the colonial empires However, with respect to suffrage, democracy
of Europe8 managed to enrich the European econ- was a difficult journey for men but more so for
women. People had to fight hard for universal
suffrage (Fig. 13.4). The spread of democracies is
The exploitation of African wealth by the Europeans is
8 

discussed by Wolfgang Glatzer and is highly a success story in Europe and elsewhere in the
controversial. world.
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 419

27,500
25,000
22,500
20,000
17,500
15,000
12,500
10,000
7,500
5,000
2,500
0
1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
United Kingdom Netherlands France Germany
Sweden Italy Spain Poland

Fig. 13.3  Gross domestic product per capita in selected countries of Europe, 1820–2010 (Data from van Zanden et al.
2014: 67)

In sum, the sociopolitical environment that and political conflict) is more pronounced. The
existed in Western Europe supported demo- pain is deep and long-lasting. The wars in Europe
cratic institutions and the establishment of wel- brought death and destruction to millions of peo-
fare states first in Western Europe (Flora 1983) ple. These wars destroyed communities and
and later, though incompletely thus far, in caused much pain and suffering (Bös and
Eastern Europe. It should be noted, however, Rosenbrock 2015).
that despite the strong correlation between hap- Major wars occurred during each century of
piness and democracy, democracy does not the past millennium, e.g., in the fourteenth and
automatically bring higher levels of happiness. fifteenth centuries, France and the United
Also in democracies there are good and bad Kingdom waged the Hundred Years’ War for
governments that influence life satisfaction. dominance in Europe. The 30 Years’ War, 1618–
But there seems to be no doubt that the rise of 1648, often cited for its particular brutality
democracy improved people’s control over (Kuczynski 1991), was one among several reli-
their lives, which is a prerequisite to well-being gious wars fought in the sixteenth and seven-
overall. teenth centuries between the Catholic countries
and those that had become Protestant after the
Reformation. In the eighteenth century, the
13.3.3 Wars and Civil Strife Nordic Wars broke out when the kingdom of
Sweden tried to expand its influence to central
Death of loved ones means sorrow and life dis- Europe. At the turn of the eighteenth century,
satisfaction for those who are left behind. The the Napoleonic wars wreaked havoc on large
sadness that people feel when their loved ones parts of Europe, reaching into Russia as far as
die unnaturally or prematurely (i.e., they are Moscow. Over the centuries, the eastern region
killed in wars, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, of Europe has been affected by many wars
 420

Fig. 13.4  The establishment of universal suffrage in the countries of the European Union: timeline of women’s suffrage joining men’s suffrage, 1906–1960 (Drawing by
Kolja Glatzer; data from Flora 1983; Inter-Parliamentary Union n.d)
W. Glatzer and J. Kohl
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 421

Sidebar 13.1  The End of World War II and a New Beginning: One Family’s Experience
I (Wolfgang Glatzer) was born September 15, 1944, shortly before the end of World War II, on a
farm in Silesia, Germany—the Germany that instigated the war and at that time was well on its
way to losing it. The Allies were pushing for victory and Germany at that time was usurped in
battle after battle. My uncle (mother’s brother) was killed at the front in the war with Russia.
Russian troops began moving into our village—lower Silesia—in the early part of 1945. On
January 22, 1945, the people in my village received the order to evacuate and escape to the West.
My father, a baker, was captured by US forces and was sent to Texas as a prisoner of war; there-
fore, he could not help us. Fortunately, a young Polish worker (who was ordered to work on our
farm back in 1940) helped us guide our horse-drawn wagon from East to West. Polish families,
who had been deported from eastern Poland by the Russians, were in line to take possession of
evacuated German homes and land. My family made that journey—we crossed the mighty Odra
River and continued westward, day by day, in the bitterly cold weather, through much of eastern
Germany. For 2 months, we travelled more than 500 km. Horses pulled the carriages and wagons,
each of which carried two families, their food, and hay for the horses. We moved from village to
village, where, most of the time, we received assistance from others—a place to sleep and food to
eat. We avoided large cities to reduce the risk of being shelled. In the distant horizon, we saw huge
fires from the city of Dresden; the fires lit up the sky, a result of one of the most severe bombing
attacks of World War II. Fortunately, we managed to avoid encounters with military personnel. On
March 24, 1945, after our long trip in extreme cold and arduous weather, we finally reached a
Franconian village close to the river Main in the American Zone, where we settled and began to
rebuild our lives. My family has been living there ever since—more than seven decades.

between Poland and Russia. In the nineteenth 13.3.4 Europe During and After

century, France and Germany, arch-enemies at World War II
the time, were engulfed in the Franco-German
War. Finally, the first half of the twentieth cen- World War II is regarded as a breakdown of civi-
tury witnessed the two World Wars that caused lization and modern society, surely “the deadliest
enormous human pain and suffering and military conflict in human history” (World War II
destroyed much of the infrastructure of Europe. casualties 2015). From 1939 until 1945, a major-
As soon as one war ends, economic recovery ity of the world’s nations participated in a global
follows, which is then followed by another war, war that resulted in the deaths of 50–85 million
and the cycle resumes. people. The Holocaust lone accounted for the
In the Middle Ages, epidemics and famines deaths of more than 11 million people. The war
caused many hardships in Europe, comparable in also resulted in the widespread destruction of
many respects to the hardships brought about by infrastructure and whole cities that covered much
wars. For example, the Great Famine of 1315– of the landscape of Europe.
1317 caused millions of deaths. A religious cru- At the end of World War II, on the 8th of May
sade and witch hunt covered much of the 1945, Germany was declared the “defeated evil
landscape in Europe from the fifteenth to eigh- transgressor.” Even German historians admitted that
teenth centuries, during which approximately “the 8th of May was the end of a murderous dictator-
60,000 people were killed, the majority of whom ship” (Weidenfeld 1989: 16). Germany had to accept
were women accused of witchcraft. Given these the loss of large territories in the German East and of
circumstances, these were times of uncharacter- millions of refugees who fled from Silesia and other
istically low well-being in Europe. former German territories (Sidebar 13.1).
422 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

Beyond the single case of the Glatzer family, Europeans overcome the misery and devastation
there were already at this time large surveys of the war. Germany recovered quickly in the
focused on the subjective perception of life of 1950s, and reached in the 1960s an economic
Europeans. One example is a transatlantic survey position slightly trailing that of Great Britain but
conducted by Gallup in 1948 in the United States ahead of France. The economic success of West
and Western Europe (France, Germany [only the Germany in the 1950s, unique in Europe, was
British-occupied zone], Italy, the Netherlands, called the Wirtschaftswunder (economic
Norway), which involved 8616 Europeans and miracle).9
1015 US citizens (Buchanan and Cantril 1953). The end of WW II marked the starting point of
On the basis of this survey, it was estimated that in a new beginning—a Europe that was more peace-
this postwar period, 26 % of the American public ful and more prosperous, even given the political
and 39 % of the European public felt dissatisfied tensions between East and West (characterized as
with their lives. More than half, however, said the Cold War). Specifically, in the early postwar
things were “all right,” Americans (57 %) more so years, Europe was divided into two spheres of
than Europeans (50 %). Twice as many Americans influence by the Western and the Eastern alliances,
(15 %) as Europeans (7 %) said that they were and Germany was separated into the Federal
“very satisfied with the way they are getting on Republic of Germany in the West and the German
currently.” From the point of view of U.S. citizens Democratic Republic in the East. The former was
compared to that of Europeans, the United States gradually integrated into the Western Alliance; the
was clearly better off than Europe. For this early latter was integrated into the Soviet Union until
postwar period in Europe, the satisfaction level of 1990, when the Soviet empire was dismantled.
57 % seems surprisingly high. One explanation Eastern and Western Europe were divided by an
could be that people made relative judgments; that “Iron Curtain”: the members of the North Atlantic
is, they considered the disastrous experience they Treaty Organization in the West and those of the
had just gone through against a more hopeful Warsaw Pact in the East. The relationship between
future. Hope for a better future will surely con- Eastern and Western Europe was hostile to say the
tribute to people’s life satisfaction. least. A change came after 1990, when the Iron
The impact of World War II on Europe’s eco- Curtain came down unexpectedly, and Glasnost
nomic performance was devastating in the long and Perestroika opened the Russian hemisphere to
run. By 1940, at the beginning of the WW II, Western ideas and ways of life. The political cli-
most West European countries had attained a mate in Europe has since been transformed to a
high GDP per capita that was unprecedented and more tolerant and cooperative relationship.
equivalent to approximately $4500 per capita— Recently, however, a new “cold war” seems to be
about the same as in 1950. Germany in particular on the horizon (Rahman 2015).
experienced a severe economic setback. Other
European countries such as Great Britain, France,
Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, and Italy regained 13.4 S
 eventy Years of Advanced
the economic ground they had lost during the Well-Being After 1945
war. Each country, though, suffered a significant
setback in economic growth during the war with This section is concerned with an exceptional era
the exception of the United States (OECD 2014c: in Europe, the 70 years after WWII (1945–2015),
64). The United States was an economic power- a period without a major war, a great depression,
house before and after the war. The US govern- or the breakdown of an institutionalized democ-
ment and the American people were sufficiently racy. First, we use traditional quality-of-life
well-off; as such, they were able to send volumi-
nous care packages to Europe and initiated an
ambitious program of financial and technical The top economic position of Germany ended finally
9 

when it was unified in 1990 because a poor part of East

support known as the Marshall Plan (Mee 2015). Germany was added to the rather rich section that was
The Marshall Plan helped Germans and other West Germany.
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 423

c­ riteria to assess well-being during the 70 post- social resignation among Europeans living in the
war years compared with long-term past. satellite states of the Soviet Union. Different
Specifically, we assess the history of well-being types of regional conflicts also occurred in post-
of Europeans in terms of human development war Western Europe. For example, people fought
using the criteria of standard of living, education, for more autonomy: in the South Tyrol conflict in
health, and subjective well-being.10 Italy, the Basque conflict in Spain, and the
Northern Irish conflict in Great Britain. Civil war
broke out in Yugoslavia—the country factions
13.4.1 Societal Characteristics battled each other, which led finally to military
After 1945: Cold War, intervention by the United Nations and the North
Economic Growth, Democracy American Treaty Organization. In recent times,
the conflict in the Ukraine has affected much of
Although most people in Europe did not person- the sociopolitical landscape of Europe. A new
ally experience a war after 1945, they were nev- type of cold war seems to be building, affecting
ertheless confronted with war-like events. Europe people’s well-being.
was free of wars in the second half of the twenti- In terms of the economy, the increase of GDP
eth century and made significant strides to over- per capita in the 70 years after 1945 seems
come hostilities characteristic of the first half. extraordinary. GDP per capita for Western
However, some conflicts had a negative toll on Europe was $4518 in 1940 (in purchasing power
well-being in an otherwise peaceful era. The parity for 1990) and $20,841 in 2010 (OECD
Cold War broke out between the East and the 2010: 65). The Netherlands and Great Britain
West—former allies in WWII. Street riots and were the highest performers (measured by GDP);
social upheaval were manifestations of dissatis- the Eastern Europe was far below.
faction with the sociopolitical living conditions. The history of democracy in Europe is a story
For example, after World War II, people expressed of “disappointed success.” In the 70 years after
their dissatisfaction with the communist regimes 1945, democracy spread: The process began with
in Eastern Europe by rioting (e.g., in Poland and the traditional democracies of Western Europe
in East Germany in 1953, in Hungary in 1956, that were unleased as a result of WWII (e.g.,
and in Prague in 1969). The brutal suppression of democratic constitutions were introduced 1945 in
the political movements resulted in a sense of Austria and 1949 in Germany). Political move-
ments resulted in the toppling of authoritarian
regimes (e.g., 1974 in Greece, 1976 in Portugal,
Living conditions and well-being in Europe have been
10 
and 1977 in Spain). After the breakdown of the
studied extensively by social scientists, so one can find
many publications on the topic: Significant examples
Soviet bloc, many East European countries intro-
include the comparison of European Union states (Gabriel duced democratic reforms. However, much evi-
1992) and the analyses of the social structure of Europe dence reported in the news media indicates that
(Mau and Verwiebe 2009; Therborn 1995). The Index of democracy has a long way to go to become firmly
Social Progress (Estes 1988) covers Europe and the world
beyond. The European System of Social Indicators is
institutionalized in the countries of the former
detailed and oriented toward a combination of objective Soviet bloc.
and subjective indicators for European people (Berger-
Schmitt 2001). Wealth in a broad sense and from a world-
wide perspective is discussed by the World Bank (2010):
Wealth and well-being across different welfare regimes
13.4.2 Human Development
are covered in recent studies (Holtmann 2014). A recur-
rent question involves convergence or divergence in To construct a modern comprehensive picture of
Europe and its satellites (Langlois et al. 1994). Whereas well-being of Europeans, one must first define
older studies concentrated on objective living conditions
(Weller 1996), more recent investigations focus on subjec-
values and criteria and then choose relevant
tive well-being and social cohesion (Ahrendt et al. 2015; dimensions and indicators. One well-known
Alber et al. 2008; Delhey and Dragolov 2015). approach is the Human Development Index
424 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

(HDI), developed by the United Nations shows continuing growth among European coun-
Development Programme. Based on a number of tries, but at a lower rate over time. For example,
objective dimensions, “The Human Development between 1980 and 2013, Sweden’s HDI increased
Index is a summary measure of average achieve- from 0.776 to 0.898 and Poland’s, from 0.687 to
ment in key dimensions of human development: a 0.834. The gap among the European countries
long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and has also changed over time.
have a decent standard of living” (United Nations In the next sections, we consider each of the
Development Program n.d.). The HDI is designed core dimensions represented in the HDI—health,
to capture the “capabilities” of people. standard of living, and education—because they
According to HDI data from 2013, European are considered to be among the most important
countries seem extremely successful compared to indicators of well-being.
the rest of the world. Nearly all member states of
the European Union attained top ratings in human
development, which boils down to more than 0.8 13.4.3 Health
HDI points. Worldwide, only 49 nations received
this rating; of those, 26 were from the European Health is closely related to well-being because
Union (Member states of the European Union illness is one of the most important factors con-
2015). The 2013 HDI values range from 0.810 tributing to ill-being. The World Health
(Latvia) to 0.915 (Netherlands). All European Organization has defined health as “a state of
Union member countries have achieved similar complete physical, mental and social well-being
HDI scores. Exceptions include the following: and not merely the absence of disease and infir-
mity” (World Health Organization 2005).
• Romania and Bulgaria were classified as “high Statistical monitoring of health began early
human development,” one level lower than the because of its high significance for people and
top category, but close behind the first-status governments. In this context, “Health status indi-
nations. cators have traditionally played a major role in
• Norway (0.944) and Switzerland (0.917) were assessing social progress over time and making
at the top of the HDI rating scale, together cross-country comparisons” (Atkinson et al.
with Australia, but they do not belong to the 2002: 151), and “Health outcomes are generally
European Union. measured in terms of mortality, morbidity and the
• Additional countries from southeastern ability to function” (2002: 153). Because there
Europe that scored lowest on the HDI scale in are dozens of health indicators too numerous to
Europe were still in the category “high human discuss here, we selected five to capture the
development” (e.g., Albania, 0.716) or one health status of Europeans: life expectancy at
level below, “medium human development” birth, happy life years, healthy life expectancy,
(e.g., Moldova, 0.663). These countries obvi- infant mortality rate, and the years of retirement
ously still carry the burden of their socialist that men and women can expect (Fig. 13.5).
past. The data show that life expectancy at birth has
increased continually in European countries (van
A broad spectrum of European countries fall Zanden et al. 2014, Chapter 6). Italy in southern
between the few top countries and several moder- Europe has the highest life expectancy among the
ately developed ones. In total, the HDI data indi- European Union countries; Poland in eastern
cate that Europe is a highly developed, relatively central Europe has the lowest. The usual rank
homogeneous continent. Because of significant order changed because Italy moved ahead of the
worldwide inequalities with respect to health, northern and western European countries, which
standard of living, and education, an inequality-­ is a special success. Most countries had similar
adjusted HDI was developed to monitor dispari- values: In 2010, 18 of the 28 European Union
ties. HDI documentation, available from 1980, countries had a life expectancy between 80 and
 13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 425

85.0
Poland 16.2
80.0 Italy 18.5
Life Expectancy

75.0 Germany 17.8

70.0 United Kingdom 17.7

Sweden 18.2
65.0
15.0 16.0 17.0 18.0 19.0
60.0 Healthy Life Expectancy Aged 60
1950 1970 1990 2010

100
Poland 48.0
80 Italy 53.8
Infant Mortality

60 Germany 56.3

40 United Kingdom 56.5

Sweden 61.5
20
40.0 45.0 50.0 55.0 60.0 65.0
0
Happy Life Years
1950 1970 1990 2010

Fig. 13.5  Years of average life expectancy, years of healthy life expectancy at age 60, and infant mortality rates for
selected European countries, 1950–2010

83 years (OECD 2011: 109). Many well-being tancy. Another indicator for life in better health is
indicators in Europe fall into the broad “middle the healthy life expectancy, which varies between
field.” We find similar values for the well-being 18.5 years in Italy and 16.2 years in Poland.
components for the majority of countries, with Many European countries have similar healthy
some outliers at the upper and the lower ends. life expectancy years (Fig. 13.5). Despite the
A major factor contributing to longer life criticisms of the use of the uncorrected life expec-
expectancy has been the noticeable decline in tancy, it is broadly recognized as a viable indica-
infant mortality rates between 1950 and 2010 tor of well-being.
(Fig. 13.5). Differences among European coun- The number of years that people live in retire-
tries are minimal at present. Nevertheless, the ment is of special interest from both a personal
increase in life expectancy, which is primarily the and a public policy perspective. The data show a
result of medical progress, is continuously threat- large increase in expected retirement years11
ened by illnesses such as HIV and Ebola and the since 1970. From 1970 to 2012, women’s years
emergence of drug-resistant pathogens. in retirement increased from 15.0 to 22.5 years
Opinions differ as to whether additional years and those for men, from 11.0 to 18.0 years
of life expectancy really contribute to a happy or (OECD 2014a: 105). France leads in Europe with
healthy life. When one modifies overall life
expectancy by subtracting unhappy or unhealthy
“Expected years in retirement” is a calculation of the
11 

years, one finds the “years of a happy life” are on remaining years of life expectancy from the time one exits
average about 25 years less than the life expec- the labor force (men and women).
426 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Men Women

Fig. 13.6  Perceived health status of men and women in of adults who responded that they perceived their health to
the countries of the European Union, 2009. Question: be “good” or “very good.” “Adult Population” includes all
How is your health in general? Is it very good, good, fair, people 15 years and over (Data from OECD 2014a: 125)
poor, very poor? The figure shows the added percentages

27.4 years of retirement for women and 22.6 cross-national variation with countries like
years for men. Portugal has the shortest number Ireland at the top (83.4 %) and Portugal at the
of retirement years for both men and women. The bottom (49.7 %). The northern and western
figures for German men and women are about European countries rank in the upper half. The
halfway between the highest and lowest values. results for southern Europe are puzzling: Citizens
The chances that one will spend about two of Greece and Spain express surprisingly high
decades in retirement, almost half of one’s work- rates of satisfaction with their own health,
ing life, have increased considerably. It is benefi- whereas people in Portugal report low rates.
cial for the individual but a huge financial burden Citizens in the postsocialist countries of Central
on society. and Eastern Europe rate their health status lowest
One should not, of course, expect to see simi- in Europe. In all European countries, more men
lar trends with regard to citizens’ perceptions of than women report themselves to be in “good” or
their health status—regardless of an objective “very good” health, but the data show that man
analysis of increased life expectancy and die at a lower average age than women. The dif-
improved health status. It may be difficult for ference is greatest in the less-developed welfare
people to evaluate their own health, but the per- states of southern Europe and central eastern
ceived health status is clearly a component of Europe, which indicates that women are at a spe-
well-being. Well-being researchers believe that it cial advantage in these countries.
is also important that surveys capture how people The subjective description of health is also
feel about their health rather than simply deter- concerned with long-term illnesses or health
mining how healthy they are based on medical problems (OECD 2011: 113). These conditions
diagnoses. are presumably linked to modern living styles,
A majority of citizens in all European coun- such as smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages,
tries rate their own health status as “good” or and physical inactivity. The number of people
“very good” (Fig. 13.6). This definition may be who regard their long-term health as “poor” or
nonprofessional but the subjective health status “very poor” ranges from 22 % for Italy to 42 %
of European population shows considerable for Finland. Although people’s health has gener-
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 427

ally improved over time, a significant number of sectors were especially substantial in the past, the
people feel dissatisfied with their health, and ill- increase in the average standard of living is over-
ness remains a significant dimension of ill-being. estimated in GDP figures. The second major
shortcoming of the aggregate per capita GDP is
that it neglects the distribution of income and
13.4.4 Material Standard of Living wealth among households of different sizes and
social classes. These topics are discussed in more
Today’s per capita GDP follows a typical pattern: detail in Sect. 13.5.
At the top are the northern countries, followed by Although these indicators may denote eco-
the western European countries, which in turn are nomic progress in Europe, they tell us little about
followed by the countries of central Europe. how people feel about their economic situation.
Behind them are the southern countries and People tell us how they feel about their economic
finally the eastern countries. There are only a few situation in the answers they give when asked
exceptions to this pattern. Changes occurred only whether they have difficulties making ends meet.
rarely (e.g., Germany lost its top position after As is often said, on average, European economies
unification). The East Germans who were incor- generate enough for everyone, but problems arise
porated into West Germany from 1990 onward from the unequal distribution of income and
were far less wealthy than the West Germans, wealth.
which contributed to a somewhat lower position The fact that a majority of individuals express
of Germany as a whole. a subjectively perceived state of economic well-­
It should be noted that the GDP expresses the being is a significant attainment. In 2008, only a
volume of economic activity in the formal econ- minority of Europeans reported that they had dif-
omy and ignores production in the shadow and ficulty making ends meet; the majority were
household sectors of the economy. Because both more positive (Fig. 13.7).

30

25 23.9

20.8
20
17.3
16.2 16.2
15
12.2 12.5

10 9.5
8.0 8.1 8.5
6.4
5.1
5 3.2 3.4 3.5 3.9
2.6

Fig. 13.7  Percentage of people in European countries who reported they were unable to make ends meet, 2008. Graph
shows percentage of the adult population of each country (Data from OECD 2011: 48)
428 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

We find the lowest percentage in Germany, for the younger ones because the younger gener-
followed by the Netherlands and Finland, with ation has to complete their education and to enter
the highest percentages in Greece, Portugal, and into adulthood.
Italy. Of the people who report living in poverty, Traditional indicators of literacy have
a higher percentage say they have “difficulties” become obsolete as more people have become
rather than “strong difficulties” to make ends educated. Once countries come close to 100 %
meet. The responses indicate that a majority of literacy, this indicator does not seem to convey
people in modern European countries say they significant information (OECD 2014b).12 In
have little difficulty making ends meet and that recent times, entry into the information society
this goal was satisfactorily reached at the end of has been achieved by increasing the years of
the last century. schooling.
Money is regarded as a material resource, but In the past, years of schooling were indica-
other survey questions relate to the material pos- tive of progress in Western Europe, which was
sessions of European households, which seem to close behind its Western counterparts in America
be below the minimum material well-being stan- and Australia, ahead of Eastern Europe, and far
dards of most societies. When they were asked ahead of the countries in Latin America, Asia,
questions related to living and housing condi- and Africa (OECD 2014b: 95). In 2012, the
tions, 3 % of Europeans said they lacked an average years of schooling in the European
“indoor flushing toilet” and 35 % claimed that Union countries ranged from 12.9 years in
they suffered from a “shortage of space.” As Germany (previously, most frequently the
many as 10 % missed “having a meal with leader) to 8.0 years in Portugal, the only
chicken or fish every second day,” and 37 % European country to have fewer than 9 years of
could not afford “paying for a week’s annual hol- schooling (Fig. 13.8). Other southern European
iday away from home” (Ahrendt et al. 2015: 643, countries like Italy and Spain also had low val-
Fig. 29.20). Material living conditions ranged ues. Many countries were relatively close, with
from luxurious lifestyles to severe material depri- 10–12 years of schooling. As with other indica-
vation among minorities in various countries. tors, Europe is characterized by a broad middle
These results reflect the fact that economic well-­ field with a few leaders and some laggards.
being is stratified in Europe, which seems to However, the increase in the number of school
challenge its goal of cohesion and integration. years per person stagnated from 2010 forward.
Nevertheless, education remains a high priority
for the European welfare states (compare educa-
13.4.5 Education tion in Sect. 13.6.4).
Compared with other life domains, satisfac-
Education is not only an expression of personal tion with one’s own education was comparatively
competence; it is also the key to better living con- low. Members of the older generations were
ditions, better jobs, and better positions and sta- always at a disadvantage in relation to the increas-
tus in society. Education is regarded as an ing educational opportunities available to the
important element of well-being as well as a younger generations, which probably devalued
means to sustain and increase well-being. One their educational status and their well-being. But
can characterize the level of education of a coun- the benefits of higher degrees may be diminished
try’s population by estimating the degree of lit- when more and more of the younger cohorts
eracy, by measuring the years of schooling, or by attain higher degrees.
determining the level of educational attainment.
The educational profile of a country changes This is not the case for immigrants and their children,
12 

slowly despite quickly rising educational levels for whom language is a key problem.
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 429

Average Years of Schooling (OECD) Mean Years of Schooling (HDI)

14 14
13 13
12 12
11 11
10 10
9 9
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
1950 1960 1970 1980 1980 1990 2000 2010

Fig. 13.8  Years of schooling in selected European Union people ages 25 and older, converted from education attain-
countries, 1950–2010 and 2012. 1950–1980 (OECD con- ment levels using official durations at each level; a new
cept): Average years of education in the population aged component of the HDI since 2012 (Data from United
15 years and older. 1980–2012 (Human Development Nations Development Programme 2010: 17; van Zanden
Report Concept): Mean years of schooling received by et al. 2014: 88–100)

13.4.6 Overall Subjective Well-Being: One finds the largest group of countries with
Satisfaction with Life highly satisfied populations in northern and
central Europe: Denmark, Finland, Sweden,
­
It is never fully reliable to characterize a country Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg,
by just one indicator, but if one had to choose just and Ireland. These eight European Union coun-
one, the decision would be for the general satis- tries, which were at the top of both Europe’s and
faction with life of the individual. What social the world’s satisfaction hierarchy in 2013,
scientists have to trust, if they regard the indicator expressed values ranging from 7.4 to 8.0 (on a
“life satisfaction” as valid, is that the people scale of 0–10). These results have been repro-
being surveyed take into consideration all those duced in a number other surveys. It has been
aspects that are relevant to their lives. Among a hypothesized that these populations express high
number of quality-of-life surveys that were car- levels of satisfaction because their countries are
ried out in European countries and elsewhere, relatively small, which facilitates social cohesion
one survey from Eurostat conducted in 2013 and national identity. These countries are also
measured life satisfaction on an 11-point scale characterized by increasing economic wealth,
(0–10, with 1 reflecting “high dissatisfaction” long-term stable democracies, and welfare state
and 10 “high satisfaction”). The results indicated regimes, all of which probably contributes to
that the European populations shared a clear pat- their success.
tern of different levels of satisfaction that were on In contrast, 12 countries in southern and east-
average on the same level as those of the United ern Europe fall below the European Union aver-
States (European Commission 2015) (Fig. 13.9; age in terms of satisfaction: the Baltic countries
see also Fig. 13.19). (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Western European
 430 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

9.0

8.5

8.0
Life Sasfacon

7.5

7.0

6.5

6.0

5.5

5.0

Greece
Spain*

Croaa

Bulgaria
Latvia
Austria

Estonia
Cyprus

Lithuania
Sweden
Luxembourg

United Kingdom*

Germany*
Belgium

Romania
Finland

Poland*

Slovakia
France*

Slovenia

Italy*

Portugal

Hungary
Denmark

Malta
Ireland
Netherlands

Czech Republic
Northern and Western Europe Central and Southern Europe
South- and North-Eastern Europe EU 28 Average

Fig. 13.9 Life satisfaction in European Union (EU) scale: 0 = not satisfied at all; 10 = fully satisfied.”
countries according to European region, 2013. Life satis- Countries marked with “*” have populations that exceed
faction scale from 0 to 10 in response to the question: 30 million (Data from Eurostat 2015)
“how satisfied are you with your life these days? 11-point

countries with an authoritarian past until the late The satisfaction hierarchy of the European
1970s (Greece, Portugal, Spain), countries under countries has remained relatively stable during
socialist rule until 1991 (Bulgaria, Czech the years 2013, and 2011, when a second repre-
Republic, Croatia, Hungary), and Italy and sentative survey was carried through (Ahrendt
Cyprus. Their satisfaction levels range from 8 to et al. 2015). Only a few countries changed posi-
6.9. Most of these countries are among the poorer tions: Greece and Spain fell eight ranks, however,
countries of Europe. They did not institute demo- thereby illustrating that the dilemma of most of
cratic welfare regimes like the countries in north- the southern European Union states is both objec-
ern Europe, and they continue to experience tive and subjective. In contrast, Poland and
economic difficulties. Of particular interest is Slovakia climbed several levels in the satisfaction
Greece, which, at the time of this writing, is hierarchy, possibly reflecting the reality that the
undergoing serious political and economic tur- socialist past is “history.”
moil. This turmoil has led to discussion of a pos- The non-European Union members inside the
sible “Grexit,” or withdrawal from the European territorial boundaries of the European Union are
Union, which presumably can be avoided. at the top of the satisfaction hierarchy and may
In terms of level of satisfaction, an over- represent a challenge to the European Union
whelming majority of the European population members. However, their situation may be
lies in the middle (7.0–7.3): This group includes affected by the fact that they have access to spe-
four large European countries (France, Germany, cial resources not available in European Union
United Kingdom, and Poland) and four small countries: oil in Norway, fish in Iceland, and
ones (Malta, Romania, Slovenia, and Slovakia). financial services in Switzerland. However, dis-
These results indicate that the European Union satisfaction does exist in these areas. For example,
remains a satisfying place to live. the countries that were formerly part of Yugoslavia
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 431

that are candidates for European Union member- choose the same categories. Additional studies
ship have much higher dissatisfaction ratings than support the hypothesis that those domains that
other European Union countries. Adding the dis- are characterized by a high level of individual
satisfied Balkan states to the European Union may responsibility receive higher levels of satisfaction
have the effect of lowering the overall satisfaction than those domains in which the state or some
level of the European Union. Current problems other institution takes responsibility (Glatzer
with large numbers of immigrants seeking refuge 2008).
in the European Union may also have a negative
impact on the satisfaction level of the European
Union population. 13.5 Disadvantaged Population
The countries of the European Union have a Groups and Minorities
strong attraction for the many dissatisfied peoples
who live beyond its borders. The low levels of Even though the population in Europe is, as men-
satisfaction in Algeria (5.4), Morocco (5.4), tioned previously, relatively homogeneous, dif-
Egypt, and the African continent motivate large ferent segments of the population experience
numbers of people from these areas to attempt to varying degrees of well-being. “Diversity” seems
reach Europe. Many dissatisfied citizens of broadly accepted and is tolerated whereas
Turkey (4.9), which is a traditional migration “inequalities” and “disadvantages” are widely
country for Germany, and of the Ukraine and criticized and are often major drivers of social
Russia (5.5), which are engaged in local wars, unrest. However, the boundary between tolerated
also struggle to enter European Union countries. diversities and disparaged inequalities is blurred,
A possible solution to this dilemma is to reduce and both factors are often sources of deep con-
the discrepancies between the European Union flict. Various European constitutions define cate-
and its neighbors. gories of people who have to be protected from
Since the 1960s, there have been discussions discrimination on the basis of sex, racial or ethnic
about horizontal disparities (i.e., the level of sat- origin, religion, disability, age, and sexual orien-
isfaction may be higher or lower in different life tation. Because a complete discussion of
domains). One would expect that most people try ­disadvantaged population groups is beyond the
to gain a high level of satisfaction in all life scope of this chapter, we focus on groups disad-
domains, but empirical studies show that this is vantaged as a function of age, gender (women),
not the case. European responses indicate ladders poverty level, education, ethnicity, migration sta-
of satisfaction in which family life (2011) or per- tus, and social isolation (Fig. 13.10).
sonal relationships (2013) are at the top, and
standard of living (2011) or financial situation
(2013) is toward the bottom (Fig. 13.10). 13.5.1 Age
This finding may appear surprising for wealthy
societies as Europe. The material needs of In every society, relations between younger and
Europeans seem difficult to satisfy, especially if older population groups have to be balanced with
there are significant inequalities. Social support respect to their participation in societal activities
and personal relationships seem to be important, and their well-being. Younger people in particu-
contributing to the well-being of family members lar suffer from unemployment. Members of the
and friends. Paradoxically, separation and divorce older generation fear poverty, and they worry
may keep family satisfaction high, because the about support in times of infirmity and dementia.
dissatisfied couples probably divorce and drop However, young people (16–24 years) and those
out of the married population, thereby increasing of early old age (65–74 years) show a higher
the average satisfaction level of the remaining level of life satisfaction than one would expect,
family members. Figure 13.10 shows horizontal especially given the fact that they are often con-
satisfaction discrepancies that were similar in sidered disadvantaged (Fig. 13.11). The adjacent
2011 and 2013, though the researcher did not age groups (25–34 years and 74 and more years)
432 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

Fig. 13.10 Average 2011 2013

satisfaction for selected life
domains in the European Personal
Family Life (7.8) Relationships (7.8)
Union (EU-28), 2011 and
2013. European Union average
for 28 countries, 2011: Accommodation (7.7) Accommodation (7.5)
10-point satisfaction scale
ranging from 1 to 10; 2013:
11-point satisfaction scale Present Job (7.4) Commuting Time (7.4)
from 0 to 10 (Drawing by
Kolja Glatzer; data from Living
Health (7.3)
Ahrendt et al. 2015: 634, Environment (7.3)
Fig. 29.1 and Eurostat 2015)
Green & Recreational
Social Life (7.3) Areas (7.1)

Education (7.2) Job (7.1)

Present Standard Financial

of Living (6.9) Situation (6.0)

8.00
7.50
7.00
6.50
6.00
5.50
5.00
4.50

Fig. 13.11  Life satisfaction for selected sociostructural (below 24/25–34/35–49/50–64/above 75); Education
and disadvantaged population groups in the European (Only compulsory level or less/Completed secondary
Union, 2011. Categories are gender, age, education, level/Tertiary level); Income (poorest quartile/second
income, unemployment, citizenship, and illness. Question: quartile/third quartile/richest quartile); Unemployment
all things considered, how satisfied would you say you are (below 12 months/above 12 months); Citizenship: Non-­
with your life these days? Please, tell me on a scale of European Union (EU) citizens; Illness (slightly limited by
1–10, where 1 means “very dissatisfied” and 10 means illness/severely limited by illness) (Data from Ahrendt
“very satisfied.” Legend: Gender (male/female), age et al. 2015: 633, Fig. 29.9)

also show a relatively high level of life satisfac- found that life satisfaction is related to age by a
tion. In comparison, the “active” population (25– U-shaped curve (OECD 2014a: 135), but this
64) has a comparatively low level of life view has been questioned by other researchers
satisfaction. In most cases, European researchers (Ahrendt et al. 2015). Perhaps people in the
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 433

­ iddle age groups are overly burdened by family

m 10-point scale (cf. Fig. 13.11). This finding con-
responsibilities, whereas the younger and older tradicts the expectation that, because the condi-
people are to some degree exempt from these tions of women’s lives are regarded as more
responsibilities. An additional argument is that disadvantageous, their life satisfaction score
those in the older age group who are dissatisfied should be lower than that of men. However, the
pass away sooner and therefore may not be situation varies across the European countries.
included in the sample of the older population, One finds more satisfied men than women in
giving the skewed impression that satisfaction Hungary, Slovenia, and Portugal and more satis-
among the elderly is higher than in the other age fied women than men in Finland, Ireland, and
groups. Denmark. Other countries report a balance in sat-
The U-shaped curve only indicates differences isfaction levels between the sexes: Germany, the
between age groups at a point in time and pro- United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain,
vides a cross-sectional view. It does not imply the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Women and
that the young begin with a high level of satisfac- men express equal levels of satisfaction and dis-
tion, then lose ground during the middle years of satisfaction. Perhaps this equality in life satisfac-
their adult life, and regain a high level when they tion has been influenced by the women’s
become older. Longitudinal research would be movement across the whole of Europe. Perhaps
needed to prove such a life-course trajectory. men and women derive life satisfaction from dif-
People in different age brackets seem to ferent sources.
exhibit differences in feelings of well-being, but Other measures of well-being show that gen-
the differences are not large enough to account der differences interact with a host of other fac-
for social unrest. However, as the percentage of tors. For example, studies with the affect balance
older people in the population increases over scale show that women experience much less
time, the challenge will be how a small number positive affect (e.g., feeling recognized by others)
of people in the middle age group can support the during the day than men (Bradburn 2015). In
increasing number of older people with respect to most European countries, the positive affect bal-
financial and eldercare matters. A difficult goal ance score is higher for men, which means that
for future public policy is to develop policies and they experience more positive emotions during
programs to achieve a balance between the the day.
demands of the young and the old.

13.5.3 Education
13.5.2 Gender
A recent OECD report (2011:145) states that
Just as it is necessary to find a balance between “educational levels have increased in all coun-
the generations, it is necessary to find a balance tries.” Those who earn higher educational degrees
between the sexes. Disadvantages faced by attain higher levels of satisfaction than those who
women compared with men are well-­documented: earn no or the lowest degree (cf. Fig. 13.11). One
Women achieved the right to vote later than men; can argue that a higher educational degree leads
for a long time, higher education was not avail- to a better position in society and hence contrib-
able to women; women did not have the same utes to a higher level of life satisfaction. In
employment opportunities as men; and, in the Europe, evidence suggests that the educational
business world, the top positions were held by system contributes to life satisfaction. However,
men. These differences varied by country. On a the differences from country to country seem to
positive note, there have been substantial be extreme. Among the European Union coun-
improvements related to these issues. tries, Portugal, Spain, and Slovenia show particu-
Overall, men and women in Europe have the larly large gaps between people with low levels
same subjective well-being score (7.1) on the of compulsory education and those with tertiary
434 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

education. In contrast, in Ireland, Sweden, and like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary
Denmark, the gap in the life satisfaction levels of have the lowest poverty rates; Spain, Estonia, and
the highly and the less well-educated is not large Austria have the highest poverty rates. A broad
(OECD 2011: 276). In sum, educational attain- middle field of European countries have poverty
ment seems to affect well-being differently, rates between 12 % and 20 %.
depending on the country and culture.
The fact that levels of education have improved
everywhere in Europe raises an interesting ques- 13.5.5 Unemployment
tion: Does widespread education increase the
level of life satisfaction or does educational In many European countries, a significant segment
attainment contribute less to life satisfaction as of the population, in particular young people, suf-
education becomes increasingly universal? The fer from unemployment. Economists regard a cer-
assumption is that the benefits of education tain level of unemployment in free economies as
diminish as it becomes increasingly widespread. unavoidable. But unemployment has dire conse-
This phenomenon reflects an “education para- quences on people’s lives. The first unemployment
dox”: When more and more people attain higher studies in Europe showed the dramatic effect of
educational degrees, the positive outcomes of unemployment on family well-­being (Lazarsfeld
education are diminished. et al. 1933). Recent studies of the well-being of the
unemployed in Europe indicate that unemployed
individuals report the lowest levels of life satisfac-
13.5.4 Low Income and Poverty tion. Moreover, the long-term unemployed are
much more dissatisfied than the short-term unem-
We have known for some time that income is ployed (Fig. 13.11). It turns out that unemploy-
highly correlated with life satisfaction (Fig. ment and illness are the most significant threats to
13.11). This finding is not surprising because well-being in Europe. Unemployment insurance
nearly everything in life that people want can be may provide partial relief to the unemployed, but
obtained by money. Goods and services can be money cannot fully compensate for all of the
bought with money; other ways to satisfy needs downsides of unemployment.
(for example, health, security, romance) can also
be achieved directly or indirectly with money.
Thus, money contributes indirectly to well-being. 13.5.6 Minorities and Migrants
According to the “Easterlin Paradox”
(Easterlin 2015), the relationship between income Minorities are ethnically or linguistically homo-
and happiness is elusive. When we correlate geneous groups within nations who are often the
income and happiness over time, we find no or targets of prejudice, discrimination, and, in some
only a weak relationship. That is, when income cases, violence. They are frequently harassed by
rises, happiness remains stable. However, in hate groups. We also see interethnic conflict (i.e.,
cross-sectional studies, evidence suggests that conflict between different minority groups).
income and happiness are positively related; Estimates vary as to the number of ethnic minori-
however, the relationship is not linear. ties in Europe: 54–300, depending on definitions.
Specifically, happiness increases when income The number of people who belong to these groups
increases up to a certain point, then it levels off. is estimated to be about 100 million or 14 % of the
The effect of income on life satisfaction of the European population. Minority groups exist in
poor in a rich country with a growing economy is every European country (Ethnic Groups in Europe
less well investigated. European societies show 2015). Some groups are ancient, such as the
dramatically different poverty rates, and about “Sorbs and Wenden,” Slavic tribes who came to
10–23 % fall under the poverty threshold of 60 % Germany 1400 years ago and have m ­ aintained
of the median income. Former socialist countries their own culture and language to this day. The
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 435

Jews, considered a minority worldwide, were country but score lower levels of satisfaction than
repeatedly persecuted in Europe, especially dur- the resident population (see Fig. 13.11). The most
ing the Holocaust era of the Nazi regime. They are significant issue today is the stream of immigrants
still considered a minority, but the public now coming from North Africa, some Baltic countries,
feels a strong sense of responsibility to protect and Turkey. Prospective immigrants sometimes
them. The Roma people (also known as gypsies or experience difficulties crossing the highly pro-
Romani) are a widespread minority who have tected borders of Europe and the Mediterranean
long struggled for fair treatment in many European Sea; some perish in shipwrecks. These casualties
countries. They are often discriminated against. at Europe’s southern border have created a
There are also locally restricted minorities in a dilemma for the European Union, namely, how to
larger country, such as the Basques in Spain, who control and distribute the flow of migrants into the
became embroiled in a quasimilitary conflict with European countries while ensuring their safety
the Spanish government. Belgium is an example and welfare. Perhaps the new migrants could be
of a whole country that is divided ethnically— assimilated into communities of older migrants
between the Dutch-­ speaking Flemish and the who have been integrated to varying degrees into
French-speaking Walloon. Moreover, large their host country with subsequent generations. In
minority groups exist within even larger commu- any case, migration remains a major topic of
nities, such as the Turks in Berlin (e.g., Berlin is debate in the European Union.
viewed as the largest Turkish city outside Turkey).
Of particular concern is the Muslim population in
Europe: A very small number of individuals 13.5.7 Social Isolation
within that community seem to have become radi-
calized and engage in terrorist activities in Europe Most people would agree that living with others
and elsewhere. The list of minorities in each is preferable to living alone. People who are wid-
country is endless and beyond the scope of this owed, divorced, or separated tend to live alone
chapter. Minorities sometimes receive special not by choice. People living alone may not neces-
political attention, for example, the Council of sarily lack social support; they may have their
Europe declared in 1995 a Framework Convention own social networks outside the household. An
for the Protection of National Minorities. increasing number of people in Europe live alone
It is difficult to evaluate the levels of well-­ and, as far as we know, they are less satisfied than
being of minorities in Europe. However, credible people who have stable relationships. Europeans
data can be found in studies on tolerance (i.e., experience varying levels of social contacts with
tolerance toward minority population groups). In friends and relatives at least once a week (OECD
2007, a Gallup survey conducted in various 2011: 175). The percentage of people who have
European countries asked whether “Europe is a relatives or friends they can count on for help in
good place for racial and ethnic minorities.” times of need also differs (OECD 2011: 174).
From 11 % to 33 % of respondents did not think One sees significant disparities in Europe con-
that their own country was tolerant of ethnic cerning close relationships: Most adults in
minorities. Citizens of the United Kingdom, European societies are married, but there are
Sweden, and Denmark, however, felt that their large cross-national and cross-cultural variations
countries are good places to live for racial and (OECD 2014c: 93). The marriage rate of the
ethnic minorities (Fig. 13.12). adult population is highest in Catholic countries
We have witnessed many waves of migration like Italy, Portugal, Greece, and Spain, surely due
for centuries between different parts of Europe to religious tradition. Estonia, Hungary, Sweden,
and abroad; such migrations continue to cause and Finland, which represent Protestant
social malaise in contemporary Europe. Most Christianity, have fewer married couples. Some
often, migrants attain a higher level of life satis- nonmarried people live with a nonmarried
faction in their adopted country than in their home “domestic partner” (OECD 2014c: 93). The larg-
436 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

United Kingdom 80 11 9
Sweden 76 12 11
Spain 76 16 8
Denmark 74 14 12
Netherlands 74 16 10
Italy 70 19 11
France 66 18 16
Bulgaria 65 15 20
Belgium 65 16 19
Germany 65 17 17
Hungary 62 20 19
Romania 62 22 17
Portugal 60 21 20
Latvia 59 18 23
Finland 59 24 17
Croa­a 59 27 14
Greece 59 33 8
Slovakia 53 29 18
Slovenia 51 33 15
Poland 50 27 23
Czech Republic 46 28 27
Austria 44 30 27
Estonia 43 24 33
Lithuania 40 19 40

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

good place not a good place don`t know/ refused

Fig. 13.12  Europe as a “Good Place” for racial and eth- racial and ethnic minorities?” (Ordered by the percentage
nic minorities as perceived by the inhabitants of European of “good place” responses). Telephone and face-to-face
Union (EU) countries, 2007. Question: “Is the city or area interviews with approximately 1000 adults (15 and above)
where you live a good place or not a good place to live for in each country (Data from Nyiri and English 2007)

est numbers of nonmarried partners are found in Despite the trend toward increasing individu-
Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Slovenia. The alization in modern societies at the beginning of
family model for the Catholic south differs from the twenty-first century, the majority of Europeans
that for the Protestant north of Europe, which do not report being lonely. However, the differ-
seems to have implications for well-being. People ences between the northern and southern coun-
with relatives or friends can count on their social tries in response to a survey question about
networks in times of need. People in Iceland, loneliness are remarkable: Loneliness is lowest
Denmark, and Sweden frequently have a stronger in Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, and
support system than people in Portugal, Estonia, Finland and highest in Bulgaria, Romania,
and Italy (OECD 2011: 174). Hungary, Italy, and Greece. The Protestant cul-
ture of the north contrasts with the Catholic cul-
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 437

ture in the south. As we have seen previously, the

authors. We added two types to cover the southern
broad homogeneous “middle field” of countries European countries and central/eastern European
report a moderate degree of loneliness. The chal-
countries, which were not included in Esping-
lenges inherent in supporting people who lack aAndersen’s original welfare state regime typology
significant social network will continue to mount.
(Sidebars 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5 and 13.6).
The first three regime types can be interpreted
as ideal types with a clear vision of society; the
13.6 Welfare State, Self-­ latter two are residual types that have some fea-
Sufficiency, and Well-Being tures in common but are diverse and less coherent
in other respects. It should be noted that all cur-
We have classified the European welfare states rently existing welfare states in Europe represent
using the well-known typology of Esping-­ a blend of the different ideal types without losing
Andersen (1990) and supplemented by other their distinctive features. Sweden, Norway,

Sidebar 13.2  The Liberal Welfare State

Advocates of the liberal version of the welfare state believe in the superior efficiency of market
production and distribution of rewards. Therefore, they do not see the necessity for political
intervention in the marketplace; rather, they regard it as detrimental. For the same reason, they
want to restrict the public provision of goods and services to “pure” public goods (such as
defense, police, courts) and to exclude those services that can also be provided by the private
sector. They believe that social problems will be solved by economic growth and by having as
many people as possible earn their living by gainful employment. Even if combating poverty is
accepted as a social policy goal, it is assumed that this purpose is best served when social trans-
fers are targeted to “the deserving poor” and the level of benefits is kept at a minimum to pro-
vide incentives for participation in the labor market. Because liberals believe in the incentive
effects of unequal rewards, the reduction of income inequalities per se is not a priority for them;
it becomes necessary only if some minimum threshold (e.g., the poverty line) is violated.

Sidebar 13.3  The Conservative-Corporatist Welfare State

Proponents of the conservative-corporatist welfare state do not share the unconditional belief of
the liberals in the superiority of markets. They accept the capitalist market economy but recog-
nize the necessity of regulating markets, especially labor markets, in order to avoid the negative
consequences of capitalist production, above all the exploitation of labor and mass poverty. On
the other hand, they also acknowledge the role of the state to care for the subsistence of those
segments of the population not integrated into the active labor force (the sick, the elderly, chil-
dren, housewives). This belief is reflected in the establishment of social security/protection sys-
tems for these groups to be financed by compulsory contributions. Conservative welfare states
rely heavily on social transfers but give a higher priority to social security (in the sense of income
maintenance) than to social equality. With regard to the provision of public goods and services,
conservatives share the liberal belief in the superiority of markets and are likely to be restrictive.
They believe that income redistribution by social transfers to groups outside the labor market is
sufficient to give them the purchasing power to buy the necessary goods and services and that
certain services (such as child-rearing and care) will be provided anyway by families.
438 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

Sidebar 13.4  The Social-Democratic Welfare State

Advocates of the social-democratic welfare state do not believe in the “distributive justice” of
capitalist market economies (although they generally accept their “allocative efficiency”) but
want (and feel legitimized) to correct the distributive results by political means. First, they put
a heavy emphasis on social justice, by which they mean less inequality in living conditions, not
just the absence of poverty. This goal is to be achieved by universal optimal rather than minimal
benefits, to be financed from general tax revenues (i.e., without a direct link to individual con-
tributions). It is thus accepted that striving for more equality involves a high degree of wealth
redistribution and high levels of taxation. Second, they place a high priority on the public provi-
sion of goods and services to make up for the deficiencies of the private markets. This approach
applies above all to the domain of social services, which, if provided by the market, would be
subject to the (lack of) purchasing power of those most in need of these services. Third, they
recognize the necessity to regulate labor markets and thereby to limit the scope of inequality
through the distribution of market income on the one hand and to secure high levels of employ-
ment on the other. The latter goal is also pursued by extended active labor market policies.

Sidebar 13.5  The Rudimentary Welfare State

The rudimentary welfare state shares many of the characteristics of the conservative-corporatist
model but attributes a lesser role to the state. Public schemes for social protection and state-run
social services are less well-developed. Instead, more responsibility for people’s well-being is
assigned to families and kinship and to voluntary charitable organizations, above all those run
by the churches.

Sidebar 13.6  The Postsocialist Welfare State

The postsocialist welfare state, in contrast, shares certain features of the social-­democratic
model, in particular the concern for equality of living conditions and the preference for govern-
ment intervention to achieve these results. More importantly, the countries classified as “post-
socialist”—although they have undergone profound political and socioeconomic transformations
since the demise of communist rule—are still characterized by the legacies of their past from
the postwar period to the 1990s.

Denmark, and Finland represent the social-­ Ireland.13 Characteristics of the rudimentary wel-
democratic welfare state in its most typical form, fare state are typically found in the southern
but its main characteristics are also shared by the European countries of Italy, Spain, Portugal, and
Netherlands. The Western European countries of
Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, and For the sake of comparison, we have also chosen to sub-
13 

Luxembourg represent the conservative type of sume under the liberal welfare state the non-European
countries of the United States, Canada, and Australia,
welfare state. The liberal welfare state type is
which are regarded by many scholars as more typical rep-
approximated by the United Kingdom and resentatives of this type of regime.
 13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 439

75.0 25.0

73.0
71.0 20.0

69.0
Employment Rate

Unemployment Rate
67.0 15.0

65.0
63.0 10.0

61.0
59.0 5.0

57.0
55.0 0.0
2000 2005 2010 2000 2005 2010

Fig. 13.13  Employment and unemployment rates by as percentage of population aged 15–64 years, employed
type of welfare state, 2000–2013. Employment rate as or actively seeking employment (Data from OECD 2015)
percentage of population aged 15–64. Unemployment rate

Greece. Finally, the central Eastern European by paid employment does the state step in to pro-
countries of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech and vide substitute “social income.” Moreover, as
the Slovak Republics are classified as postsocial- mentioned previously, active participation in the
ist regimes.14 This classification roughly resem- labor force promotes social interaction with fel-
bles the main geographical regions in Europe low workers, allowing one to participate in social
suggested in the introduction. activities beyond the workplace. Participation in
the labor force gives people a sense of dignity; it
makes them feel that they are valuable members
13.6.1 Employment of society. Therefore, participation in the labor
and Unemployment force contributes to subjective well-being at the
micro level and to social cohesion and social inte-
“Self-sufficiency is promoted by ensuring active gration at the macro level.
social and economic participation by people” When the employment rate is used to evaluate
(OECD 2011: 31). Paid employment, which is the performance of countries in terms of self-­
considered the prime indicator for self-­ sufficiency, it immediately becomes evident that
sufficiency, provides economic resources that the different types of welfare states have distinct
enable people to support themselves and their profiles (Fig. 13.13).
families. Only in cases when they are—tempo- On average, employment rates are consis-
rarily or permanently—unable to earn their living tently highest in countries with a social-­
democratic regime. All of the social-democratic
countries (with the exception of Finland) have
14 
Some smaller countries (for instance the Baltic States,
Malta, and Cyprus), for which the quality of data often
long had employment rates of more than 70 % of
appears to be less reliable, have been excluded from the the population between 15 and 64 years, rates
analysis. which have been matched by the United Kingdom
440 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

and only recently by Austria and Germany. This The main reason for the cross-national differ-
finding comes as no surprise, given the high pri- ences in employment rates is the different levels
ority that these countries assign to an active labor of inclusion of women in the labor markets (Fig.
market policy and full employment. On the other 13.14). The employment rates for men are simi-
hand, it contradicts the widely held view that (all lar, with a slightly decreasing trend over time.
too) generous welfare states would make it easy However, employment rates for women differ
not to participate in the labor market. sharply, although they have been rising in most
European countries using the conservative European countries over the last decades, with
model of the welfare state perform less well (with some exceptions. In the Scandinavian countries,
the partial exception of Germany and Austria in the employment rates for men and women are
recent years, as mentioned above), although their almost the same, especially among the younger
employment rates are still above the European cohorts. In most other European countries, the
Union average. Employment rates in the rudi- differences in employment rates for men and
mentary welfare states of southern Europe and women sometimes exceed more than ten percent-
the postsocialist countries of Central and Eastern age points. Surprisingly, employment rates for
Europe are clearly below the European Union women are fairly low in postsocialist countries,
average and often do not exceed 60 %, the only despite the ideological claims of their former
exceptions being Portugal and the Czech regimes of gender equality.
Republic. Although employment rates in the Unemployment indicates the lack of economic
eastern European countries were improving participation and a loss of income that make self-­
slowly, there has been a clear downward trend in sufficiency problematic, if not impossible.
recent years in the southern European countries Moreover, numerous studies show the severe social
because of the financial and economic crises. and psychological consequences of unemploy-

80.0

75.0

70.0

65.0

60.0

55.0

50.0

45.0

40.0
Social- Conservave-
Liberal Rudimentary Postsocialist EU 28 Average
democrac corporast
Men 75.3 72.2 73.3 61.9 68.2 69.8
Women 70.7 62.6 64.2 49.0 54.8 59.1

Fig. 13.14  Employment rates of men and women by type of European welfare state, 2013 (Data from OECD 2015)
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 441

ment, especially long-term unemployment, for the countries that were hit hardest (Greece,
physical and mental health, for social exclusion, Spain).
even stigmatization, and for loss of self-esteem. Whereas the employment rate reveals a con-
Unemployment rates measure the lack of siderable gender gap, as shown above, the unem-
available jobs for those who are seeking work. ployment rate exhibits no such gender gap. If
Whereas employment rates are measured as a anything, women have a slight advantage in the
percentage of the entire working-age population more developed and a slight disadvantage in the
(15–64 years), unemployment rates are usually less developed welfare states.
defined as a percentage of the dependent labor
force (employed and unemployed, but excluding
the self-employed), leaving aside those not seek- 13.6.2 Income Distribution
ing a job at all. Therefore, unemployment rates and Poverty
seem to be stronger indicators for evaluating
labor market policies to provide jobs than for In the OECD framework for social indicators
measuring the “activity level” of the working-age mentioned before, income inequality is listed as
population. It is thus possible that two countries the prime indicator of equity, particularly equity
may show the same unemployment rates but in outcomes. “Income inequality is a natural
highly different employment rates. In the latter starting point for considering equity across the
case, the country with the higher employment whole of society” (OECD 2011: 33). Because
rate would be preferable because of its higher social policy concerns are “more strongly
“activity level.” focussed on those at the bottom end of the distri-
A comparison of unemployment rates across bution” (OECD 2011: 33), it is recommended
European countries (Fig. 13.13) shows a pattern that one use poverty measures in addition to over-
similar to that of employment rates, but with all inequality.
some differences. Unemployment rates are gen- Although income inequality refers only to
erally much more volatile because they more financial resources, it can be regarded as the core
directly reflect the fluctuations in economic of social inequalities because the command over
activities. Unemployment rates in the years after financial resources has far-reaching effects on
2000 were lowest in the developed welfare states, social inequalities in other fields, for instance,
whether social-democratic, conservative, or lib- health and education, lifestyle, and social status
eral. All of these countries (except for Ireland in (Böhnke and Kohler 2010; Whelan and Maître
recent years) had unemployment rates well below 2008). Moreover, researchers have argued
the European Union average. The fact that the (Stiglitz 2012; Wilkinson and Pickett 2010) that
differences between the clusters were small com- the degree of social inequality has important con-
pared to the variation within each cluster indi- sequences in other spheres of social life, beyond
cates that national labor market policies may be the obvious monetary dimension, above all with
more or less effective, regardless of the type of regard to social cohesion.
welfare state. The following indicators are used in this anal-
In the countries of eastern and southern ysis: (1) the Gini coefficient as a measure of
Europe, unemployment rates are generally above income inequality; (2) relative poverty rates, as
the European Union average. However, the post- measured by a poverty line of 50 % of the median
socialist countries of Eastern Europe have exhib- household net equivalent income. The results of
ited a slowly decreasing trend, suggesting that the analysis are fairly consistent and can be sum-
the problems of the economic transformation will marized as follows (Fig. 13.15): According to
gradually be overcome. In contrast, unemploy- welfare state regime theory, disposable income
ment in the southern European countries is rising inequality follows a clear rank-order based on
dramatically in the wake of the recent economic regime type: Countries using the social-­
crisis, sometimes to levels of more than 20 % in democratic model show the lowest degree of
 442 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

0.36 16.0

0.34 14.0

12.0
0.32

Relave Povery Rate

Income Inequality

10.0
0.30
8.0
0.28
6.0
0.26
4.0

0.24 2.0

0.22 0.0
~ 1995 ~ 2000 ~ 2005 ~ 2010 ~1990 ~2000 ~2010

Fig. 13.15  Income inequality and relative poverty by relative poverty line defined as 50 % of median equivalent
type of European welfare state, 1990–2010. Data refer to income; income inequality is measured by the Gini index
surveys performed most closely to the year indicated; (Data from OECD 2015)

inequality; the countries using the liberal model tries, but relatively more so in those countries
exhibit the highest degree of inequality; and the where poverty rates initially were low (Sweden,
conservative countries of continental Europe are the Netherlands, and Germany). On the other
in between. Both the southern European coun- hand, poverty has decreased in some countries
tries and the countries of the liberal cluster have with initially high poverty rates (Ireland, the
similarly high rates of inequality, whereas the United Kingdom, and Portugal). The postsocial-
postsocialist countries of central and Eastern ist countries (with the exception of Poland) show
Europe are characterized by surprisingly low lev- low, but rising poverty rates because of increas-
els of income inequality. It is suggested that the ing spreads in income distribution following the
latter is likely due to low inequality in the pri- economic transformation.
mary income distribution (as part of their social- Because many people may be just above but
ist heritage) rather than to redistributive activities still in danger of falling below the poverty line, a
of their current welfare states. Since the mid-­ more lenient threshold of 60 % of median equiva-
1990s, income inequality has increased in most lent income, called the at-risk-of-poverty line,
but not in all countries (notably in Sweden and has been suggested. Indeed, by increasing the
Denmark, which were formerly characterized by threshold line by 10 percentage points, the per-
outstandingly low levels of inequality). centage of the population falling below this line
The extent of relative poverty follows the almost doubles. However, the pattern of cross-­
same pattern as income inequality (Fig. 13.15). national differences looks the same.
In the countries of the social-democratic and the If one looks at the overall poverty rate of a
conservative clusters, poverty rates are below population as a function of age, that is, children
10 %, whereas the countries of the liberal cluster and adolescents (0–17), the working-age popula-
and the southern European countries have pov- tion (18–65), and the retirement-age population
erty rates above 10 %. In the last two decades, (over 65 years), the young and the elderly are the
poverty has been rising in most European coun- most vulnerable groups, and the risk of poverty is
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 443

20.0
18.2
18.0 17.0
16.0
14.0
14.0
12.5 12.5
11.8
12.0 11.0
10.4
10.0
8.0 8.0 8.0
8.0 7.4
6.8
6.2
6.0 5.0
4.0
2.0
0.0

0 - 17 18 - 65 65 +

Fig. 13.16  Relative poverty rates by age groups by type of welfare state, 2010. Relative poverty line defined as 50 %
of median equivalent income (Data from OECD 2014c)

lowest in the working-age population (Fig. have been affected by lower mortality rates and
13.16). There are, however, significant cross-­ increasing longevity in the older age groups (see
national differences. In some countries (the Figs. 13.5 and 13.17).
Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hungary, Slovakia), The different types of welfare states exhibit
the poverty rate among the elderly is actually only small differences in average life expec-
lower than that of the working-age population. tancy, probably because the goal of longer life
Likewise, the poverty rate among the younger expectancy is politically uncontroversial and
generation is consistently above the population because many factors, such as the demographic
average, except for the Scandinavian countries. structure and the working and living conditions,
These findings lend additional support to the sup- influence life expectancy apart from social poli-
position that welfare state arrangements (pension cies. Nonetheless, 50 years ago, life expectancy
schemes, child allowances) are of crucial impor- was greatest (even then more than 70 years) in
tance for the living conditions and well-being of the social-democratic welfare states, followed
particular groups of people. closely by the liberal welfare states, whereas in
the conservative and rudimentary welfare states
of continental and southern Europe, life expec-
13.6.3 Health tancy was still below 70 years. Since then, how-
ever, rates of average life expectancy have
Over the last 50 years, the average life expec- converged. The advances made in the postsocial-
tancy in European countries has increased by ist countries have been more limited, probably
about 10 years and has reached the threshold because the socioeconomic transformation pro-
level of 80 years in most countries. Whereas the cesses in these countries after the demise of
early increases were due mainly to decreasing communism brought other social problems to
infant mortality rates, the more recent increases the fore.
 444 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

85.0 60.0
83.0
50.0
81.0

79.0
40.0
Lifre Expectancy

Infant Mortality
77.0

75.0 30.0
73.0
20.0
71.0

69.0
10.0
67.0

65.0 0.0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Fig. 13.17  Life expectancy and infant mortality rates by type of welfare state, 1960–2010. Infant mortality measured
by deaths per 1000 live births (Data from OECD 2013b)

It is well documented that women live longer the other countries have followed suit but at an
on average than men. Interestingly, however, this increased pace. Particularly in southern Europe
gap in favor of women varies among welfare state and central Eastern Europe, the reduction in the
types. The life expectancy gender gap is smallest infant mortality rate has proceeded rapidly. In
(less than 5 years) in the social-democratic and Portugal and Poland, for instance, infant mortal-
the liberal welfare states, that is, those with the ity rates in 1960 were ten times higher than they
highest life expectancy, and largest in the postso- are now. Tremendous progress has been made in
cialist countries (more than 7 years) with the low- achieving lower levels, whereby variation within
est overall life expectancy. and across country clusters has been reduced.
The factor with the most influence on increasing
life expectancy is the reduction of the infant mor-
tality rate, which leads to relatively large increases 13.6.4 Education
in “life years gained.” The impact of social and
health policies on the infant mortality rate is much To characterize the level of education of a coun-
more visible than on life expectancy in general try’s population as a component of its well-being,
(Fig. 13.17). Although it is low compared to other it is necessary to measure the level of educational
regions of the world, the infant mortality rate in attainment in the adult population (aged 25 years
European countries has been cut further over the or more), not just the enrollment ratios of the
last five decades to levels below five deaths per younger generation currently in educational insti-
1000 live births. Today, all European countries can tutions. The following analysis is based on three
boast infant mortality rates that are lower than levels of educational attainment, as defined in the
those of the most advanced countries (Sweden, International Standard Classification of Education
Finland) only 30 years ago. developed by the United Nations Educational,
The pattern of change in the infant mortality Scientific, and Cultural Organization: (1) below
rate is the same as that for life expectancy, but it upper secondary level; (2) upper secondary level;
is more pronounced. The social-democratic and (3) tertiary level. Attainment of these levels of
the liberal welfare states have the lowest rates; education is highly correlated with years of
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 445

Secondary Educa on Ter ary Educa on

100 100
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
2000 2005 2010 2000 2005 2010

Fig. 13.18  Trends in educational attainment by type of welfare state, 2000–2013 (Data from OECD 2014b)

schooling, but it also provides information about decade, but the more advanced countries have
the quality of education. reached a saturation level of about 80 %.
We used the following two indicators to mea- Apart from the United States and Canada, the
sure trends in educational attainment: (1) the per- postsocialist countries of central Eastern Europe
centage of adults (25–64 years) who have attained have the most people with at least an upper sec-
at least the upper secondary level15; and (2) the ondary education.17 But also in the Scandinavian
percentage of adults who have attained the ter- countries, and in Austria and Germany as well,
tiary level of education.16 The percentage of more than 80 % of the adult population has
tertiary-­educated adults is significant because it attained at least an upper secondary education.
tends to be associated with better jobs and higher The southern European countries are clearly
relative earnings. behind in educational development. In these
Cross-national differences and recent trends in countries, barely more than every second adult
educational development can be summarized as has attained this level, although these countries
follows (Fig. 13.18): In the member countries of have made considerable progress since 2000.
the European Union, on average, three out of four This same pattern is observed when examin-
adults have completed at least upper secondary ing the percentage of adults with tertiary educa-
education. This ratio is remarkably high com- tion, but with some qualifications. First, the
pared to that of earlier periods, even after World percentage of citizens with tertiary education has
War II, and can be considered the result of gov- increased, which signifies the strategic impor-
ernments’ efforts to expand and improve their tance of higher education for contemporary soci-
educational systems. In most countries, the per- eties. On average in the European Union, the
centages have continued to rise during the past proportion of citizens at this advanced level of

The percentage of adults below the upper secondary

15 
Although it may be true that these countries have under-
17 

level can thus be calculated as the remaining percentage taken special efforts to raise the educational level of their
up to 100 %. citizens, the reported figures may at least partly be arte-
16 
It should be noted that this percentage is just a fraction facts resulting from problems in classifying their educa-
of the first indicator. tional systems.
446 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

education has risen from 20 % to almost 30 % satisfaction in Europe correlates with the types of
within a decade. The highest percentages of welfare states in the various countries. This find-
tertiary-­educated citizens are found in the liberal ing seems to be at odds with an earlier study by
countries, followed by the social-democratic and, Veenhoven, who claimed that “there appears to
at some distance, the conservative welfare states. be no link between the size of the welfare state
In stark contrast to the number of adults with at and the level of wellbeing within it” (2000: 91).
least an upper secondary education, the postso- However, this apparent contradiction seems to be
cialist countries have the lowest percentages of due to a different conceptualization of “welfare
people with tertiary education, even lower than states.” In this study, we focus on (categorically
the southern European countries. different) types of welfare states (“welfare
Second, there is a greater variation within regimes”), whereas Veenhoven refers to the size
clusters of welfare state regimes, which indicates of welfare states, measured by social security
a lower correlation between the type of welfare expenditures (as percentage of GDP). But, as has
state and achievement in education, suggesting been argued in welfare state regime theory
that education policy follows a logic different (Esping-Andersen 1990: 18ff.), social expendi-
from that of social and welfare policies. tures as such do not capture the essential qualita-
tive differences between welfare states in terms
of goals and content.
13.6.5 Overall Life Satisfaction The highest level of overall life satisfaction is
by Type of Welfare State reported for citizens in the social-democratic
welfare states, followed by those in the conserva-
Overall life satisfaction can be regarded as a sum- tive and the liberal welfare states (Fig. 13.19). All
mary indicator of subjective well-being. For ana- of the aforementioned countries have life satis-
lyzing overall life satisfaction in European faction scores above the European Union aver-
countries, we used data from the European age, whereas all southern European countries
Quality of Life Survey (2011/2012), which cov- (except Spain) and all central Eastern European
ered all 28 European Union member states. Life countries are below the European Union average.

EU 28 Average 7.1

Postsocialist 6.4

Rudimentary 6.8

Liberal 7.3

Conservave-corporast 7.5

Social-democrac 8.0

6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5

Fig. 13.19  Overall life satisfaction for adult population (Data from Ahrendt et al. 2015: 629; European Quality of
by type of welfare state, 2011. Adult population includes Life Survey 2012)
all people aged 18 years and over. Satisfaction Scale 1–10
 13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 447

9.0
France Denmark
8.5 Belgium
Netherlands
United Kingdom Sweden
8.0 Cyprus
Spain Ireland Finland
Life Sasfacon

7.5 Luxembourg
Poland Austria

7.0 Malta
Lithuania Portugal
Romania Germany
Slovenia
6.5 Croaa
Estonia
Italy
Latvia
Czech Republic
6.0 Greece
Slovakia
5.5 Hungary
Bulgaria
5.0
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000 2,200
Household Disposable Income
Northern Europe Western Europe Central Europe
Southern Europe South-Eastern Europe North-Eastern Europe

Fig. 13.20  Correlation of life satisfaction with house- population size of countries; household equivalized dis-
hold disposable income in countries of the European posable income (Data from Ahrendt et al. 2015: 631,
Union, 2011. Satisfaction Scale 1–10; circles represent Fig. 29.6)

Although there is some variation within the clus- inequality and combating poverty (see Figs.
ters of countries, the average score for the postso- 13.13, 13.14 and 13.15). Hence, they pursue dif-
cialist countries is lower than that for the southern ferent strategies and differ in their performance
European countries. Also, there is virtually no with regard to these goals (Goodin et al. 1999).
difference between the overall life satisfaction
scores of men and women.
The differences in mean life satisfaction 13.7 Summary
scores may not appear large, but they correspond
fairly well to the differences in objective living 13.7.1 Long-Term Change
conditions. For example, the correlation between
the national median household income (mea- One can point to clearly negative and positive
sured in purchasing power parity) and the mean aspects of long-term development in Europe
life satisfaction scores in European Union coun- since the Middle Ages. Because of the many wars
tries is r = 0.84 (Ahrendt et al. 2015: 630) (Fig. and catastrophes, the development of living con-
13.20). ditions was profoundly delayed and disturbed
The institutions of the welfare state have a time and again, and people were deprived of the
substantial impact on individual well-being, in necessities of a decent life. People lived for long
particular, on modifying income distribution and periods with violence and brutality. Wars and
on limiting social inequalities. Although the gen- other forms of civil conflict claimed the lives of
eral intention of the welfare state is to contribute hundreds of thousands of people. The people of
to the well-being of its people, different types of Europe also experienced severe epidemics, fam-
welfare states emphasize different goals, such as ines, large fires, and other natural disasters
reaching full employment or reducing income though presumably less than on other continents.
448 W. Glatzer and J. Kohl

As soon as they recovered from one disaster, been defined as a “crisis” by international and
often another one was just around the corner. European institutions (Ahrendt et al. 2015;
Given these conditions, many Europeans did not OECD 2015). A comparison of well-being data
achieve high levels of well-being in objective and for the years 2007 and 2012 can be used to probe
subjective terms. Peaceful interludes and pro- how far the crisis found resonance in peoples’
tected areas were the exception. It is also not minds. Surprisingly, we found no evidence for a
included that people who were able to engage in significant change in life satisfaction for Europe
authoritarian or brutal behavior did experience as a whole, but some countries gained and others
high levels of personal satisfaction in these diffi- lost in levels of satisfaction. The economic crisis
cult times. has affected the European countries differently,
Nevertheless, material living conditions and people seem to experience its adverse effects
improved due to economic growth that, on aver- differently too.
age, increased income, wealth, consumption, and When people were asked whether “they could
nutrition. Health and sanitary conditions make ends meet,” the percentage saying “no” was
improved, leading to a dramatically prolonged astonishing high. There is a difference between
average life expectancy. Opportunities for politi- general satisfaction with life and the ability to
cal participation improved when suffrage was make ends meet—because the latter seems to be
introduced first for men, then for women. The more sensitive to economic conditions. In gen-
rise of democracy enabled people to exercise eral, urban areas seem to be more affected than
more control over their living conditions, and rural areas. More importantly, those in the lower
democratic institutions provided a foundation for income bracket experienced the economic crisis
claims of well-being on the basis of the political more keenly than those in the higher income
process. bracket. The economic crisis of 2013 did not
But, Europeans were confronted with new adversely impact Europe as a whole, but individ-
health threats such as infectious diseases; eco- ual countries were affected differently, as were
nomic growth was adversely affected; and coun- the different socioeconomic groups.
try after country had to bear the cost of
unrestricted and unregulated growth, such as
damage to the environment. Although the rise of 13.7.3 Future Prospects
democracy increased people’s control over their
living conditions, democracy no longer seemed Going forward, what can people expect in respect
to address everyday problems. In a mixture of to their well-being? It is not sufficient to develop
progress and regression, conditions both what is called objective well-being. People
improved and deteriorated. Compared with the require living conditions that are satisfying in
rollercoaster development of well-being in the both objective and subjective terms. One core
past, the period of relative peace and prosperity element of subjective well-being is overall satis-
that existed for 70 years after the Second World faction with life, a goal that is comprehensive but
War can be considered as historically unique and difficult to attain and to maintain at a high level.
unprecedented. For example, we have learned that, if we reach a
new level of well-being, often new threats to that
level arise: High levels of good health are chal-
13.7.2 Recent Crises lenged by newly emerging diseases; increasing
levels of education lose the power to reward
Economic growth occurs in cycles, and the down- because of greater competition for good jobs; and
ward trend sometimes dips so low that experts economic growth results in additional costs of
speak of a “crisis.” Although the current eco- economic growth. We should also be aware that
nomic difficulties are not as bad as those that satisfaction with life is not a sufficient indicator
occurred during the postwar period, they have of a good society, but a life without an adequate
13  The History of Well-Being in Europe 449

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http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/hap_nat/ Wilkinson, R. G., & Pickett, K. (2010). The spirit level:
findingreports/RankReport_AverageHappiness.php. Why equality is better for everyone. London: Penguin.
Accessed 5 Sept 2015. World Bank. (2010). The changing wealth of nations:
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Rückblick auf vierzig Jahre. In W. Weidenfeld & nium. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
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Weller, I. (1996). Lebenszufriedenheit im europäischen Organization: Basic documents (45th edn.). Geneva:
Vergleich. Berlin: Wissenschaftszentrum. WZB World Health Organization.
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Whelan, C. T., & Maître, B. (2008). Poverty, depriva- oldid=679380919. Accessed 5 Sept 2015.
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(Eds.), Handbook of quality of life in the enlarged Information, 18(2), 219–246.
 The History of Well-Being
in Oceania 14
Robert A. Cummins and Tanja Capic

14.1 Introduction Malaysia, and the Philippines are not considered

part of Oceania but instead are grouped with the
Oceania is a discrete subregion of the Asia-­ Southeast Asian group of nations. Despite the
Pacific region—the world’s largest, most popu- vastness of the earth’s area covered by Oceania,
lated, and most culturally diverse region. Oceania 93 % of the region’s total population resides in
itself includes an area of approximately 3.3 mil- just three of its countries: Australia (23.1 mil-
lion square miles, the vast expanse of which is lion), Papua New Guinea (7.3 million), and New
open waters. Though the region includes 20,000– Zealand (4.5 million) (World Bank 2014d).
30,000 islands and smaller islets, it has a com- Oceania is geographically divided into three cul-
bined population of only about 37 million people turally heterogeneous subregions—Melanesia
living in 14 countries (e.g., Australia, New (subregion of Oceania that comprises the four
Zealand, Fiji, Solomon Islands) and 25 depen- countries of Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and
dencies (e.g., American Samoa, French Papua New Guinea, plus dependencies such as
Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, New Caledonia, New Caledonia belonging to France and West
Northern Mariana Islands, Midway Islands, Papua belonging to Indonesia); Micronesia (sub-
Pitcairn Island) (Map 14.1). Despite their prox- region of Oceania that comprises thousands of
imity to the region, Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, small islands in the western Pacific Ocean; the
subregion is divided politically into five sover-
eign states: the Federated States of Micronesia,
Imagining himself a “long-winged Hawk” exploiting
Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, and Palau, and
“ample fields of air” to “wander round the world,” Robert
Burton (1621: 408) would seek to verify the many claims three U.S. territories); and Polynesia (subregion
made by explorers of his time. This would include estab- of Oceania that comprises over 1000 islands scat-
lishing whether “that hungry Spaniard’s discovery of the tered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean;
Unknown Land of Australia, or Magellanica, be as true as
larger political entities include Tonga, Samoa
that of Mercurius Brittanicus … And yet in likelihood it
may be so, for without all question it being extended from Malietoa, Tahiti, Hawaii, New Zealand Maori,
the Tropick of Capricorn to the circle of Antarctick, and Fiji, Cook Islands, and Tuvalu). See McKnight
lying as it doth in the temperate Zone, cannot choose but (1995) for more details.
yield in time some flourishing Kingdoms to succeeding
ages …”
This chapter targets three countries within the
Oceania region: Australia, New Zealand, and
R.A. Cummins (*) • T. Capic
Papua New Guinea. Australia and New Zealand
Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
e-mail: [email protected]; are relatively homogeneous in character, whereas
[email protected] Papua New Guinea is representative of the

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 453

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_14
454 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

Map 14.1  Regional map of Oceania (CIA 2015; public domain)

remaining small islands in the region. The dis- Countries in the region differ appreciably
cussion of Oceania is divided into two parts: The from each other because of their unique social
first part focuses on Australia and New Zealand; histories, history of colonization, and the extent
the second part focuses on Papua New Guinea. to which the indigenous peoples participate in the
However, before discussing these two distinct society’s governance. Each society is confronted
population segments in Oceania, we first provide by a similar set of social challenges to well-being
the reader with a brief history of the entire region. that are experienced by other societies within the
region, albeit the resource base available to each
in responding to these challenges varies consid-
14.2 An Historical Account erably (United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific 2014b).
Well-being in Oceania is inseparably linked to We analyze the quality of life in these societ-
the vastness of the region’s size, to the diversity ies in terms of three major dimensions of well-­
of its numerous cultures and societies and, until being: economic, health, and educational. These
the nineteenth century, to the isolation of these dimensions are extrapolated from the most highly
countries and peoples both from one another and regarded index of comparative objective life
from the rest of the world. The well-being of peo- quality between nations, namely the Human
ple in Oceania also is linked to its often harsh Development Index (HDI) (United Nations
weather conditions, low-lying atolls, and to the Development Programme 2010). The United
scarcity of fresh water and productive agricul- Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has
tural land (United Nations Economic and Social published the HDI as a series since 1990.
Commission for Asia and the Pacific 2014b). Operationally, the HDI is based on a definition of
quality of life that takes into account the three
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 455

major dimensions of well-being just mentioned: treated by the people they encountered as virtual
economic, health, and educational. Gross national demigods who brought with them baskets of trin-
income per capita is used as the major indicator kets, tools, knives, and other highly valued arte-
of economic well-being. Health well-being is facts. Local people, in turn, responded to the gift
captured through life expectancy at birth. giving through exchanges of hospitality and by
Educational well-being is captured using two opportunities for the ships’ crews to replenish
major indicators, namely mean years of school- their dwindling supplies of fresh water, food, and
ing and expected years of schooling. Because the the like. All may have gone well for a long period
history of well-being of a country or region is not had not a dispute broken out between the island-
complete without considering subjective well-­ ers and the explorers on 14 February 1779. In
being (SWB) (i.e., the extent to which people are response to islanders taking one of the ship’s
happy with life overall), we also applied indica- small boats, Cook made a bungled effort to retali-
tors of SWB to analyze the well-being of the ate by abducting the Hawaiian King,
people of Oceania. Kalaniʻōpuʻu. The islanders responded swiftly to
this attack on their homeland and the monarchy.
The outcome of the confrontation resulted in the
14.2.1 Discovery and Exploration: deaths of Captain Cook and several of his crew
Development in Isolation members. A virtual “closed to visitors” sign was
posted on the shores of Hawaii to prevent future
The existence of the Pacific Ocean was confirmed visits by explorers.
in 1513 when it was first seen from the shores of The story of Captain Cook and the indigenous
America by the Spanish explorer and conquista- people of Hawaii is emblematic of what most
dor Vasco Núñez de Balboa. Spanish exploration explorers experienced in their encounters with
of the nearest coast lines subsequently was under- the region’s diverse populations—open hospital-
taken by Ferdinand Magellan during his first voy- ity, followed by a period of mutual observation,
age to the region from 1519 to 1521. Explorations followed by some type of conflict, and, in the
increased significantly after 1565 when a circum- end, the assertion of cultural and military superi-
navigator and Augustinian priest, Fr. Andrés de ority by the exploring powers (Denoon et al.
Urdaneta, discovered a reliable wind system that 2004). In the Hawaiian case, local people initially
would return ships to their point of origin in the gained the upper hand. Over time, however,
Americas. Subsequent voyages led by Abel Westerners would return to Hawaii and elsewhere
Tasman (first voyage 1642–1643) and Captain in the region in numbers and with weapons suf-
James Cook (first voyage 1768–1771) opened the ficient to overwhelm whatever defense systems
entire region to Western exploration (Exploration local people had constructed to ward off unwanted
of the Pacific 2014). visitors. In time, nearly all of the major island
The responses of indigenous peoples to the groupings in the Pacific would be conquered and
arrival of the Western explorers varied consider- claimed as territories or colonies of one or
ably. As reflected in the chroniclers that travelled another of Europe’s major seafaring nations (i.e.,
on the Cook expeditions, the initial response Britain, France, Spain, and Holland). This situa-
appears to have been one of “shock and awe”— tion continued until the last quarter of the twenti-
shock at the physical appearance of the travellers eth century, when large numbers of the sparsely
(bearded, white-skinned people dressed in arms populated, small-island developing states
and speaking a language that locals could not regained their sovereignty: Tonga (1970), Fiji
understand) and awe at the powerfulness of their (1970), Papua New Guinea (1975), Solomon
weapons and the massive size of the ships on Islands (1978), Tuvalu (1978), Kiribati (1979),
which they travelled (Denoon et al. 2004). During Vanuatu (1980), Marshall Islands (1986),
the first two of the three expeditions that Cook Federated States of Micronesia (1986), and Palau
would make to the region, he and his crew were (1994).
456 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

14.2.2 Colonization and  Well-Being: From studies undertaken throughout the

A Clash of Cultures region, certain communal values emerged repeat-
edly. These values, in turn, provide insights into
The state of well-being in the island states of the what indigenous people valued, and continue to
Pacific prior to colonization was far from ideal value, as important elements in achieving a sense
but, following colonization, was even less so— of well-being: (1) cooperation rather than compe-
especially in the early years of colonization tition; (2) sharing rather than acquisition; and (3)
(Wolfers 2012). From excavated burials in Tahiti, conservation rather than consumption. These val-
Fiji, Hawaii, and elsewhere, we know that aver- ues are manifested in all aspects of the lives of
age life expectancy was generally short (certainly the region’s indigenous peoples (Burt and Bolton
less than 40 and closer to 30–35 years).1 We also 2014; Feinberg 2004; Young-Leslie and Moore
know that rates of infant and child mortality were 2012).
high. Education of the young was informal and Given all of the above, the early years of colo-
performed largely by family members or group nization proved devastating to many of Oceania’s
elders who passed on their society’s traditions peoples (Wolfers 2012). The devastation was
and values through the sharing of oral histories, brought about by three primary drivers: (1) the
legends, and myths. We also know that consider- introduction of communicable diseases against
able conflict existed within and between the which local populations had no immunities2; (2)
diverse factions of the region and that substantial the devaluing by colonizers of the indigenous
numbers of young people lost their lives to recur- culture; and (3) a clash in the organizing princi-
ring intergroup conflicts—many of which were ples and values on which indigenous societies
fought by people living in the same island chain. were based. The suppression of indigenous reli-
Warriors were much valued, and their victories gions and mysticism also was a central feature of
became the substance of legends. The region’s colonization and significantly weakened the spir-
gods were numerous, omnipresent, and imper- itual ties that people had to one another and to the
sonal. They were also all-powerful in that they land. The loss of traditional agricultural lands
controlled the land, the ocean, the sky, and the and fishing sites, combined with the confinement
riches that these resources provided. Many of the of indigenous people to less productive areas
most powerful gods were conceived of as women, lands, also worked to their disadvantage.
such as Pele (Hawaii’s goddess of volcanoes),
thereby suggesting a valuing of the feminine and
women. Work roles appear to have been clearly 14.2.3 Well-Being in the Late
demarcated, with men responsible for agricul- and Postcolonial Periods:
ture, fishing, and hunting whereas women were The Quest for Recognition
responsible for cooking, child rearing, and caring and Global Participation
for the elderly, sick, and infirm. With notable
exceptions (Goettner-Abendroth 2009; Hommon As evidenced by both the objective and subjec-
2013; Hviding and Rio 2011), governance of tive social indicator data reported below for
most of the precolonized indigenous societies
appears to have been exclusively in the hands of The introduction of “new” infectious diseases into the
2 

men. region (syphilis, tuberculosis, typhoid, influenza, small-

pox), for example, took the lives of as many as 90 % of the
population of Tahiti and other islands of French Polynesia
in the 19th century (Martin and Combes 1996). The pat-
Multiple sources were consulted in identifying the cul-
1 
tern was the same for other colonized island groups, albeit
tural patterns and shifts in well-being among the indige- precise numbers concerning the extent of fatalities that
nous populations of Oceania during the period of resulted from exposure to introduced diseases will never
colonization: Addison and Sand 2008; Clark and Anderson be known. These fatalities, nearly to the point of extinc-
2011; Denoon et al. 2004; Goettner-Abendroth 2009; tion, were in addition to the many lives that were lost as a
Hommon 2013; Hviding and Rio 2011. result of open combat with colonizers.
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 457

Papua New Guinea and for the indigenous popu- ing levels of per capita income (United Nations
lations of Australia and New Zealand, coloniza- Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
tion also brought with it many benefits for the the Pacific 2014a).
region’s small-island developing societies. Most Unfortunately, the social and economic dis-
of these advances in well-being, however, were parities that existed in the region’s nations prior
not manifest until after the conclusion of World to independence persist. Regional disparities in
War II, an event that had profound consequences well-being are especially significant between
for many of the region’s indigenous societies. rural and urban dwellers and between people
Central to these advances in well-being have who on live on the country’s principal island ver-
been (1) significant improvements in years of sus residents of its outer islands and atolls. These
average life expectancy; (2) the establishment of disparities are not expected to disappear in the
formal health and educational systems, including short term and most likely will increase because
university-level education; (3) the creation of these recently independent societies continue to
social programs that provide at least minimal succeed with their modernization efforts.
levels of financial support for the aged,
­ We now turn our attention to a discussion of
orphaned children, persons with severe disabil- changes over time in the well-being of three of
ities, and others who are unable to compete in the region’s largest countries, namely Australia,
the region’s expanding market economies; and New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. As previ-
(4) a resurgence of traditional indigenous cul- ously mentioned, the discussion is divided into
ture, albeit the new cultures reflect a mixture of two parts. The first part, because of the common-
Western and indigenous beliefs and practices alities between these two societies, focuses on
(Burt and Bolton 2014; International Social Australia and New Zealand. . The second part
Security Administration 2012; United Nations focuses on Papua New Guinea, a representative
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and of the many small island countries in Oceania.
the Pacific 2014b). Perhaps these significant
gains in well-­being are due to globalization.
That is, the majority of the people, especially 14.3 Australia and New Zealand
the Australians and New Zealanders, became
more active at the global level. They focused Australia is the world’s sixth largest country by
outward and conducted themselves as global area. It comprises the mainland of the Australian
citizens. They were engaged in international continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous
affairs economically, politically, socially, and smaller islands. The population of 23 million is
in almost every walk of life. highly urbanized and concentrated in the eastern
Significant postcolonization improvements states. New Zealand comprises two main land-
also have been made in the region’s physical masses—the volcanic North and the sedimentary
infrastructure including the building of roads, the South Islands—together with numerous smaller
development of local and interisland transporta- islands. It is situated some 1500 km east of
tion systems, and the creation of reliable commu- Australia and, because of its remoteness, it was
nications networks (United Nations Economic one of the last lands on earth to be settled by
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific humans. It has a population of about 4.5 million
2013, 2014b). The region’s nations also are people. Māori, the indigenous people, comprise
becoming actors in the global market place via some 15 % of the New Zealand population
their agricultural exports and thriving tourist whereas Europeans comprise 67 %. Today, about
industries (United Nations Economic and Social 23 % of New Zealand’s population were born
Commission for Asia and the Pacific 2013). The overseas (Statistics New Zealand 2006a), which
significance of these gains on the region’s collec- is comparable to the proportion in Australia.
tive well-being is reflected in their higher than The earliest human remains in Australia date
average rates of economic growth and in their ris- to about 50,000 Before the Common Era (BCE),
458 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

which is the era when Australia was first inhab- enous people and the colonizers. This chapter is
ited. Australia was claimed by Great Britain in concerned mainly with the history of objective
1770 and settled through the relocation of British well-being, encapsulated in terms of economic
prisoners to the colony of New South Wales. well-being, health, and education, with an
Over the following decades, an additional five emphasis on the period since 1945. It also, within
self-governing Crown Colonies were established; the limited historical resources available,
in 1901, they formed a federation, the addresses changes in SWB and changes in how
Commonwealth of Australia (Parliament quality of life has been regarded within each pop-
Education Office 2010). ulation over this period. Two aspects of these
Polynesians settled New Zealand in 1250– changes are given special attention: (1) the
1300 CE and developed a distinctive Māori cul- national approaches that have been undertaken to
ture. In 1840, the British and Māori signed the promote individual and collective well-being;
Treaty of Waitangi, making New Zealand a col- and (2) changes in the well-being of vulnerable
ony of the British Empire. Unbeknownst to the and disadvantaged population groups relative to
Maori, however, two different versions of the general population standards. These disadvan-
treaty where signed (one in English and the other taged groups include women, children, people
in Maori). Tragically for the Maori, the second who are elderly, people who are poor, and people
treaty transferred control over large portions of who are disabled.
Maori land to the European control and owner- Australia and New Zealand are culturally sim-
ship, a deceitful act that is only today being ilar compared to Papua New Guinea. In terms of
resolved through the country’s judicial system. their influence on the region, the island-continent
However, as immigrant numbers increased, larger of Australia dominates. It has the largest land-
tracts of Māori land were used for European set- mass, the largest population, and the most eco-
tlement, and conflicts escalated into the New nomic resources. The other economically
Zealand Wars from 1845 to 1872. The Māori developed country is New Zealand, which has a
were defeated, and more of their land was confis- strong influence among the Pacific Island nations.
cated. Although much of the land has since been Australia and New Zealand have existed in an
returned or compensated, social disruption over atmosphere of friendly cooperation since settle-
these illegal seizures continues (New Zealand ment. They sent fighting forces to join the Allies
Ministry for Culture and Heritage 2014). in both world wars. During World War II,
The single national language of Australia and Japanese forces invaded Papua New Guinea
New Zealand is English. The number of individ- Troops from Australia, New Zealand, the United
ual languages listed for Australia is 390 States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands
(Ethnologue 2014). Of these, 140 are the lan- opposed them. The only direct contact with war
guages of immigrants and are spoken at home by in Australia was when Japanese bombs fell on the
a small proportion of the population. Of about northern capital city of Darwin. Neither Australia
250 Australian indigenous languages, only 145 nor New Zealand has experienced foreign invad-
remain, of which 110 are severely or critically ers on their soil since settlement (National
endangered. English is the predominant language Archives of Australia 2011; New Zealand
in New Zealand, spoken by 98 % of the popula- Ministry for Culture and Heritage 2014).
tion. There are two other official languages: Although Australia and New Zealand are
Māori, which is spoken by 4.1 % of the popula- young countries, each had an indigenous popula-
tion, was declared in 1987, and New Zealand tion at the time of settlement. Over the entire
Sign Language, used by approximately 24,000 period of recorded history, the quality of life of
people, in 2006 (Statistics New Zealand 2006b). these peoples has remained relatively disadvan-
Australia and New Zealand were colonized by taged compared to that of the settlers (Mitrou
Europeans fewer than 250 years ago, creating et al. 2014).
two cultural groups within each nation: the indig- Three themes flow through this description:
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 459

1. The changing meaning of well-being within United States is 40.8. Thus, the much loved (by
the historical context Australians) egalitarianism (Poleg 2004) does
2. The major changes in well-being that have not extend to income. However, there are mini-
mum wage and social security safety nets, which
been realized, especially as linked to histori-
cal events and initiatives provide, at minimum, an income of about one
3. The implications of these changes in well-­ third of the average wage.
being, which are addressed in the discussion. The level of unemployment has varied greatly
over the years but has been at about 4–6 % over
the past decade (Fig. 14.1) (Australian Bureau of
14.3.1 Well-Being of the People Statistics 1977, 2014; Butlin 1977). Thus,
of Australia and New Zealand Australia largely escaped the ravages of the
recent general financial crisis. In 2004, the wealth
In this section, we describe the well-being of (assets minus liabilities) of the average Australian
Australians and New Zealanders in terms of the household was about $500,000 (D430,000). For
three major objective dimensions described most Australians, their home represents their
above—economic, health, and educational—and single biggest asset. For many, it also represents
in terms of SWB). We focus on the indicators that their largest liability. The average mortgage at
comprise the HDI because the community of that time was $113,000, dwarfing other kinds of
quality-of-life scholars recognizes these as the financial liabilities. Thus, the economic well-­
three major dimensions of well-being at the being of people with a mortgage is highly vulner-
national level. able to factors affecting loan repayments.
On the asset side of the ledger, about 20 % of
14.3.1.1 Economic Well-Being Australians own property in addition to their
of the People of Australia home, usually a holiday home or an investment
and New Zealand property. The next most valuable asset for most
European settlement of Australia began in 1788 Australians is their superannuation (the amount
with a consignment of English convicts, guarded deducted regularly from employees’ incomes in a
by a detachment of Royal Marines. Although the contributory pension), which is compulsory for
convicts were well equipped, few had knowledge full-time employees, at an average value of
of farming: The first crops failed, and the colony $63,000.
nearly starved to death. The first immigrant free There are also substantial geographical differ-
settlers arrived in 1793. Although conditions ences in wealth. The average net worth of a
gradually improved, life was extremely hard for Sydney household in 2003–2004 was $640,600,
everyone and brutal for the convicts. Whereas due largely to the high value of property. The
men endured forced labor and severe forms of lowest average net wealth for any geographic
punishment, women were assigned as domestic group is for Tasmanians not living in Hobart, at
servants, with many forced into prostitution. $289,000.
The first export was timber. The first success- The first European settlers to come to New
ful wheat crop was produced in 1789 and became Zealand were traders who came to exploit the
a major export along with wool and, more country’s natural resources, often in the form of
recently, coal and natural gas. However, it was “an uncontrolled plunder,” which involved seal-
the discovery of gold in 1851 that really trans- skins, seal and whale oil, timber, flax, and tat-
formed the nation’s finances. Australia now has tooed Māori heads. In the 1830s, shore whaling
the world’s 12th-largest economy and its 5th-­ stations were established, usually with a farm for
highest per capita income. However, its Gini self-sufficiency in food. Such farms heralded the
index is 35.2 (medium), which places it 46th in change from an economy based on extractive
terms of equality of income distribution; industries to one based on farming. This change
Sweden’s Gini index is 25.0 and that of the was enhanced by the beginning of systematic
 460 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

12
11
New Zealand
10 Australia
9
Unemployment Rate

8
7
6 New Zealand
Australia
5
4
3
Papua New Guinea
2 Papua New Guinea
1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
Gross Primary Enrollment Rao
1991 2013

Fig. 14.1  Population unemployment rate for primary education completers, Australia and New Zealand, 1945–2014
(Data from UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2012; World Bank 2014e)

colonization in 1840. By 1853, wool made up 22 14.2) (Reserve Bank of New Zealand 2014). Due
% of the value of exports, second only to timber partly to these recessions, New Zealand has
(31 %). The Australian gold rushes were then at experienced a fairly consistent “brain drain”
their height, and the infant New Zealand farming since the 1970s, with around one quarter of
industry found there a ready market for such highly skilled workers living overseas, mostly in
basic foodstuffs as potatoes, grain, butter, and Australia and Britain. This proportion is the larg-
cheese. est from any developed nation. In 2009–2010, an
Over the decade from 1861 to 1871, gold annual target of 45,000–50,000 permanent resi-
dominated exports. However, the introduction of dence approvals was set by the New Zealand
refrigerated transport allowed solid diversifica- Immigration Service—more than one new
tion of New Zealand farm production and migrant for every 100 New Zealand residents.
decreased dependence on Australia as an export Although this procedure has produced a “brain
market. gain” of educated professionals from Europe and
A welfare state was established from the lesser developed countries, the overall outflow
1930s. By the 1950s, New Zealanders enjoyed still dominates.
one of the highest standards of living in the Today, New Zealand has a modern, prosper-
world, but the 1970s saw a deep recession. During ous, and developed market economy that depends
the following decade, the country underwent greatly on international trade, mainly with
major economic changes, which transformed it Australia, the European Union, the United States,
during the 1980s from a protectionist to a liberal- China, South Korea, and Japan. It has an esti-
ized free trade economy (Evans 1994). mated GDP per capita of roughly USD28,250.
The Global Financial Crisis had a major The real GDP growth rate in 2011 was 1.4 %, and
impact on New Zealand, with the gross domestic 2.5 % for 2012. However, it has only small manu-
product (GDP) shrinking for five consecutive facturing and high-tech sectors, with the econ-
quarters, the longest recession in over 30 years, omy strongly focused on tourism and primary
with unemployment rising to 6.1 % in 2009 (Fig. industries.
 14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 461

12
11
New Zealand
10 Australia
Unemployment Rate

9
8
7
6 New Zealand
Australia
5
4
3
Papua New Guinea
2 Papua New Guinea
1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Gross Secondary Enrollment Rao
1991 2013

Fig. 14.2  Population unemployment rate for secondary education completers, Australia and New Zealand, 1945–2014
(Data from UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2012; World Bank 2014e)

14.3.1.2 Health Well-Being short of coins, and, after their arrival, rum soon
of the People of Australia became the medium of trade. According to folk-
and New Zealand lore, alcohol consumption reached its all-time
Australians have universal health coverage and high of 13.6 l of pure alcohol per head of popu-
good access to health facilities. Their life expec- lation in the 1830s. More recent estimates
tancy is fourth highest in the world after Iceland, (World Health Organization 2011) rate
Japan, and Hong Kong. Life expectancy in 2010 Australian total alcohol consumption among
was 79.5 years for men and 84.0 years for women. people aged greater than 15 years as 44th highest
On the downside, Australians are famous for among nations.
their out-of-doors lifestyle, most especially for A further threat to population health is an
recreation, and one consequence is the highest increase in the aging population (Fig. 14.3)
rate of skin cancer in the world. Around one third (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2008, 2013a).
of Australians are diagnosed with cancer before Despite substantial immigration, the population
age 75, and skin cancer is the fourth most com- grew by only 1.7 % from 2009 to 2010. Although
mon type. The second largest preventable cause the proportion of people over the age of 65 was
of disease is cigarette smoking, responsible for 12 % in 1997, it is projected to be 18 % in 2021
7.8 % of the total mortality and disease. Ranked and 26 % in 2051. The provision of adequate
third in preventable causes is hypertension at 7.6 health care to this aging population is anticipated
%, with obesity forth at 7.5 %. Australia ranks to strain the resources of Australia’s publicly
35th in the world, and near the top of developed funded universal health care system, Medicare
nations, for its proportion of obese adults. Australia.
A “love affair” with alcohol has traditionally The most recent national health and life-style
been a defining national characteristic. In 1789, initiative is the National Disability Insurance
the New South Wales Corps (aka The Rum Scheme. This health care program was initiated
Corps) was formed in England as a permanent by the Australian government for Australians
regiment to relieve the Royal Marines who had with a disability. The scheme commenced in
accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. Due to 2013 with the aim to provide reasonable and nec-
the remoteness and unpopularity of the posting, essary support for people with significant and
they comprised a motley crew. The colony was permanent disability. It is funded by all
462 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

16

14

Populaon, Age 65 and Older 12

10

0
1945 1962 1979 1996 2013

Fig. 14.3  Australian population age 65 and over, 1945–2013 (Data from Australian Bureau of Statistics 2008, 2013a)

Australians through an increase in the Medicare As examples of this trend, in the 1960s, New
tax. Zealand had the lowest infant mortality rate in
In New Zealand, in the decades following col- the world, but by 1999 it had dropped to 12th
onization, the major concern was producing lowest (7.4 deaths per 1000 live births—more
enough food for survival. Systematic health ser- than twice the infant mortality of Japan). The
vices did not exist. About 9 % of women died of numbers of people dying of asthma, cancer, dia-
complications of childbirth. Infectious diseases betes, and heart disease have also increased. In
were also major killers (Te Ara—Encyclopaedia 2010, New Zealand was last among 14 developed
of New Zealand 2014). countries in the level of medications used, due to
The first organized system of public health the costs involved, and citizens showed the high-
was introduced by the Public Health Act of 1872, est level of anxiety about health care.
whereby a central board of health was set up in Personal costs are incurred at initial access to
each province. By 1938, a free health system was the medical system. These costs, which are usu-
legislated but never fully realized due to ongoing ally through a general practitioner, represent fees
disputes between the medical profession and the ranging between USD13 and USD33. However,
government. Thus, health services evolved as a discounted rates are available for disadvantaged
dual system of public and private health care. citizens. Specialty care, which is generally deliv-
This scheme, established in 1941, continues to ered through the public hospital outpatient
this day. department, is fully covered by government
Overall expenditure on health care is consid- expenditure.
erably below average for Organization for The reasons for the ever-escalating cost of
Economic Cooperation and Development medical care are similar to those in other
(OECD) countries (Fig. 14.4) (World Bank advanced industrial countries. The leading causes
2014b). In 2005, New Zealand spent 8 % of its of death have changed from infectious diseases
GDP on health care, or USD3390 per capita, of such as cholera and smallpox to chronic condi-
which 60 % was government expenditure. This tions such as heart disease, cancer, and strokes.
per capita expenditure has decreased over the Additionally, the number of older people, who
past few decades, and so has the health of the suffer most from these conditions, has steadily
population. increased. Obesity has also increased as a per-
centage of the total population, as it has within
 14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 463

14

12
Health Expenditures (% GDP)

10

0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
New Zealand OECD Members

Fig. 14.4  New Zealand health expenditure (percentage gross domestic product [GDP]), 1995–2012 (Data from World
Bank 2014b)

other OECD countries. In comparative terms, with monitoring commonly able to visit a partic-
New Zealand is seventh, with 20.9 % of the adult ular area only once a year. The teachers were also
population having a BMI greater than 30. poorly trained. The few established teachers’ col-
However, despite these negative statistics, gen- leges were not well attended because the extra
eral population longevity remains high, with life study involved did not translate into increased
expectancy at birth being 82 years for women and pay (McCreadie 2006).
80 years for men. Contemporary education includes primary
education (primary schools), followed by sec-
14.3.1.3 Educational Well-Being ondary education (secondary schools), and ter-
of the People of Australia tiary education (universities and providers of
and New Zealand vocational training). Childhood education is pri-
In the early 1800s in Australia, the few rural marily the responsibility of each state or territory
schools were generally small, one-room affairs government, which provides funding and regu-
on land donated by a local farmer. In the city, pri- lates the public and private schools within its
vate schools were set up by the various churches, governing area. The federal government helps
but no standard for education existed. However, fund the public universities.
by the 1830s, the idea took hold that crime was School education is compulsory from the age
the result of ignorance; ignorance was the result of 5 to 6 to the age of 15 to 17, depending on the
of a lack of education; and, therefore, education state or territory. Today, over three quarters of
would decrease the amount of crime. From that students stay at school until they are 17 (Fig.
time, state funds began to be diverted to public 14.5) (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001,
education. Compulsory education for both girls 2013b). Government schools educate approxi-
and boys was introduced in the 1870s. It was, mately 65 % of Australian students, with approx-
however, difficult to enforce, with those charged imately 34 % in Catholic and independent
 464 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

Apparent Retenon Rate (year 7/8 to year 12) for period 1968-2013
90.0
80.0
70.0
Apparent Retenon Rate

60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0

Fig. 14.5  Apparent student retention rate in Australia (year 7/8 to year 12), 1968–2013 (Data from Australian Bureau
of Statistics 2001, 2013b)

schools. Although the former are free, some uni- education because it was neither compulsory nor
form and equipment costs must be met by par- free. The few available schools were in towns and
ents, estimated to average around $300 per year were established by religious groups or provin-
per child. Regardless of whether a school is part cial governments. Their fees made them accessi-
of the government, run by the Roman Catholic ble only to the rich.
Church, or part of an independent system, it is The Education Act 1877 caused a major
required to adhere to the curriculum frameworks change. It established free, compulsory primary
of its state or territory. education to year 8 for all New Zealand children,
An evaluation of educational standards in and public schools were set up by regional educa-
countries by the Programme for International tion boards. Of the approximately 730 public pri-
Student Assessment 2009 ranked the Australian mary schools in 1877, 78 % were country schools
education system as sixth to ninth, depending on with one or two teachers. They provided educa-
the academic area. Also in 2009, the tertiary edu- tion for about half of the primary school-age
cation system comprised 41 universities, of children.
which 37 were public institutions, 2 were private, However, the provision of government fund-
and 2 were Australian branches of overseas uni- ing was contingent on each child meeting a cer-
versities. These are supplemented by 3 other self-­ tain level of attendance. If this requirement was
accrediting higher education institutions and over not met, parents had to help pay the teacher’s sal-
150 non-self-accrediting higher education pro- ary. Thus, country schools were chronically
viders. These form a diverse group of special- underfunded. Many pupils lived considerable
ized, mainly private, providers that include, for distances from their school and could not meet
example, colleges of theology, natural therapies, the attendance requirement due to bad weather in
and accounting. winter and being required to help harvest crops in
In New Zealand, although a few early settlers summer. Indeed, some schools adjusted their hol-
in the 1850s were extremely well educated, about idays so that low attendance during busy farming
25 % could not read or write, and another 14 % periods would not mean a funding cut.
could only read (Swarbrick 2012). Moreover, Teachers for rural schools were hard to
before 1877, their children were lucky to get an attract. They often shared their workload with
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 465

Compleon of terary qualificaon

55.0%

50.0%

45.0%
Percent

40.0%

35.0%

30.0%

Fig. 14.6  New Zealanders aged 15 and over with tertiary qualifications, 1991–2009 (Data from Education Counts New
Zealand 2009)

pupil-­teachers, who were older children teach- 14.3.1.4 Subjective Well-Being

ing while still studying. The dominant teaching of the People of Australia
method involved rote learning, where children and New Zealand
chanted facts until they had memorized them. The first systematic measures of the SWB of
To keep order in the classroom, use of a strap Australians were made in 1984 by Headey,
or cane was the norm, only abolished in the Holmstrom, and Wearing. Respondents to their
1980s. Victorian Quality of Life Panel were interviewed
In 1903, free secondary places at district high four times between 1981 and 1987. The research-
schools were offered to pupils who had ers observed that people appeared to have an
­successfully completed their primary schooling, “equilibrium level” for their SWB, and this dis-
but most still left school when they were about covery triggered much subsequent research.
12 years of age. To supplement rural teaching, Then, in 2001, two new surveys were com-
radio broadcasts to schools began in 1931, and menced, both of which are extant. One is the
correspondence school broadcasts were made Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in
from 1937. However, a downturn in farming in Australia Survey and the other is the Australian
the 1990s caused people to leave rural commu- Unity Well-being Index (AUWI).
nities; as a result, many country schools Each AUWI survey is based on a new sample
disappeared. of 2000 randomly selected adults across
Today, primary and secondary schooling is Australia. It incorporates the Personal Well-being
compulsory for children aged 6–16. This educa- Index (International Wellbeing Group 2013),
tion at public schools is free. New Zealand has an which measures SWB through the average level
adult literacy rate of 99 %, and about half of the of satisfaction across seven life domains: health,
population aged 15 years and older hold a tertiary personal relationships, safety, standard of living,
qualification (Fig. 14.6) (Education Counts New achieving in life, community connectedness, and
Zealand 2009). The OECD’s Programme for future security. A total of 30 surveys had been
International Student Assessment ranks New conducted to September 2014. A detailed report
Zealand’s education system as the seventh best in is constructed from the results of each survey;
the world. these can be downloaded from the Australian
466 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

Centre on Quality of Life Web site at Deakin In 1893, New Zealand became the first nation
University (http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/ in the world to grant women the right to vote. It
acqol/instruments/). was also the first nation in the world to recognize
Over the past 12 years, the mean scores from unrestricted universal suffrage for all people
the 30 surveys differed from one another by just regardless of race, property ownership, or any
3.0 percentage points. This result attests to both other requisite. New Zealand passed such pro-
the homeostatic control of SWB and to the politi- gressive legislation well ahead of the rest of the
cal and economic stability of the country during world, with Australia being the next to follow
this period. suit 9 years later in 1902. Finland, Norway,
The average level of subjective life quality for Denmark, and Canada all granted women the
Australia is always in the top cluster of countries right to vote in the intervening years between
within international comparative surveys. New Zealand’s landmark legislation and the
Australia also has relatively high levels of other United States’ passing of the 19th Amendment in
commonly measured subjective variables, such 1920.
as trust between citizens and low levels of per- The country’s culture has also been strongly
ceived corruption. For example, the General influenced by globalization and increased immi-
Social Survey in 2007 found about half of respon- gration from the Pacific Islands and Asia. In
dents (54 %) felt that “most people” could be recent times, national pride has been lifted by
trusted, and they were even more likely to trust the use of New Zealand’s diverse landscape as
their doctor (89 %) and local police (76 %). The the backdrop for the Lord of the Rings film
high level of trust in police is a major factor trilogy.
underpinning social stability. With all this as background, it is surprising to
A major aim of the AUWI surveys is to discover that general population levels of SWB
identify demographic subgroups with the high- are lower than expected. These data have come
est and the lowest levels of SWB. It has been from various sources. Most recently, the
found that groups with very high levels are Sovereign Wellbeing Index, produced by the
dominated by those with high income, employ- Auckland University of Technology in 2012,
ment, and the presence of a partner. Groups applied the single item of General Life
with extremely low levels are dominated by Satisfaction (GLS: “satisfaction with life as a
very low income, the absence of a partner, and whole”) to a general population sample. They
unemployment. It is apparent that within both reported a mean score that lies below average in
extremes, adequate money, relationships, and comparison to 23 European countries.
employment are common defining Confirming these low values, Ganglmair‐
characteristics. Wooliscroft and Lawson (2008) reported a GLS
In New Zealand, the first hundred years of value of 70 points from a general population
British rule were tumultuous for the new colony. sample. In relation to these low results,
The population faced uncertain food supplies, Alexandra Ganglmair-Wooliscroft (personal
danger from the native Māori, and an economy communication) confirmed that using a differ-
that oscillated between good times and bad. This ent measure of SWB, in the form of the Personal
period shaped the psyche of New Zealanders in Wellbeing Index, in three different general pop-
many ways. One was to engender a spirit of com- ulation surveys over a period of 8 years, using
mon threat and egalitarianism that shaped the different data collection methods, resulted in
social consciousness of its citizens and, so, their SWB results that were consistent and low
perceived life quality, from that time to the (67.4/66.3/67.5 points). These low values in
present. relation to Australian data are something of a
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 467

conundrum since, in so many respects, the two indigenous households (Australian Institute of
countries are so similar. Health and Welfare 2011b).
This economic disadvantage is reflected in all
of the generic statistics of societal functioning. In
14.3.2 Well-Being of Disadvantaged 2006, one in five indigenous adults reported
Groups in Australia and New being a victim of violence in the prior 12 months,
Zealand and indigenous people comprised more than one
quarter of all prisoners.
In this section we focus on the well-being of the The remote communities are often the most
two major disadvantaged groups in Oceania: the dysfunctional social units in Australia. Of the 22
Australian Aborigines and the Māori people of % of indigenous people who inhabit rural com-
New Zealand. In 2011, the Aboriginal and Torres munities (approximately 150,000 people), 87 %
Strait Islander population was estimated to be reside in a discrete indigenous community, usu-
about 669,900 people, comprising 3.0 % of the ally comprising fewer than 50 people. Such com-
total Australian population (Australian Bureau of munities generally lack services that most
Statistics 2013c). Contrary to the common per- Australians take for granted. For example, 58 %
ception that most of these people live in remote depend on bore water, 9 % have no organized
areas, the majority (79 %) live in cities and water supply, and 32 % rely on a community gen-
regional centers, with about one third living in erator for electricity.
major cities (35 %). Only a quarter live in remote One of the tragedies underlying these appall-
(8 %) or very remote (14 %) areas. Their number ing statistics is they occur despite higher per cap-
is increasing. In 2009, the total fertility rate for ita government expenditure. In 2007, the
indigenous women was 2.6 babies, compared comparative health care expenditure for every
with 1.9 for all women in Australia. $1.00 spent on nonindigenous persons was, for
The indigenous population at the time of colo- indigenous persons, $1.31 for community sup-
nization is estimated to have been up to one mil- port and $3.60 for welfare.
lion people. This population declined rapidly It can be no surprise that the economic disad-
over the next 150 years due to infectious disease vantage outlined above is reflected by relatively
and maltreatment. Traditional ownership of poor health within the indigenous population.
land—Aboriginal title—was not recognized until Their health disadvantage covers the full spec-
1992, when the High Court overturned the legal trum of medical disorders, so the list that follows
doctrine that Australia had been terra nullius is indicative only. The infant mortality rate is
(land belonging to no one) before the European high (Fig. 14.8) (Australian Bureau of Statistics
occupation. 2013a) and, for those who survive, life expec-
In 2008, about 11 % of indigenous adults tancy for indigenous men is 11.5 years less than
spoke an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander lan- that for nonindigenous (67.2 vs.78.7 years),
guage as their main language at home, whereas whereas for women it is 9.7 years less (72.9 vs.
about 40 % spoke at least some words of an 82.6 years). This lower life expectancy can be
indigenous language. largely attributed to a higher incidence of dis-
Prior to European settlement, the Australian eases such as diabetes mellitus (the rate of obe-
Aborigines had no currency. Now, they remain sity is double), respiratory disorders (the
severely economically disadvantaged. Only 65 % proportion of current daily smokers is double),
of working-age indigenous Australians were in ear disease, eye disorders, and some cancers.
the labor force in 2008 (Fig. 14.7) (Australian Hospitalization due to psychological distress and
Bureau of Statistics 2011), compared with 79 % disorders is also relatively high.
for all Australians. Unsurprisingly, therefore, To determine self-perceived distress, the 2008
indigenous households were nearly 2.5 times as National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
likely to be in the lowest income bracket as non- Health Survey collected information using five
 468 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

60
Labor Force Parcipaon Rate (persons 15 and older) 59
59 58.5

58
56.9 57
57 56.5
56
56 55.4 55.5 55.6 55.4
55.2
55 54.4
54
53.1 52.9
53
52.2
52
50.7 50.9
51

50
1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Fig. 14.7  Labor force participation rates for indigenous Australians, 1994–2011 (Data from Australian Bureau of
Statistics 2011)

90

85 New Zealand
Australia

80 Australia
New Zealand
75
Life Expectancy

Maori
70 Maori

65 Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians Papua New Guinea
60

Papua New Guinea

55

50
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Infant Mortality

1991 2011

Fig. 14.8  Infant mortality rates for indigenous and nonindigenous Australians, 1991–2012 (Australian Bureau of
Statistics 2013a)

questions from the Kessler Psychological depression regularly (Australian Bureau of

Distress Scale. A high score indicates that the Statistics 2010b). Nearly one third (31 %) of
person may be having feelings of anxiety or indigenous adults (aged 15 years and over) had
 14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 469

high/very high levels of psychological distress— A core element in their educational disadvan-
more than twice the rate for nonindigenous tage is the high incidence of family dysfunction.
Australians. These high/very high levels were In 2008, nearly half (49 %) of all indigenous
more prevalent among women (34 %) than men households comprised families with dependent
(27 %). children and, of these families, more than a third
Prior to European settlement, the indigenous (39 %) were one-parent families (Australian
population had no written language. Education Institute of Health and Welfare 2011b). Nearly
was informal through oral tradition, social learn- half of all indigenous children were living in job-
ing, and demonstration. These traditions are still less families in 2006, whereas the rate of child
highly valued by many indigenous parents, a protection notifications was close to eight times
majority of whom (77 %) have not themselves the rate for other children. Despite these bleak
completed year 12 (Australian Bureau of statistics, there is an upward trend in retention
Statistics and Australian Institute of Health and rates. In 2008, 30 % of indigenous people aged
Welfare 2008). Coupled with other multiple fac- 25–34 years had completed year 12 compared
ets of disadvantage, one result is that many indig- with only 7 % of those aged 55 years.
enous children have a fractured schooling Turning to SWB, we have to acknowledge that
experience, leaving the education system earlier there are very few data on this topic, and the one
than their nonindigenous counterparts (Fig. 14.9) known source misinterprets their data. A 2008
(Australian Bureau of Statistics 2013b). Only survey (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2010b)
about 75 % of indigenous year 3 and year 7 reports that the majority of indigenous adults in
­children meet the national minimum standards their sample reported feeling happy (72 %), calm
for reading and numeracy, compared to about 95 and peaceful (59 %), and full of life (57 %).
% of nonindigenous students. However, among the general population, these

90
81.3 82.9
79.4 80.7
80 76.3 76.5 76.9 76.6 76 75.6 75.6 77.3
73.2 73.3 74.5

70
Apparent Retenon Rate

60 55.1
51.1
47.2 47.2 48.7
50 45.4
42.9
39.1 39.8 39.5 40.1
36.4 38
4034.7 35.7

30

20

10

0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Indigenous Australians non-Indigenous Australians

Fig. 14.9  Apparent school retention rates for indigenous and nonindigenous children (years 7/8–12), 1999–2013 (Data
from Australian Bureau of Statistics 2013b)
470 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

percentages are far higher due to a natural posi- contact between the two groups had become
tivity bias in these forms of data. increasingly hostile. Although the treaty was ini-
An important issue, for which there are no tially successful, disputed land sales again led to
known data, is whether indigenous people who conflict in the 1860s. The resulting social
maintain a traditional lifestyle have normal levels upheaval, decades of conflict, and epidemics of
of SWB. It is a possibility due to associated, introduced disease took a devastating toll on the
strong spiritual beliefs. The indigenous culture Māori population, which went into a dramatic
includes practices and ceremonies centered on a decline.
belief in the Dreamtime, in which reverence for By the start of the twentieth century, the Māori
the land and oral traditions are emphasized. population had begun to recover, and efforts were
These beliefs are manifested in magnificent made to increase their standing in wider New
ancient rock art and a strong music tradition that Zealand society. A protest movement in the
continues to this day. 1960s advocated Māori issues; in 1980 political
The Djab Wurrung and Jardwadjali people of groups started to seek redress from the Crown for
western Victoria may also have inspired one of their claims. A settlement act was finally passed
Australia’s strongest religions, Australian Rules in 2005, which included a Crown apology and
football. They are credited with inventing Marn financial and commercial redress. Since that
Grook, a type of football played with possum time, traditional Māori culture has enjoyed a
hide. Certainly a disproportionate number of revival, and Māori are active in all spheres of
indigenous men excel at this game, supplying New Zealand society. The Māori language
one in ten players at the highest level. (known as Te Reo Māori) is spoken to some
In summary, there are strong indications that the extent by about a quarter of all Māori (4 % of the
quality of life for these multiply disadvantaged peo- total New Zealand population).
ple is improving. For example, indigenous death When we focus on the economic well-being of
rates from circulatory disease decreased between the Māoris, we see that, before organized settle-
1991 and 1997. In terms of education, 78 % of ment began in 1840, imports consisted mainly of
young adults aged 25–34 years completed year 10 goods for bartering with the Māoris. The major
(16 years) in 2008 compared to only 27 % just two item was muskets, which were keenly sought
decades earlier. Increasing numbers of indigenous after. This early trade exacerbated the protracted
people are also graduating from university and armed conflicts of the nineteenth century and led
assuming professional and leadership roles. The directly to Māori economic disadvantage, which
tide of disadvantage has been slow to turn but at is ongoing.
least is now running in the right direction. Māori are substantially overrepresented in a
The indigenous Māori (pronounced maʊrɪ) are wide range of negative social and economic sta-
the largest ethnic minority in New Zealand. In tistics (New Zealand Ministry of Social
2006 they comprised an estimated 620,000 peo- Development 2010) that include more than sim-
ple, or 15 % of the national population. An addi- ply lower levels of income. Defining deprivation
tional 120,000 Māori live in Australia. The as a state of observable disadvantage relative to
original settlers from eastern Polynesia arrived in the local community, in terms of both material
canoes from 1250 to 1300 CE. Over the next 500 and social variables, roughly 65 % of all Māori
years they formed tribal groups and developed a live in the 30 % most deprived areas of New
unique culture, with their own language, mythol- Zealand compared to 22 % of New Zealand
ogy, crafts, and performing arts. Horticulture Europeans.
flourished using plants they introduced, and later Having fewer assets means increased vulner-
a prominent warrior culture emerged. ability to changing economic conditions, as was
In the period from first contact with European exemplified during the recent Global Financial
traders in 1792 to the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, Crisis. From March 2008 to early 2010, the GDP
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 471

30

25
Unemployment Rate

20

15

10

0
1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014
New Zealand Maori New Zealand European

Fig. 14.10  Unemployment rates for New Zealand Māori and Europeans, 1987–2014 (Data from Statistics New
Zealand 2014)

fell by 3.4 %. During this period, the unemploy- is shown in Fig. 14.11 (New Zealand Ministry of
ment rate for New Zealand Europeans rose from Health 2010).
3.9 % to 4.4 % whereas for Māori it rose from Although Māori life expectancy has increased
10.7 to 14.2 % (Fig. 14.10) (Statistics New over the past 50 years, it remains considerably
Zealand 2014). As a further indication of disad- below that of other New Zealanders. In 2006,
vantage, Māori make up almost 50 % of the Māori male life expectancy at birth was 62 years
prison population, which is double the proportion compared with 69 for non-Māori men (women 64
of Aboriginals in Australia. On the positive side, vs 69 years) (New Zealand Ministry of Social
Māori culture has seen a resurgence in recent Development 2010).
years that has carried some economic benefits, Their poorer health status is also reflected in
such as their traditional arts of carving, weaving, higher rate of contact with mental health ser-
and tattooing becoming more mainstream. vices, with estimates that this involves some 60
When we look at health well-being, we note % of Māori people. A strong factor correlating
that, given their lower socioeconomic status, it with the need for this contact, as well as with
naturally follows that Māori suffer more health their higher levels of crime and suicide, is domes-
problems, including higher levels of alcohol and tic violence. A recent study by the New Zealand
drug abuse, smoking, and obesity. Their less fre- Family Violence Clearinghouse (Dobbs and
quent use of health care services also means that Eruera 2014) showed that Māori women and
late diagnosis and treatment intervention produce children are more likely to experience domestic
higher levels of morbidity and mortality in many violence than any other ethnic group. As with
manageable conditions, such as cervical cancer indigenous Australians, blame is often laid,
and diabetes. This inequality in mortality due to through an ongoing sense of injustice, on the per-
conditions amenable to health care interventions ceived inadequacy of compensation for historical
472 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

2.95

2.9
Difference in Mortality Rate

2.85

2.8

2.75

2.7

2.65

2.6

2.55

2.5
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Fig. 14.11  Mortality rate differences between Māori and non-Māori peoples, 1996–2006 (New Zealand Ministry of
Health 2010)

grievances. Although socioeconomic initiatives of European children. This disparity is

aimed at dealing with these issue have been ­exemplified through the global PISA (Programme
implemented, clearly much remains to be done. for International Student Assessment) rankings.
Next we consider their education well-being. Although New Zealand generally rates well, once
The first free primary schools were established in the PISA scores are disaggregated, the European
1877. Before this time, Māori children could students are second in the world and Māori stu-
attend native schools. These were usually located dents are 34th (Matthews 2012). Educational dis-
in remote communities, and, through these advantage is also reflected in the fertility rates for
schools, some Māori learned to read and write teenagers aged 15–19 years. For New Zealand
from as early as 1814. To establish a native overall in 2009, there were 29.6 births per 1000
school, the parents first had to ask for a school women; the rate for Māori women was 71.6.
and then had to subsidize the teacher’s salary. By Are the Māori happy people? Like indigenous
1874, there were 64 such schools. After 1877, people everywhere, Māori have suffered a dis-
even though Māori children could also attend connection with their past due to the loss of their
general primary schools, the separate system for language, culture, land, and traditions in the years
Māori was maintained and continued until the following colonization. Land dispossession, in
1960s. particular, has been proposed as a causal element
In contemporary times, educational attain- in ongoing Māori disadvantage.
ment reflects the general level of indigenous dis- Overall, Māori people score lower on SWB
advantage. Māori children are less likely to attend than New Zealand Europeans. Within a random
an early childhood education service before population sample, the Personal Wellbeing Index
entering primary school (Fig. 14.12) (Education produced an average for Māori of about 60–64
Counts New Zealand 2014) and are also less points compared to about 68 points for Europeans.
likely to successfully complete secondary school. Curiously, an examination of individual life
Only 47 % of Māori school-leavers finish high domains within the Personal Wellbeing Index
school with a full qualification compared to 74 % showed that satisfaction with personal relation-
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 473

25

20
New Zealand Maori
Unemployment Rate

15 New Zealand Maori

10

New Zealand
5 European New Zealand
European

0
80 85 90 95 100 105
Early Childhood A
endance Rate
2000 2014

Fig. 14.12  Early childhood attendance rate for the New Zealand Māori and European populations, 2000–2014 (Data
from Education Counts New Zealand 2014)

ships showed the biggest difference (−5.4 points) redress, claiming that their concerns are being
between the groups. This result is unexpected in marginalized or ignored. Conversely, critics
the light of Māori cultural norms emphasizing denounce the scale of assistance given to Māori
communality; however, it also emphasizes the as amounting to preferential treatment for a select
vulnerability of Māori people, because this is the group of people on the basis of race. What is
most powerful domain to maintain normal levels uncontentious is that, in a manner similar to the
of SWB. Australian Aboriginal people, the indigenous
In confirmation of this vulnerability, Māori Māori people remain comprehensively socially
SWB was also more adversely affected by the and economically disadvantaged compared to the
economic recession of 2007–2010 than the SWB races who have colonized their country.
of New Zealand Europeans (Sibley et al. 2011).
One explanation of this phenomenon is that the
recession made existing social inequities 14.4 Papua New Guinea
between the two groups more salient. As eco-
nomic and social inequities increase in a society, Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of
those at the bottom who watch the gap widen the island of New Guinea (the western portion is
between themselves and others may feel worse part of Indonesia) and numerous offshore islands.
off than before. It is located to the north of eastern Australia, just
Although as yet unmentioned, race relations south of the equator. The current population is
remain a contentious issue in New Zealand soci- about 7.5 million. Many remote Papuan tribes
ety. Māori advocates continue to push for further
474 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

still have only marginal contact with the outside being, health well-being, educational well-being,
world (Survival International 2014). and SWB.
“New Guinea” (Nueva Guinea) was the name
coined by the Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de
Retez. In 1545, he noted the resemblance of the 14.4.1 Economic Well-Being
people to those he had earlier seen along the of the People of Papua New
Guinea coast of Africa (McKinnon et al. 2008). Guinea
From 1884, the northern half of the country was
a German colony, whereas the southern half was In the eighteenth century, Portuguese traders car-
colonized by the United Kingdom and transferred ried the sweet potato to New Guinea. This simple
to Australia in 1904. In World War II, about act had far-reaching consequences on the quality
216,000 Japanese, Australians, and Americans of life for the indigenous people. Their traditional
died in the New Guinea campaign (1942–1945) staple crop had been the taro plant, but the sweet
(Fenton 2013). Following WWII, the two colo- potato provided far higher crop yields. This
nies combined as Papua New Guinea. A peaceful change not only increased the general level of
independence from Australia occurred in 1975, population nutrition, with surplus production as a
and it was admitted to membership of the United cash crop, but also gave rise to a significant rise
Nations. It is governed with 22 semiautonomous in population, particularly in the highlands.
provinces (National Statistical Office of Papua Today, the majority of the population still live
New Guinea 2011). in traditional societies and practice subsistence-­
Papua New Guinea is one of the most cultur- based agriculture. Thus, Papua New Guinea
ally diverse countries in the world, with 848 dif- remains a largely agrarian society, with agricul-
ferent listed languages (Ethnologue 2014), which ture in general providing a livelihood for 85 % of
is 12 % of the world’s total. Of these, 836 are still the population. Agriculture accounts for some 30
spoken; however, most have fewer than 1000 % of the GDP, with the main export being palm
speakers (Ethnologue 2014). English is the lan- oil. However, in terms of the number of house-
guage of government and of the educational sys- holds participating in its production, coffee from
tem, but it is not widely spoken. Even in the highlands remains the major export crop, fol-
Parliament, much of the debate is conducted in lowed by cocoa and coconut oil/copra from the
Tok Pisin (commonly known in English as New coastal areas.
Guinea Pidgin). The other official language is These renewable resources are further supple-
HiriMotu (United Nations High Commissioner mented by vast tracts of forest and marine stocks.
for Refugees 2014). Papua New Guinea is also richly endowed with
Papua New Guinea sent fighting forces to join mineral deposits. Thus, the country has a huge
the Allies in both world wars. During WW II, potential for economic development. However,
Papua New Guinea was invaded by the Japanese exploiting these resources presents many levels
forces. Opposing them were troops from of difficulty. These difficulties include the rugged
Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the terrain, which includes high mountain ranges and
United Kingdom, and the Netherlands (National valleys, swamps and islands; the high cost of
Archives of Australia 2011; New Zealand developing infrastructure; serious law-and-order
Ministry for Culture and Heritage 2014). problems in some areas; and a restrictive system
In the following section we describe the well-­ of customary land title. Only about 3 % of the
being of the people of Papua New Guinea in land of Papua New Guinea is in private hands.
terms of four major dimensions: economic well-­ Despite these difficulties, mineral deposits,
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 475

20

15

10
GDP Growth Rate

-5

-10
1963 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 1998 2003 2008 2013

Fig. 14.13  Australian gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, 1963–2013 (Data from World Bank 2014a)

including gold, oil, and copper, account for about The Papua New Guinea Constitution is explicit in
70 % of export earnings. its directive that the “traditional villages and
In March 2006, the United Nations communities remain as viable units of Papua
Development Programme Policy called for the New Guinean society.”
designation of Papua New Guinea as developing
country to be downgraded to that of least-­
developed country. This change was the result of 14.4.2 Health Well-Being
protracted economic and social stagnation of the People of Papua New
(United Nations 2006). However, by 2012, Guinea
Papua New Guinea had enjoyed several years of
positive economic growth, at over 6 % per year The slave trade in Papua New Guinea was rife
since 2007, which was maintained even during between 1863 and 1911. Over 61,000 indigenous
the Global Financial Crisis years of 2008–2009 people were taken from coastal regions to work
(Fig. 14.13) (World Bank 2014a). Despite this on plantations in Fiji, New Caledonia, and
positive development, many people continue to Queensland. Mortality and morbidity rates were
live in extreme poverty, with about one third of high due to both the forced nature of the recruit-
the population living on less than USD1.25 per ment processes and the epidemic diseases intro-
day. duced by the Europeans.
There seems little doubt that the economic Conflict in that period between the natives
development of Papua New Guinea is greatly and whites was endemic and increasingly brutal.
hindered by the continuing tribal structure. As the colonial administration developed over
Moreover, this situation is unlikely to change. this 50-year period, it allowed greater coordina-
476 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

tion in controlling the natives. The conflict pro- people and spends 9.0 % of GDP ($3685 per per-
gressed from reciprocated raids to systematic son) on health.
punitive expeditions that involved shelling There are also major problems in obtaining
coastal settlements from man-of-war ships, accurate health data. This fact is evident from the
burning villages, and mass slaughter. To make large discrepancies between local reports, based
matters even worse, the lethality of intertribal on community experience, and official health sta-
warfare was greatly increased as guns replaced tistics (see Ashwell and Barclay 2010). Estimates
bows and spears. Overall, the scale of violence of population health should be regarded with cau-
was devastating for the indigenous population, tion. Nevertheless, all statistics point to the poor
with lasting consequences for indigenous quality level of population health.
of life and health. Malaria is the leading cause of illness and
Given the country’s low GDP and problems of death. In 2003, over 70,000 cases of laboratory-­
accessibility, it should be no surprise that the confirmed malaria were reported, along with 537
development of health services was slow. In con- deaths. However, it is estimated that the true
temporary Papua New Guinea, health care is pro- number of cases was over 1.7 million. Papua
vided through a network of 2400 community aid New Guinea also has the highest known inci-
posts, 500 rural health centers, and 18 provincial dence of HIV and AIDS in the Pacific region and
hospitals. At the village level, each aid post meets the criteria for a generalized HIV/AIDS
serves up to 6 villages and up to 3000 people. epidemic. Lack of HIV/AIDS awareness is a
The workers provide basic primary health care major problem, especially in rural areas.
and information. In 2010, public expenditure on As a final indicator of the overall picture, the
health was 4.1 % of GDP ($101 per person). In rate of maternal mortality is among the highest in
comparison, Australia has one physician per 300 the Western Pacific. In 2013, there were 220 esti-

500
450
400
350
300
Maternal Mortality Rao

250
200
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2013
Australia 7 8 9 6 6
New Zealand 18 13 12 12 8
Papua New Guinea 470 370 340 280 220

Fig. 14.14  Maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for selected countries of Oceania, 1990–2013 (Data from the
World Health Organization 2014)
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 477

mated maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in languages. The other lingua franca, HiriMotu,
Papua New Guinea compared to eight in New developed in the southern coast, is spoken by
Zealand and six in Australia (Fig. 14.14) (World about 10 % of the population. In addition, for-
Health Organization 2014). Contributing reasons mally educated Papua New Guineans use
are infrequent skilled attendance at birth, poor English. Thus, there is no one dominant indig-
accessibility, lack of adequate delivery facilities, enous language.
and low levels of trust in public services. Before World War II, schools were run by
various churches whose teachers taught in the
local vernaculars. The first government mandate
14.4.3 Education Well-Being on education, in 1955, made English the only
of the People of Papua New medium of instruction. However, grass-roots
Guinea resistance was strong, and in 1993 there was a
formal return to the use of local languages in the
Until 1986, Papua New Guinea operated with- early years of basic education. As a consequence,
out a coherent, written philosophy of educa- in 2000, the Department of Education reported
tion. It was thus one of the last nations to that kindergarten and grades 1 and 2 were being
develop a modern formal education system. A taught in some 380 indigenous languages, plus
huge issue for educators is the most appropriate Pidgin and English. Since then even more lan-
language of instruction. In addition to the many guages have been introduced, a large number of
hundreds of indigenous languages, there is which had not previously been written.
Papua New Guinean Pidgin (Tok Pisin), which An obvious logistic difficulty is finding teach-
originally developed in the northern part of the ers who are fluent in local languages. As one con-
country and is spoken by about half of the pop- sequence, many of those employed as teachers do
ulation. It is a hybrid language with grammar not have formal qualifications. A further problem
and syntax borrowed from Melanesian and is encountered by children advancing to higher
vocabulary derived from English, together with grades where an official language is used.
numerous other sources including indigenous Although the issue of whether teaching in local

64

63

62
Literacy Rate

61

60

59

58

57
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Fig. 14.15  Literacy rates for Papua New Guinea, 2000–2012 (Data from World Bank 2012)
478 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

languages has better literacy outcomes is still Moresby has recently been described as “the
debated, this issue must also be seen in the con- most dangerous and unliveable city on earth”
text of maintaining endangered languages with the city under constant threat from “Raskol”
(Skutnabb-Kangas 2003). It is the constitutional gangs.
responsibility of government to foster indigenous The appalling social conditions reflect dys-
and minority languages via the medium of mother function at the highest levels. Due to the tribal
tongue education. nature of the population and the prospect of
The current situation is that primary education wealth and authority, elections attract large
(grades 1–6) is provided by 2600 community numbers of candidates representing many dif-
schools, but only 5 national high schools offer ferent parties. One consequence is that the rul-
full-time grades 11 and 12. Although there are ing party is always a fragile coalition because
also six universities, apart from other major ter- there is little common ideology binding parties
tiary institutions, illiteracy remains a major prob- together. Members of Parliament are virtually
lem. Today, only about 63 % of people aged 15 free to cross the floor when it suites their vested
and over can read and write (Fig. 14.15) (World interest to vote in a particular way. One result
Bank 2012), with an even lower percentage of is very low levels of trust in parliament, politi-
women. cians, and police. A Transparency International
survey (2013) found that 37 % of people
reported they had paid a bribe to police in the
14.4.4 Subjective Well-Being last 12 months. This finding compares with 2
of the People of Papua New % in Australia and 1 % in Denmark. Papua
Guinea New Guinea is also one of the worst places in
the world for gender-based violence and sexual
There are no reliable data on SWB in Papua New violence involving children.
Guinea. Any effort to make such a measurement The high rate of illiteracy goes hand in hand
would be defeated by the fact that 80 % of the with belief in the occult. Papua New Guinea
population live in rural settlements, many of only recently repealed the Sorcery Act of 1971,
which are difficult to access, by the enormous which, among other things, made killing a per-
number of languages, and by the high level of son accused of sorcery potentially defensible.
illiteracy. The lack of data on subjective mea- There is also widespread xenophobia, with asy-
sures is a major limitation to understanding the
full picture of quality of life. Moreover, estimates
of SWB made by reference to objective indica-
tors are generally unreliable. Table 14.1  Human development index for three coun-
However, whereas this unreliability applies tries within Oceania (United Nations Development
Programme 2010)
under benign life conditions, under challenging
objective life conditions, the relationship Human Nonincome human
development development index,
becomes much more reliable (Cummins 2000). index, rank rank
Thus, because the general circumstances of liv- Australia 2nd 1st
ing within Papua New Guinea are challenging in New 3rd 2nd
the extreme, it is almost certain that the level of Zealand
SWB would be very low. Indeed, the statistics Papua New 137th 146th
depict a society that is almost out of control. Port Guinea
 14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 479

lum seekers and refugees being particularly tancy and education. The report ranks 186
vulnerable to racism among the local popula- countries.
tion. In summary, living conditions are so The relative positions of Australia, New
objectively hostile that it is almost inconceiv- Zealand, and Papua New Guinea are consistent
able that levels of SWB could be anything other with the descriptions provided in this chapter.
than very low. Both Australia and New Zealand have stable
democracies, supportive social structures, and
mature economies, and overall offer a high qual-
14.5 Comparative Analysis ity of life to their citizens. Papua New Guinea, in
contrast, has a fragile parliamentary system, a
As mentioned in Sect. 1, the most highly regarded largely dysfunctional society, a poor economy
index of comparative objective life quality due in large part to the poor use of resources, and
between nations is the HDI (Table 14.1) (United low quality of life.
Nations Development Programme 2010), pub- In final confirmation of the poor international
lished as a series since 1990 by the UNDP. It com- standing of Papua New Guinea, the comprehen-
bines four national indicators: life expectancy at sive objective Index of Social Progress has been
birth, mean years of schooling and expected years applied globally by Estes (2010) covering the
of schooling (combined), and gross national period since 1970. This index reports the extent
income per capita. A nonincome index also mea- to which the world’s nations are succeeding in
sures the extent to which a country is efficiently their social and economic development objec-
using its income for advancement of life expec- tives. It comprises 41 indicators divided into 10
subindexes: Education, Health Status, Women

90

80

70
Life Expectancy

Australia
New Zealand
60
Papua New Guinea
Maori

50 Indigenous Australians

40

30
1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011

Fig. 14.16  Life expectancy of five population groups of Health and Welfare 2011a; Statistics New Zealand
within the Oceania region, 1961–2011 (Data from 2011; World Bank 2014c)
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2010a; Australian Institute
480 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

Status, Defense Effort, Economic, Demographic, tional occupation until 1975. Yet, despite these
Environmental, Social Chaos, Cultural Diversity, separate conditions of national inclusion, the
and Welfare Effort. Although the index score for indigenous peoples of both countries seem cur-
Papua New Guinea increased over the period rently to share approximately the same levels of
2000–2009, its ranking hardly changed, moving disadvantage in comparison with the general
from 134th to 131st out of the 162 countries population of their lands. Clearly, positive dis-
rated. crimination and special assistance to these peo-
This chapter has established a reliable picture ple are required but what form these measures
of two first-world countries, both ranking high on should take is unclear.
all indicators of life quality, and one country that The most obvious solutions involve the pro-
is at the bottom end of the quality-of-life scale. vision of higher per capita government expen-
However, it has also established that within both diture. These expenditures are ongoing in
Australia and New Zealand there are indigenous Australia and have been previously described.
people who are much less advantaged, many of Clearly, however, additional government expen-
whom have living conditions little different from diture has not solved the problem. An addi-
those of the people in Papua New Guinea. Their tional major initiative was instituted in 2007.
disadvantage is also evident in their lower rates Lawyer and Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson
of life expectancy compared to those of the gen- supported a set of simultaneous interventions to
eral populations of Australian and New Zealand be applied to 36 dysfunctional remote
(Fig. 14.16). In fact, in 2000, Australia had one of Aboriginal communities. These included com-
the world’s worst life expectancy gaps between pulsory management of Aboriginal people’s
indigenous and nonindigenous people (United income, the deployment of police and health
Nations Development Programme 2004), which workers, and a ban on alcohol. It did not work.
was first recognized by the Australian In 2009, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, a respected
Government in 2008. elder and spokesman for the involved commu-
These discrepancies in quality of life nities, said of the intervention “It is now 3 years
between indigenous and nonindigenous popu- old but it hasn’t made Aboriginal people any
lations are harder to understand historically in richer or healthier or happier, “he said”. It is
New Zealand than in Australia. In New really and truly dragging people down to create
Zealand, the tribes showed an early level of more misery. … Let’s start again” (ABC News
unity in signing the Treaty of Waitangi, and, in 2009).
1893, New Zealand recognized unrestricted For the New Zealand Māori, recent interven-
universal suffrage for all people regardless of tions have targeted family violence, which is a
race. Moreover, the treaty confirms Māori cus- major problem, described (Dobbs and Eruera
tomary title (recognizes that when a state 2014) as an epidemic. The authors outline the
acquires sovereignty over another country, the Mauri Ora framework for interventions devel-
preexisting rights of the indigenous population oped by Māori practitioners. This framework is
remain) to the land. Even though this recogni- founded in a Māori worldview using Māori cul-
tion was widely abused, as has been described, tural values, beliefs, and practices to address
the fact of the principle remained and was reaf- violence. Within this framework, mauri ora has
firmed in 1993. been defined as one of a number of Māori terms
In Australia the situation was very different. for well-being/wellness of both the collective
Although Australia enacted “universal” suffrage and the individual. It is regarded as the mainte-
in 1902, their indigenous people were excluded. nance of balance between wairu (spiritual well-
Aboriginal people were not given universal vot- being), hinengaro, (intellectual well-being),
ing rights until 1965. Aboriginal people were ngākau (emotional well-being), and tinana
only included in the census from 1967 and could (physical well-being). Although evidence for
not claim rights to land on the basis of tradi- the efficacy of this form of intervention appears
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 481

to be anecdotal at this time, at least the frame- impede national progress. Whether a strong
work provides practitioners with a culturally leader or a nationally uniting event will bring
valid approach to the reduction of family these people together with a sense of national
violence. purpose remains to be seen. In the meantime,
It addition to its indigenous population, each social and economic progress will be slow.
country contains many other disadvantaged On the bright side, Papua New Guinea is mak-
groups. The largest of these groups is represented ing significant gains in quality of life. It has
by people who have a disability. The final issue to enjoyed several years of positive economic
be addressed is what measures are being taken to growth—over 6 % per year since 2007. The coun-
advance the quality of life of these people. try has rich mineral resources that can generate
In terms of whole-population initiatives, the much needed revenue, thus enhancing the eco-
grandest program in recent years is without nomic well-being of much of the population. The
doubt the Australian National Disability potential for a surge in economic well-being is
Insurance Scheme. Financed by a new direct there and should be realized given the right insti-
tax on the whole population, the scheme tutional conditions. Although the health and
directly funds “reasonable and necessary sup- safety statistics of Papua New Guinea show poor
port” for people with significant and perma- health conditions relative to Australia and New
nent disability “to assist them to reach their Zealand and to much of the rest of the world, they
goals, objectives and aspirations.” This scheme also show a semblance of progress. Health and
encompasses inclusion and access to main- safety have increased over the years and are likely
stream services and community-­based activi- to continue to increase. For example, the infant
ties, which are regarded by the National mortality rate has decreased significantly over the
Disability Insurance Scheme as “a shared last three decades. Expenditures on health care
responsibility.” The scheme began on a trial services are on the rise. Life expectancy is also
basis in 2013, and an evaluation of the trial increasing. The challenges related to the eradica-
commenced in February 2014. tion of malaria and HIV/AIDS are great but not
The New Zealand Disability Strategy was insurmountable. Papua New Guinea has made
launched on 30 April 2001. It is a vision for a significant progress in education: Literacy rates
society that highly values the lives of and con- have climbed steadily between 2000 and 2012.
tinually enhances the full participation of dis- Australia and New Zealand have many posi-
abled people. It provides a framework to guide tive features and few negative ones. On the posi-
government agencies making policy and services tive side, most economic indicators (e.g.,
that impact disabled people. However, at this unemployment, labor force participation among
stage, the strategy appears to be more advisory the indigenous population) point to significant
and aspirational than one taking direct action. gains. The same can be said about health and
education well-being. Life expectancy has
increased significantly in both countries, even in
14.6 Conclusion relation to the indigenous population. Health
care expenditures also increased. The student
The contrast between Australia and New Zeal retention rates in both Australia and New
and Papua New Guinea and could not be more Zealand have gone up, even with respect to their
profound. Although Australia and New Zealand indigenous people. The data paint a very positive
have amply fulfilled Burton’s 1621 prophesy of quality-­of-life picture for these two societies.
yielding “some flourishing Kingdoms to suc-
ceeding ages,” Papua New Guinea could not be Acknowledgment We express our deep gratitude to
so described. The reason for its failure to capital- Professor Joseph Sirgy and Professor Richard Estes,
whose insightful assistance facilitated the production of
ize on its abundant natural resources is social. It this chapter. We also acknowledge the expert assistance of
has too many tribes with too many cultures, Ann-Marie James and Pamela Fried in chapter editing and
whose history of internecine warfare continues to formatting.
482 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

Supplemental Tables
Supplemental Table 14.1 Demography
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Demography
REGION: Oceania (N=3)
Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban
2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
Australia 10.3 15.8 22.0 23.5 2.3 1.4 1.6 1.6 81.5 85.5 88.7 89.3
New 2.4 3.2 4.4 4.5 1.7 0.6 1.1 1.5 76.0 83.7 86.2 86.3
Zealand
Papua New 2.0 3.7 6.9 7.5 1.7 2.6 2.3 2.1 3.7 14.0 13.0 13.0
Guinea
Regional 4.9 7.6 11.1 11.8 1.9 1.5 1.6 1.7 53.8 61.0 62.6 62.8
Average
Population: Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of
legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally
considered part of the population of their country of origin. The values shown are midyear estimates
% Population growth rate: Population growth (annual %) is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from
year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage
% Urban: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated
using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
i World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.
ZS
j World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.
ZS
k World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.
ZS
l World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.
IN.ZS
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania 483

Supplemental Table 14.2 Education
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Education
REGION: Oceania (N=3)
% Secondary school enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education
2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
Australia 130.8 135.8 27.8 79.8 88.5
New 83.7 119.1 118.6 32.1 82.6 79.0
Zealand
Papua New 11.5 40.2 40.2 62.9 62.9 1.5 1.9
Guinea
Regional 47.6 96.7 98.2 62.9 62.9 20.5 81.2 56.5
Average
% Secondary school enrollment: Gross enrollment ratio. Secondary. All programs. Total is the total enrollment in sec-
ondary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population of official secondary education age.
GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school
entrance and grade repetition
% Adult literacy: Adult (15+) literacy rate (%). Total is the percentage of the population age 15 and above who can, with
understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses
‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of
literates aged 15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100
% Tertiary education: Gross enrollment ratio. Tertiary (ISCED 5 and 6). Total is the total enrollment in tertiary educa-
tion (ISCED 5 and 6), regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the total population of the five-year age group
following on from secondary school leaving
a
b World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute
for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
c World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute
for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
d World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute
for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
e
f World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. UNESCO
Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
g World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. UNESCO
Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
h World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. UNESCO
Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
i
j World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. UNESCO Institute
for Statistics.http://data.uis.unesco.org/
k World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. UNESCO Institute
for Statistics.http://data.uis.unesco.org/
l World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. UNESCO Institute
for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
 484

Supplemental Table 14.3 Health
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Health
REGION: Oceania (N=3)
Avg. years life Maternal mortality
expectancy Infant <1/1k live born Child mortality <5/1K rate TB incidence per 100k
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t
Australia 70.8 75.6 81.7 82.2 20.4 9.3 4.0 3.4 24.9 11.3 4.8 4.0 52.5 4.4 5.0 6.0 6.9 6.0 6.2
New 71.2 73.8 80.7 81.4 22.6 11.3 5.3 5.2 27.9 13.8 6.4 6.3 38.2 13.5 12.0 8.0 11.1 9.5 7.3
Zealand
Papua 38.5 54.9 62.0 62.4 134.3 70.0 50.7 47.3 199.8 96.9 66.7 61.4 58.1 240.0 220.0 93.9 355.0 347.0
New
Guinea
Regional 60.2 68.1 74.8 75.3 59.1 30.2 20.0 18.6 84.2 40.7 26.0 23.9 45.4 25.4 85.7 78.0 37.3 123.5 120.2
Average
Avg. years life expectancy: Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to
stay the same throughout its life.
Infant <1/1k live born: Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching 1 year of age, per 1000 live births in a given year.
Child mortality <5/1K: Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age 5, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the
specified year.
Maternal mortality rate: Maternal mortality rate is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per
100,000 live births. The data are estimated with a regression model using information on the proportion of maternal deaths among non-AIDS deaths in women ages 15–49, fertil-
ity, birth attendants, and GDP.
TB incidence per 100k: Incidence of tuberculosis is the estimated number of new pulmonary, smear positive, and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis cases. Incidence includes patients
with HIV.
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN

f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
i World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
j World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
k World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
l World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
m http://www.gapminder.org/data/documentation/gd010/
n http://www.gapminder.org/data/documentation/gd010/
o World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
p World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
q http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/
r http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/
s World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania

t World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD

485
 486

Supplemental Table 14.4 Income
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Income
REGION: Oceania (N=3)
GDP (Billions of constant 2005 Gini or other measure of wealth
USD) PCGDP (constant 2005 USD) % Growth in GDP disparity
2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p
Australia 138.8 351.6 797.0 888.6 13510.6 22313.1 36175.1 37828.3 2.4 5.2 2.0 2.5 32.5 32.5
New 67.6 121.2 129.7 20807.3 27856.4 29201.1 1.6 1.4 2.5
Zealand
Papua 1.0 2.8 6.5 8.2 528.4 751.6 947.5 1120.6 6.2 4.0 7.7 5.5
New
Guinea
Regional 69.9 140.6 308.2 342.2 7019.5 14624.0 21659.7 22716.7 4.3 3.6 3.7 3.5 32.5 #/0! 32.5
Average
GDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP at purchaser's prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies
not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.
Data are in constant 2005 USD. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic currencies using 2005 official exchange rates. For a few countries where the official
exchange rate does not reflect the rate effectively applied to actual foreign exchange transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used
PCGDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP per capita is gross domestic product divided by midyear population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the
economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets
or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars
% Growth in GDP: Annual percentage growth rate of GDP at market prices based on constant local currency. Aggregates are based on constant 2005 U.S. dollars. GDP is the
sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated
without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources
GINI or other measure of wealth disparity: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption expenditure among individuals or households
R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of
recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed
as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality
a World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
b World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
c World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
d World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
e World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
f World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
g World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
h World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
i World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
j World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
k World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
l World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
14  The History of Well-Being in Oceania

m
n World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
o World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
p World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
487
488 R.A. Cummins and T. Capic

Supplemental Table 14.5  Subjective well-being

SOCIAL INDICATORS: Subjective well-being
REGION: Oceania (N=3)
World Values Survey (WVS), 1981-2014
WVS 1 WVS 2 WVS 3 WVS 4 WVS 5 WVS 6
Country 1981-84 1990-04 1995-98 1999-04 2005-09 2010-14
Source a b c d e f
Australia 7.9 7.6 7.3 7.2
New Zealand 7.7 7.9 7.7
Papua New
Guinea
Regional Average 7.9 7.6 7.6 7.4
Mean life satisfaction: Averaged value of responses to the following survey question: All things considered, how satis-
fied are you with your life as a whole these days? Using this card on which 1 means you are “completely dissatisfied”
and 10 means you are “completely satisfied” where would you put your satisfaction with your life as a whole?
a WVS 1 1981–84: V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
b WVS 2 1990–04: V96.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
c WVS 3 1995–98: V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
d WVS 4 1999–04: V81.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
e WVS 5 2005–09: V22.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
f WVS 6 2010–14: V23.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?

Islander peoples. ABS cat. no. 4704.0. Canberra:

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Group, World Development Indicators. http://data. Springer.
worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN. Accessed
13 Jan 2016.
 Well-Being in the Transition
Economies of the Successor States 15
of the Former Soviet Union:
The Challenges of Change

Carol Graham and Aurite Werman

Sukhov went off to sleep, and he was completely content. Fate had been kind in many
ways that day; he hadn’t been put in the cells, the gang had not been sent to the Socialist
Community Center, he’d fiddled himself an extra bowl of porridge for dinner …. the day
had gone by without a single cloud—almost a happy day. There were three thousand six
hundred and fifty-three days like that in his sentence, from reveille to lights out. The three
extra days were because of the leap years. —Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life
of Ivan Denisovich
(Malouf 2011: 4)

15.1 Introduction Central planning brought varying degrees of

political repression, with the extreme described
We examine well-being trends in the context of in the preceding quote, but also, for most citizens,
turbulent economic and political change in tran- universal guarantees of social services and eco-
sition and posttransition economies of the Eastern nomic security. With the transition, these coun-
Bloc, defined here as the countries in Central and tries experienced a fundamental restructuring of
Eastern Europe (CEE) and those of the former their economic, political, and social welfare sys-
Soviet Union (FSU) that had centrally planned tems, which led to unprecedented changes in the
economies and socialist governments or were lives of most citizens.
part of the former Soviet bloc before 1989.1 Although all of these countries experienced
decades of centrally planned economies and
political repression, they brought very different
The transition countries of the former USSR are Albania,
1 

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, histories and institutional compositions to the
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Soviet era. The Eastern European countries had a
Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, longer term trajectory of markets and democracy
Lithuania, Macedonia FYR, Moldova, Mongolia,
and a shared cultural history with Europe. The
Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation,
Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Tajikistan, countries of the former Russian empire, mean-
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. Posttransition coun- while, had little experience with democracy prior
tries are the eleven CEE member states that joined the EU to the Soviet period, although they were fairly
between 2004 and 2013 (EU-11): Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech
sophisticated economically. Many of the coun-
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,
Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Although Croatia joined tries of Central Asia entered the Soviet period
the EU in 2013, we did not include it as an EU country in with underdeveloped states and markets, and
our calculations because we only have data through 2011. some were pastoral and even nomadic societies,
C. Graham (*) • A. Werman as in the case of Mongolia. Not surprisingly,
Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA these different experiences and economic and
e-mail: [email protected];
political trajectories resulted in very different
[email protected]

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 493

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_15
494 C. Graham and A. Werman

outcomes, both under central planning and dur- tend to run in the same direction, yet there are, at
ing the transition. times, differences between them (discussed in
These different histories and vast internal detail below).
diversity were made more complex by borders This chapter covers the period from the 1980s
that were drawn only recently. They were all through 2012 and uses data from a number of
influenced by the shared experience with sources, including the World Development
Communist governments and central planning. Indicators, the World Values Survey, the Gallup
Yet, because of their different starting points and World Poll, and the Life in Transition Survey
different levels of prior experience with markets (LiTS). Our analytical approach is based in the
and democracy, they entered the transition pro- new science of well-being. Scholars from a range
cess with different institutional capacities. For of disciplines, including economics and psychol-
the most part, as we demonstrate, the countries ogy, are now using well-being metrics to explore
that had had market economies and democratic the effects of environmental, institutional, and
government in the past—and that were also more policy variables on well-being.
closely linked to Europe—fared much better dur- We are, of course, attempting to draw broad
ing the transition, although there were winners conclusions about a tremendously diverse group
and losers within them. A theme of this chapter is of countries, and we will inevitably miss impor-
the vast differences in outcomes, both across tant differences across specific countries. To
countries and the individuals within them and the make more meaningful comparisons, we split the
extent to which these differences are reflected in transition countries into two groups: European
well-being indicators. Union (EU) and non-EU, the broad assumption
Although they are diverse and in different being that those that have been accepted in the
countries, the vast majority of citizens lived in EU have made more complete economic and
societies that lacked political and economic free- political transitions.2
doms but provided guaranteed access to basic
public goods, such as health and education, and
universal, if not always fulfilling, employment to 15.2 T
 he Transition: Why the Past
all citizens. The transition to market economies Matters to the Future
and political freedom was as abrupt as it was dra-
matic, and those countries that had prior experi- 15.2.1 A Varied Experience
ence with markets and democracy were in a
better position to manage it, whereas the particu- The transition experience—e.g., the transition
larly vulnerable groups within all countries, such from centrally planned economies and polities to
as the elderly, had the most difficult time coping. free markets and democratic governments—var-
The effects of these complex changes on the ied a great deal, both across and within countries,
lives of ordinary citizens are reflected in both and there were clear “winners” and “losers” in
objective indicators of economic progress, such the process. The trends during the transition are
as gross national product (GNP) per capita, stark. Economic growth was consistently nega-
income inequality, and unemployment rates and tive in the region as a whole from 1989 until 1996
in subjective well-being metrics, such as life sat- (Milanović 1998). Mortality rates increased in all
isfaction and satisfaction with jobs, standard of
living, and public goods. The latter metrics The EU countries in this analysis are Bulgaria, Czech
2 

attempt to measure the various dimensions of Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,
Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Although Croatia
well-being that extend beyond income. We pro-
joined the EU in 2013, we did not include it as an EU
vide, to the extent we can, an analysis of both. country in the calculations because we only had data
Objective and subjective indicators of progress through 2011.
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former… 495

countries except the Czech Republic and Slovakia Although income and consumption measures
(Cornia 1994), especially among men aged improved by the end of the 1990s and people
15–54. The total number of the poor (using the gained rights and freedoms, many residents of
$4/day purchasing power parity (PPP)-adjusted transition countries remained dissatisfied.
poverty line) increased from 14 million people in According to data from the European Bank for
1987–1988 to more than 168 million in 1993– Reconstruction and Development for 2006, only
1995 (from 4 % to 45 % of the population) 25 % of respondents agreed with the statement
(Milanović 1998). that the economic situation in their country was
In terms of subjective well-being (and again better in 2006 than in 1989 (Guriev and
the pretransition data are spotty), residents of the Zhuravskaya 2009). Public opinion surveys in
Russian Federation reported lower levels than the 2000s documented an emergent “communist
those of developing countries such as India and nostalgia” in CEE, i.e., a positive evaluation of
Nigeria as early as these indicators were recorded, the socialist economic system and an approval of
in 1982. By the 1990s, subjective well-being lev- the return of communist rule, especially among
els fell to even more unprecedented levels; in older respondents and in the FSU countries, for
fact, they fell to the world’s lowest levels ever example, Ukraine and the Central Asian coun-
recorded (Inglehart et al. 2013). World Values tries, as opposed to the CEE (Ekman and Linde
Survey data for a few transition countries sug- 2005). This finding is reflected in our empirical
gested that life satisfaction was higher in the results.
1980s than it was in 1990s (Easterlin 2009).
Easterlin (2009) also noted an increase in anomie
in the period leading up to the transition (1978– 15.2.2 Starting on the Path
1990) and then an increase in mental stress Toward Reform
between the 1980s and 1990s, as the transition
progressed. The transition from command to market econ-
Although many deprivations occurred in the omy was an enormous undertaking for all of the
pretransition period, with lack of freedom being FSU countries. The highly centralized socialist
paramount among them, there were also signifi- economic system had focused on full employ-
cant securities that enhanced well-being, such as ment, price controls, and gross production at the
guaranteed employment and universally avail- cost of efficient allocation of labor and capital,
able social safety nets (e.g., social welfare and innovation, and the growth of enterprise. The
social support systems) (Milanović 1998). These political discourse that accompanied the fall of
securities were disrupted if not destroyed by the the Soviet Union called for democracy and a cap-
transition. At the same time, it is unlikely that the italist economy governed by protection of private
picture would have been better had the increas- property and a sound legal framework. Shortly
ingly stretched centrally planned system after 1989, the CEE nations in particular had in
remained in place. The dramatic changes of the mind a model for their future economies and
time were driven by broad public momentum that sought to emulate the economies of their Western
stemmed from public frustration and unhappi- neighbors. Others, such as the pastoral societies
ness with the state of things under central of Central Asia, had neither the education nor the
planning.3 social or technical skills that would have made

Citizens of the FSU expressed significantly lower levels

3 
percentage of citizens who supported the transition regime
of support for the successor regimes throughout the trans- over time. Among the CEE regimes, support increased
formation, however. On average, only 32 % of FSU slowly through 1995 and then fell back to initial levels in
respondents expressed positive support for the new regime 1998. Russia was slightly different, with a big increase in
across the transition to date, compared with an average of support from 1991 to 1994 and relatively steady support
60 % for CEE respondents. For the three FSU regimes, thereafter (with a spike at the time of the 1997 presidential
there was a modest, but generally steady, increase in the elections [Mishler and Rose 1997: 324]).
496 C. Graham and A. Werman

them EU-eligible nor the cultural and historical quality framework for a market economy and
affinity with Europe that would have fostered address inflation, budget deficits, privatization,
interest in joining the EU. and monetary expansion. Its proponents argued
Thus not all countries were equally positioned that gradualism would avoid the extreme pain of
to take on the reforms required for success in the shock therapy, or in some cases, that gradualism
new era of markets and democracies as they could help retain the more appealing tenets of
began the transition. The outcomes reveal a great socialism, such as the substantial social safety net.
deal of related path dependency and reflect coun-
tries’ initial endowments; their choice of and
commitment to policy reforms; and their ability 15.2.3 Reform in Action
to implement them.
There were three clear groups of countries, The most problematic of the reforms undertaken
with some heterogeneity among them. The first simultaneously were deregulation and inflation.
are those referenced above, the CEE countries Deregulation was made difficult and complicated
that wanted to “return” to Europe, to which they by the wealthy and politically connected who
historically belonged. The second were the truly sought to take advantage of the international arbi-
Soviet countries: Russia, Ukraine, and the close trage opportunities that state-owned enterprises
neighbors, who had little tradition of either mar- offered. Stakes in state-owned enterprises
kets or democracy. They were the most domi- throughout the FSU were concentrated in the
nated by central planning but also had reasonable hands of a few. Meanwhile, 13 countries experi-
resource endowments. The third set of coun- enced hyperinflations in the 1990s that were
tries—which includes the countries in Central exacerbated by the perception that transition
Asia—was the furthest away from either Europe economies needed to maintain the same social
or Russia (both in distance and in shared experi- benefits that they had become accustomed to and
ence). They not only lacked a tradition of democ- perhaps to increase public spending in order to
racy and market economies but also had entered better align with Western European nations.
into the Soviet central planning period with the Stabilization is a rocky process, and, as of the
challenges faced by typical underdeveloped 1990s, was achieved only by Central Europe and
economies. As such, they had even greater obsta- the Baltic states. Poland and Estonia successfully
cles to overcome when they entered the transition stabilized by fixing their currencies or adopting a
process. Not surprisingly, their situation remains currency board, as did Bulgaria and Lithuania.
the most precarious. Reform followed a much messier trajectory in the
The return to Europe for the first set of coun- nations that were not embraced by the EU and
tries was facilitated by the fact that the EU that eventually formed the Commonwealth of
embraced and guided policy for the Central Independent States. Nations like Ukraine and
European states, the Baltics, and eventually, Kazakhstan, perceived by the EU as non-Western
Romania and Bulgaria. It was clear from the out- and perhaps export threats, did not receive the
set that these countries wanted market economies same financial or policy assistance that nations
and democracies and would do their utmost to like Poland and Slovenia did. Other countries in
rejoin the West. Poland, the Czech Republic, the FSU experienced currency crises brought on
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania underwent radical by enormous public debt (hyperinflation had
shifts to the market—e.g., “shock therapy.” They reduced state revenues in some instances). Russia
liberalized prices, reduced budget deficits, unified experienced a financial crisis that culminated in
exchange rates, and implemented extensive and at the devaluation of the ruble, and Bulgaria experi-
times controversial privatization of state enter- enced a crisis stemming from its faltering finan-
prises. Hungary, southeast Europe, and most of cial sector.
the FSU undertook more slowly paced reforms. Three transition paths emerge among the tran-
Through gradual reform, they sought to build a sition economies: market democracies with sub-
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former… 497

stantial private ownership (Poland and the Czech prior to the transition, and we do not know what
Republic), market economies still bogged down would have happened in the absence of this
by bureaucracy (Bulgaria and Ukraine), and dic- deterioration. Pre-1989 data are either nonexis-
tatorships (Belarus, Turkmenistan, and tent or untrustworthy (Lipton et al. 1990). Some
Uzbekistan) in which public ownership and state indicators exist, ranging from trends in life
control are central features. Both Anders Åslund expectancy to rates of alcoholism. These indica-
(2007) and Branko Milanović (1998) highlighted tors then worsened during the initial years of
the extent to which the postcommunist countries transition.
experienced, with a few exceptions, some of the
most dramatic increases in inequality seen since
it has been accurately measured. In addition to 15.3.1 Economic Trends
the dramatic nature of the transitions, part of this
change was due to the fact that pretransition The economic trends for the transition economies
inequality was at low levels that were not com- speak for themselves. In 1996, overall gross
patible with market systems with incentives for domestic product (GDP) was about 80 % of its
productivity and innovation.4 1987 level in Eastern Europe and about 60 % of
As privatization created enormous wealth for its 1987 level in the FSU, but it recovered in the
a few, real average income declined for the major- late 1990s, with the extent of the recovery vary-
ity of the population, especially in Russia. Most ing a great deal across countries (Milanović
countries went from zero unemployment to rates 1998). As with many indicators, the recovery in
that resembled those in developing economies at the EU group of countries was much more com-
the same time that public benefits were being cut plete than in the non-EU group (Fig. 15.1).
dramatically. In contrast, the Central European Although GDP recovered, meanwhile, income
countries that most closely mirrored the EU inequality, which widened significantly (from
enjoyed relatively lower levels of income inequal- artificially low levels), remained at much higher
ity and lower unemployment, more closely levels than it was before. As in the case of GDP
resembling European levels. These nations, trends, those countries that started the process
including Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and better endowed and that had a longer trajectory of
Slovakia, were, for the most part, able to main- markets and democracy prior to the Soviet period
tain the egalitarian income distribution they had fared much better (Fig. 15.2).
had before the transition. The costs of transition in terms of reduced
output and increased unemployment were enor-
mous, as were the social costs of transition to a
15.3 Objective Trends market economy. The state sector had employed
and Indicators 90 % of the labor force in many FSU countries,
and its shrinkage had obvious effects on unem-
In comparing trends pre- and posttransition, we ployment (Milanović 1998).
suffer from the absence of counteracts. In other
words, the economic and political situations
were deteriorating in many of these countries 15.3.2 Social Welfare Indicators

Perhaps the most dramatic trend was in the struc-

The pretransition economies lacked what Birdsall and
4 

Graham (1999) have called “constructive inequality,” ture of the social welfare system. Free health
which is that which rewards work, effort, and productivity care, education, and childcare, distributed via
and innovation. This type of inequality is distinct from state sector employment, were all reduced sharply
“destructive inequality,” which is defined as levels of
inequality that are so high and persistent that they discour-
following the initiation of the transition, as were
age savings, effort, and investments in the future by the pensions and wages for the state-sector employ-
poor. ees who remained. The unemployed no longer
 498 C. Graham and A. Werman

1990 1999
7.5 7.5
Slovenia

7.0 Czech 7.0 Czech

Republic Republic
Slovakia

Mean Life Sasfacon

Mean Life Sasfacon

6.5 Poland 6.5

Poland
Lithuania
Slovenia Hungary Slovakia
6.0 6.0
Estonia Latvia
Estonia
Romania Hungary Bulgaria
5.5 5.5
Russia Lithuania
Belarus
Romania
Latvia
5.0 5.0
Bulgaria
Belarus Russia

4.5 4.5
0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35
Income Inequality Income Inequality
EU Non-EU

Fig. 15.1  Real per capita GDP growth in the transition power parity (constant 2005 international dollars). Data
economies of the nation-states of the former Eastern Bloc, are not available for all countries for all years (Data from
1981–2012. The per capita growth variable is calculated World Bank 2014)
using gross domestic product per capita and purchasing

45
40
35
30
Gini Index

25
20
15
10
5
0
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011

EU Non-EU

Fig. 15.2  Income inequality in the transition economies of the nation-states of the former Eastern Bloc, 1985–2011.
Data are not available for all countries for all years (Data from World Bank 2013, 2014)
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former… 499

received the government pensions or family Russia on the other, for example, or between
allowances they had previously enjoyed and had vibrant economies in Poland and the Czech
to seek out whatever benefits were available—a Republic, and stagnating and incomplete transi-
huge normative departure. This change created tions in Ukraine, Belarus, and the “stans,” is
perverse incentives to remain in unproductive remarkable. Civil society, meanwhile, was sorely
and nonlucrative state-sector jobs, where avail- underdeveloped because many countries had no
able, in order to avoid the loss of health and other recent experience with political participation or
benefits. This practice, in turn, slowed the transi- free press, among other things.
tion process, limited productivity, and served as a Societies accustomed to having universally
drain on fiscal resources in some countries, par- available and state-provided services were ill-­
ticularly Russia and Ukraine (Eggers et al. 2006; equipped for a shift that required much more
Gaddy and Ickes 2002). individual initiative to receive access to social
Indeed, one of the most marked features of the welfare benefits (Graham 1994, 1998). The
transition is the large number of people—and reduction in quality and size of socialist pro-
indeed countries—that remain stuck in what grams across the board led to a tangible loss of
Clifford Gaddy and Barry Ickes have famously welfare. Mortality and morbidity increased sub-
termed the “virtual economy,” stuck between stantially in some cases, particularly in the FSU
state and market, in a system that depends on (Fig. 15.3). Direct subsidies and social transfers
central government revenues and barter between had been allocated disproportionately to the
public enterprises and their employees. The impoverished and had done a great deal to equal-
divergence between vibrant cities such as ize the income distribution, although the effects
Moscow and St. Petersburg on the one hand, and were not uniform across the countries, depending
Perm and Koryak Okrug in Siberia (which has on the structure of transfers (Milanović 1998)
the lowest population density in Russia) in rural (Fig. 15.4).

Azerbaijan 4.52 17.44 78.05

Tajikistan 4.70 25.68 69.62
Kazakhstan 6.37 16.09 77.53
Belarus 8.51 35.74 55.74
Estonia 8.65 29.78 61.57
Uzbekistan 13.43 19.62 66.95
Latvia 14.32 40.42 45.26
Armenia 17.11 35.74 47.15
Overall 21.76 32.13 46.11
Russia 23.27 39.30 37.42
Georgia 25.49 31.56 42.95
Moldova 25.98 46.57 27.46
Kyrgyzstan 28.23 47.57 24.20
Lithuania 29.70 46.73 23.57
Slovenia 41.99 14.42 43.58
Slovakia 42.32 27.28 30.40
Ukraine 49.51 32.71 17.79

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Worse Same Beer

Fig. 15.3  Life expectancy at birth in the transition economies of the nation-states of the former Eastern Bloc, 1980–
2011. Data are not available for all countries for all years (Data from World Bank 2014)
500 C. Graham and A. Werman

55%

50%

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%
1991

1993

1995

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010
1990

1992

1994

1996
1997
1998
1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011
EU Non-EU

Fig. 15.4  Social contributions (% of revenue) in the transition economies of the nation-states of the former Eastern
Bloc, 1990–2011. Data are not available for all countries for all years (Data from World Bank 2014)

We saw major differences in health trajecto- enced considerable declines in the late 1990s, to
ries across our various groups of countries as about 5 years in 2000, largely because of steady
well. EU member states converged to their deterioration in male mortality rates (Fig. 15.3).
Western counterparts across indicators whereas Life expectancy for Russian men dropped to
FSU states stagnated or fell behind (though roughly 50 years of age.
Russia and Ukraine began to converge in the late The transition from socialism also altered
1990s). The Baltic States, meanwhile, initially family structures in the FSU. The command
followed a trajectory resembling that of Russia economy had encouraged high labor participa-
but subsequently sustained continued improve- tion of both men and women and had encour-
ments in general health indicators (Nolte et al. aged families to have children by offering
2004). The situation remains far more difficult sizable family allowances, free childcare, and
among the members of the Commonwealth of education. With the loss of many of these soci-
Independent States, with some countries experi- etal constructs, accompanied by burgeoning
encing a reversal in life expectancy. unemployment, women often transitioned from
In all industrialized countries, men have a paying jobs to domestic work and childcare.
lower life expectancy than women but the differ- Fertility rates fell concurrently (Milanović
ence is much larger in this set of countries. In 1998) (Fig. 15.5).
addition, whereas in the countries of the EU Investments in education made considerable
gender-­related differences appear to have nar- progress under communism, particularly for
rowed in recent years, to just over 6 years in those countries in the Soviet Union that were the
2000, the FSU saw a further increase in the late least developed. Between 1950 and 1990, the
1990s, following substantial fluctuations since percentage of the population in the FSU with no
the mid-1980s, to 11 years in 2000. This last schooling fell rapidly, with the largest change
increase was, however, driven mainly by the occurring in the east. Those countries with stron-
recent reversal in mortality trends in Russia and gest ties to communism began with an unedu-
Ukraine, whereas the Caucasus countries experi- cated populace of over 35 %, compared to 16 %
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former… 501

3.5

3.0
Ferlity Rate

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0
1980
1981

1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996

2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988

1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
EU Non-EU

Fig. 15.5  Fertility rates in the transition economies of the are not available for all countries for all years. (Data from
nation-states of the former Eastern Bloc, 1980–2011. World Bank 2014)
Total fertility rate equals average births per woman. Data

in their western Soviet Union counterparts. By Women were disproportionately and adversely
1990, the percentage of the population with no affected by the consequences of transition, espe-
schooling in the eastern Soviet Union had fallen cially by unemployment and underemployment.
to below 10 % (Figs. 15.6). The loss of maternal and childcare benefits and the
With the fall of the Soviet Union, education deterioration of social safety nets reduced their
became more expensive and less accessible for a ability to participate in the labor force, in govern-
majority of the population; at the same time, the ment, and in political parties (Ishkanian 2004).
economic returns from acquiring an education, The gender-driven discrepancy in outcomes was,
and especially higher education, rose consider- however, gradually reduced over the course of the
ably. As the pay differential between low-skilled transition (Slay 2009). The elderly in the FSU suf-
and high-skilled laborers grew, the marginal ben- fered similarly from a decline in or loss of pen-
efit from attaining a higher level of education sions, which increased the incidence of poverty. It
grew as well. was also more difficult for them to adjust to eco-
nomic hardship due to their more limited capacity
to adapt (Bezemer 2006), their physical frailty, and
15.3.3 Vulnerable Groups their status outside of the labor force. Partly due to
the decline in family allowances and health bene-
The transition from market to socialist economy fits, children were even more likely to fall into
was particularly difficult for marginalized groups chronic poverty than were the elderly, particularly
in the FSU, including women, the elderly, the in those FSU states further east (Slay 2009).
very young, and the “new poor.” Although there In addition to the suffering of traditional dis-
was also likely a differential in how “first peo- advantaged groups in the early 1990s, the eco-
ples” in particular countries fared, we cannot nomic transition also created a “new poor,”
define and identify a consistent set of “first peo- consisting of farm workers and petty traders;
ples” across this wide set of countries. public servants in sectors such as education,
502 C. Graham and A. Werman

7
6.30
6.08 5.98
6
5.47 5.36 5.48
5.13
5 4.58

0
1989-1993 1994-1999 1999-2004 2005-2007
EU Non-EU

Fig. 15.6  Percentage of population with no schooling in the nation-states of the former Eastern Bloc, 1950–2010. Data
are not available for all countries for all years (Data from Barro and Lee 2010, 2014)

health, science and the arts; youth with no work 15.4 Subjective Well-Being Trends
experience; and the internally displaced (Slay
2009). Although Jews had seen an increase in We address the two distinct dimensions of sub-
grassroots anti-Semitic sentiment during the last jective well-being where possible in our empiri-
years of the Soviet Union, by 1991 the status of cal analysis. Hedonic well-being assesses the
Soviet Jews changed drastically. Those willing to way in which people experience their daily lives
flee the economic instability of the transition and the quality of their lives. Evaluative well-­
emigrated to Israel—vast numbers of Jews from being metrics capture how people think of their
Russia and Ukraine in particular did so in the lives as a whole (Stone and Mackie 2013). This
early 1990s—whereas others could not and lost a dimension implicitly includes Aristotle’s view of
sense of community in places that experienced a happiness as people’s capacities to lead purpose-
mass exodus (Trier 1996). ful or fulfilling lives.
The different fates of the wide range of other A large number of studies, including those by
minority groups throughout the region, from the Graham (2009, 2011b), found remarkable consis-
Roma in the Eastern European countries, to the tency in the determinants of happiness (evalua-
separatist movements in Chechnya, are too tive well-being) around the world, in countries as
diverse to discuss comprehensively. Minorities in different as Afghanistan and Sweden. Within
some countries experienced more freedom, eco- countries, income influences happiness, but only
nomic opportunity, and higher levels of life satis- so much after basic needs are well met; health,
faction once political freedoms were established, employment, stable partnerships, friendships,
whereas others remained marginalized due to dif- and freedom are also very important (see also
ferent balances in ethnic and racial composition Blanchflower and Oswald 2004; Helliwell et al.
across countries and even regions within them 2013; Layard 2005). There is also a consistent
(Graham et al. 2004). Some, like the separatists U-shaped relationship between happiness and
in Chechnya, became radicalized over time. age, with the low and/or turning point ranging
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former… 503

from roughly 44–50 years, depending on the being of newly acquired access to information
country. This consistency in the basic determi- technology. Life gets better but is also more com-
nants of well-being allows scholars to control for plicated (Graham and Nikolova 2013a, b). These
these factors and to study the effects of variables issues are highly salient in the transition coun-
that vary more, such as inflation and unemploy- tries. The progress paradox has been marked and
ment rates, crime and corruption, and obesity and rapid; unpleasant certainty in the pretransition
exercising, among others. We use the metrics as a era has shifted to extreme economic and political
lens into well-being trends in the transition uncertainty. We noted a major variance across
economies. winning and losing cohorts, both within and
across countries.

15.4.1 Adaptation and Progress

Paradoxes 15.4.2 General Trends in Subjective
Well-Being
There are also some methodological challenges
that are relevant to the transition economies. The Not surprisingly, subjective well-being trends in
first of these is adaptation, which is a psychologi- this diverse set of countries reflect the dramatic
cal preservation mechanism. People can adapt to nature of transition, in both income and non
most (but not all) conditions, such as poor health, income dimensions of life. In general, life satis-
crime and corruption, and poverty, and report to faction displays a V-shaped trend, with levels
be “happy.” This ability is in part due to low falling dramatically with the onset of the transi-
expectations in contexts where people do not tion (mirroring the dramatic changes in economic
have the capacity to make choices or control their growth levels and patterns) and then recovering
lives. Graham’s research shows that individuals toward pretransition levels, albeit incompletely
are more likely to adapt to unpleasant certainty in most countries, from roughly 2005 on
than they are to change and uncertainty (Graham (Easterlin 2009) (Fig. 15.7).
2011a; Graham and Chattopadhyay 2009;
Graham et al. 2011). 15.4.2.1 Adaptation to Uncertainty
A related theme is the different effects of a Uncertainty is a key reason for the incomplete
variable’s changes versus levels on well-being. recovery in life satisfaction. The transition from
Higher levels of per capita GNP and the better the Soviet era of centrally planned economies to
public goods, more freedoms, and better environ- relatively unfettered markets and open polities is
mental quality that go along with them, are typi- perhaps one of the most striking examples of
cally associated with higher levels of well-being. moving millions of people from unpleasant cer-
Yet, we also find that respondents in the process tainty to uncertainty. The V-shaped pattern in life
of change, such as during times of rapid eco- satisfaction and the incomplete recovery reflect
nomic growth, tend to be less happy than the the extent to which citizens in the region are still
average. The reason for this “paradox of unhappy bothered by this uncertainty and the different
growth” is that increasing inequality, changing fates of winners and losers in the process (Fig.
rewards to different skill sets, and large differen- 15.7).
tials in rewards across similar cohorts often A clear marker of the latter trend is the marked
accompany rapid growth (Graham and Lora increase in inequality of life satisfaction in the
2009; Graham and Pettinato 2002a, b). transition economies. In 1990, for example, one
Progress can be accompanied by a paradox. of the earliest points for which we have compa-
Progress and change often bring higher levels of rable data for life satisfaction in this set of coun-
evaluative well-being but also higher levels of tries, there were no significant differences in the
stress and sometimes anger at the same time, as life satisfaction of the “rich” (roughly labeled)
we found in a recent study of the effects on well-­ and the “poor” (Easterlin 2009). Since that time,
504 C. Graham and A. Werman

Household Lives Beer Now Than in 1989 46.04 21.32 32.64

Done Beer Than Parents 28.22 23.22 48.56

Done Beer Than Colleagues 32.00 40.50 27.5

Done Beer Than Classmates 30.03 38.44 31.53

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Disagree Neutral Agree

Fig. 15.7  The Done Better Than Classmates variable is agree and 5 is strongly agree). The Higher Income Rank
based on the response to the question of whether the in 1989 variable is a binary indicator of whether the
respondent has done better in life than her classmates respondent believed to have had a higher income rank in
(measured on a scale of 1–5, whereby 1 is strongly dis- 1989 than in 2006 (Data from Barro and Lee 2014)

inequality in life satisfaction has increased able) social welfare systems were eroded by the
­notably in both capitalist and transition econo- transition (Easterlin 2009).
mies, but the largest differences are clearly in the Another notable and lasting trend in this set
transition economies (in part because their start- of countries is the extent to which life satisfac-
ing point was so equal) (Table 15.1). tion levels are significantly lower than their
income levels would predict, both at the country
15.4.2.2 Income and Life Satisfaction and individual levels. In other words, most
The adverse changes in life satisfaction in the countries in this group are below the “line of
transition economies were most notable for lower best fit,” which is where they theoretically
income groups, especially the unemployed and should be if a cross-­country regression of life
the elderly. If one looks more closely across satisfaction on per capita GDP were performed,
domains, one sees important differences that also as Easterlin (2009) did. At the individual level,
reflect the general trends in who gained or lost citizens of these countries are, on average, less
the most in the process. In general, the satisfac- satisfied with their lives than are those of other
tion levels with material living and employment countries with comparable levels of income (in
are higher, reflecting the extent to which the both cases, adjusted for PPP). What we are not
opening to the market created new opportunities able to do, due to data limitations, is to conduct
for employment and for differentiation in earn- a similar exercise in the pretransition period to
ings as a reward to individual effort. On the other see if the low average life satisfaction levels
hand, satisfaction levels in the domains of health were a preexisting trend in this set of countries
and family security are lower than before, reflect- (and in part related to shared cultural and other
ing the extent to which universal (and unsustain- experiences).
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former… 505

Table 15.1  Average and inequality of life satisfaction, 1989–1999

Life satisfaction (1–10) Life satisfaction (1–10) Life satisfaction (1–10)
Mean Life Midpoint Mean Life End year Mean Life
Country Initial year sat. gini year sat. gini sat. gini
Belarus 1990 5.5 0.23 1996 4.4 0.28 1999 4.8 0.26
Bulgaria 1991 5.0 0.26 – – – 1998 5.0 0.29
Czech 1991 6.7 0.18 – – – 1998 6.7 0.17
Republic
Estonia 1989.5 6.0 0.20 1996 5.0 0.26 1999 5.9 0.21
Hungary 1990 6.0 0.23 – – – 1998.5 5.8 0.23
Latvia 1989.5 5.7 0.24 1996 4.9 0.26 1998 5.3 0.26
Lithuania 1989.5 6.0 0.22 1996 5.0 0.30 1999 5.1 0.29
Poland 1989 6.6 0.19 – – – 1997.5 6.4 0.22
Romania 1993 5.9 0.23 – – – 1998 5.0 0.30
Russia 1990 5.4 0.25 1995 4.5 0.32 1998 4.7 0.31
Slovakia 1991 6.6 0.21 – – – 1998 6.1 0.21
Slovenia 1991 6.3 0.20 1995 6.5 0.18 1999 7.2 0.17
Data from Easterlin (2009: 143)

15.4.2.3 The Role of Institutions 15.4.3 Inequality in  Transition:

We also noted significant differences across Uneven Progress
countries. Countries that began the transition Within Countries
with better initial conditions, including a history
of experience with markets and democracies, and One of the most notable traits in well-being trends
that, not coincidentally, subsequently joined the in this region is the extent to which they differ
EU, for the most part, demonstrated higher aver- across cohorts within countries as well as across
age levels of life satisfaction compared with the broad set of countries noted above. Measured
those of comparable income levels in nontransi- happiness in the transition economies follows the
tion economies. Figure 15.8 shows that both of same U-shaped relation with age that it has in
the dimensions of well-being—evaluative (over- most countries in the world but differs in the fact
all life evaluation as measured by the best possi- that, for the most part, the turning point is slightly
ble life question5) and hedonic (daily experience, older on average (50 rather than 44–47 years) and
as measured by smiling yesterday)—were con- is slightly slower to recover. The turning point in
sistently higher in the EU countries than they the age-happiness relationship is 52 years for the
were in the non-EU countries from 2005 to 2012. EU-10 (Rodriguez-Pose and Maslauskaite 2012)
At the same time, stress was also higher in the compared with 62 years for Ukrainians, 35 years
EU countries, with a slight increase in the gap in for the Swiss, and the global average of 46 years
the years following the 2009 financial crisis. This (Blanchflower and Oswald 2004). The older turn-
finding most likely reflects the extent to which ing point in the transition countries in the end
citizens of the EU countries were more affected reflects longer periods of unhappiness over the
by the prolonged crisis in the Eurozone. life cycle in this set of countries.
The fact that several features of the transition
have not favored the elderly is reflected in their
Best possible life (BPL) measures the respondent’s
5 

assessment of her current life relative to her best possible

reported well-being levels. They were, for the
life on a scale of 0–10, where 0 is the worst possible life, most part, more vested in the old system of c­ entral
and 10 is the best possible life. planning, less likely to be trained for the new
506 C. Graham and A. Werman

0.35
0.31
0.30 0.29
0.30 0.28
0.25
0.25 0.23
Best Possible Life

0.21 0.21
0.20 0.19 0.19
0.18
0.16
0.15 0.13
0.10
0.10

0.05

0.00
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
EU Non-EU

Fig. 15.8  Best possible life, transition economies of the 0–10, where 0 is the worst possible life, and 10 is the best
nation-states of the former Eastern Bloc, 2005–2012. Best possible life. Data are not available for all countries for all
possible life measures the respondent’s assessment of her years (Data from Gallup World Poll 2014)
current life relative to her best possible life on a scale of

opportunities that the market economy i­ ntroduced, affected negatively by the deterioration of family
and less able to adapt to the overall changes. At the life (and the related loss of generous childcare
same time, they were much more likely to be subsidies that made women’s participation in the
dependent on state pension systems with shrinking labor force much easier in the pretransition era),
benefits, due to fiscal constraints, and rising costs whereas the well-being of men was more closely
for basic goods, due to the introduction of market related to employment conditions and the labor
pricing. And, as is typical with age, they were the market (Easterlin 2009).
cohorts that were most reliant on health care sys-
tems that were either eroding or in transition.
Cohorts with less education, and in particular 15.4.4 Inequality in  Transition:
less than college level education, were also losers Democracy, Markets, and Well-­
in the transition. Many of the jobs that the free Being Trends
market introduced were in the financial, technol-
ogy, and service sectors, jobs which the unedu- 15.4.4.1 T  rends in Income Inequality
cated were not well positioned to fill. The largest and Life Satisfaction
declines in employment, meanwhile, occurred The rise in income inequality in the transition
with the privatization of large state-owned enter- economies in the past decades was much more
prises that often employed large numbers of blue marked than in other regions or countries, even
collar workers. those that have led the trend, such as the United
Finally, we noted gender differences in the States, the United Kingdom, and Australia
well-being trends. As in most of the world, (Graham 2014). Not surprisingly, there has also
women reported higher levels of well-being, as been an associated rise in inequality in life satis-
measured by the best possible life question, than faction (Table 15.1).
men, with the exception of Russia. Looking Along with widening income and life satisfac-
across domains, women were more likely to be tion inequality, we noted a differentiation in the
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former… 507

relationship between income and life satisfaction 15.4.4.3 P  erceptions of Institutions

across cohorts within the transition economies. In Shape Expectations
general, the relationship was strongest for the of the Future
lowest income groups, whereas for all income The “prospect of upward mobility” hypothesis,
groups it was strongest at the beginning of the which we have studied in a number of other con-
transition, perhaps because of the high degree of texts, posits that individuals who are poorer than
uncertainty in all domains during that period average in the present, but expect to be richer than
(Easterlin 2009). In addition, high inequality was average in the future, exhibit a reduced level of
seen as more problematic in transition economies support for redistributive policies. In general, it
than elsewhere, likely because former socialist posits that if people believe in the opportunity
states have stronger preferences for equality or at structure in their country, they are willing to invest
least a long trajectory of fairly equitable in their future and work within it rather than seek
distributions. to rely on connections. In the transition countries,
we found that this hypothesis held for the coun-
15.4.4.2 The Missing “Democracy tries that joined the EU but not as well for those
Premium” that remained outside it (Cojocaru 2012).
Equally notable, these trends were not offset by Almost half of the adults in Eastern Europe
the expected “democracy” premium. For the believe that it is very important to have connec-
most part, around the world, individual freedoms tions to get a good government job. But there are
and democratic governance are associated with cross-country differences. Respondents in transi-
higher levels of well-being, both within and tion countries that joined the EU were more
across countries. A cross-country analysis of likely to believe that inequality of opportunity is
European nations, for example, finds a significant correlated with individual effort and hard work
positive relation between democracy and happi- rather than with access to connections or lack
ness (Dorn et al. 2007). The transition economies thereof, and inequality of opportunity was per-
do not completely fit this pattern. Easterlin (2009, ceived to be widespread outside of the EU but
2012) found no association between happiness less so in EU countries (Cojocaru 2012).
and democracy in the transition. This result is
perhaps unsurprising, given that the abrupt arrival
of democracy (and then its varied quality across 15.5 Conclusions
countries) coincided with unprecedented changes
and uncertainty in the economic and social Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, countries
realms, with the marked differences between the in Central and Eastern Europe and the FSU expe-
fates of winners and losers. rienced turbulent economic, political, and institu-
Grosjean et al. (2013) found that citizens’ atti- tional reforms, which brought about changes and
tudes about markets, democracies, and support- experiences unknown during socialism. It is hard
ing institutions depended on the stage of transition to generalize about such a diverse set of countries,
and the business cycle. Amidst the economic cri- all of which faced a traumatic transition experi-
sis from 2006 to 2010, pretransition attitudes ence but entered it with very different initial con-
declined in CEE countries that were hit by a neg- ditions and are emerging from it with various
ative economic shock but increased in the less degrees of success. Transitions such as these are
democratic countries in the Commonwealth of long processes. Some countries may still turn
Independent States. Ironically, whereas the crisis around and achieve sustainable growth and politi-
lowered pretransition attitudes in general, it cal stability; others, and particularly those with
increased the demand for democratic reforms deeper governance and economic challenges, may
among the youth and groups excluded from the continue to fall further and further behind.
current political-economic system in corrupt and Overall trends in life satisfaction reflect the
less liberalized transition countries. dramatic nature of the transition and the associ-
508 C. Graham and A. Werman

ated drops in GNP and the erosion of important political and economic regimes, and their faith in
supporting social welfare mechanisms. As eco- the system in general.
nomic growth and stability recovered, so did life It is unlikely that the differences in both objec-
satisfaction, with the greatest increases in the tive and well-being subjective indicators will be
economic domain and much less progress in the resolved any time soon because of the strong
domains of health and family life. As inequality degree of dependence on the path taken that has
increased, meanwhile, so did inequality in life persisted across countries and the related institu-
satisfaction, with the gaps between the happiest tional weakness that impedes successful struc-
and least happy in society increasing together tural reforms in the “losing” countries. It is also
with the gaps in income. not obvious that these different outcomes were
Within and across countries, well-being trends “caused” by the transition. In the absence of
clearly varied between the winners and losers of counterfactual data, i.e., how these countries
transition. Winners and losers are found among would have fared had central planning persisted,
countries and cohorts of particular ages, income, it is difficult to tell.
and education within them. Those countries with What the transition did was provide major
historical linkages to Europe and with economic, opportunities for change—including economic
political, and judicial institutions that most and political freedom—for those countries (and
closely resembled those of their European coun- cohorts within them) that were positioned to take
terparts fared the best and were, not surprisingly, advantage of the opportunities. Because some
also on the path to EU membership. countries were much better able to do so than
Those countries that were closer to the Soviet others, the transition widened preexisting differ-
empire and whose historical legacy shared a great ences among them, both in terms of economic
deal with Russia, such as the Ukraine and and institutional indicators and of life satisfaction
Belarus, fared worse, had less complete transi- and individuals’ perceptions of their ability to
tions in both economic and political realms, had take advantage of those opportunities and lead
larger increases in inequality, and life satisfaction successful lives.
levels that dropped more and recovered less. A major challenge for policy, both for leaders
Finally, the outlying countries in Central Asia, within the countries and for the international
which were dominated by central planning at financial institutions, which extends beyond the
early stages in their economic development pro- provision of safety nets is the crafting of new
cess, emerged from the transition with the dual mechanisms to facilitate the participation of
challenges of economic and political underdevel- those individuals who have fallen behind. The
opment and the transition to markets and democ- differences in outcomes, demonstrated as well by
racy. Not surprisingly, their objective indicators well-being indicators, within and across coun-
today reflect much lower levels of progress in tries, will continue to pose a challenge to eco-
both economic and political domains, and their nomic and political stability in the region, as the
levels of life satisfaction are also lower. There are turbulent events in Ukraine in 2014 demonstrate.
some “outlier” countries on this front, such as Deeper understanding of well-being trends as
Uzbekistan and Belarus, where surprisingly high factors driving further splits between those in the
levels of life satisfaction may be the result of low EU and those outside it, however, must be the
expectations or the fear of reporting otherwise in subject of future research and will provide
the context of repressive regimes. important inputs into policy questions, both
­
Within countries, younger people who were within and across countries.
better equipped to adapt to new economic and
political systems, such as those with more skills Acknowledgements We thank Milena Nikolova for
and particular kinds of education, and who thus extensive support with the data analysis and chapter edits
and for her inputs from her extensive first-hand knowl-
had better odds of being employed, were the clear edge of the transition economies; we also thank Richard
“winners” in the process. This result is reflected Estes, Joe Sirgy, and several anonymous reviewers for
in their life satisfaction, their satisfaction with helpful comments.
Supplemental Tables

Supplemental Table 15.1 Demography
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Demography
REGION: CIS (N=18)
Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
South Kazakhstan 9.7 15.4 16.3 17.3 4.4 1.2 1.4 1.5 44.2 56.0 53.7 53.3
Central Asia (CIS)
South Kyrgyzstan 2.2 4.0 5.4 5.8 3.1 1.9 1.2 2.0 34.2 38.4 35.3 35.6
Central Asia (CIS)
South Tajikistan 2.1 4.5 7.6 8.4 3.4 3.1 2.4 2.4 33.2 33.2 26.5 26.7
Central Asia (CIS)
South Turkmenistan 1.6 3.2 5.0 5.3 3.4 2.5 1.3 1.3 46.4 46.0 48.4 49.7
Central Asia (CIS)
South Uzbekistan 8.6 18.2 28.6 30.7 3.5 2.5 2.8 1.6 34.0 40.7 36.2 36.3
Central Asia (CIS)
East Europe Belarus (CIS) 8.2 10.0 9.5 9.5 1.0 0.7 −0.2 0.0 32.4 61.8 74.6 76.3
East Europe Bulgaria 7.9 9.0 7.4 7.2 1.0 0.0 −0.7 −0.5 37.1 64.6 72.3 73.6
(CIS)
East Europe Moldova 2.5 3.6 3.6 3.6 2.5 1.0 −0.1 −0.1 23.4 44.2 44.9 44.9
(CIS)
East Europe Romania 18.4 22.8 20.2 19.9 0.8 0.4 −0.6 −0.4 34.2 49.6 53.8 54.4
(CIS)
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former…

East Europe Russian 119.9 143.9 142.8 143.8 1.5 0.8 0.0 0.2 53.7 71.9 73.7 73.9
Federation
(CIS)
East Europe Ukraine 42.7 50.9 45.9 45.4 1.3 0.3 −0.4 −0.3 46.8 64.7 68.7 69.5
(CIS)
East Europe Estonia (CIS) 1.2 1.5 1.3 1.3 0.7 0.7 −0.2 −0.3 57.5 70.8 68.1 67.6
East Europe Latvia (CIS) 2.1 2.6 2.1 2.0 0.7 0.7 −2.1 −1.1 52.9 68.6 67.7 67.4
East Europe Lithuania 2.8 3.5 3.1 2.9 1.6 0.9 −2.1 −1.0 39.5 65.0 66.8 66.5
(CIS)
509

(continued)
Supplemental Table 15.1 (continued)
510

Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban

Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
North Albania 1.6 3.0 2.9 2.9 3.0 2.1 −0.5 −0.1 30.7 35.1 52.2 56.4
Europe (CIS)
North Croatia (CIS) 4.1 4.7 4.4 4.2 0.6 0.4 −0.3 −0.5 30.2 52.3 57.5 58.7
Europe
North Macedonia, 1.5 2.0 2.1 2.1 1.4 0.5 0.1 0.1 34.0 55.7 57.0 57.0
Europe TFYR (CIS)
North Slovenia 1.6 1.9 2.0 2.1 0.9 0.5 0.4 0.1 28.2 49.6 50.0 49.7
Europe (CIS)
South Central 4.8 9.1 12.6 13.5 3.6 2.2 1.8 1.8 38.4 42.9 40.0 40.3
Asia (N=5)
East Europe 22.9 27.5 26.2 26.2 1.2 0.6 −0.7 −0.4 41.9 62.4 65.6 66.0
(N=9)
North Europe 2.2 2.9 2.9 2.8 1.5 0.9 −0.1 −0.1 30.8 48.2 54.2 55.4
(N=4)
Regional 13.3 16.9 17.2 17.5 1.9 1.1 0.1 0.3 38.5 53.8 56.0 56.5
Average
Population: Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship–except for refugees not perma-
nently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. The values shown are midyear estimates
% Population growth rate: Population growth (annual %) is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t−1 to t, expressed as a percentage
% Urban: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios
from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
i World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
j World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
k World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
l World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
C. Graham and A. Werman
Supplemental Table 15.2 Education
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Education
REGION: CIS (N=18)
% Secondary school enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
South Central Kazakhstan (CIS) 103.2 102.2 100.5 99.7 99.7 38.7 56.3 55.3
Asia
South Central Kyrgyzstan (CIS) 109.0 84.0 88.2 99.2 99.2 28.0 42.1 47.6
Asia
South Central Tajikistan (CIS) 84.4 87.0 99.7 99.7 20.1 22.7 24.5
Asia
South Central Turkmenistan (CIS) 85.4 99.6 99.6 22.4 8.0
Asia
South Central Uzbekistan (CIS) 107.0 104.5 105.2 99.5 99.5 15.1 9.9 8.9
Asia
East Europe Belarus (CIS) 98.9 107.0 105.1 99.6 99.6 43.7 79.0 92.9
East Europe Bulgaria (CIS) 93.4 90.4 98.7 98.4 98.4 17.1 58.0 66.5
East Europe Moldova (CIS) 88.0 88.3 99.1 99.1 33.2 38.1 41.3
East Europe Romania (CIS) 94.9 95.0 98.6 98.6 15.4 56.8 51.6
East Europe Russian Federation 99.1 84.9 97.2 99.7 99.7 52.1 75.5 76.1
(CIS)
East Europe Ukraine (CIS) 97.2 95.4 98.9 99.7 99.7 46.8 76.7 79.0
East Europe Estonia (CIS) 99.1 109.1 104.7 99.9 99.9 22.0 71.7 78.0
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former…

East Europe Latvia (CIS) 104.2 98.5 106.9 99.9 99.9 23.5 70.6 66.4
East Europe Lithuania (CIS) 106.4 106.7 107.7 99.8 99.8 31.6 80.8 70.0
North Europe Albania (CIS) 79.8 82.4 82.4 96.8 96.8 6.9 43.6 58.5
North Europe Croatia (CIS) 98.4 98.4 99.1 99.1 16.9 55.8 61.6
North Europe Macedonia, TFYR (CIS) 81.9 82.8 97.5 97.5 23.0 37.1 38.5
North Europe Slovenia (CIS) 83.8 97.8 110.2 99.7 99.7 18.7 88.5 84.4
South 106.4 96.4 93.3 99.6 99.6 24.9 32.8 28.9
Central
Asia (N=5)
511

(continued)
Supplemental Table 15.2 (continued)
512

% Secondary school enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education

Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
East 99.8 97.2 100.3 99.4 99.4 31.7 67.4 69.1
Europe
(N=9)
North 81.8 90.1 93.5 98.3 98.3 16.4 56.2 60.8
Europe
(N=4)
Regional 98.4 94.7 96.8 99.2 99.2 26.4 56.6 56.1
Average
% Secondary school enrollment: Gross enrollment ratio. Secondary. All programs. Total is the total enrollment in secondary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percent-
age of the population of official secondary education age. GER can exceed 100 % due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school
entrance and grade repetition
% Adult literacy: Adult (15+) literacy rate (%). Total is the percentage of the population age 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement
on their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number
of literates aged 15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100
% Tertiary education: Gross enrollment ratio. Tertiary (ISCED 5 and 6). Total is the total enrollment in tertiary education (ISCED 5 and 6), regardless of age, expressed as a
percentage of the total population of the five-year age group following on from secondary school leaving
a World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
b World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
c World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
d World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
e World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
f UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
g World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
h World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
i World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
j World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
k World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
l World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR. UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.uis.unesco.org/
C. Graham and A. Werman
Supplemental Table 15.3 Health
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Health
REGION: CIS (N=18)
Avg. years life
expectancy Infant <1/1k live born Child mortality <5/1K Maternal mortality rate TB incidence per 100k
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 14 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t
South Kazakhstan 58.4 68.5 68.3 70.5 49.6 19.3 14.6 59.1 21.6 16.3 40.0 26.0 80.7 223.0 139.0
Central (CIS)
Asia
South Kyrgyzstan 56.1 64.9 69.3 70.2 64.2 26.7 21.6 78.9 30.3 24.2 79.0 75.0 52.5 210.0 141.0
Central (CIS)
Asia
South Tajikistan 56.2 63.3 67.0 67.4 94.2 44.7 40.9 121.6 52.7 47.7 48.0 44.0 54.7 196.0 100.0
Central (CIS)
Asia
South Turkmenistan 54.5 62.3 65.0 65.5 81.7 51.0 46.6 103.6 61.0 55.2 65.0 61.0 49.8 175.0 72.0
Central (CIS)
Asia
South Uzbekistan 58.9 66.8 67.9 68.2 68.8 40.2 36.7 85.2 46.8 42.5 40.0 36.0 47.8 118.0 80.0
Central (CIS)
Asia
East Belarus (CIS) 67.7 71.0 70.4 72.5 16.0 4.7 3.7 19.4 6.1 4.9 2.0 1.0 48.9 71.0 70.0
Europe
East Bulgaria (CIS) 69.2 71.2 73.5 74.5 40.6 19.7 11.3 10.1 46.4 23.5 13.0 11.6 43.6 12.6 8.0 5.0 28.5 54.0 29.0
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former…

Europe
East Moldova (CIS) 61.8 66.1 68.5 68.8 31.7 14.9 13.3 39.0 17.4 15.4 41.0 21.0 76.5 176.0 159.0
Europe
East Romania (CIS) 65.6 69.7 73.5 74.5 31.8 12.1 10.5 76.7 38.9 13.9 12.0 84.8 137.1 30.0 33.0 55.7 147.0 87.0
Europe
East Russian 66.1 67.9 68.9 71.1 25.0 10.2 8.6 29.9 11.8 10.1 31.0 24.0 44.9 136.0 89.0
Europe Federation
(CIS)
East Ukraine (CIS) 68.3 69.6 70.3 71.2 19.4 10.1 8.6 22.8 11.8 10.0 29.0 23.0 47.2 127.0 96.0
Europe
513

(continued)
 514

Supplemental Table 15.3 (continued)

Avg. years life
expectancy Infant <1/1k live born Child mortality <5/1K Maternal mortality rate TB incidence per 100k
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 14 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t
East Estonia (CIS) 67.9 69.4 75.4 76.4 19.0 3.6 2.7 23.1 4.5 3.4 6.0 11.0 35.4 42.0 22.0
Europe
East Latvia (CIS) 69.8 69.3 73.5 74.0 16.8 8.2 7.4 21.0 9.4 8.4 29.0 13.0 47.4 75.0 50.0
Europe
East Lithuania (CIS) 69.8 70.5 73.3 74.2 15.4 5.5 4.0 19.1 6.7 4.9 9.0 11.0 41.0 86.0 65.0
Europe
North Albania (CIS) 62.3 71.5 77.0 77.5 45.7 14.8 13.3 53.9 16.5 14.9 32.1 21.0 21.0 30.9 20.0 18.0
Europe
North Croatia (CIS) 64.6 70.9 76.5 77.1 15.8 4.5 3.8 18.1 5.3 4.5 4.8 15.0 13.0 76.7 29.0 13.0
Europe
North Macedonia, 60.6 69.8 74.7 75.2 45.0 8.7 5.8 49.5 9.9 6.6 7.0 7.0 33.0 17.0
Europe TFYR (CIS)
North Slovenia (CIS) 69.0 71.4 79.4 80.3 12.3 2.6 2.3 14.4 3.3 2.9 8.0 7.0 47.5 14.0 7.5
Europe
South Central 56.8 65.2 67.5 68.3 71.7 36.4 32.1 89.7 42.5 37.2 54.4 48.4 57.1 184.4 106.4
Asia (N=5)
East Europe 67.4 69.4 71.9 73.0 40.6 21.6 9.0 7.7 61.6 26.3 10.5 9.0 64.2 74.9 20.6 15.8 47.3 101.6 74.1
(N=9)
North Europe 64.1 70.9 76.9 77.5 29.7 7.7 6.3 34.0 8.8 7.2 18.5 12.8 12.0 51.7 24.0 13.9
(N=4)
Regional 63.7 68.6 71.8 72.7 40.6 37.3 16.3 14.1 61.6 45.6 19.0 16.4 64.2 46.7 28.2 24.0 50.9 107.3 69.7
Average
C. Graham and A. Werman
Avg. years life expectancy: Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to
stay the same throughout its life
Infant <1/1k live born: Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1000 live births in a given year
Child mortality <5/1K: Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the
specified year
Maternal mortality rate: Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per
100,000 live births. The data are estimated with a regression model using information on the proportion of maternal deaths among non-AIDS deaths in women ages 15–49, fertil-
ity, birth attendants, and GDP
TB incidence per 100k: Incidence of tuberculosis is the estimated number of new pulmonary, smear positive, and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis cases. Incidence includes patients
with HIV
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
i World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
j World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
k World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
l World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
m World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
n World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
o World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
p World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
q http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/
r http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/
s World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former…

t World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD

515
 516

Supplemental Table 15.4 Income
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Income
REGION: CIS (N=18)
GDP (Billions of constant 2005 GINI or other measure of wealth
USD) PCGDP (constant 2005 USD) % Growth in GDP disparity
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p
South Kazakhstan (CIS) 77.2 96.4 4732.7 5575.5 7.3 4.3 25.7 28.6 28.6
Central
Asia
South Kyrgyzstan (CIS) 2.4 3.1 3.7 593.8 561.0 637.3 3.3 −0.5 3.6 26.0 35.4 33.4
Central
Asia
South Tajikistan (CIS) 3.5 3.2 4.2 774.4 417.1 500.6 3.5 6.5 6.7 30.8 30.8
Central
Asia
South Turkmenistan (CIS) 5.6 13.3 20.6 1646.7 2632.4 3873.8 11.0 9.2 10.3 26.4 26.4
Central
Asia
South Uzbekistan (CIS) 9.8 21.6 29.5 512.8 755.3 960.0 9.1 8.5 8.1 25.0 25.0
Central
Asia
East Belarus (CIS) 42.9 47.3 4524.2 4998.3 7.7 1.6 22.8 27.7 26.5
Europe
East Bulgaria (CIS) 23.1 33.7 35.5 2581.1 4559.7 4915.8 2.7 0.7 1.7 35.8 34.3
Europe
East Moldova (CIS) 5.2 3.5 4.2 1466.9 983.2 1190.7 −5.3 7.1 4.6 24.1 32.1 30.6
Europe
East Romania (CIS) 97.1 114.1 123.4 4264.9 5634.9 6195.8 −0.1 −0.9 1.8 28.2 27.3
Europe
East Russian Federation (CIS) 909.3 999.8 6365.2 6843.9 4.5 0.6 23.8 39.7 39.7
Europe
East Ukraine (CIS) 137.3 90.6 89.0 2677.5 1974.6 2081.0 2.6 4.2 −6.8 23.3 24.8 24.8
Europe
C. Graham and A. Werman
East Estonia (CIS) 13.8 16.2 10364.5 12348.1 2.5 2.1 23.0 32.2 32.7
Europe
East Latvia (CIS) 16.9 19.9 8058.8 9973.6 −2.9 2.4 22.5 35.3 36.0
Europe
East Lithuania (CIS) 27.7 32.4 8941.4 11073.9 1.6 2.9 22.5 33.8 32.6
Europe
North Albania (CIS) 5.5 10.7 11.6 1847.5 3685.6 3994.6 1.8 3.7 1.9 30.0 29.0
Europe
North Croatia (CIS) 46.5 44.7 10523.9 10561.3 −1.7 −0.4 22.8 33.6 33.6
Europe
North Macedonia, TFYR (CIS) 7.6 8.3 3620.1 3917.3 3.4 3.8 44.2 44.2
Europe
North Slovenia (CIS) 39.6 39.4 19327.4 19110.6 1.2 2.6 23.6 24.9 24.9
Europe
South 5.3 23.7 30.9 881.9 1819.7 2309.4 6.7 6.2 6.6 25.8 31.6 28.8
Central
Asia
(N=5)
East 65.7 139.2 152.0 2747.6 5711.8 6624.6 0.0 2.7 1.2 23.1 32.2 31.6
Europe
(N=9)
North 5.5 26.1 26.0 1847.5 9289.3 9395.9 1.8 1.6 2.0 23.2 33.2 32.9
Europe
(N=4)
Regional 32.2 82.0 90.3 1818.4 5425.7 6041.8 3.2 3.4 2.9 24.0 32.3 31.1
Average
GDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP at purchaser's prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former…

not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.
Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic currencies using 2005 official exchange rates. For a few countries where the official
exchange rate does not reflect the rate effectively applied to actual foreign exchange transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used
PCGDP (constant 2005 USD): GDP per capita is gross domestic product divided by midyear population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the
economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets
or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars
% Growth in GDP: Annual percentage growth rate of GDP at market prices based on constant local currency. Aggregates are based on constant 2005 U.S. dollars. GDP is the
sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated
without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources
517
Supplemental Table 15.4 (continued)
518

GINI or other measure of wealth disparity: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption expenditure among individuals or households
within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of
recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed
as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality
a
b World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
c World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
d World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
e
f World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
g World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
h World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
i
j World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
k World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
l World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
m
n World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
o World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
p World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
C. Graham and A. Werman
15  Well-Being in the Transition Economies of the Successor States of the Former… 519

Supplemental Table 15.5  Subjective Well-Being

SOCIAL INDICATORS: Subjective Well-Being
REGION: CIS (N=18)
World Values Survey (WVS), 1981–2014
WVS 1 WVS 2 WVS 3 WVS 4 WVS 5 WVS 6
Country 1981–1984 1990–2004 1995–1998 1999–2004 2005–2009 2010–2014
Source a b c d e f
South Central Kazakhstan (CIS) 7.2
Asia
South Central Kyrgyzstan (CIS) 6.5 7.0
Asia
South Central Tajikistan (CIS)
Asia
South Central Turkmenistan (CIS)
Asia
South Central Uzbekistan (CIS) 7.9
Asia
East Europe Belarus (CIS) 5.5 4.4 5.8
East Europe Bulgaria (CIS) 4.7 5.2
East Europe Moldova (CIS) 3.7 4.6 5.5
East Europe Romania (CIS) 4.9 5.8 6.7
East Europe Russian Federation (CIS) 5.4 4.5 6.1 6.2
East Europe Ukraine (CIS) 4.0 5.7 5.9
East Europe Estonia (CIS) 5.0 6.3
East Europe Latvia (CIS) 4.9
East Europe Lithuania (CIS) 5.0
North Europe Albania (CIS)
North Europe Croatia (CIS) 6.2
North Europe Macedonia, TFYR (CIS) 5.7 5.1
North Europe Slovenia (CIS) 6.5 7.2 7.4
South Central NA NA NA 6.5 NA 7.4
Asia (N=5)
East Europe NA 5.4 4.5 4.6 5.6 6.2
(N=9)
North Europe NA NA 6.1 5.1 7.2 7.4
(N=4)
Regional NA 5.4 4.9 5.4 5.9 6.7
Average
Mean life satisfaction: Averaged value of responses to the following survey question: All things considered, how satis-
fied are you with your life as a whole these days? Using this card on which 1 means you are “completely dissatisfied”
and 10 means you are “completely satisfied” where would you put your satisfaction with your life as a whole?
a WVS 1 1981–1984. V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
b WVS 2 1990–2004. V96.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
c WVS 3 1995–1998. V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
d WVS 4 1999–2004. V81.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
e WVS 5 2005–2009. V22.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
f WVS 6 2010–2014. V23.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
520 C. Graham and A. Werman

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Ishkanian, A. (2004). Gendered transitions: The impact of reform in the former Soviet Union. New York: United
the post-Soviet transition on women in Central Asia Nations Development Programme Report.
and the Caucasus. International Studies in Sociology Stone, A., & Mackie, C. (Eds.). (2013). Subjective well-­
and Social Anthropology, 92, 161–184. being: Measuring happiness, suffering, and other
Layard, R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a new sci- dimensions of experience. Washington, DC: The
ence. London: Penguin Press. National Academies Press.
Lipton, D., Sachs, J., Fischer, S., & Kornai, J. (1990). Trier, T. (1996). Reversed diaspora: Russian Jewry, the
Creating a market economy in Eastern Europe: The transition in Russia and the migration to Israel.
case of Poland. Brookings Papers on Economic Anthropology of East Europe Review, 14(1), 34–42.
Activity, 1990(1), 75–147. World Bank. (2011). ECA region. Life in transition survey
Malouf, D. (2011). The happy life: The search for content- 2006 (Microdata Catalogue). http://microdata.world-
ment in the modern world. New York: Random House. bank.org/index.php/catalog/584. Accessed 1 Feb 2016.
Milanović, B. (1998). Income, inequality, and poverty World Bank. (2013). Gini index (Data file). http://data.
during the transition from planned to market economy. worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI. Accessed 14
Washington, DC: World Bank. Jan 2016.
Mishler, W., & Rose, R. (1997). Public support for post-­ World Bank. (2014). World development indicators. (Data
communist transitions in Central and Eastern Europe file). http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-­
and the Former Soviet Union. In B. Norrander & development-­indicators. Accessed 14 Jan 2016.
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Washington, DC: CQ Press. vey.org/wvs.jsp. Accessed 14 Jan 2016.
Nolte, E., McKee, M., & Gilmore, A. (2004). Morbidity
and mortality in transition countries in the European
 The History of Well-Being
in the Middle East and North Africa 16
(MENA)

Habib Tiliouine and Mohammed Meziane

Whosoever doeth right, whether male or female, and is a believer, him verily we shall
quicken with good life, and We shall pay them a recompense in proportion to the best of
what they used to do
(Qur’an 16:97)
Throughout history many nations have suffered a physical defeat, but that has never
marked the end of a nation. But when a nation has become the victim of a psychological
defeat, then that marks the end of a nation.
(Khaldun, Ibn 1989)

16.1 Introduction satisfaction with their lives in general? To what

extent are the region’s nations succeeding in fully
This chapter presents a brief account of the his- integrating all segments of the population, includ-
tory and the current state of well-being in the ing marginalized population groups, under the
21-country region of the Middle East and North more or less same sociopolitical framework or
Africa (MENA) (Map 16.1). The chapter dis- governance structure? And, what are the most
cusses the multiple exogenous and endogenous important social, political, and economic gains
factors that have shaped the well-being of the realized by the region’s countries since regaining
region’s diverse populations who share the vast their independence from European colonizers?
lands included in the region. However, in view of The distinctiveness of the analysis that follows
the complexity of the issues focused upon and the lies in the use of the broad concept of well-being
varied populations, our focus is limited to spe- as a basis for assessing the nature and extent of
cific questions that address the same set of well-­ social progress that has occurred in the MENA
being issues discussed throughout the book. region following decolonization. Our assumption
From a historical point of view, for example, we is that well-being is a cultural phenomenon that
ask how the well-being of MENA inhabitants has can best be represented through a number of
evolved over time. What significant changes have domains of life, namely health, education, and
occurred in these regions in terms of the ade- the introduction of various levels of instruction,
quacy of provisions in the major areas of life, income, and wealth distribution; provisions for
mainly health care, education, economy, wise civil liberties and political freedom; and the
governance, and political freedoms and civil lib- ­ subjective judgments concerning the extent to
erties, as well as in the varying ways in which which the region’s peoples are satisfied with life
people experience their lives and their subjective and their conditions of living. We assume that, at
least, health encompasses preserving life and
H. Tiliouine (*) • M. Meziane ensuring an equilibrated use of mental and physi-
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oran 2, cal resources. Education gives one the knowledge
Oran, Algeria and skills necessary to promote active citizen-
e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 523

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_16
524 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

Map. 16.1  Map of North Africa and the Middle East (MENA) region (N = 21) (Nations Online Project 2016)

ship. A decent income guarantees the satisfaction throughout the region. Moreover, much of the
of at least basic needs and promotes financial region’s land mass consists of deserts or other
autonomy. Civil liberties allow individuals and nonagricultural lands that force the region’s peo-
groups to express themselves freely and to par- ple into close proximity with one another, e.g.,
ticipate actively in the lives of their communities less than 10 % of the Middle East land is
as responsible and contributive citizens. Finally, cultivable.
an enhanced satisfaction with life and subjective
well-being (SWB) suggests the extent to which
individuals assess themselves to be living reward- 16.1.2 The Region’s Contribution
ing lives and realizing personal and collective to World Civilization
potentials. Each of these primary areas of life and
living is discussed below. The contribution of The presence of the MENA region in most of the
Islam and, where appropriate, of Judaism in fos- world’s major events since antiquity, including
tering improved life realities in these lands popu- those that confront us today, is beyond question.
lated predominately by Muslims and Jews also is The MENA region, for example, has been the
considered. home of many famous, globally influential civili-
zations. Examples of the region’s influence are to
be found in (1) the Phoenicians, who developed
16.1.1 Defining the Middle East sailing and writing techniques and thereby
and North Africa reigned over the coastal areas of the Mediterranean
Sea from 1550 Before the Common Era (BCE) to
The Middle East and North Africa, or simply 300 BCE; (2) the Babylonians,1 who in the begin-
MENA, generally designates the region stretch- ning of the second millennium BCE, developed
ing from Morocco in northwest Africa to Iran in the advanced Hammurabi Code of Laws, urban
southwest Asia and south/southwest to Sudan
(Map 16.1). These lands comprise geographic
points that link Africa, Europe, and Asia. MENA Babylonia was an ancient Akkadian-speaking Semitic
1 

state and cultural region based in central-southern

populations have been strongly linked histori- Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). A small Amorite-ruled
cally, partly because of the centuries-old, well-­ state emerged in 1894 BC, which contained at that time
established land and sea networks found the minor city of Babylon.
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 525

planning, the 60-min hour, and advanced agricul- guage of science and as the unifying language for
tural cultivation skills; and (3) the Persians and the Islamic world; the compilation of the
the Turks, who are often cited for their global Prophet’s sayings (the Hadith); and the transla-
empires, the Silk Road, their marvelous carpet tion and expansion of important intellectual
industry, and, among other things, as being the works into Arabic, including those of major
first people to use paper money. In North Africa, Greek philosophers. Islam’s religious schools,
the architectural oeuvres of the Pharaohs (3100 the madrassas, proliferated during this period
BCE–870 BCE) continue to inspire people every- and succeeded in delivering high-quality educa-
where. The secrets of their highly sophisticated tion at the primary, secondary, and postsecondary
social organizations and medical techniques have levels (see a short review in Tiliouine 2014b).
yet to be fully uncovered. Their neighbors of the The world’s first universities emerged in North
Nubian lands (800 BCE—to about 320 of the Africa: Al-Qarawiyyin in Fes, Morocco (859 CE)
Common Era [CE]) linked the peoples of sub-­ and Al-Azhar in Egypt (970–972 CE). By com-
Saharan Africa to the rest of the world and parison, Europe’s earliest universities were not
enriched human culture and knowledge. Carthage established until 1088, with the founding of the
(575 BCE–146 BCE) and the Berber dynasties University of Bologna in Italy. Compared with
controlled the southern coasts of the the relatively slow pace of development occur-
Mediterranean Sea and reached deep into the ring in other regions of the world, the accom-
sub-Saharan regions. plishments of the MENA countries in all areas of
science and the humanities were rapid and, his-
torically, centuries ahead of their counterparts
16.1.3 Monotheism and the Region’s (Hunke 1997). Recent estimates of the gross
Contributions to World domestic product (GDP) per capita for the coun-
Religious Development tries of the MENA region in the tenth century
indicate they were among the wealthiest regions
One of the most important characteristics of the of the world compared with those of Latin
Middle East is that it has been the cradle of the America, Asia, Africa, and Western Europe for
monotheistic Abrahamic religions: Judaism, the same period (Maddison 2003, cited in Drine
Christianity, and Islam. The teachings of these 2012).
religions continue to exert a major impact on the
way of life and culture of people worldwide. But,
because Islam is considered by Muslims as the 16.1.4 Colonization
last revealed, and most authentic religion, the and the Unraveling
majority of the region’s inhabitants are Muslims of the Region’s Social
(Estes and Tiliouine 2014). The Prophet of Islam, and Political Integrity
Mohammed (born in 570 CE), a native of Mecca
in present-day Saudi Arabia, succeeded in only Unfortunately, as Europe struggled through the
13 years in laying down the basics of a strong last vestiges of the Middle Ages, the Muslim
new nation and united the entire Arabian penin- world plunged into internal conflicts, ceased to
sula into a single Islamic polity. He had a short be creative, and became the victim of recurrent
life (63 years), but his companions completed the and, ultimately, devastating foreign invasions.
mission by spreading Islam across the three con- For instance, the Mongols’ destruction of
tinents of the then-known world (Africa, Asia, Baghdad in the year 1258 led to the end of the
and Europe), which, in turn, led to what is glorious era of the Abbasids (Madden 2014). On
referred to as the Golden Age of Islam of the the southern front, soon after it lost control of
eighth and fifteenth centuries (Renima et al. Andalusia in present-day Spain, North Africa
2016). Some of the major successes of this period suffered continuous incursions from rising
include the establishment of Arabic as the lan- Spanish forces. North African lands were then
526 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

ruled by many small, rival royal dynasties. They of the territory to the United Nations (UN). The
eventually called on the Ottomans to help combat UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181
the Spanish armies (Hanioğlu 2010). Similar sce- (II) to partition Palestine into a Jewish state, an
narios occurred in the Mashrek (Arab Middle Arab state, and an international zone. In 1948,
East) with the Crusades, initiated in 1096 by Israel declared its independence, war between
Western Christians and continuing for two centu- Arabs and Israelis escalated, and troops from six
ries until 1291. During this period, the rise of and Arab states entered the fighting. Approximately
domination by the originally Turkish Muslim one million Palestinians fled to neighboring states
Dynasty of Ottomans had an everlasting effect on as political refugees, whereas others were expelled
Islam as a whole. At its height in the sixteenth by Israeli forces. Palestinians were replaced by
and seventeenth centuries, the Ottoman Empire thousands of Jews who emigrated to the newly
became the most powerful state in the world, established State of Israel from all over the world.
controlling much of southeast Europe, western The conflict that ensued over these previously
Asia, the Caucasus, and most of North Africa and Arab-occupied lands is still unresolved and is a
down to the Horn of Africa (Hanioğlu 2010). The continuing source of human suffering in the region
collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War for Arabs and Jews alike.3 Interestingly, Palestine
I led to the emergence of the new state of Turkey was upgraded to a nonmember observer state by
as well as to the creation of the modern Balkans the UN General Assembly on 29 November 2012.
and most of the current Middle Eastern states. Therefore, the two-state solution (Israel and
With the slow decline of the Ottomans, Islamic Palestine) is gradually gaining international con-
territories started to fall victim to Western colo- sensus, albeit such a consensus still has not yet
nial powers that sought principally to exploit the been achieved. Other persistent conflicts that
peoples and resources of their new colonies. require peaceful settlement include the Moroccan-
France and Britain were particularly adept at this controlled Western Sahara region in North Africa
approach to colonization, but, over time, Spain, (Map 16.1) as well as disputes between Iran and
Portugal, the Netherlands, and Belgium adopted the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over small
similar approaches to the Islamic lands they islands in the Arab/Persian Gulf.
occupied, e.g., the Sykes-Picot secret agreements
of 1916. times considered to include adjoining territories. The
region is also known as the Land of Israel, the Holy Land,
or Promised Land and historically has been known as the
southern portion of wider regional designations such as
16.1.5 Decolonization
Canaan, Syria, as-Sham, and the Levant. Many people do
and the Re-attainment not recognize the land of Palestine in contemporary times
of Political Independence but, in this chapter and consistent with the authors’ per-
spective, Palestine is treated as a political entity within the
MENA region.
In the mid-twentieth century, most Islamic MENA 3 
During a 7-week period in the summer of 2014, Israeli
countries slowly acquired their political indepen-
soldiers killed 2130 Palestinians, including 577 children
dence. But, another phase of turmoil began. In the and 102 elderly persons living in the Gaza Strip. The
midst of the liberation battles, Britain announced injured totaled 11,066, of whom 3374 were children and
its intention to abandon the League of Nations’ 410 elderly persons. Over one half of all major hospitals
and clinics in Gaza were damaged, and approximately
Mandate for Palestine2 and turned over the future
18,000 housing units were damaged or demolished, ren-
dering 108,000 persons homeless. As many as 290,000
Palestine is a geographic region in Western Asia between
2 
people were displaced as a result of these conflicts (World
the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is some- Health Organization 2014b).
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 527

16.1.6 The MENA Region’s Current What we have cited thus far are preliminary
Paradoxes: Attaining Unity illustrations of the often gloomy situation of the
in the Midst of Diversity countries of the MENA region considered as a
group. Unfortunately, these illustrations stand in
When they are viewed using all developmental stark contrast to a number of assets that the peo-
and well-being measures, the MENA countries ple of the MENA region have that could enable
are no longer in leading positions. Most of them them to enjoy a decent life including their long
are highly unstable and have deteriorating social and distinguished histories as highly civilized
conditions. Some of them have been identified as peoples: their geographic position controlling
either “failed” or “failing” states in which gov- central routes of world trade4; their large reserves
ernments are unable to maintain national borders, of crude oil and natural gas5; a huge potential for
provide reasonable levels of internal security, and renewable energy, including solar energy; their
provide for at least the basic material needs of considerable financial capacities; and rich human
their growing populations, e.g., Iraq, Yemen, and capital. If used strategically, the sheer breadth
Lebanon (Estes 2012). Even worse, many people and depth of these extensive natural and man-­
within these countries live under the most pre- made resources could help advance the overall
carious situations resulting from long-standing well-being in steadily increasing numbers of the
civil and intraregional conflicts. Curiously, the region’s people and their countries (Drine 2012).
Misery Index of 2013 ranked Iran 2nd, Egypt 6th, The total population of the 20 MENA coun-
Turkey 13th, Tunisia 17th, Jordan 23rd, Saudi tries selected for special consideration in this
Arabia 40th, and Israel 72nd on a list of 89 coun- chapter was estimated at 104.27 million people in
tries that are experiencing the highest levels of 1950. These figures soared to 468.3 million in
collective misery. This index is calculated by 2013, an increase of 450 % in about 60 years.
combining the rates of inflation, lending, and They represent 6.5 % of the total world popula-
unemployment minus year-on-year per capita tion, estimated at 7238 million in 2013. The
GDP growth. Only the small country of Qatar countries with the largest populations are Egypt
(population 2.4 million in 2015) appears in the (82.1 million), followed by Iran (77.5 million)
quartile of low-misery countries (Hanke 2014). and Turkey (74.9 million). The smallest countries
Also relevant to this portrayal of the region’s are those of the Gulf countries: Bahrain (1.3 mil-
overall well-being is the fact that many MENA lion), UAE (1.4 million), and Qatar (2.4 million)
countries were at the bottom of the list in a recent (Central Intelligence Agency 2014). Population
report ranking 132 countries on a number of growth rates in the MENA region vary consider-
dimensions related to social progress, with ably from country to country and are clearly
Yemen 125th and Iraq 118th. The few exceptions reflected in their respective age pyramids, which
were Israel (39th); the oil-rich countries of the confirm the preponderance of children 15 years
UAE (37th), Kuwait (40th), and Saudi Arabia of age or younger in nearly all MENA countries.
(65th); and Turkey (64th). The highest ranking Recent population estimates have established
country in North Africa was Tunisia (70th) that Lebanon (+9.4 %) has the highest rate of
(Porter et al. 2014). Porter et al. (2014) define population increase and Syria (−9.7 %) the low-
social progress as “the capacity of a society to est owing to the complex political situation that
meet the basic human needs of its citizens, estab- has resulted in millions of people fleeing the
lish the building blocks that allow citizens and
communities to enhance and sustain the quality 4 
For example, the strategic waterway of the Arabian/
of their lives, and create the conditions for all Persian Gulf; the Suez Canal, which links the
Mediterranean and the Red Sea; the Bosporus and the
individuals to reach their full potential’ (p. 13).
Dardanelles straits (also known as the Turkish straits),
These rankings corroborate earlier findings of which link the Black and Aegean Seas.
Estes and Tiliouine (2014) with respect to social 5 
Sixty percent of the world’s reserves of oil and about half
progress in Islamic countries in general. of the reserves of natural gas.
528 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

country. MENA population size and growth rates and to the core dimensions in human develop-
vary considerably with those reported for the ment. Taken together, they are powerful measures
world as a whole (+1.1 %) (Central Intelligence of well-being (United Nations Development
Agency 2014). It is true that net population Programme 2011). Hence, promoting public
growth trends of this size impose severe social health has become a legitimate policy target.
and economic constraints on the ability of MENA Recent reports indicate that, as a whole,
members both to hasten the pace of their develop- MENA countries have made dramatic progress in
ment and to reduce the growing levels of social reducing mortality and prolonging life, as evi-
discontent, but especially that which exists denced by life-expectancy-at-birth data, accepted
among the region’s high number of jobless work- as an indicator of social development and of qual-
ers, including young people and university grad- ity of health services. Figures 16.1a and 16.1b
uates (Estes and Tiliouine 2014; Tiliouine and show a consistent increase in average year of life
Meziane 2012). Making solid investments in expectancy across all MENA countries from
education, training, and related youth issues 1980 to 2012, with the exception of the war-­
would help in the long run toward successful ravaged conflict zones of Iraq and Syria. These
development efforts and, in turn, advance both data corroborate those reported by the World
the objective and subjective conditions associ- Health Organization (2014a), indicating that, on
ated with well-being. average, life expectancy at birth increased by
about 6 years over 30 years (from 67.53 in 1990,
to 70.79 in 2000, to 73.42 in 2012). Life expec-
16.2 Progress in  Well-Being: tancy at birth is substantially higher in some
The Region’s Remarkable MENA countries: 82 years in Israel, 80 in
Changes in the Presence Lebanon, and 79 in Qatar. In 2012, the five rich-
of Continuing Conflict est Gulf States had an average life expectancy of
77 years compared to the lowest figures of 64
The region’s comparatively recent social suc- years for the poorest and most conflict-ridden
cesses following decades of domination by exter- countries of Yemen and 63 years in the Sudan
nal powers are closely associated with the
domains reflected on the United Nations Human 85
Development Index. The gains since 1960 have
been steady and have been significant despite the 80
legacy of dependency and poverty that continues
to pervade the region. These gains have been 75
made possible through close public-private part-
Life Expectancy

nerships between the region’s governments and 70

those governed. Despite the many challenges that
confront the region, these gains are clearly 65
reflected in the region’s social indicator perfor-
mances in the sectors of health, education, 60
income, and SWB.
55

16.2.1 Health Status of the Region’s 50

Diverse Peoples 1990 2012
MENA Average
Good health and satisfaction with the state of Fig. 16.1a  Group average years of life expectancy, 1990,
one’s health are main contributors to both the 2000, and 2014 (N = 21) (Data from World Health
social progress of nations (e.g., Porter et al. 2014) Organization 2015)
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 529

Fig. 16.1b Group 82
average years of life 80
expectancy by 2012 (N = 79
78
21) (Data from World 77
76 76 76 76
Health Organization 75 75
74 74
2015) 73
72
71 71
70
68

64
63

Palesne
Egypt
Sudan

Syria

Oman
Algeria

Turkey
Iraq

Iran

Libya

Saudi Arabia
Morocco

Bahrain
UAE
Jordan

Kuwait

Israel*
Qatar
Tunisia
Yemen

Lebanon
2012 MENA Average 2012

(Figs. 16.1a and 16.1b). As a group, though, rates in the world in 2012. However, such statis-
average life expectancy for MENA member tics can be misleading because the number of
states is higher than that reported for the world as new infections in MENA continues to grow and
a whole (average = 67.9 years) (Estes and AIDS-related deaths are also on the rise (Setayesh
Tiliouine 2014). et al. 2014).
Despite the region’s stellar achievement in Despite improvements in life expectancy at
lengthening the years of life expectancy, many birth, a substantial disease burden from conta-
challenges continue to confront the region’s gious communicable, newborn, nutritional, and
nations. For instance, The Global Burden of maternal causes persists in the low-income coun-
Disease: Generating Evidence, Guiding Policy: tries of the region. Policy makers should be pro-
Middle East and North Africa Regional Edition vided with standardized data on diseases, injuries,
(Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and potentially preventable risk factors to make
2013) stresses that, in the MENA region, non decisions that will improve well-being for all.
communicable diseases—such as heart disease Also, as a prerequisite to reestablishing normally
(up 44 %), stroke (up 35 %), and diabetes (up 87 functioning health services, major efforts should
%)—cause more premature death and disability be made to halt armed hostilities in MENA con-
than they did in the past. Preventable risk factors flict zones.
such as poor diet, high blood pressure, high body
mass index (an indicator of obesity), and smok-
ing contribute to the growing burden of infectious 16.2.2 The History of Access
and communicable diseases in the region. Water to Education in MENA
pipe (Shisha) smoking causes considerable harm Countries
to smokers and to public health. In comparison,
because the cultural and religious values of Education plays a major role in any attempt to
MENA to a large extent safeguard the population establish long-lasting economic growth and to
against it, HIV/AIDS has a low prevalence (0.1 achieve a better life. Available evidence suggests
%) among adults aged 15–49, one of the lowest that education impacts heavily on all aspects of
530 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

life, such as a lowered fertility rate, healthier and all Islamic teaching in Turkish schools, formal-
better-educated children, and stronger national ized secular education on March 22, 1926, and
identity (International Labour Organization closed medersas, none of the other MENA coun-
2014). tries explicitly adhered to a totally secular educa-
Early forms of schooling under Islam were tional system. Islamic education continues to be
devoted solely to teaching the correct reciting and part of official school curricula, and most people
understanding of the Holy Book. But, because of accept the benefits of modern education.
the evolving needs of the newly established multi- Today, most countries in the MENA region
ethnic empire and its encounter with other cul- offer their citizens at least 9 years of compulsory
tures, a genuine educational system gradually education. However, variations are found from
took shape. Family structures, mosques, and reli- country to country. Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt,
gious congregations (Majalis) annexed to the Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and
mosques, which initially constituted the central the UAE offer 9 years of compulsory education,
spaces for learning different kinds of religious and whereas Jordan and Qatar offer a minimum of 12
scientific knowledge, could not meet the expand- years. Citizens of Saudi Arabia, however, are
ing needs of the new complex society. The tradi- entitled to just 6 years of compulsory education
tional Islamic educational system provided needed (Al Masah Capital 2014).
professionals through a well-organized certifica- Unlike the traditional system of education,
tion system: Imams (mosque personnel), teachers, modern schooling is considered primarily a gov-
clergymen, Islamic lawyers (Kadis), historians, ernment responsibility across the region.
and others. This system was divided into three UNESCO figures (World Bank 2014) indicate
stages: (a) elementary education (Qur’anic that, as a group, the MENA countries spend about
school); (b) middle and secondary school educa- 3.8 % of the GDP on education, with high expen-
tion (madrassas); and (c) higher education ditures recorded in Morocco (5.4 %), Saudi
(Jami’as) (Heggoy 1984; Tiliouine 2014b). Arabia (5.1 %), Jordan (5.0 %), and Oman (4.3
The fact that the community provided gener- %). In comparison, developed nations such as
ous funding in the form of donations and alms Japan and Singapore spend 3.8 % and 3.2 %,
payments helped these educational institutions respectively, of their GDP on education (Al
flourish (short review in Tiliouine 2014b). Masah Capital 2014). The contribution of the pri-
Nevertheless, European expansion into Muslim vate sector to investment in education remains
regions led to clashes between this traditional low if we exclude Qatar, the UAE, and Lebanon.
schooling and the modern European educational Enrollment at the primary, secondary, and ter-
system. For instance, in Algeria, the French colo- tiary levels has greatly improved, though prepri-
nials confiscated lands and resources belonging mary enrollments (preparatory education)
to educational institutions, which gradually led to continue to lag. The region’s gross enrollment
the destruction of a large number of these institu- ratio (i.e., the number of students enrolled at a
tions (Turin 1983). At the same time, the French certain level of education as a percentage of the
did not provide adequate educational opportuni- population of the age group that officially corre-
ties for all Algerians. Consequently, the majority sponds to that level) at the primary level stands
of people fell victim to illiteracy. In 1954, for above 100. At 84 and 31, enrollment ratios at the
instance, 86 % of the Algerian school-aged popu- secondary and tertiary levels in MENA are rea-
lation was unschooled. In comparison, illiteracy sonable compared to the world averages of 70
was rare before the arrival of the European colo- and 30, respectively. However, MENA enroll-
nials (Heggoy 1984). ment of 36 at the preprimary level is far behind
With the exception of Turkey, where, after its the world average of 50 and those of many of the
defeat in World War I, Kamel Ataturk followed developed countries (Al Masah Capital: MENA
the French enlightenment model and suppressed Education Sector 2014).
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 531

As a consequence of the efforts made in this %), Iraq (62.62 %), and Morocco (67.15 %). The
field, adult literacy rates, which reflect the efforts situation in Iraq is regrettable: It has lost 6.16
made by individual countries to extend the most percentage points. With the exception of Jordan,
basic literacy skills to their populations, have for which the level remained relatively stable
increased tremendously. For instance, from 1986 (with an increase of just 0.61), other countries
to 2011, gains topped 9.1 in percentage points registered remarkable gains, with the highest in
(from 74.5 to 83.6). When we look at individual Turkey (27.33), Morocco (26.15), Algeria
countries, Israel has the highest adult literacy (21.76), and Oman (20.85) (Estes and Tiliouine
rates (97.1), followed by Qatar (96.3) and Turkey 2014).
(95.3). Yemen (63.9) and Morocco (67.1) have Another area of concern for the MENA coun-
the lowest rates (Figs. 16.2a and 16.2b). Islamic tries is the quality of their educational standards,
countries as a whole had low adult literacy levels which remain low in the region as a whole. The
of 48.1 %, whereas the world’s average is similar World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness
to the MENA average, i.e., 82.7 % compared to Report 2013–2014 (Schwab 2013) indicates that
82.3 % (Figs. 16.3 and 16.4) (Estes and Tiliouine the overwhelming majority of MENA countries
2014). registered low on the parameters related to the
Virtually all MENA countries have made great quality of the educational system, such as pri-
progress during the past 25 years in offering edu- mary education, higher education and training,
cational opportunities, including higher educa- enrollment rates, level of access to the Internet in
tion. The combined primary, secondary, and schools, and availability of specialized research
tertiary gross enrollment ratios exceeded 90 % in and training services. Only three small countries,
Israel (96.72 %), Libya (94.38 %), Saudi Arabia Qatar, Lebanon, and the UAE, have high ­rankings.
(92.07 %), Iran (86.96 %), and Turkey (84.63 %). Moreover, within MENA, the quality of educa-
They have remained much lower in Yemen (55.97 tion in countries like Egypt and Libya is lower

Turkey
Tunisia Lebanon Syria
Morocco Israel* Iraq Iran
Jordan
Kuwait Bahrain
1986

Algeria
Libya Qatar
Egypt
Saudi Arabia UAE

Oman
Sudan Yemen

Adult Literacy

30 65 100

Fig. 16.2a  Color-coded adult literacy rates in the Middle East and North Africa, 1986 (N = 21) (Data from UNESCO
1990)
532 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

Turkey
Tunisia Lebanon Syria
Morocco Israel* Iraq Iran
Jordan
Kuwait Bahrain
2011

Algeria
Libya Qatar
Egypt
Saudi Arabia UAE

Oman
Sudan Yemen

Adult Literacy

30 65 100

Fig. 16.2b  Color-coded adult literacy rates in the Middle East and North Africa, 2011 (N = 21) (Data from UNESCO
2014)

80
Qatar
70 UAE
Israel
60
Perceived Corrupon

50 Tunisia Turkey
Saudi Arabia
40
Morocco Algeria Kuwait
30 Egypt Jordan
Iran
Lebanon
20 Yemen

10 Syria
Iraq
0
60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100%
Adult Literacy
Middle East North Africa

Fig. 16.3  Adult literacy rates (2013) and rates of perceived public corruption (2014), MENA countries (N = 21) (Data
from Transparency International 2015; UNESCO 2015)
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 533

8.0

7.5
UAE Israel
Qatar
7.0
Kuwait

6.5
Average Happiness

Saudi Arabia
Tunisia
Jordan
6.0
Syria Iran
Egypt
Turkey
5.5
Morocco Algeria

5.0
Yemen
Iraq
Palesne
4.5 Lebanon

4.0
60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100%
Adult Literacy
Middle East North Africa

Fig. 16.4  Percent adult literacy rate (2014) and average happiness levels (2014), MENA countries (N = 21) (Data from
UNESCO 2015; Veenhoven 2014)

than that in the other MENA countries (Schwab tunities; rising pressure for more convenient jobs
2013). for youth; and the urgent need to face the high
The ongoing harsh social unrest in the region dropout levels and to improve the curricula.
is leading to the erosion of the achieved educa- Moreover, providing quality education includes
tional gains. A recently published report about meeting the challenges of globalization and its
Syria indicated that by December 2013, 4000 consequences on rapidly changing economic
schools were closed due to direct damage or were contexts.
being used to shelter internally displaced per-
sons. The school nonattendance rate reached 51.8
%. These figures represent a tremendous setback 16.2.3 Income and Economic Issues
if one considers that Syria ranked 21 out of 136
countries in net school enrollment in 2010 (Syrian Scholars consistently debate the relationship
Center for Policy Research 2014). between positive perceptions of well-being and
In summary, MENA states generally suc- economic wealth at the individual as well as the
ceeded in guaranteeing high levels of educational population level. At least, they agree in rejecting
opportunities for their children, with narrow gaps the GDP as the sole measure of social prosperity.
between gender groups and rural versus urban Additionally, scientific evidence suggests that
groups. The effects of providing these opportuni- below a certain level, low economic resources
ties are numerous: pressure on public budgets to strongly predict low well-being (see Chap. 4).
maintain the cost of educational institutions; This observation is understandable because poor
increased demand for higher educational oppor- people and poor communities usually struggle to
534 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

Qatar 0.19
Iraq 0.10
Turkey 0.09
Kuwait 0.08
Saudi Arabia 0.07
Libya 0.06
Bahrain 0.06
Pales‚ne 0.06
Oman 0.06
Syria 0.05
Morocco 0.05
Israel 0.03
Sudan 0.03
Lebanon 0.03
Iran 0.03
Jordan 0.03
Algeria 0.03
Egypt 0.02
Tunisia -0.02
Yemen -0.11

-15% -10% -5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20%

GDP Growth

Fig. 16.5  Percent of gross domestic product growth and external debt for the Middle East and North Africa (N = 21),
2012–2014 (Data from World Bank 2015)

satisfy basic life necessities (such as food and However, the search for oil, which started in the
housing), which results in slowing progress 1930s, led to the discovery of huge reserves in the
toward self-actualization, as stipulated in Arab Penunsula, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Algeria.6
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. Therefore, By the 1970s, and due to the increase in oil prices
we briefly examine to what extent the MENA internationally, oil-exporting countries experi-
countries are succeeding on economic indicators enced robust economic growth and huge increases
(Figs. 16.5, 16.6, 16.7, and 16.8). in per capita income.
It should be stressed in the beginning that Worthy of notice is the fact that not all MENA
prior to 1950 most of the MENA region’s coun- countries are rich in oil, so a high degree of eco-
tries were undergoing the decolonization process nomic heterogeneity prevails in the region. Data
and the region’s map as known to us today was confirm that, whereas a few MENA countries are
still under construction. This partly explains the doing well on a limited number of the selected
lack of economic statistics for that period. Even economic indicators, the majority of them still
“approximate” data are not available, but under- have a long way to go if they are to achieve eco-
development and lack of modern life facilities nomic outcomes at levels realized by the world as
were shared characteristics across the MENA a whole. If one considers the widely used indica-
region during the first half of the twentieth cen- tor of per capita gross domestic product (PCGDP)
tury (Youssef 2004: 91). For instance, Egypt, the as a proxy for well-being, the North African
most populous MENA country, relied largely on countries (N = 6) had an average PCGDP of 6167
cotton for government revenues, and Saudi USD in 2011. PCGDP levels were especially low
Arabia’s major source of income was the taxes for the poorest MENA members, such as Yemen
paid by pilgrims on their way to the holy cities. (2300 USD). Per capita incomes at this level
The MENA region as a whole therefore exhibited
some of the lowest levels of socioeconomic Details on the development of the petroleum industry
6 

development in the world (Yousef 2004). could be found in History of the Petroleum Industry 2016.
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 535

Lebanon 150.7
Sudan 105.1
Iraq 76.0
Qatar 75.0
Israel 67.4
Jordan 61.4
Bahrain 54.0
Turkey 50.7
Morocco 50.3
Tunisia 40.5
Kuwait 29.0
Yemen 25.0
Saudi Arabia 20.0
Syria 15.0
Egypt 15.0
Palesne 13.0
Libya 11.0
Iran 6.0
Oman 3.0
Algeria 2.0

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

External Debt

Fig. 16.6  Percent of external debt for the Middle East and North Africa 2012–2014 (N = 21) (Data from World Bank
2015)

Lebanon 150.7
Sudan 105.1
Iraq 76.0
Qatar 75.0
Israel 67.4
Jordan 61.4
Bahrain 54.0
Turkey 50.7
Morocco 50.3
Tunisia 40.5
Kuwait 29.0
Yemen 25.0
Saudi Arabia 20.0
Syria 15.0
Egypt 15.0
Palesne 13.0
Libya 11.0
Iran 6.0
Oman 3.0
Algeria 2.0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
External Debt
Increasing GDP Decreasing GDP

Fig. 16.7  Increasing and decreasing gross domestic product (GDP) by external debt level, MENA countries (Data from
World Bank 2015)
 536 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

0.44

0.42
Tunisia
Morocco
0.40 Turkey
Income Inequality

Jordan Israel
Iran
0.38 Libya
Yemen

0.36 Syria
Algeria Sudan
Lebanon
0.34 Palesne

0.32 Egypt

Iraq
0.30
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50
Poverty Rate

Middle East North Africa

Fig. 16.8  Poverty rate and Gini indices for the Middle East and North Africa, 2011 and 2014 (N = 21) (Data from
World Bank 2015)

were in sharp contrast with those reported for USD of damage to homes and infrastructure in 4
MENA’s richest member states, i.e., Qatar weeks. Similar trends are occurring in other
(98,900 USD) and Kuwait (41,700 USD), which countries such as Libya, Yemen, and Iraq. The
were about 50 times higher than those of its poor- economic situation of the first Arab Spring coun-
est member states. Israel’s PCGDP reached tries of Tunisia and Egypt remains bleak. Both
31,500 USD, more than ten times greater than have difficulties in providing the basic
that of Palestine (South Bank and Gaza strip necessities.
combined) (Central Intelligence Agency 2015b). Economic development within MENA nations
The wealth gap that exists within the MENA is further complicated by the high levels of for-
countries continues to widen, especially as popu- eign indebtedness of the majority of MENA’s
lation growth rates stabilize. Stunning differ- poorest countries (Fig. 16.6), e.g., Lebanon
ences in wealth are especially prominent among (150.7 %). However, some countries, such as
the countries with significantly different rates of Algeria, have made early repayment of their
population and economic growth, i.e., −10.5 % external debt a priority. As a result, Algeria now
for resource-poor but population-rich Yemen ver- has the lowest level of external debt among the
sus +18.8 % for oil-rich Qatar (Estes and MENA countries. Even so, the heavy levels of
Tiliouine 2014). Social unrest has had devastat- external debt of the majority of the MENA mem-
ing effects on the economy of the region. For bers severely limit their ability to introduce
instance, by the end of 2013, Syria’s total eco- developmental initiatives at home (Fig. 16.6).
nomic loss since the start of the conflict was esti- Similarly, average unemployment (and under-
mated at 143.8 billion USD, which is equivalent employment) levels within MENA countries are
to 276 % of the GDP for 2010 in constant prices high (16.4 % in North Africa and 12.98 % in the
(Syrian Center for Policy Research 2014). The selected countries of the Middle East), much
Israeli war on the Gaza Strip resulted in 5 billion higher than that of the world as a whole (9.1 %).
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 537

Israel, with an unemployment rate of around 5 %, Unless some genuine development measures
is an exception. Joblessness among young people are undertaken on behalf of these countries,
exceeds 25 % and is well above that for women, income inequality will continue to increase. In
for whom joblessness is the norm rather than the addition to creating poverty, this inequality con-
exception (Estes and Tiliouine 2014; Tiliouine tributes to social unrest and political instability
and Meziane 2012). However, conflict zones within the most heavily affected countries and
such as Syria continue to experience a wide range subregions. Too many of the MENA member
of drastic social losses; for instance, 54.3 % of states are trapped in a quagmire of economic
the labor force was unemployed by the end of inequality in combination with high levels of
2013 (Syrian Center for Policy Research 2014). political instability (Estes and Tiliouine 2014;
In the Gaza strip, unemployment is at least 25 %, Tiliouine and Meziane 2012).
which seriously hinders any development efforts.
In addition, poverty rates are high within and
between the member states of the MENA region 16.2.4 Political and Civil Liberties
(Fig. 16.7). Unemployment rates by country con- (Levels of Social Chaos)
firm that large numbers of people within MENA
countries live well below nationally established Democracy, though far from perfect, is generally
poverty thresholds. The percentage of people liv- accepted as the best way to govern a nation in
ing below the poverty level for the MENA mem- modern times. It is intimately linked with
bers (21.2 %) is close to that reported for the improved human conditions and respect for
world as a whole (22.4 %). This value is in con- human dignity. Democratic countries are the
trast with the numerous resources available in most stable and the most successful nations.
this region. Poverty levels are especially unfavor- Unfortunately, democracy has so far failed to
able within the poorest countries, i.e., 45.2 % in take root in the Islamic world. Although a dis-
Yemen and 46.5 % in Sudan (United Nations cussion of the reasons for this situation is beyond
Development Programme 2011). Paradoxically, the scope of this chapter, it should be mentioned
poverty levels have increased for many nations that the Islamic world has thus far been unable
since the Arab Spring of 2011. In Syria, where to overcome many of life’s dichotomies: tradi-
the situation is the worst, three of four Syrians tional versus modern, conservative versus pro-
lived in poverty at the end of 2013, with more gressive, universal versus national, original
than half the population (54.3 %) living in versus imported. For some people of the MENA
extreme poverty and lacking basic necessities region, this situation exists because, as in the
such as food (Syrian Center for Policy Research past, colonialism is continuously conspiring
2014). against the Muslim people and their diverse
Gini coefficient scores, a universal measure of resources. To them, this situation is exemplified
income inequality, of MENA states attest to in the support given to the totalitarian regimes
increasing income inequality both within and that have, over time, governed the Islamic
between the members of the MENA region, i.e., nations and in their unconditional backing of
an average Gini score of more than 36 for the Israel on the holy Islamic land (Pew Research
MENA region as a whole. Though lower than Center 2011). This “conspiracy theory,” which is
39.0 reported for the world as a whole, they can based on centuries of tensions between the
be troublesome in countries such as Qatar (41.1), Muslims and the West, is brandished by conser-
Morocco (40.9), and Tunisia (40.8). The lowest vative Muslims even when the roots of the fail-
levels of income inequality are reported for Iraq ures could be found elsewhere. Low levels of
(30.9) and for Egypt and Bahrain (32.1). The education among the populace play an important
Gini coefficient for Israel, 37.6, is similar to that role in holding back positive social change (Pew
of the other developed countries (Fig. 16.8). Research Center 2011).
538 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

However, to understand the nature of the con- Michel Aflaq (1910–1989), who began as a
frontations between the different ideologies communist, is widely considered to be the
extant in the MENA region, it is important to con- founder of the Ba’athist movement. The principal
sider the sociopolitical context. First, no particu- ideas of such an Arab nationalist movement have
lar type of political organization is clearly been to promote the development and the cre-
prescribed in the original Islamic texts. Just a few ation of a unified Arab state (as opposed to a prin-
years after the death of the Prophet, power shifted cipally Islamic unified state desired by Islamic
to the hands of royal dynasties, which were char- movements) and the rebirth of Arab culture, val-
acterized by absolute authoritarianism. But, in ues, and society. Both the Islamist-inspired
most cases, religious and civil counsels advised groups and the Arab nationalist movements saw
the monarchs on key issues of their subjects. the occupation of Palestinian lands as a major
These counsels represented a way to practice threat to the Arab and Islamic nations. They
Shura, a consultancy system developed in the could therefore rally the Arab masses behind
application of Sharia. However, many scholars them.
see in Shura a broad concept and a number of The Arab nationalist movements succeeded in
practices that can be developed as the Islamic holding power in many of the MENA Arab coun-
equivalent of modern democracy (Shavit 2010), tries. For instance, they were in power in Iraq
including allowing for political freedoms and from 1968 to 2003, when Saddam Hussein was
civil liberties and enhancing people’s participa- overthrown by the Americans. The other Ba’athist
tion in public life through free vote and free asso- party, which has been in power since 1966, is that
ciations. These arguments have been echoed by of Syria (currently led by the Assad family).
the Islamic reformist movements, born in the Egypt, the largest Arab country, embraced the
period known as Nahda (Arab awakening) in the Arab nationalist ideology much earlier. The
middle of the nineteenth century. Jamal Ad-Din highly influential Gamal Abel Nasser led the
al-Afghani (1838–1897), Mohammed Abduh Free Officers coup d’état to overthrow the
(1849–1905), and Rachid Rida (1865–1935) were Egyptian monarchy in 1952. Other Arab coun-
the main scholars representing the reformist call tries also fell into the hands of individuals with
in the Middle East. Their main appeal was for the similar ideologies with a socialist preference,
unity of the Islamic world in the face of European such as Algeria with Houari Boumédiène in 1965
imperialism and the return to “pure” Islamic faith, and Libya with Muammar Kaddafi in 1969. In
a movement known as Salafism. Their ideas and the beginning, all of them adopted single-party
preaching inspired many groups who actively regimes and based their rule on a revolutionary
took part in the liberation struggles. Subsequently, legitimacy, refusing any form of political plural-
these movements became political forces, mainly ism and cultivating a revolutionary/progressive
through the then-modern media: newspapers and discourse. The cold war between the Western
magazines. After the liberation of their respective block (led by the United States) and the Eastern
countries, they claimed their share of political bloc (led by the former Soviet Union) was in their
power. They evolved holding divergent and to favor. Despite declaring nonalignment, they were
some extent opposing views: e.g., Jihadis-Salafis, more inclined to support the Soviet Union, their
who denounce Western democracy and exercise a main supplier of arms and of training for their
violent discourse against its defenders; the Islamic troops, who faced the Israelis in the wars of 1967
Brotherhood, which seeks to integrate some and 1973. In the meantime, liberalism remained
aspects of modern democracy but refuses others marginal and lacked popular backing (Hatina
(e.g., Shavit 2010). They also clashed with other 2011).
political forces, mainly the Arab Nationalist What the revolutionary or progressive Arab
movements, which have been to a large extent a regimes actually achieved in terms of providing
secular movement (Ayyad 1999), and with the for the well-being of their people is not yet
liberal ideologies (Hatina 2011). known. It appears that the main achievements
 16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 539

have been to help regain political freedom and, The prevalence of corruption is one aspect of
to some extent, to restore state sovereignty over this failure. It is mainly the result of groups who
basic resources such as the hydrocarbon sector are part of the state “nomenklatura” but who
and launching construction workshops. Some of exploit their positions for private advantage.
these regimes also succeeded in providing the Using the Corruption Perceptions Index, which
populace with more modern educational oppor- ranks countries and territories on how corrupt
tunities. However, in our view, the harm they their public sector is perceived to be (on a scale
caused greatly outweighs the advantages: They of 0–100, where 0 = highly corrupt; 100 = very
preserved their power by building alliances with clean), data show that the UAE (69), Qatar (68),
their own ethnic and religious minorities and Israel (61), and Turkey (50) are the least corrupt
favored the military and secret services. These in the region. The most corrupt are Sudan (11),
latter groups were involved in all major deci- Libya (15), Iraq (16), and Syria (17) (Fig. 16.9)
sions centers, the result being that militia gov- (Transparency International 2015). Corruption
ernments took over their own states. They also and other societal ills create bitterness among the
failed to rally the main political powers around a majority of the marginalized populations. In turn,
negotiated societal agenda and extinguished they weaken official institutions and doom all
feelings of citizenship among the people. The efforts to enforce a state of law. The abrupt fall of
repercussions, evident in the instability and ero- some of the totalitarian regimes as a consequence
sion of all social and economic gains in these of the Arab Spring activities attests to this. The
areas, have been devastating. The whole nation- role of modern social media should not be down-
state system that they helped to establish is cur- played in these contests. Furthermore, most of
rently threatened. the countries fall into the category of failing

120

110 Sudan Yemen

100 Syria
Iraq
Fragile States Index

90 Egypt Tunisia
Iran Jordan
Libya Algeria
80 Israel
Lebanon Morocco Turkey
70 Saudi Arabia

60 Bahrain
Qatar
Kuwait
50
Oman UAE
40
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Perceived Corrupon
Middle East North Africa

Fig. 16.9  Perceived corruption and Fragile State Index cate high levels of corruption and vice versa. (Data from
scores in the Middle East and North Africa, 2014 (N = Transparency International 2015; Vision of Humanity
21); low scores on the Corruption Perceptions Index indi- 2015)
540 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

a Israel
b Israel
c Qatar
1 2 0.0
Tunisia 3 Tunisia 3 Oman 0.0
Libya 4 Morocco 4 Kuwait 0.0
Turkey 4 Turkey 4 UAE 0.3
Sudan 5 Lebanon 4 Jordan 1.8
Morocco 5 Sudan 5 Morocco 2.1
Lebanon 5 Libya 5 Saudi Arabia 2.7
Kuwait 5 Egypt 5 Tunisia 3.3
Iraq 5 Algeria 5 Bahrain 4.4
Egypt 6 Qatar 5 Israel 4.7
Algeria 6 Oman 5 Iran 4.9
UAE 6 Kuwait 5 Algeria 5.5
Yemen 6 Jordan 5 Sudan 5.8
Qatar 6 UAE 6 Turkey 6.0
Oman 6 Yemen 6 Libya 6.3
Jordan 6 Iraq 6 Lebanon 6.4
Iran 6 Iran 6 Egypt 6.5
Bahrain 6 Bahrain 6 Yemen 7.3
Syria 7 Syria 7 Syria 8.1
Saudi Arabia 7 Saudi Arabia 7 Iraq 10.0

0 5 10 0 5 10 0 5 10 15
Poli†cal Freedom Index Civil Liber†es Index Global Terrorism Index

Fig. 16.10 (a–c) Political freedom (a), civil liberties (b), and global terrorism (c) in the Middle East and North Africa
(N = 21) (Data from Freedom House 2015; Vision of Humanity 2015)

states (Estes and Tiliouine 2014). Using the MENA countries is found in the “very stable”
Fragile States Index 2014,7 countries are ranked category (Fig. 16.9).
into 11 groups, ranging from “very high alert” to In comparison, other MENA countries, mainly
“very sustainable.” Sudan is in the “high alert” the Gulf States, Turkey, and Iran, followed differ-
category; three MENA countries (Yemen, Iraq, ent pathways. The Gulf countries, with the excep-
and Syria) are also in the “high alert” group; tion of Oman (independent since 1650), have
Egypt is in the “alert” group; Libya, Iran, and newly created monarchies (Saudi Arabia 1932;
Lebanon are in the “very high warning” group; Kuwait 1961; Bahrain 1971; Qatar 1971; UAE
Israel, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, 1971) (see Commins 2012). Their political sys-
and Saudi Arabia are in the “high warning” tems differ from those of other Arab nations,
group; Bahrain is in the “warning” group; Kuwait ranging from absolute to constitutional monar-
and Oman are in the* group; and Qatar and the chies. Despite their undeniable success in mod-
UAE are in the “stable” group. None of the ernizing the infrastructures of their respective
countries and in improving outcomes on many
human development indicators, their records in
allowing for political freedoms and civil liberties
For 11 years now, the Fragile States Index, created by the
7 

Fund for Peace and published by Foreign Policy (media

remain poor (Fig. 16.10a, b).
organization), has taken stock of the year’s events, using Iran is also highly influential in the region. It
12 social, economic, and political indicators to analyze overthrew its longstanding Shah system in 1979
how wars, peace accords, environmental calamities, and and replaced it with a republic that tries to create
political movements have pushed countries toward stabil-
ity or closer to the brink of collapse. The index then ranks
a balance between an Islamic theocracy and ele-
the countries accordingly, from most fragile to least ments of modern democracy. Among the pecu-
(Foreign Policy 2015). liarities of this system is the fact that the Supreme
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 541

Leader of Iran (a religious figure) is responsible and ensure their independence within the inher-
for the delineation and supervision of “the gen- ited borders randomly set during the European
eral policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” colonial era. Many of these borders are being vio-
which means that “he sets the tone and direction lently disputed. Moreover, the Arab Spring
of Iran’s domestic and foreign policies.” Unlike revolts do not seem to have achieved the desired
any other country in the world, the Supreme changes. The region is beset by unprecedented
Leader “is commander-in-chief of the armed chaos, leading to increasing suffering among
forces and controls the Islamic Republic’s intel- civilians, with children and women being the
ligence and security operations; he alone can prime targets. Although the internal movements
declare war or peace. He has the power to appoint within countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya,
and dismiss the leaders of the judiciary, the state and Yemen have succeeded in overthrowing their
radio and television networks, and the supreme long-standing totalitarian regimes, the counter-
commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard revolutionary movements have not yet ended,
Corps. He also appoints six of the twelve mem- e.g., Egypt. The struggles remain unresolved in
bers of the Council of Guardians, the powerful Syria, Iraq, and Libya. The now 60-year-old
body that oversees the activities of Parliament Arab–Israeli conflict remains highly explosive,
and determines which candidates are qualified to given the increasing possibility that weapons of
run for public office” (Iran Chamber Society mass destruction may be called upon to force a
2015). “peace” between the conflicting parties. Both
The president is the second highest ranking Israelis and Palestinians will have better develop-
official in Iran; his power is in many ways cur- ment prospects if they succeed in brokering a
tailed by the constitution, which subordinates the peaceful settlement of the conflict. However, in
entire executive branch to the Supreme Leader. In the midst of everything, religious and ethnic divi-
comparison, Turkey took a completely different sions have been awakened, encouraging the ter-
path. In the early 1920s, Kamel Ataturk opted for rorist insurgency to reappear (Fig. 16.10c).
a total rupture with the Islamic tradition in favor Considerable frustration is rising in the
of a laic state. But a genuine multiparty political Islamic world as a whole because the leaders of
system did not see light until the 1950s. Now, these nations continue to deny their populations
Turkey has the second largest standing armed genuine political reforms and civil liberties. The
force in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a Islamist movements have benefitted by repeat-
coalition of 28 states from North America and edly defeating the Arab nationalists, mainly
Europe who have agreed to mutual defense in through their inability to work out a negotiated
response to any attack by any external party. The settlement and to end Israeli occupation.
Justice and Development Party has been the However, the claim made by these extremist
major ruling force in the country since 2002. It movements to belong to the faith of Islam and to
officially abandoned its initial Islamic ideology fight under its name (Estes and Sirgy 2014;
in favor of “conservative democracy.” It suc- Tiliouine and Meziane 2012) has greatly dam-
ceeded in building Turkey into an emerging aged the image of Islam and its followers inter-
regional power. Using the Estes Index of Social nationally. Nevertheless, encouraging initiatives
Progress, it tops (57) the list of Organization of are continuously changing the situation for the
Islamic Cooperation members (Estes and better. These initiatives are led mainly by indi-
Tiliouine 2014). It also ranked 64th out of 132 vidual entrepreneurs who keep their businesses
nations on a more recent measure of social devel- running despite all hindrances, as in Lebanon
opment (2014), preceded within the region only and Egypt. Many intellectuals, nongovernmen-
by the UAE (37th), Israel (39th), Kuwait (40th), tal organizations, and religious figures are also
and Saudi Arabia (65th) (Porter et al. 2014: 88). positively contributing to enhancing human
To conclude, Islamic MENA countries fol- rights and preserving peace in many affected
lowed diverse routes to assert their sovereignty regions.
542 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

16.2.5 Happiness and SWB cal parties and only one third of the sampled
population positively assessed the present politi-
The last 40 years or so have witnessed a great cal situation in their respective countries, whereas
interest in researching psychosociological factors 47.1 % chose the opposite answer. Respondents
that may help advance sustainable development were also interviewed about how safe they felt in
in societies. SWB and “happiness” have been their respective cities/towns/villages. The general
proposed as key concepts toward this end and picture is discouraging: On average, only 79.3 %
have been explored in diverse social contexts of respondents chose the “very safe” and “safe”
worldwide. This movement has led to an answers (Arab Barometer I 2009).
increased recognition of these factors as basic
elements to complement economic indicators in 16.2.5.1 Happiness
assessing social progress and hence inform and Researchers have estimated happiness or well-­
orient policy making and community sustainabil- being in many different ways. In the Gallup
ity. For instance, the General Assembly of the World Poll, respondents are asked to imagine a
United Nations unanimously adopted on July ladder, where 0 represents the worst possible life
19th 2011 resolution 65/309 under the title and 10 the best possible life, and to report the
“Happiness: towards a holistic approach to devel- step of the ladder they feel they currently stand
opment,” calling on member states to undertake on. Country averages in the MENA region, where
steps that give more importance to happiness and data are available, is 5.8. The highest scores are
well-being in determining how to achieve and those of the UAE (7.3), followed by Israel (7.0).
measure social and economic development. Nevertheless, all scores remain much lower than
Subsequently, 20 March was proclaimed the the highest score worldwide (8.5) (Clifton 2012).
International Day of Happiness. The Organization Similarly, the rankings of 85 countries in the
for Economic Cooperation and Development World Happiness Report of 2013 indicated that
also published guidelines on how best to measure people in the MENA region generally experi-
people’s SWB (Organization for Economic enced low levels of happiness. Some exceptions
Cooperation and Development 2013) as key in were Israel, which ranked 11th, followed by the
nations’ priorities. UAE (14th) and some of the small Gulf coun-
Few studies of the subjective quality of life tries; Oman (23rd), Qatar (27th), Kuwait (32nd)
and the different attitudes of MENA people exist and Saudi Arabia (33rd). Bahrain (79th) and
in the literature. However, some large surveys Libya (78th) fell in the quartile of low-happiness
have partially addressed these issues in a few countries, which are currently experiencing
MENA countries. For instance, the first wave of social instability (Helliwell et al. 2014). In
the Arab Barometer surveys (Arab Barometer I Veenhoven’s (2014) estimations of “Happy Life
2009), initiated in 2005, reported low satisfaction Years” and “Average Happiness” (2000–2009)
with overall economic conditions (only 3.7 % of across 149 countries, a similar pattern emerged.
Lebanese and 13.6 % of Palestinians felt posi- Yemen, Iraq, and Lebanon were at the lowest
tive); limited confidence in future improvements end; the UAE, Israel, and Qatar were at the high-
of the situation (11.4 % of Algerian respondents est end (Fig. 16.11).
expected the worst compared to 19.4 % of
Moroccans). Also, trusting others in one’s coun- 16.2.5.2 Negative Emotions
try as an indicator of societal well-being was gen- The situation in Egypt mentioned previously was
erally low (e.g., only 16 % of Lebanese held echoed by the Negative Experience Index, which
positive views). For example, respondents measures respondents’ levels of sadness, stress,
reported no trust in the following institutions: the anger, physical pain, and worry on the day before
prime minister (29.9 %); the courts (28.6 %); par- the survey. The findings in this analysis are based
liament (34.8 %); the police (22.1 %); political on Gallup interviews in 148 countries in 2011
parties (47.4 %); more than half of Algerians and (Clifton 2012). Egypt ranked 5th worldwide.
Moroccans had no trust in their countries’ politi- Iraq, Palestine, and Bahrain, all Arab countries
 16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 543

60 8

50 7

Average Happiness
Happy Life Years

40 6

30 5

20 4

Happy Life Years Average Happiness

Fig. 16.11  Happy life years and average happiness in the Middle East and North Africa, 2013 (N = 21) (Data from
Helliwell et al. 2014; Veenhoven 2014)

experiencing turmoil, occupied the highest ranks. the improving economic prospects and the stabil-
Morocco had the lowest score of negative emo- ity in the country following the official “National
tions in North Africa but remained far below the Reconciliation” after the armed struggle of the
best score, which was registered in Somaliland. 1990s that killed 200,000 people and caused bil-
Israel’s score was just below the average, perhaps lions of dollars in damage. The conclusions sup-
because of the recurrent security threats (Clifton port the vulnerability of the well-being of a
2012). population when social turmoil dominates peo-
ple’s lives, as has been the case in Egypt and
16.2.5.3 Personal Well-Being Index Tunisia where positive affects decrease and feel-
Large-scale surveys of well-being of the general ings of despair increase (Clifton 2012).
population in MENA are rare. However, the first The results also indicated that many other fac-
measure of SWB was conducted in Algeria tors determine SWB. Religious practice and sat-
beginning in 2003 using the Personal Well-being isfaction with Islamic religiosity/spirituality are
Index (PWI) (Tiliouine et al. 2006). The PWI closely linked with high well-being scores,
score is generally computed from the average sat- mainly in middle age. The state of one’s health
isfaction ratings across seven domains: standard does not engender such a strong relationship.
of living, personal health, achievements in life, Religiosity has a buffering effect on SWB as well
personal relationships, personal safety, commu- as on psychological well-being or eudaemonic
nity connectedness, and future security. An well-being. Religion can be important because it
eighth domain concerning satisfaction with reli- provides its followers with meaning in life, a
giosity/spirituality was added. frame of reference, or a philosophy of life.
The same measure was later used in a series of When normative ranges of the PWI in Algeria
surveys that took place during the same 18-month were calculated using the mean scores from the
interval. The results indicated that, since 2005 survey and compared to normative ranges from
(Tiliouine 2014a), the PWI mean scores have Australia, the domain of community connected-
been remarkably stable. This result was linked to ness showed a similar trend; health was very
544 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

close, but achievements in life and future security language, or political persuasion” (Oxford
were much lower. Meanwhile, safety and per- Dictionaries 2015) or “a culturally, ethnically, or
sonal relationships were much higher in Algeria. racially distinct group that coexists with but is
It was concluded that the sense of community subordinate to a more dominant group”
belongingness was similarly high in both coun- (Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). Specific sub-
tries, but problems linked to underdevelopment populations exist in any population but are char-
impinged on Algerians’ perceptions of their acterized by being different from other groups in
future and of their personal relationships. some aspect, such as gender (e.g., women), age
However, one cannot exclude a cultural bias that (e.g., children, youth, and the elderly), or specific
causes people to differ in the style of their needs related to a physical or mental disability.
responses to survey questionnaires. For instance, Women have historically been excluded to vary-
Davey and Rato (2012, cited in Tiliouine 2014a) ing degrees from active participation in public
report a PWI normative range of 61.2–67.1 in life, despite the fact that they are powerful lead-
China, which is much lower than that in Australia ers of social change. The remaining groups
(73.7–76.7). The range for Algeria lies between require different types of assistance or adapted
the two but is narrower (66.4–68.8). environments to ensure their autonomy, a life of
Further research on subjective quality of life is dignity, and hence improved well-being.
needed. Such research is expected to help provide Unfortunately, they are usually more vulnerable
solid knowledge on the dynamics of these societ- whenever their societies experience economic
ies and will certainly help formulate strategies hardship and political volatility, which can have a
and policies with regard to the real needs and negative effect on their quality of life.
aspirations of the people of this region.

16.3.2 The Well-Being of Minority

16.3 T
 he Well-Being of Minorities Groups
and Specific Segments
of the Population All MENA countries without exception have
minority groups. These groups differ in size but
The status of minority populations and vulnerable are easily distinguishable by ethnicity or reli-
people is intimately linked to the general situation gious faith, or both: Christian Arabs and non-­
and developmental level of the countries in which Arab Circassians in Jordan; Christian Coptics in
they live. Ideally, a developed nation is one where Egypt; Maronite Christians and Shi’a Muslims in
all people are treated with equity, fundamental Lebanon and Iran; Kurds and Allawis in Syria;
rights are respected, and participation in public Shi’a Muslims and Kurds in Iraq; Kurds and
life is enhanced. However, as mentioned earlier, Shi’a in Turkey; Sunni Muslims in the majority
MENA countries in general are markedly behind Shi’a country of Iran; Muslim Arabs and Christian
in social equity, political freedoms, civil liberties, Arabs, who became a minority in Israel after
and equal economic opportunities. We briefly 1948; Berbers in most North African countries.
illustrate the situation of some of these groups of The overwhelming majority of MENA’s
people in the MENA region. We begin with minorities have historically shared the lands in
minorities, then discuss specific groups. The order which they currently live. In the past, being a
of the groups does not indicate any preference. member of a minority was not grounds for repres-
sion. Ma’oz (1999) said that ethnic conflicts did
not surface until after the collapse of the Ottoman
16.3.1 Minorities Empire in 1921 because Muslim ethnic commu-
nities were considered an integral part of the
A minority is generally defined as “a small group Muslim Umma (community). In fact, several
of people within a community or country, differ- minority figures assumed power in past Islamic
ing from the main population in race, religion, empires and also within the Ottoman Empire. For
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 545

instance, Muhammad Ali, the founder of the remained displaced in neighboring countries and
dynasty that ruled Egypt before 1952, was refugee camps administered by the office of the
Albanian. Almost all minorities were actively UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The con-
involved in fighting European colonialism and tinuing existence of a community of smaller
later the authoritarian regimes associated with minorities, such as the Sabean Mandaeans, is in
the recent “Arab Spring” of North Africa. The doubt given the highly negative value placed on
“divide to better reign” principle followed by minority group populations—even in countries
European colonial powers was behind most of that contain large numbers of sectarian minorities
the tension between local groups, as was the case vis-à-vis the larger Islamic community (ummah)
of France in Algeria and Lebanon and Britain in (Minority Rights Group International 2013:
Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East (Ma’oz 233–245).
1999). Christians in Egypt share a social and cultural
The current situation of most members of background with Muslim Egyptians, but both
minority groups in MENA countries is bleak. groups feel threatened by Islamic extremists who
When applying the “Peoples Under Threat” mea- are motivated to bring down even the popular
sure (specifically designed to identify civilians at governments that they elected. Both groups suf-
risk of genocide, mass killing, or other system- fered many attacks on their mosques, churches,
atic violent repression in need of protection), and properties used for nonsectarian purposes in
among the 68 countries where the indicator was 2012. In Libya, instability negatively affects the
significant, 10 countries belonged to the MENA integration of minorities, such as Berbers and
region in 2013 (Minority Rights Group Black Africans. In Tunisia, the country that fos-
International 2013: 228–233). More prominent tered and gave leadership to the Arab Spring, the
are the areas where armed conflicts are wide- situation of minorities worsened after the fall of
spread, i.e., in Syria, sectarian divides have the Benali regime. One to 2 % of the Berber com-
grown between Sunnis, Alawites, Christians, and munity and fewer than 2000 Jews, as well as a
Druze, especially since 2012. Minorities, such as small number of Baha’is were affected by a series
Christians and Alawites, fear being further tar- of atrocities that led to the slaughter of many of
geted if the Bashar al-Assad regime collapses. their members (Minority Rights Group
In Iraq, the political scene is characterized by International 2013: 198).
deep divisions and a highly fractionalized central Even seemingly stable countries have suffered
political system. Under the label of preserving high levels of political tension that focuses on
national unity, political maneuvering has led to their minority populations. In Iran, Ahwazi
the further victimization of particular minority Arabs, Azeris, Bahá’is, Baluchis, Christians,
groups in the MENA region. For example, Kurds, and a small population of Jews are threat-
Saddam Hussein’s Tikriti population held all ened to the point of social exclusion, even death
leading positions in Iraq while using all means, (Minority Rights Group International 2013: 204).
including chemical weapons, against the Kurds, The Iranian constitution, in Article 13, recog-
who represented one fifth of the Iraqi population, nizes only Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian
and marginalized the Shi’a Muslims. The conflict Iranians as religious minorities deserving treat-
was further accentuated after the US-led invasion ment equal to that of Muslims. In Saudi Arabia,
of Iraq in 2003. In 2013, the sectarian conflict the most conservative Islamic country, restric-
between the Shi’a and Sunni communities esca- tions remain tight for women and non-Sunni
lated. Under the Shiites’ strong hold over the Muslims. Shi’a Muslims comprise 10–15 % of
country, even Tariq al-Hashimi, the Sunni vice-­ the population and live mostly in the eastern
president, was sentenced to death in absentia on province of al-Ahasa and al-Qatif. Human rights
terrorism charges. Christians, Turkmanis, reports indicate that there is systematic discrimi-
Yezidis, and other minorities in Iraq continued to nation against Shi’a Muslims in education,
be targeted by more numerous population groups employment, and justice. Shi’as are also under-
with the result that large numbers of their group represented at the higher levels of government.
546 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

Kurds, Alevis, Roma, Armenians, and other 16.3.3.1 H  ealth Indicators of Women
Christians in Turkey also live under discrimina- and Youth
tion. The situation of the Palestinian refugees is Young women and, in particular, young people
very sad. Their refugee camps have been targeted living in rural areas and who are afflicted with
in all internal conflicts in the host countries, such serious physical disability, experience severe
as in Lebanon where they represent 10 % of the deficiencies in both access to and the quality of
population, and in Iraq and Syria. They have been health services available to them (Word Bank
waiting for a fair solution of the Palestinian prob- 2013). In MENA countries, malnutrition also is a
lem for more than 60 years. There are now about major contributor to child mortality, especially
six million refugees. Facing marginalization and among impoverished families and households
discrimination, these residents are without basic (World Bank 2014). This issue is worsening in
human rights. Minority Rights Group those states with a high degree of physical inse-
International (2013: 213) stresses that besides curity, i.e., the war-torn states of Iraq, Syria,
their lack of political and civil rights, they are among others. Youth also are subject to higher
denied access to public health care and depend rates of mortality that are often associated with
largely on aid and the charity sector for whatever tobacco smoking, obesity, and road accidents.
health care they get. Youth are more often involved in road accidents,
The prospects for well-being in the MENA for example, than are people of other ages. Young
countries will improve only when they are recog- people also incur an increased number of defor-
nized as multiethnic and multicultural entities mities, permanent physical disabilities and psy-
and when stability returns. Foreign interventions chological disorders (United Nations and League
have always worsened the situation, which favors of Arab States 2013).
a negotiated solution among the local
populations. 16.3.3.2 E  ducation and Employment
of Women and Youth
Except in Kuwait, unemployment is higher
16.3.3 The Special Situation among women than among men (United Nations
of Women and Youth Development Programme 2011). The UNDP
in the MENA Region report clearly shows a 30–40 % difference in
unemployment rates between women and men in
Women are recognized as important agents of Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Morocco.
social change around the world. Successful devel- The Gender Inequality Index shows that there is
opmental initiatives should, therefore, ensure gen- still work to be done in this area (United Nations
der equality to the fullest extent possible as a major Development Programme 2011). Those MENA
policy priority (United Nations and League of countries that are rated as high and medium
Arab States 2013; United Nations Development human development nations have high scores on
Programme 2011). To be effective, this equality the Gender Inequality Index.
should target women’s increased access to and As stipulated in the International Convention
control over resources, freedom of movement, on the Rights of the Children of 1989, adapted
freedom from the risk of violence, decision mak- schooling opportunities are considered the funda-
ing over family formation, having a greater public mental right of any child regardless of his state of
presence in society, and actively participating in health or level of disability. MENA countries
policy making (World Bank 2013). In the follow- have achieved significant progress in this area,
ing paragraphs, we consider briefly the situation of mainly in generalizing primary school enroll-
women and that of equally disenfranchised young ment and literacy. The report on Arab Millennium
people in the MENA region with regard to health Development Goals has stressed that most coun-
resources, education, employment, and civil liber- tries in the region are also succeeding in guaran-
ties and, more broadly, increasing participation in teeing gender parity in enrollment in primary,
both private and public decision making. secondary, and tertiary education. Nevertheless,
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 547

their achievements in the areas of hunger, food Efforts should be made to improve employ-
security, access to water, improved sanitation in ment opportunities for young people.
rural areas, and child and maternal mortality rates Unemployed youth can engage in improper
have been poor. Political volatility and conflicts behavior, such as violence. Unemployment is
in the region since 2010 led many hard-won gains also linked to delay of marriage and increased
to be halted or reversed. Increased poverty levels poverty. Moreover, disparities in employment
are one of the direct consequences of widespread opportunities between rural and urban areas lead
unrest (United Nations and League of Arab States youth to search for employment in already
2013; Estes and Tiliouine 2014). crowded urban areas. Insecurity and war have
No one can remain a student forever; getting a made the situation worse because people flee vil-
suitable job is the only way to guarantee advance- lages and rural areas to find refuge in larger
ment to full citizenship. The fragile economic cities.
situation in the MENA region hinders this goal
because of the large number of young people. 16.3.3.3 W  omen’s Civil Liberties
Youth can be considered an asset if they are prop- and Participation in Decision
erly prepared as a productive labor supply and Making
good citizens. However, many countries fail to Even though Islam proclaimed that women have
integrate them into society as employees. the right to participate in all social and economic
The MENA region is characterized by high activities, regional cultural traditions continue to
unemployment rates compared to other regions restrict their active participation in these areas,
of the world, with the exception of the Sahel including in decisions about their personal lives.
region (World Bank 2013). Youth unemployment They are not even allowed to drive a car in some
rates are particularly high, mainly in Arab coun- countries. Nevertheless, women in MENA coun-
tries, and can show considerable variation. For tries continue to struggle to obtain their rights.
example, the 1.6 % rate in Qatar stands in stark Tawakel Karman, a Yemeni woman, was awarded
contrast to the 30.7 % seen in Tunisia. Even the 2011 Nobel Prize for peace: a symbolic win.
worse, youth with university degrees have great In general, the status of women is defined dif-
difficulty getting jobs. Because of the weak ferently from one MENA country to the other,
capacity of the industrial sector, the jobs offered depending on how the country interprets the
cannot meet the growing demand. Meanwhile, Sharia (Islamic traditional law): in terms of
the public sector, which is the dominant employer, ­jurisprudence (Fikh), customary law (Urf), or
offers a limited number of opportunities. The civil law, which is inspired by international law.
World Bank report (2013) stressed that govern- In all cases, economic recovery and social cohe-
ments employ almost 20 % of all workers— sion remain conditioned to properly tackling the
somewhat higher than in Eastern European and question of women who remain disadvantaged
Organization for Cooperation countries but much relative to men.
higher than in Latin America or in Asia. This lack Some MENA governments have recently
of opportunity has limited students’ educational implemented a system of quotas to increase
choices in MENA in general. Moreover, many women’s participation in political institutions,
graduates prefer to wait for as long as 10 years which has resulted in greater representation of
for a government job rather than accept another women in parliament (Table 16.1). Algeria has
job. The assurance of a permanent job with mini- the most women, with 146 women representing
mal grievance and little chance of layoff may be 31.6 % of the parliament members. Other MENA
a strong motive. Governments facing high rates countries follow: Tunisia, 28.1 %; Iraq, 25.2 %;
of unemployment use the public sector as a way Saudi Arabia, 19.9 %; and the UAE, 18.3 %.
to absorb the high demand. The effect of this Countries with no or few women representatives
practice on management and on job productivity are Yemen (0.3 %) and Qatar (0.0 %)
is bad and may in the long run create a negative (International Institute for Democracy and
work culture. Electoral Assistance 2014). Nevertheless, the ste-
548 H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

Table 16.1  Women in MENA countries with quota systems in place, 2011–14 (N = 11) (Data from International
Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2014)
Results of last Women in
Country Election year Type of quota election parliament (%)
Algeria 2012 Quotas for the single/lower house 146 of 462 31.6
Quotas for the single/lower house
Egypt 2012 Quotas for the single/lower house 10 of 508 2.0
Iraq 2014 Quotas for the single/lower house 83 of 328 25.3
Quotas for the single/lower house
Jordan 2013 Quotas for the single/lower house 18 of 150 12.0
Quotas for the single/lower house
Lebanon 2009 No legislated 4 of 128 3.1
Libya 2014 Quotas for the single/lower house 30 of 200 15.0
Quotas for the single/lower house
Occupied Palestinian 2006 Quotas for the single/lower house 17 of 132 12.9
Territories Quotas for the single/lower house
Saudi Arabia 2013 Quotas for the single/lower house 30 of 151 19.9
Sudan 2010 Legislated quotas for the single/ 88 of 354 24.9
lower house
Tunisia 2014 Quotas for the single/lower house 68 of 217 31.3
Turkey 2011 Voluntary quotas 78 of 550 14.2

reotype that men make better leaders persists, as achievements, peace, and harmony. Paradoxically,
seen in many international surveys. the region’s historic wealth, its contributions to
Lastly, the proportion of people age 65 and global civilization, and its strategic geopolitical
older is increasing across the MENA region as a position in the Middle East and North Africa
result of improved access to health care and sta- have not been favorable to its contemporary level
ble birth rates. Despite their numerous problems, of well-being. This situation prevails despite the
these societies should include these issues in region’s large reserves of vital energy sources,
their development strategies. The prevalence of favorable transportation systems, and high levels
disability (physical, sensory, intellectual, and of human capital (more than half a billion
mental health impairment) is generally estimated people).
by WHO at 10 % worldwide. Extrapolating this Instituted during the colonial era within ran-
number would indicate more than 45 million dis- domly set and conflict-ridden borders, the newly
abled individuals in the MENA region. In times created states of the MENA region inherited a
of social turmoil, the number of disabilities is huge potential for discord and conflict because of
expected to increase. Peaceful negotiation of their intrinsic multiethnic and multireligious
these conflicts is the first step toward avoiding nature. Moreover, the region’s postcolonial era
more physical and mental casualties. Strategies was dominated by populist nationalist move-
targeting social inclusion in all economic and ments that, typically, ignored the democratic
social life domains along with combating social expectations of the region’s people. The Cold
stigma and discrimination against the disabled War and the recurrent failures to free the occu-
should be strengthened. pied lands of Palestine and Syria fractioned the
region further and have contributed to conflict
within the individual countries and the region as
16.4 Concluding Remarks a whole. The current gradual collapse of the
nationalist ideologies is creating a vacuum,
It should be reiterated that, throughout history, mostly benefiting intransient Islamic extremists
the MENA region has been an important contrib- followed by a general decline in the overall polit-
utor to the world’s prosperity, intellectual ical well-being of the populace. A more concilia-
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 549

tory agenda is needed to strengthen democratic modernizing their countries’ infrastructures, pro-
choices and to restore legitimate governments viding for access to health care, and opening edu-
based on the free choice of the people. This cational opportunities to at least the middle mass
approach should apply not only to Arab countries of their populations (see Figs. 16.1a,b and
but also to other MENA countries with such cul- 16.2a,b). Several also have built far-reaching
turally heterogeneous populations as Iran and financial empires that engage in business with all
Turkey. regions of the world. However, and unless han-
As discussed earlier, MENA countries differ dled differently, these gains may evaporate pre-
greatly in their levels of development and hence cipitously due to the volatility of international
in the needs of their populations. A first group of financial and energy markets. Should the current
MENA countries is constituted by highly unsta- restrictions on civil liberties (see Fig. 16.10a–c),
ble regions such as Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, including the marginalization of minorities and
Libya, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. In women, continue over even the near term these
these areas, regaining stability and security is the countries are at serious risk of the civil unrest
utmost priority. It is difficult to watch the dissipa- found in other MENA nations. Intimations of
tion of many of the hard-won advances of the last such turmoil have been noted recently in Bahrain
four decades, e.g., improved educational oppor- and Saudi Arabia. Combating income inequality
tunities and prolonged life expectation, leading and economic corruption in other nations of the
once again to extremism, death, displacement, region must be a priority as well.
exodus, widespread ill-heath, hunger, and all The situation in the MENA countries should
other forms of human misery. be a source of considerable concern for the world
Our analyses have identified another group of as a whole, not only because of the region’s his-
MENA nations that are relatively stable but have torical cultural and geostrategic importance but
only slowly made progress in the areas of health also as a source of critically needed global energy
care and education: Algeria, Iran, Jordan, resources. A worsening situation can easily upset
Morocco, and Turkey. Unfortunately, progress in world peace and contribute to a loss of social
civil liberties in these countries remains wanting. progress that already is underway in many of the
The leaders of these countries need to deal with world’s peripheral developing countries (Estes
the widening gap between rich and poor, provide 2007, 2015). The number of young people being
employment opportunities for youth, settle con- recruited by the extremist state called Daesh (or
flicts with minorities, allow more gender parity, ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria, even among young
help the economically and socially vulnerable Westerners, is an example of a dangerous situa-
population subgroups, and enhance economic tion that may lead to a more global terrorist wave
approaches designed to create wealth for a larger (Estes and Sirgy 2014). Improvements therefore
share of their total population. Israel shares many should be all-inclusive: quality education, decent
of the characteristics of this group of nations but employment, gender parity, freedom, enhanced
has proved resilient in facing different, often dif- participation in public life, and the introduction
ficult, security and economic crises due mainly to of genuine participatory democracies in which
the country’s international financial and military people themselves both identify and pursue indi-
backing. vidual and collective goals. International groups
The last subgroup of countries includes the and other regions of the world have much to con-
oil-rich Gulf States of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, tribute to sustain the high and rapid levels of
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. These coun- positive social change occurring throughout the
tries have experienced enormous successes in Middle East and West Asia.
Supplemental Tables
550

Supplemental Table 16.1 Demography
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Demography
REGION: MENA (N = 22)
Population (Mil) % Population growth rate % Urban
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l
North Africa Algeria 11.3 22.8 37.1 39.9 2.5 3.1 1.9 1.8 30.5 48.0 67.5 70.1
North Africa Egypt, UAR 28.0 50.3 78.1 83.4 2.8 2.3 1.7 1.6 37.9 43.9 43.0 43.1
North Africa Libya 1.4 3.7 6.0 6.3 3.3 3.4 1.3 0.8 27.3 75.5 77.6 78.4
North Africa Morocco 12.3 22.3 31.6 33.5 3.0 2.3 1.2 1.5 29.4 44.8 57.7 59.7
North Africa Sudan 7.5 17.1 35.7 38.8 2.9 3.2 2.3 2.1 10.7 22.9 33.1 33.6
North Africa Tunisia 4.2 7.3 10.5 11.0 1.8 3.0 1.0 1.0 37.5 53.8 65.9 66.6
West Asia Armenia 1.9 3.3 3.0 3.0 3.6 1.6 −0.2 0.2 51.3 67.1 63.6 62.8
West Asia Azerbaijan 3.9 6.7 9.1 9.5 3.3 1.6 1.2 1.3 52.7 53.5 53.4 54.4
West Asia Bahrain 0.2 0.4 1.3 1.3 3.5 3.0 4.9 0.9 82.3 87.2 88.5 88.7
West Asia Cyprus 0.6 0.7 1.1 1.2 1.0 0.9 1.2 1.0 35.6 64.7 67.6 67.0
West Asia Georgia 3.6 4.7 4.5 4.5 1.8 0.9 0.9 0.4 43.1 54.2 52.9 53.5
West Asia Iraq 7.3 15.6 31.0 34.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.5 42.9 68.8 69.0 69.4
West Asia Israel 2.1 4.2 7.6 8.2 3.7 1.8 1.8 1.9 76.8 89.8 91.8 92.1
West Asia Jordan 0.8 2.6 6.0 6.6 4.8 3.6 2.2 2.3 50.9 67.0 82.5 83.4
West Asia Kuwait 0.3 1.7 3.0 3.5 9.8 4.7 4.8 3.2 74.9 97.9 98.3 98.3
West Asia Lebanon 1.8 2.7 4.3 4.5 3.3 0.4 2.2 1.0 42.3 79.4 87.2 87.7
West Asia Oman 0.6 1.5 2.8 3.9 2.3 4.6 5.1 7.8 16.4 57.1 75.2 77.2
West Asia Qatar 0.0 0.4 1.7 2.3 7.1 8.4 11.2 4.5 85.3 90.1 98.7 99.2
West Asia Saudi Arabia 4.1 13.3 27.3 29.4 3.0 5.3 1.7 1.9 31.3 72.6 82.1 82.9
West Asia Syria 4.6 10.7 21.5 23.3 3.2 3.4 2.4 2.0 36.8 47.9 55.7 57.3
West Asia Turkey 27.6 49.2 72.1 75.8 2.5 2.1 1.3 1.2 31.5 52.4 70.7 72.9
West Asia Yemen 5.1 9.7 22.8 25.0 1.5 4.0 2.4 2.3 9.1 18.4 31.7 34.0
North Africa (N=6) 10.8 20.6 33.2 35.5 2.7 2.9 1.5 1.5 28.9 48.2 57.5 58.6
West Asia (N=16) 4.0 8.0 13.7 14.8 3.6 3.0 2.9 2.1 47.7 66.8 73.0 73.8
Regional Average 5.9 11.4 19.0 20.4 3.3 3.0 2.5 2.0 42.6 61.7 68.8 69.6
H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane
Population: Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship–except for refugees not perma-
nently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. The values shown are midyear estimates
% Population growth rate: Population growth (annual %) is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t − 1 to t, expressed as a percentage
% Urban: Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios
from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW
i World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
j World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
k World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
l World Bank: United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
551
Supplemental Table 16.2 Education
552

SOCIAL INDICATORS: Education

REGION: MENA (N= 22)
% Secondary school enrollment % Adult literacy % Tertiary education
Country 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014 1960 1985 2010 2013–2014
Source b c d f g h j k l
North Algeria 45.0 95.4 97.6 49.6 72.6 9.1 28.8 33.3
Africa
North Egypt, UAR 55.3 75.9 89.0 44.4 72.0 73.9 17.8 33.5 32.9
Africa
North Libya 79.3 104.3 60.2 89.9 89.9 9.6 9.6
Africa
North Morocco 30.8 62.5 68.9 30.3 56.1 67.1 6.0 14.3 16.2
Africa
North Sudan 41.7 40.7 32.4 73.4 73.4 15.2 17.2
Africa
North Tunisia 37.0 89.0 90.6 48.2 79.1 79.7 5.3 35.2 33.7
Africa
West Asia Armenia 96.6 96.6 99.6 99.6 17.6 50.6 46.1
West Asia Azerbaijan 96.9 98.8 100.3 99.8 99.8 24.4 19.3 20.4
West Asia Bahrain 92.3 96.4 101.5 94.6 94.6 12.2 36.6 40.4
West Asia Cyprus 72.4 91.4 95.3 98.7 98.7 4.0 48.3 45.9
West Asia Georgia 110.8 86.8 100.6 99.7 99.7 28.3 33.1
West Asia Iraq 49.2 53.1 53.1 79.0 79.0 10.4 16.0
West Asia Israel 90.4 101.9 102.2 91.8 97.8 97.8 34.7 62.4 66.5
West Asia Jordan 81.5 89.9 87.8 92.6 97.9 20.4 40.4 46.6
West Asia Kuwait 88.2 100.3 100.3 74.5 93.9 95.5 15.1 28.5 28.5
West Asia Lebanon 65.1 74.3 75.0 89.6 89.6 26.3 47.8 47.9
West Asia Oman 25.1 96.2 91.2 86.9 86.9 0.3 24.7 28.1
West Asia Qatar 82.8 104.3 111.6 75.6 96.3 96.7 16.8 10.0 14.3
West Asia Saudi Arabia 102.9 124.3 94.4 94.4 9.2 37.3 57.5
West Asia Syria 54.9 72.5 47.7 85.1 85.1 17.2 25.7 31.0
West Asia Turkey 40.4 84.4 102.2 76.0 92.7 94.9 8.9 55.9 79.3
West Asia Yemen 44.3 49.2 66.4 66.4 10.9 10.3
H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane
 North Africa 49.5 72.9 81.8 44.2 74.1 76.1 9.6 25.4 23.8
(N=6)
West Asia 73.1 87.1 89.9 79.5 91.7 92.3 15.5 35.1 38.2
(N=16)
Regional 66.5 83.8 87.7 58.3 87.5 87.9 14.0 32.7 34.3
Average
% Secondary school enrollment: Gross enrollment ratio. Secondary. All programs. Total is the total enrollment in secondary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percent-
age of the population of official secondary education age. GER can exceed 100% due to the inclusion of over-aged and under-aged students because of early or late school
entrance and grade repetition
Adult (15+) literacy rate (%). Total is the percentage of the population age 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday
life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of literates aged
15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100
% Tertiary education: Gross enrollment ratio. Tertiary (ISCED 5 and 6). Total is the total enrollment in tertiary education (ISCED 5 and 6), regardless of age, expressed as a
percentage of the total population of the five-year age group following on from secondary school leaving
b World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics http://data.uis.unesco.org/
c World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics http://data.uis.unesco.org/
d World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR
UNESCO Institute for Statistics http://data.uis.unesco.org/
UNESCO (2002) – Estimated Illiteracy Rate and Illiterate Population Aged 15 Years and Older by Country, 1970–2015, Paris.
f World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS; UNESCO Institute for Statistics http://data.uis.unesco.org/
g World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS; UNESCO Institute for Statistics http://data.uis.unesco.org/
h World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS; UNESCO Institute for Statistics http://data.uis.unesco.org/
j World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics http://data.uis.unesco.org/
k World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics http://data.uis.unesco.org/
l World Bank: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.TER.ENRR; UNESCO Institute for Statistics http://data.uis.unesco.org/
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
553
Supplemental Table 16.3 Health
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Health
554

REGION: MENA (N= 22)

Avg. years life Infant <1/1k live Child mortality Maternal mortality
expectancy born <5/1K rate TB incidence per 100k
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t
North Algeria 46.1 64.1 70.6 71.0 148.4 57.3 23.5 21.6 246.6 71.3 27.4 25.2 92.0 89.0 60.5 90.0 81.0
Africa
North Egypt, UAR 48.0 61.8 70.5 71.1 206.1 83.1 19.9 18.6 307.8 117.5 23.5 21.8 46.1 64.3 50.0 45.0 2.6 21.0 16.0
Africa
North Libya 42.6 66.8 74.8 75.4 164.4 46.0 14.3 12.4 281.5 55.1 16.7 14.5 15.0 15.0 8.7 40.0 40.0
Africa
North Morocco 48.4 61.4 70.2 70.9 146.5 77.8 29.2 26.1 242.7 103.9 34.0 30.4 130.0 120.0 120.3 100.0 104.0
Africa
North Sudan 48.2 54.8 61.5 62.0 107.2 84.6 55.1 51.2 178.0 136.1 83.3 76.6 390.0 360.0 8.8 133.0 108.0
Africa
North Tunisia 42.0 65.9 74.6 73.6 189.2 51.8 14.9 13.1 283.2 68.3 17.4 15.2 48.0 46.0 34.6 23.0 32.0
Africa
West Armenia 65.9 69.5 74.2 74.5 51.3 16.2 14.0 61.3 18.1 15.6 31.0 29.0 23.0 77.0 49.0
Asia
West Azerbaijan 60.8 65.4 70.5 70.7 79.7 33.8 29.9 100.7 38.9 34.2 27.0 26.0 56.5 341.0 85.0
Asia
West Bahrain 52.1 71.4 76.3 76.7 134.6 21.1 6.7 5.2 200.3 25.0 7.8 6.1 14.7 24.0 22.0 46.3 37.0 18.0
Asia
West Cyprus 69.6 75.7 79.3 79.8 12.2 3.1 2.8 13.4 3.9 3.6 10.0 10.0 8.7 3.8 5.8
Asia
West Georgia 63.4 69.8 73.7 74.1 42.8 14.6 11.7 50.2 16.4 13.1 42.0 41.0 39.1 175.0 116.0
Asia
West Iraq 48.0 62.1 68.8 69.5 132.3 46.8 30.1 28.0 196.6 60.7 36.7 34.0 73.0 67.0 41.6 48.0 45.0
Asia
West Israel 72.0 75.2 81.6 82.1 12.1 3.6 3.2 14.4 4.5 4.0 8.0 5.0 2.0 8.7 6.7 5.8
Asia
West Jordan 52.7 68.3 73.4 73.9 107.9 35.6 17.5 16.0 157.1 44.4 20.5 18.7 167.3 53.0 50.0 29.1 7.2 5.8
Asia
West Kuwait 60.3 71.2 74.2 74.5 100.2 19.7 9.2 8.1 144.7 23.2 10.8 9.5 3.7 13.0 14.0 41.4 26.0 24.0
H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

Asia
West Lebanon 63.3 68.9 79.3 80.1 57.7 33.2 8.9 7.8 77.5 41.1 10.4 9.1 18.0 16.0 72.6 11.0 16.0
Asia
West Oman 42.7 63.9 76.0 76.9 232.5 50.3 10.0 9.8 380.5 66.0 11.6 11.4 12.0 11.0 57.5 13.0 11.0
Asia
West Qatar 61.2 74.2 78.1 78.6 23.6 7.7 7.0 28.1 9.0 8.2 7.0 6.0 67.4 46.0 40.0
Asia
West Saudi Arabia 45.7 66.6 75.1 75.7 52.2 14.7 13.4 68.9 17.1 15.5 16.0 16.0 29.9 16.0 14.0
Asia
West Syria 52.8 68.3 74.9 74.7 121.5 37.5 13.1 11.9 179.5 47.1 15.2 14.6 6.2 50.0 49.0 20.3 26.0 17.0
Asia
West Turkey 45.4 61.7 74.2 75.2 169.2 70.9 19.5 16.5 253.7 98.3 23.0 19.2 22.0 20.0 63.0 31.0 20.0
Asia
West Yemen 32.4 55.0 62.5 63.1 269.5 105.2 45.5 40.4 403.5 152.8 58.8 51.3 290.0 270.0 35.7 80.0 48.0
Asia
North Africa 45.9 62.4 70.4 70.7 160.3 66.8 26.2 23.8 256.6 92.0 33.7 30.6 46.1 64.3 120.8 112.5 39.2 67.8 63.5
(N=6)
West Asia 55.5 68.0 74.5 75.0 147.3 43.4 15.9 14.1 221.5 56.0 18.9 16.8 167.3 8.2 43.3 40.6 40.0 59.0 32.5
(N=16)
Regional 52.9 66.5 73.4 73.8 152.5 49.8 18.7 16.8 235.5 65.8 23.0 20.5 106.7 19.4 64.5 60.2 39.8 61.4 41.0
Average
Avg. years life expectancy: Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to
stay the same throughout its life
Infant <1/1k live born: Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1000 live births in a given year
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Child mortality <5/1K: Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the
specified year
Maternal mortality rate: Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per
100,000 live births. The data are estimated with a regression model using information on the proportion of maternal deaths among non-AIDS deaths in women ages 15–49, fertil-
ity, birth attendants, and GDP
TB incidence per 100k: Incidence of tuberculosis is the estimated number of new pulmonary, smear positive, and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis cases. Incidence includes patients
with HIV
a World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
b World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
c World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
d World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN
e World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
f World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
g World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
555

(continued)
Supplemental Table 16.3 (continued)
556

h World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN

i World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
j World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
k World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
l World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.DYN.MORT
m http://www.who.int/healthinfo/mortality_data/en/; http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.CBRT.IN. Note: some estimates made from pregnancy-related deaths, birth
rate, and population
n http://www.who.int/healthinfo/mortality_data/en/; http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.CBRT.IN
o World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
p World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.MMRT
q http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/
r http://www.who.int/tb/country/data/download/en/
s World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
t World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.TBS.INCD
H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane
Supplemental Table 16.4 Income
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Income
REGION: MENA (N= 22)
GDP (Billions of GINI or other measure of wealth
constant 2005 US$) PCGDP (constant 2005 US$) % Growth in GDP disparity
2013– 2013– 2013– 2013–
Country 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014 1960 1985 2010 2014
Source a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p
North Algeria 19.9 64.3 116.5 132.4 1765.6 2813.5 3143.6 3316.0 −13.6 3.7 3.6 4.1 40.2 40.2
Africa
North Egypt, UAR 40.3 121.0 131.4 800.1 1550.1 1575.9 6.6 5.1 2.2 30.8 30.8
Africa
North Libya 57.4 29.2 9494.3 4670.8 5.0 −24.0
Africa
North Morocco 27.5 75.5 87.1 1223.3 2348.6 2557.1 −2.4 5.4 3.6 2.6 40.9 40.9
Africa
North Sudan 5.3 9.2 37.5 38.3 508.0 406.4 822.4 987.4 0.0 −6.3 3.5 3.1 35.3 35.3
Africa
North Tunisia 14.3 40.6 43.3 1975.9 3847.6 3979.4 5.6 3.2 2.5 43.4 35.8 35.8
Africa
West Armenia 5.9 7.1 1997.1 2382.3 2.2 3.4 31.1 30.3
Asia
West Azerbaijan 28.3 31.2 3126.7 3275.7 4.9 2.0 33.0 33.0
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Asia
West Bahrain 5.8 20.9 24.4 13776.2 16721.8 18128.0 −4.8 4.3 4.5
Asia
West Cyprus 7.3 20.6 18.7 13421.8 24852.4 21852.1 4.9 1.4 −2.3
Asia
West Georgia 15.5 8.2 10.2 3315.1 1850.8 2254.4 4.9 6.3 4.8 42.1 41.4
Asia
West Iraq 19.5 66.4 83.6 1254.5 2145.0 2438.8 1.5 5.5 −6.4 29.5 29.5
Asia
West Israel 10.9 50.9 177.1 201.6 5145.1 12034.4 23225.4 24540.6 11.2 3.4 5.8 2.8 36.5 42.8 42.8
Asia
West Jordan 5.9 17.0 19.0 2243.0 2818.1 2878.2 3.5 2.3 3.1 36.1 33.7 33.7
Asia
557

(continued)
Supplemental Table 16.4 (continued)
558

West Kuwait 85.6 101.6 28617.0 30146.9 −4.3 −2.4 1.5

Asia
West Lebanon 12.5 30.8 33.0 4686.2 7083.9 7315.2 8.0 2.0
Asia
West Oman 0.3 16.3 41.2 45.3 507.1 10861.5 14686.9 12472.0 1.1 14.0 4.8 3.9
Asia
West Qatar 101.9 137.9 58257.0 60796.5 16.7 6.2
Asia
West Saudi Arabia 167.1 425.1 523.4 12588.6 15597.0 17819.7 −5.5 4.8 3.5
Asia
West Syria 2.6 12.8 32.0 32.0 563.1 1204.5 1637.4 1637.4 10.8 6.1 5.7 5.7
Asia
West Turkey 64.6 206.0 565.1 672.8 2345.7 4189.6 7833.6 8871.9 1.2 4.2 9.2 2.9 43.6 38.8 40.0
Asia
West Yemen 20.0 18.1 878.1 742.2 3.3 4.2
Asia
North 12.6 31.1 74.7 77.0 1136.8 1443.8 3534.4 2847.8 −5.3 3.0 4.0 −1.6 41.8 35.7 36.6
Africa
(N=6)
West Asia 19.6 47.2 102.9 122.5 2140.3 7234.1 13208.0 13597.0 6.1 2.5 5.2 2.6 38.7 35.9 35.8
(N=16)
Regional 17.3 42.2 95.2 110.1 1805.8 5424.7 10569.8 10665.4 1.2 2.7 4.9 1.5 39.9 35.8 36.1
Average
GDP (constant 2005 US$): GDP at purchaser's prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies
not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.
Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic currencies using 2005 official exchange rates. For a few countries where the official
exchange rate does not reflect the rate effectively applied to actual foreign exchange transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used
PCGDP (constant 2005 US$): GDP per capita is gross domestic product divided by midyear population. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the
economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets
or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in constant 2005 U.S. dollars
% Growth in GDP: Annual percentage growth rate of GDP at market prices based on constant local currency. Aggregates are based on constant 2005 U.S. dollars. GDP is the
sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated
without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources
GINI or other measure of wealth disparity: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption expenditure among individuals or households
within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of
H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane
recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed
as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality
a World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
b World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
c World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
d World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
e World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
f World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
g World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
h World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD
i World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
j World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
k World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
l World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
m
n World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
o World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
p World Bank, Development Research Group; US Census Historical Income Tables: Income Inequality http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
559
Supplemental Table 16.5  Subjective Well-Being
SOCIAL INDICATORS: Subjective Well-Being
REGION: MENA (N= 22)
560

World Values Survey (WVS), 1981–2014

Country WVS 1 1981–84 WVS 2 1990–04 WVS 3 1995–98 WVS 4 1999–04 WVS 5 2005–09 WVS 6 2010–14
Source a b c d e f
North Africa Algeria 5.7 6.3
North Africa Egypt, UAR 5.4 5.7 4.9
North Africa Libya 7.3
North Africa Morocco 5.8 5.3 5.9
North Africa Sudan
North Africa Tunisia 5.6
West Asia Armenia 4.3 5.2
West Asia Azerbaijan 5.4 6.7
West Asia Bahrain 6.8
West Asia Cyprus 7.4 7.2
West Asia Georgia 4.7 5.0 5.5
West Asia Iraq 5.2 4.5 5.9
West Asia Israel 7.0
West Asia Jordan 5.6 7.1 6.6
West Asia Kuwait 7.2
West Asia Lebanon 6.5
West Asia Oman
West Asia Qatar 8.0
West Asia Saudi Arabia 7.3
West Asia Syria
West Asia Turkey 6.4 6.2 5.8 7.5 7.2
West Asia Yemen 5.9
North Africa (N=6) 5.6 5.5 6.0
West Asia (N=16) 6.4 5.1 6.2 6.3 6.6
Regional Average 6.4 5.1 6.0 6.1 6.4
Mean life satisfaction: Averaged value of responses to the following survey question: All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days? Using
this card on which 1 means you are “completely dissatisfied” and 10 means you are “completely satisfied” where would you put your satisfaction with your life as a whole?a
WVS 1 1981–84 V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?b WVS 2 1990–04 V96.- All things considered, how satisfied are you
with your life as a whole these days?c WVS 3 1995–98 V65.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?d WVS 4 1999–04 V81.- All
H. Tiliouine and M. Meziane

things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?e WVS 5 2005–09 V22.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these
days?f WVS 6 2010–14 V23.- All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole these days?
16  The History of Well-Being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 561

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 Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic
Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 17
Birger Poppel

Some day when I have laid me down

Some day when I am dead,
the vision I saw
Will move someone else.
Someone else will see it.
The new generation
Will get to see it.
Therefore, I gasped for air
Therefore, I tried to catch my breath,
as captivated as I was.
(An unknown poet from Ammassalik)

17.1 Introduction foxes, and the iconic polar bear would probably
be among the first associations to spring to mind
Pictures of pristine Arctic nature, of snow-­ when one mentions the Arctic. Another associa-
covered landscapes and icy seascapes, Northern tion might be the Arctic as “the canary in the coal
Lights, breath-taking glaciers, deep fiords, mag- mine,” given the thorough documentation that
nificent terrestrial and marine wildlife such as not only is the Arctic affected by global warming,
seals and whales, muskoxen, reindeer, Arctic it is also witnessing the largest increases in tem-
perature, rapid decrease of the sea ice in the Polar
Sea, and different impacts of a changing climate
(Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme
Portions of the research reported in this chapter were pre-
viously published in Global Handbook of Quality of
[AMAP] 2011).
Life—Exploration of Well-Being of Nations and What often seems to be forgotten is that the
Continents, Living conditions and perceived quality of Arctic, however sparsely, is populated. Depending
life among indigenous peoples in the Arctic, 2015, on how one delimits the area (Map 17.1), between
pp. 715–747, Poppel, B. © Springer Science+Business
Media Dordrecht 2015); with permission of Springer.
4 and 10 million people inhabit the Arctic,1 of
Portions of the research reported in this chapter were pre- which between 400,000 and 1.3 million belong to
viously published in Human Development Report:
Regional Processes and Global Linkages, Health and
Well-being, 2014, Ratio, A., Poppel, B., Young, K. [Tema There are different definitions of the Arctic and the total
1 

Nord 2014:567], Copenhagen: Nordic Council of population varies accordingly. The four million people
Ministers, with permission of the publisher. figure comes from the delimitation defined by the Arctic
Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP). The
B. Poppel (*)
delimitation (e.g., used in the ECONOR I & II Reports)
Project Manager, Emeritus, SLiCA (Survey of Living
that is basis for the ten million population figure includes
Conditions in the Arctic), Ilisimatusarfik, University
larger areas of the Russian Arctic than the one used by
of Greenland, Nuuk, Greenland
AMAP.
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 565

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_17
566 B. Poppel

Map 17.1  Map of the Circumpolar Arctic region and arctic-­c ouncil.org/images/PDF_attachments/Maps/
Arctic administrative areas (Compiled by Winfried admin_areas_wNunavik.pdf)
K. Dallmann. Norwegian Polar Institute; http://www.

one of the indigenous peoples of the circumpolar Siberia via the North American Arctic to
Arctic. The nonindigenous segment of the total Greenland. The indigenous peoples of the Arctic
Arctic population (circa 90 %) comprises perma- are among the oldest peoples living on the planet
nent residents, including descendants of immi- today. However, due to immigrants, especially
grants, and immigrants on short-term contracts from the mother states, the indigenous peoples
(Bogoyavlenski and Siggner 2004:29; Duhaime constitute a minority in most Arctic regions apart
and Caron 2006:17). from Greenland and Nunavut and Nunavik in the
The habitation of the Arctic has taken place Canadian Arctic (Heleniak 2014). Despite a
over thousands of years, beginning in Eurasia and number of challenges, including major impacts
eventually, through a series of migrations, spread- of climate change, many indigenous peoples of
ing into Europe and from the eastern part of the Arctic still engage in subsistence activities
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 567

and thus contribute to their household economies The Arctic has several names: the circumpolar
by hunting, fishing, herding, and gathering. But Arctic, the circumpolar region, the High North,
all, and not only the “newcomers” to the Arctic, the northern Polar Regions and nicknames like
are to some degree involved in the market econ- Top of the World and the last frontier. These
omy. The term mixed economy thus covers the names contribute to the characterization of the
way of life of many indigenous people (Poppel northernmost, vast landmasses and cryosphere
and Kruse 2009). (from the Greek cryos meaning cold or frost and
“Rapid change” is probably one of the most sphaira meaning ball) in the northern hemisphere
often used expressions to characterize the eco- around the North Pole (90° N) and from the
nomic, social, political, and cultural changes of North Pole reaching 2000 km into Siberia and
the Arctic since World War II. The justification 4000 km along the shores of Greenland and
for this expression is manifold. It reflects a com- Eastern Canada.
bination of modernization processes, including Because the Arctic, except for Iceland, con-
massive investments in exploitation of both tains regions of nation-states with capitals far
renewable and nonrenewable resources and away from the circumpolar North, there are no
development of health care and education sys- obviously definitive borders. The boundaries of
tems, housing, and infrastructure facilities. A the Arctic can be defined in various ways:
growing self-awareness of the Arctic indigenous
peoples has accelerated the quest for enhancing • The Polar Circle, located at a latitude of 66°,
quality of life and self-determination and has 33′46″ N, defines the limits to the northern
eventually led to devolution of power from the regions with midnight sun and winter dark;
former colonial powers to northern communities • The 10 °C (50 °F) July isotherm, indicating
and regions and to establishment of new gover- that north of this boundary average tempera-
nance arrangements with more local and regional tures in the warmest month, July, never exceed
decision-making power. 10 °C (50 °F); this isotherm corresponds
This chapter provides both historical and con- roughly to:
temporary pieces of the Arctic puzzle, including • The northern tree line demarcates the north-
the history and actual state of well-being of the ernmost areas were trees grow;
peoples of the Arctic. At the same time, the com- • The 60°N as the southern Arctic border (as
plexity and diversity of the circumpolar Arctic applied by the Arctic Monitoring and
preclude an all-embracing, sufficiently detailed Assessment Programme [AMAP] with further
discussion. specifications [Fægteborg 2013])

For different purposes, the boundaries can be

17.2 T
 he Arctic: A Geographical defined by applying regional and administrative
Approach boundaries of the nation-states. The Arctic con-
tains vast landmasses and a cryosphere in all of
The word Arctic originates from the Greek word its manifestations of water: snow, ice (ice on riv-
Arktos, which means “bear.” The name does not ers and lakes, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, and
refer to the most prominent Arctic predator, the sea ice) and permafrost (AMAP 2011: vi).
polar bear, which in recent decades has become The Arctic Ocean borders on three continents:
an Arctic icon. It refers rather to the constella- North America, Asia, and Europe and includes
tions the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and the Little the waters around and between the regions of the
Bear (Ursa Minor). The Great Bear contains a circumpolar Arctic from the Bering Sea, Baffin
large number of stars, including a formation Bay, Davis Strait, Hudson Bay, Denmark Strait,
called the Dipper (the Plough) and the two Greenland Sea and to the Atlantic Ocean.
Pointer Stars that point to Stella Polaris, the Polar Furthermore, there are a number of lakes and riv-
Star, also called the North Star, which, for millen- ers that are frozen during the winter and often
nia, has served as a guide for Arctic travellers function as ice roads. Large landmasses in the
(Fægteborg 2013). Arctic are permanently covered with ice, most
568 B. Poppel

prominently the Greenland ice cap, which covers 17.3 T

 he Arctic Region in Global
roughly 80 % of the total area of Greenland. The Perspective
permanent ice coverage gains volume from snow
and loses volume by feeding glaciers that eventu- From the first contacts between the indigenous
ally reach Arctic waters and melt. Ground (soil, peoples of the Arctic and Europeans and North
sediment, and rock) that does not thaw for two Americans, and as these contacts eventually
consecutive years is called permafrost. Permafrost became more frequent, the indigenous peoples
exists in large parts of the Arctic and forms the gradually became part of and eventually also
foundation for many Arctic towns and large active partners in a more globalized world. The
infrastructure complexes. Sámi, for instance, are assumed to have had con-
The Arctic cryosphere is changing because of tacts before year 1000 Common Era (CE)
global warming. One sees diminishing and unsta- whereas other Arctic peoples like the East
ble sea ice, thawing permafrost and erosion, Greenlanders did not meet Europeans until the
faster melting and retreating glaciers. These late twentieth century and some of the Canadian
changes have huge implications for the health Inuit even later. The kind of contact varied, rang-
and well-being of people and societies, both in ing from barter and trading, being employed at
and outside the Arctic. the trading posts or in the colonies, to being sub-
Eight nation-states encompass Arctic territo- jects for taxation and direct exploitation.
ries. The list below covers both the nation-states Especially during the last 50 years, economic,
and their Arctic territories and regions including social, and cultural life in the Arctic regions has
self-governing regions2: been more heavily influenced by decisions made
and activities carried out south of the Arctic.
• United States: Alaska Examples include improved access to health
• Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories care; infrastructure development; educational
(including the Inuvialuit Settlement Region), and cultural impacts of Internet access; depen-
Nunavut, Nunavik (Northern Quebec), and dence on world market prices of fish and raw
Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador) materials; and impacts from industrial develop-
• Denmark: Greenland, Faroe Islands ment both inside the Arctic and outside the Arctic
• Iceland through transboundary pollution. These exam-
• Norway: Finnmark, Nordland, Troms ples illustrate the implications of the Arctic being
• Sweden: Norrbotten, Västerbotten a part of a more globalized world and the neces-
• Finland: Lapland, Oulu, Kainuu sity for Arctic residents to closely follow devel-
• The Russian Federation: Murmansk Oblast, opments outside the Arctic.
Kareliya Republic, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Komi The circumpolar Arctic has, especially since the
Republic, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous 1980s, inspired a growing interest for geopolitical,
Okrug, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, industrial, logistical, and environmental reasons.
Taimyr Autonomous Okrug, Evenkia The fact that all Arctic states and states outside the
Autonomous Okrug, Sakha Republic, Arctic, e.g., the European Union, have developed
Magadan Oblast, Koryakia Autonomous Arctic strategies emphasizes the increased signifi-
Okrug, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.3 cance of the Arctic (Heininen 2012).
Some of the reasons for this interest are global
warming and the impact of climate change, the
This definition of Arctic is applied in the analyses of
2  potential opening of new sea routes (the
well-being below. Northwest Passage as well as the Northeast Sea
As of January 1, 2007, Taymyr, Evenkia, and Koryak
3 
Route), and the expected easier access to mineral,
Autonomous Okrug (AO) ceased to exist as distinct fed-
eral subjects and were fully absorbed into the Krasnoyarsk
oil, and gas deposits as sea ice decreases and
kray and Kamchatka kray, although some statistics con- eventually disappears and large landmasses are
tinue to be produced for these former AOs. covered with less snow and ice.
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 569

Furthermore, there is a concern that the Participants4 in the Arctic Council. This event
increased tensions between Russia and the mem- signalled an acknowledgment of the growing
ber states of the North Atlantic Treaty activity and significant political impact of indig-
Organization outside the Arctic might be reflected enous peoples and their organizations in the
in more collaborative relationships between the changing regional political landscape in the
Arctic states. Increased tensions in the Arctic Arctic.
might complicate day-to-day collaboration and The Declaration of the Foundation of the
the development of joint agreements within the Arctic Council (Ottawa, September 19, 1996)
auspices of the Arctic Council on search and res- emphasized the well-being of the indigenous
cue and environmental protection initiatives. peoples and other residents of the Arctic in addi-
Increased tensions might also complicate future tion to other key elements such as sustainable
negotiations between Russia and the other four development and biodiversity in the agenda of
Arctic coastal states (the so-called Arctic Five: what has been called “The Age of the Arctic”
Russia, United States, Canada, Denmark, and (Osherenko and Young 2005):
Norway) bordering on the Arctic Ocean. AFFIRMING our commitment to the well-being
Negotiations will be based on the extended conti- of the inhabitants of the Arctic, including recogni-
nental shelf claims to the Arctic Ocean including tion of the special relationship and unique contri-
the North Pole that the five Arctic states have butions to the Arctic of the indigenous people and
their communities;
made beyond their exclusive economic zones in AFFIRMING our commitment to sustainable
accordance with the United Nations Convention development in the Arctic region, including eco-
on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) (The Ilulissat nomic and social development, improved health
Declaration 2008; United Nations 1982). conditions and cultural well-being;
AFFIRMING concurrently our commitment to
The increasing focus on the Arctic during the the protection of the Arctic environment, including
1980s reached a (first) peak in 1987 when Mikhail the health of Arctic ecosystems, maintenance of
Gorbachev (then General Secretary of the biodiversity in the Arctic region and conservation
Communist Party of the Soviet Union) made a and sustainable use of natural resources (Ottawa
Declaration 1996)5
speech in Murmansk about Arctic collaboration
on reducing military activity, increasing eco- Since the last decade of the old millennium,
nomic collaboration, and advocating joint efforts the Arctic has been a focus of interest as “the
in research and environmental protection. The canary in the coalmine” because global warming
Murmansk Speech initiated the so-called is impacting climate and the cryosphere in the
Rovaniemi process that led to the formation of Arctic, particularly in the circumpolar regions.
the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy in As a result, humans and societies in the circum-
1991 and eventually the foundation of the Arctic polar North are experiencing the impacts of these
Council in 1996 (Young 1998).
The Arctic Council was founded as a high-­ The six Permanent Participants of the Arctic Council are
4 

level intergovernmental forum to provide a vehi- Aleut International Association, Arctic Athabaskan
Council, Gwich’in Council International, Inuit
cle for cooperation on, among other issues,
Circumpolar Council, Russian Arctic Indigenous Peoples
sustainable development and environmental of the North, and Sámi Council (http://www.arctic-coun-
issues and for coordination and interaction cil.org/index.php/en/about-us/permanent-participants -
among the eight Arctic states (Canada, the United accessed January 6, 2016). The Permanent Participants
represent the estimated 500,000 indigenous people of the
States, the Russian Federation, Finland, Sweden,
circumpolar region (as defined by the Arctic Council) in
Norway, Denmark/Greenland/Faroe Islands, and the Arctic Council.
Iceland). The Arctic Council further included the 5 
See also https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/han-
indigenous peoples of the Arctic as Permanent dle/11374/85. Accessed 1 February 2016.
570 B. Poppel

changes more swiftly than those in other parts of former mother countries and with policies of the
the world (Arctic Climate Impact Association national parliaments and governments.
2005; AMAP 2011; Hovelsrud et al. 2011a).
The latest report from the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (2013) states in the 17.4.1 Colonizing the Arctic
chapter on Polar regions that “There is increased
evidence that climate change will have large Colonization of the Arctic—incorporation of vast
effects on Arctic communities, especially where northern territories in southern mother coun-
narrowly based economies leave a smaller range tries—took place in different time periods (from
of adaptive choices” and “Impacts on the health the sixteenth century onward) in different ways
and well-being of Arctic residents from climate but always with assimilation as part of the colo-
change are significant and projected to increase— nial policy and always to expand and defend ter-
especially for many indigenous peoples (high ritorial sovereignty and increase the resource
confidence) (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate base of the colonizing powers. The covetable
Change 2013 Chapter 28:3). resources that contributed to the wealth of the
mother countries—whale oil, fur, ivory, and min-
eral resources—changed over the centuries.
17.4 Political Systems/Structures
17.4.1.1 Alaska
A crude categorization suggests the following The Russian American Company was granted a
drivers and initiators for different stages in the trade monopoly (primarily trading fur) in 1799
development of Arctic political systems and following roughly half a century of Russian
structures: exploration in Alaska. The Russian colonization
of Alaska ended in 1867 when the United States
1. The first (the indigenous) settlers: structures purchased Alaska from Russia (Schweitzer et al.
based on families/households/clans and com- 2014:107–108; Vaughan 1994:187). Statehood
munities to optimize livelihoods as subsis- was granted Alaskans in 1959, but what was
tence hunters, fishermen, gatherers (the equally important to the indigenous groups was
precontact era); the recognition of their land rights because access
2. The early colonization: colonial powers
to land was (and is) a precondition for exercising
defending interests locally (trading posts, mis- subsistence activities (Poppel 2006). In 1980, the
sion stations) against foreign whalers and United States Congress passed the Alaska
uninvited traders (the early contact era); National Interest Lands Conservation Act (1980).
3. The expanding colonization and nation build- Apart from conservation, the act also attempted to
ing: establishing borders/defending territo- return subsistence rights to indigenous peoples of
ries/creating territorial administrations (the Alaska on the basis of local residency and wildlife
era of colonization); and harvest being a necessity for sustenance.
4. Decolonization: responding to indigenous peo-
ples’/groups’/residents’ aspirations and wishes
17.4.1.2 Arctic Canada
for self-governance by devolution of power toIn 1870, Rupert’s Land and the North-West
municipal/regional/political and administrative
Territory (jointly named Northwest Territories)
entities (the era of decolonization). was transferred to the Dominion of Canada
(Grant 2010:144); from September 1, 1880 the
Even if they have gained some degree of self-­ remaining British possessions (except
governance, all of the Arctic regions except Newfoundland) were transferred to Canada, thus
Iceland are part of and influenced by the political forming one of the largest countries in the world
systems of and the economic relations with the (Ibid:166–167). In the following decades, the
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 571

Canadian government was increasingly occupied • The James Bay and Northern Quebec
with defining and protecting its Arctic borders. Agreement was signed in 1975
Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the • Inuvialuit Final Agreement was signed in
Inuit of northern Canada had sporadic contacts 1984
with Europeans and North Americans who came • The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was
to the region for whaling and trading for fur and signed in 1993; 6 years later the Northwest
ivory. Contacts between the indigenous peoples Territories was divided into two territories:
of the Canadian Arctic and newcomers became Northwest Territories and Nunavut (Hicks and
more frequent as mineral exploration and exploi- White 2015)
tation developed in the last decade of the 19th • The Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement
and the first half of the twentieth centuries (for was signed in 2005 resulting in the establish-
example, the Klondike gold rush and oil extrac- ment of the Nunatsiavut self-government in
tion at Norman Wells). The significantly 2006.
increased military presence during World War II
and during the following Cold War was accompa- 17.4.1.3 Greenland
nied by the construction of infrastructure and In 1721 the Norwegian-Danish missionary Hans
military facilities. These activities had significant Egede embarked on a mission to Greenland to
impact on many, but not all, indigenous people’s find and to minister to the descendants of the
way of life, because some choose to maintain Norse/Vikings who arrived in Greenland shortly
their traditional way of living by staying away before 1000 CE. It was a combined mercantile
from these activities (Abele 2009: 25). and clerical expedition. A mission and trading
During and after World War II and because of post was planned that would be funded by a trad-
the tension during the Cold War, military pres- ing company that was granted certain privileges.
ence increased. Furthermore, the increased The following decades, a number of settlements
demand for skilled labor generated by mineral (the so-called colonies) containing both mission
exploitation and the modernization of the stations and trading posts were established along
Canadian Arctic, including the introduction of the west coast of Greenland.
welfare state arrangements, the establishment of Common regulations were introduced with
territories, and negotiation of land claims agree- the so-called Instrux (Instructions) in 1787, giv-
ments, resulted in increased immigration from, ing the authority for both trade and local admin-
especially, the southern part of Canada to fill the istration to the Royal Greenland Trade. This
jobs. mixture of trade and administration ended in
To secure Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic, 1912 (Fægteborg 2013:48–49), but Greenland’s
a number of coercive relocations took place, the colonial status remained unchanged until a revi-
so-called High Arctic Relocation (Royal sion of the Danish Constitution in 1953 included
Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 1994). Greenland as a constituency in the Danish
Yukon became the first territory in 1898 and Kingdom alongside the Faroe Islands. The
was given representation in the Federal Parliament Greenlanders were, however, still only margin-
4 years later. The Northwest Territories was given ally included in decisions about their own affairs
similar parliamentary representation in 1952, and (Lidegaard 1991).
the legislative assembly of the Northwest Following more than 200 years of coloniza-
Territories became a fully elected body in 1975 tion and two decades of modernization (for
(initially members had been appointed; it then ­obvious reasons, termed Danization), increasing
became a mix of elected and appointed demand in the 1950s and 1960s for more self-­
members). determination eventually led to an agreement
The following agreements cover what the about the introduction of a Greenlandic Home
Canadian Inuit call “Inuit Nunangat” (the place Rule arrangement in 1979 (Office of the Prime
where Inuit live) (Abele 2009:29): Minister 1978). As the gradual devolution of
572 B. Poppel

power foreseen in the Home Rule Act was imple- Sámi and to remove their rights. After World War
mented in the beginning of the new millennium, II, the implementation of the Nordic welfare
the next step in the process toward independence model focused on individual rights rather than on
was initiated by the Greenlandic Parliament. By collective rights for members of ethnic groups
2009. a self-governance agreement developed by (Broderstad and Dahl 2004:87).
a joint Danish-Greenlandic Commission was The implications of this point of departure and
signed by the Greenlandic and Danish govern- the fact that the Fennoscandian central govern-
ments. The Act on Greenland Self-Government ments are unitary political systems thus far are
does not declare Greenland an independent state, that political authority is not delegated to self-­
but it prescribes the road to independence for the governing entities in the Norwegian, Swedish, or
Greenlanders when a majority in a plebiscite vote Finnish parts of Sápmi. Sámi parliaments have
in favor of an independent Greenland. Further been approved, however, by the national parlia-
concessions were included, such as the recogni- ments (1987: Norway; 1992: Sweden; and 1995:
tion of the Greenlanders as a people according to Finland) (Josefsen 2005). The parliaments repre-
international law and the Greenlanders’ right to sent the respective Sámi peoples, and their
subsurface minerals (Act on Greenland Self-­ authority is limited to providing advisory and not
Government 2009). legally binding recommendations to the national
parliaments (Poelzer and Wilson 2014).
17.4.1.4 Iceland and the Faroe Islands
The historical developments of Iceland and the 17.4.1.6 Arctic Russia
Faroe Islands differ from the rest of the Arctic Whereas the first human habitation of the cir-
countries and regions. The islands were first cumpolar Arctic took place in Siberia several
inhabited more than 1000 years ago when the thousand years BCE, the first Europeans did not
Norse spread from Norway and settled as farm- travel into Siberia from the south before the six-
ers. The first settlers of Iceland founded the teenth century. The Russian expansion and colo-
Althing in 930 CE, the first parliamentary nization of the North, Siberia, and the Far East
institution. was completed by 1697—it took barely 100 years
Both the Faroe Islands and Iceland were part (Vaughan 1994: 98). Troops followed trappers,
of the Danish-Norwegian kingdom (since 874 traders, and merchants’ agents and created a sys-
and 1264, respectively, ruled by Norway and tem based on a grid of tax- and tribute-collection
afterward by Denmark) and stayed part of the stations set up along the river valleys. This period
Danish kingdom when, by the Treaty of Kiel in was the beginning of the Tsarist colonization of
1814, the Danish-Norwegian union was dis- Siberia and the Russian North, based economi-
solved. Iceland became independent in 1918 and cally on fur tribute from the indigenous peoples
since 1944 has been a republic. The Faroe Islands in the colonized regions. The tsarist influence on
negotiated a Home Rule arrangement with the local affairs was, however, limited.
Danish state in 1948 and are, like Greenland, still Soon after the October Revolution of 1917, a
part of the Danish Realm. Declaration of Rights of the Peoples of Russia
was signed, proclaiming the principles of equal-
17.4.1.5 Sápmi (Northernmost Part ity among the peoples of Russia. A legal cate-
of Fennoscandia) gory, “the small peoples of the north” was created
According to Broderstad and Dahl (2004), rela- (AHDR 2004: 87). Following some experiments
tions between the Sámi and the nation-states have with clan and nomadic soviets, local soviets were
changed since the Middle Ages. Until the mid-­ established in the 1920s and 1930s (Vaughan
nineteenth century, when the Swedish-Finnish 1994:282). The overall consequences of the
and Danish-Norwegian states expanded their ter- political restructuring and the economic reorga-
ritories in the north, they acknowledged Sámi nization during the Soviet era until the collapse
rights. The second period, from 1850 to 1950, of the Soviet Union in 1991 were that “… the
was characterized by attempts to assimilate the aboriginal peoples of the north were over-
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 573

whelmed by a far reaching assimilation into the social suffering in subgroups within a society,
rest of Soviet society …” (p. 285), resulting in a many indigenous peoples of the Arctic clearly
“replacement of religious beliefs,” “re-shaping of suffer sharply elevated levels of mental distress,
social structure,” “disappearance of true nomad- especially young people. To illustrate this point, a
ism,” and destruction of hunting grounds, fisher- 2015 Denmark Radio program noted that only
ies, and reindeer pastures due to extraction of one Greenlander born in the 1950s died by sui-
minerals oil and gas (Ibid). cide between the ages of 10 and 14, but 17 born
The Constitution and national legislation in the 1980s did so (DR 2015).
established rights for the indigenous and small-­ One often emphasized explanation for the
numbered peoples (fewer than 50,000) of the increase in suicides is that the major changes in
North, Siberia, and the Far East. However, the livelihood and living conditions often left the
2015 edition of The Indigenous World stated that indigenous peoples in the role of spectators to
a “…number of legislative changes have affected and sometimes as victims of development. The
indigenous peoples’ rights and control over their actions and policies of the colonial powers that
lands and natural resources and have increasingly resulted in social stress and trauma include relo-
restricted their participation in decision-making cation of Arctic indigenous peoples (such as the
with regard to these lands, …” (International Aleut Evacuation in World War II (Kohlhoff
Working Group on Indigenous Affairs 2015). 1995); the Inughuit relocation from Uummannaq
(in the former Thule district) to Qaanaaq in 1953
(Brøsted and Fægteborg); the Canadian High
17.4.2 Historical Trauma and Arctic Arctic Relocation from 1953 to 1955); and the
Well-Being boarding school programs that were enacted to
different extents in most of the Arctic. The vic-
The various groups of immigrants and the states tims of some of these infringements have sued
colonizing the different regions of the Arctic all for acknowledgment of the trauma they endured.
had distinct, long-lasting effects on the regions In Canada, the concerted efforts of associa-
and the indigenous peoples. Compared to the tions representing the indigenous peoples to have
European colonialism conducted on the conti- their grievances heard and acknowledged
nents of Africa, South America, and Asia and the resulted, after years of official denial, in public
genocide of many North American Indians, colo- hearings and the establishment of commissions.
nization in the Arctic was generally less brutal In Canada, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal
but far from the impression of “the well inten- Peoples (1991–1995) investigated, among other
tioned patron” acting “in the best interest of the incidents, the High Arctic Relocation (Royal
natives” that the colonial powers wanted to Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 1994). The
convey. most recent such commission in Canada was the
The modernization processes that the different Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The first
colonial powers initiated in the post-World Word paragraph of the summary of the TRC’s Final
II era improved physical health and housing stan- Report reads:
dards and established an infrastructure that facili- For over a century, the central goals of Canada’s
tated communication and travel in many remote Aboriginal policy were to eliminate Aboriginal
areas of the Arctic. It is also a fact that the rapid governments; ignore Aboriginal rights; terminate
socioeconomic changes resulted in major social the Treaties (where treaties existed); and, through a
process of assimilation, cause Aboriginal peoples
problems in indigenous societies, such as ele- to cease to exist as distinct legal, social, cultural,
vated rates of substance abuse, child neglect, and religious, and racial entities in Canada. The estab-
violence (including domestic violence). Although lishment and operation of residential schools were
suicide rates are not necessarily a good measure a central element of this policy, which can best be
described as “cultural genocide.” (Truth and
of the well-being of a society, to the degree that Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015).
elevated rates of suicide represent a barometer of
574 B. Poppel

Coming to terms with historical trauma, the Sápmi). Being under pressure, they moved north
legacy of the recent past, is key to improving the in Norway and Sweden during the iron age (until
well-being of Arctic indigenous peoples in the 800, the beginning of the Viking Age). Trade was
coming decades. developed with the southern neighbors and the
Sámi paid taxes to Swedish kings. In the early
seventeenth century, the Sámi became reindeer
17.4.3 Economic Development herders (Larsen and Fondahl 2014:111).
in the Circumpolar Arctic Sápmi includes vast areas, nowadays used pri-
marily for reindeer husbandry, 146,000 sq. km in
The eight countries of the circumpolar Arctic, the the Norwegian and 114,000 sq. km in Finnish
Russian Federation, the United States, Canada, parts of Sápmi, which corresponds closely to
Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, more than one third of the total surface area of
have experienced different economic and politi- Norway and Finland, respectively. Reindeer hus-
cal developments and have developed different bandry involves roughly 3000 people in Norway
welfare systems. It might be assumed that living and between 5000 and 6000 people in Finland
conditions, living standards, and individual well-­ occupied with 240,000 and 200,000 reindeer in
being vary among the Arctic regions. the two regions, respectively (Oskal et al. 2009).
Consequently, we highlight some key features in The habitation of the Russian Arctic was, at
the economic and political development in the the beginning of the twentieth century, facilitated
regions with a focus on the indigenous peoples by the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway
but without going into detail and not attempting (1891–1916). From 1906 to 1914, an estimated 4
to cover all eras, regions, and population groups. million people migrated to Siberia to create bet-
No matter the difference in their living condi- ter living conditions (Schweitzer et al. 2014:111).
tions, all Arctic indigenous peoples lived a sub- The abundance of natural resources, especially
sistence lifestyle as hunters, fishermen, gatherers, oil and gas exploitation, and the creation of
or herders until a closer, more permanent contact industrial and research centers were the basis for
with Europeans or North Americans evolved. a growing population in the Soviet Arctic during
Most often, the different indigenous groups were the twentieth century. However, not all migrated
nomadic or semi-nomadic, living off the land or voluntarily. Several millions (more exact figures
the sea and thus depending on the presence of are still debated) of political and other prisoners
marine and terrestrial mammals and fish and were transported to forced labor camps and labor
migrating according to the seasonal changes in settlements, especially from the 1930s to the
the ecosystem. 1950s, and a large number died in the camps due
In the Russian and North American Arctic as to starvation, hard work, and the extreme climatic
well as in Greenland, trade and colonization were conditions (Alexeeva and Fægteborg 2002:137).
promoted by chartered companies that were
granted monopoly status and given public duties
like defense and jurisdiction (Vaughan 1994:116– 17.4.4 Wage Labor
141). In the northern part of Fennoscandia, as in and Modernization
the Russian Arctic, the indigenous peoples often of the Arctic
paid tribute to the colonizers.
Whereas the Sámi are now known primarily The cash economy and wage labor were intro-
for reindeer herding, they were originally hunters duced in the Arctic regions at different times: in
and gatherers in the northernmost part of Greenland as early as in the middle of the eigh-
Fennoscandia (Norway, Sweden, and Finland teenth century, shortly after the colonization by
and the neighboring region of Russia, also called Denmark (Marquardt 2005) and in most other
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 575

parts of the circumpolar north, generally after (graphite mining); since then, mining has been
World War II. conducted periodically (Fægteborg 2013;
The traditional harvest- and herding-based Sejersen 2014). The most prominent mineral
subsistence economy thus developed into a mixed exploitation was the cryolite mine at Ivittut in
economy where subsistence still contributes sig- South West Greenland.6 The Alaskan-Yukon
nificantly to the food supply and the different liv- gold rush took place in the 1890s, and mineral
ing conditions (see e.g., Poppel 2006; Poppel and extraction in Siberia and the Kola Peninsula was
Kruse 2009) of most Arctic indigenous house- started by the Soviet Union before World War II
holds and plays a role in many nonindigenous and still contributes significantly to the Russian
households. economy. The iron mine in Kiruna in the Swedish
In many ways, the Arctic is a region of con- Arctic (Norbotton) has been in operation since
trasts, especially when the focus is on economic 1898 and is the largest underground mine in the
development and its impact. Rapid economic world. In the other Arctic regions, mineral exploi-
development, especially since World War II, and tation was modest before World War II. Since
in some regions in Arctic Canada, even later, has then, mineral extraction has attracted major com-
characterized the circumpolar Arctic. panies to the Arctic, and mining and hydrocarbon
There have been a variety of motives for the production are now major contributors to gross
regional modernization processes in the Arctic. regional products (GRP) and to the national
Exercising sovereignty over the different Arctic economies, including the Russian Arctic, Alaska,
states’ northernmost regions was definitely a sig- Canada, and Norway. It is, however, important to
nificant driver during the Cold War. The Nordic stress that these activities do not necessarily ben-
countries were, at least to some degree, motivated efit local communities or regional economies in
by an ambition to implement the Nordic welfare terms of GDP because the economic results may
model in the Arctic regions. It was considered an be transferred to companies and shareholders
embarrassment to the Nordic parliamentarians outside the Arctic (Duhaime 2004; Duhaime and
when their health and socioeconomic conditions Caron 2006).
were far below the standards of those in the Figure 17.1 shows the distribution of the GRP
southern parts of the respective countries. in the Arctic regions (Huskey et al. 2014:164).
Another major driver has been and still is the The diversity is striking: Mining and petroleum
abundance of resources: renewable (especially contribute a large part of the production value in
fish and shellfish) and nonrenewable resources. the Arctic regions of Russia, Alaska, and Canada,
Extraction of oil and gas became a major eco- whereas the category “other services,” which
nomic activity in the last part of the twentieth includes activities such as tourism, is a major
century (AMAP 2011), not least in the Russian contributor in the Arctic regions, in the Nordic
Arctic, where extraction was often followed by countries, and in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
environmental problems due to oil spills (Forbes Public sector activities contribute between 25 %
2005; Stammler and Forbes 2006). Oil extraction and 40 % in all Arctic regions except the Russian
started in Alaska in the 1970s; later it extended Arctic.
north of the Norwegian coast and, at the end of
2013, also north of the Russian coast. The sys-
The cryolite mine was in operation from 1854 to 1987
6 
tematic mineral extraction in Greenland dates and was an important supplier to the US production of
back to the middle of the eighteenth century fighter planes during World War II.
576 B. Poppel

100%
Remainder
90%

80% Other Services

70%
Public Sector
60%

50% Construcon

40%
Ressource
30% Processing

20% Othe ressource

10% Mining an
0% Petroleum
Fishing

Fig. 17.1  Distribution of gross regional product for Arctic regions, 2005 (Data from Huskey et al. 2014)

17.5 T
 he Indigenous Peoples Herders, hunters, and gatherers have for thou-
of the Arctic sands of years inhabited the Russian Arctic, rang-
ing from Fennoscandia to the Bering Strait and
The Arctic and sub-Arctic parts of Fennoscandia south to the Primorsky Province, about 60 % of
(Norway, Sweden, Finland, Karelia, and the Kola the entire Russian territory (Fægteborg and
Peninsula) have, for at least 5000 years, long Alexeeva 2015).
before contemporary frontiers were established, It is estimated that 1.4 million indigenous peo-
been inhabited by the Sámi peoples. ple live in the Russian Arctic. This figure also
Archaeological findings seem to document the includes larger groups of indigenous peoples such
fact that ancestors of the Sámi hunted and gath- as Yakuts, Komi, and Karelians (Heleniak 2014;
ered food in the region much earlier. This region Fægteborg and Alexeeva 2015). In today’s Russia,
(including the Kola Peninsula) is referred to as the legal terms “numerically small Native peoples”
Sápmi and includes vast areas used primarily for and “numerically small peoples of the North”
raising reindeer (Oskal et al. 2009). include smaller groups of indigenous peoples such
as Khanty, Nenets-Samoyed, Evenk, Even, and
Chukchi (Heleniak 2014; Fægteborg and Alexeeva
… we Sami are one people united through 2015). Originally, most of the indigenous peoples
our common history, culture, language and of the Arctic were nomadic or semi-nomadic.
land areas. and as a confirmation that the Both the total number and the fraction of nomadic
borders of our nations shall not or cannot or semi-nomadic peoples in the Arctic have
break our solidarity,… (Sami Parliamentary declined. Only about 15,000 people in the Russian
Council 2005) Arctic (mostly Nenets in Yamal) were still semi-
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 577

nomadic in the beginning of the twenty-first cen- 17.5.1 Iceland and the Faroe Islands
tury (AHDR 2004).
The first migrations across the Bering Strait The history of Iceland and the Faroe Islands is
had their point of departure in the eastern part of unlike that of the rest of the Arctic countries and
Siberia, and the ancestors of the Aleut and Yupik regions, because the islands never experienced
that migrated to the North American continent had major groups of immigrants following the first
their roots in what is now Chukotka and settlers. The islands were first inhabited more
Kamchatka. Since roughly 4500 BCE, a number than 1100 years ago when Norse people
of migrations departing from eastern Siberia popu- (Norwegian Vikings) migrated from Norway
lated parts of the North American continent and westward and settled on the North Atlantic
parts of Greenland. The Saqqaq culture was fol- islands. They were the first settlers; they found no
lowed by the Dorset culture, which disappeared indigenous population on the islands. They sus-
around 1500 CE. tained themselves by farming. Some of the set-
tlers in Iceland migrated further and settled in
Greenland, from where some travelled to and
From time immemorial, Inuit have been liv- settled on the eastern part of the North American
ing in the Arctic. Our home in the circum- Atlantic coast.
polar world, Inuit Nunaat, stretches from The total populations of Iceland and of the
Greenland to Canada, Alaska and the Faroe Islands are roughly 330,000 (2013) and
coastal regions of Chukotka, Russia. Our 49,000 (2013), respectively (Nordic Statistical
use and occupation of Arctic lands and Yearbook 2014).
waters pre-dates recorded history. Our
unique knowledge, experience of the Arctic,
and language are the foundation of our 17.5.2 More Recent Settlement
way of life and culture. (Inuit Circumpolar of the Arctic: Visitors
Council 2009) and Immigrants
from the South

The last migration, the Thule culture, origi- The history of the Arctic is a narrative of migra-
nated from Alaska. The Thule peoples are the tions: The first millennia of migrations and settle-
forefathers of the Inuit, who now live in the ments were primarily north to north migrations;
Arctic and define their homeland “Inuit Nunaat,” from the fifteenth century onward, they were
Land of the Inuit (Inuit meaning human beings in almost entirely south to north.
the mother tongue of the Inuit). Nowadays, the The indigenous peoples of the Arctic were all
total number of Inuit is about 150,000. subsistence hunters, gatherers, or fishermen when
The Norse people came from Norway via the first meetings with Europeans took place.
Iceland to Greenland and eventually to the These meetings, sometimes confrontations, took
Atlantic coast of North America. They settled in place over a long period of time7: before 900 CE
Greenland from roughly 900 to 1400 CE. The (the Sámi in Fennnoscandia); between 1000 and
last evidence of the Norse settlement is from the 1100 CE (the Nentsy in northern Siberia); 1585
early fifteenth century, and the reason why they (the West Greenlanders); 1642 (the Chukchi in
disappeared is still debated. The Greenlandic North East Siberia, now called Chukotka); 1771
descendants of the Thule people now number (the Copper Inuit/Kitlinermiut in what is now the
about 50,000 (out of a total population of 56,000)
and comprise one of the only indigenous major- Colonization and different forms of outside influences
7 

ity populations in the Arctic and globally. might not correlate exactly with the years listed.
578 B. Poppel

Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut and the Inuvik and, especially since World War II and during
Region of Northwest Territories); 1820s (the the Cold War, military personnel were stationed
Inupiat [northern Alaska] and the Netsilik Inuit on observatory bases and air bases to secure
in what is now the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut) sovereignty.
(Vaughan 1994:13). The object of securing sovereignty was some-
The presence of Europeans on the North times accompanied by other goals such as mod-
American continent dates back more than 1000 ernization of former colonies (e.g., Greenland)
years, with the Norse as the first European set- and mineral exploitation (e.g., North Slope
tlers on the East coast. Hunting and trading fur Borough in Alaska and several places in northern
attracted European immigrants over the next sev- Russia). Fulfilling these goals created a demand
eral hundred years. With the establishment of the for migrant workers, public servants, and educa-
British-based Hudson’s Bay Company in 1672, tors that contributed to the growing number of
trade became more organized, and the company Arctic residents.
developed into one of the largest owners of prop-
erty. Many fur traders and missionaries settled in
small, remote settlements of the Canadian North 17.6 Well-Being
without major conflict with the original inhabit- of the Circumpolar Arctic:
ants. Sustained contact between settlers from the Application of the United
south and Inuit from the northern parts of Canada Nations Human
is a more recent phenomenon (Government of Development Index
Canada 1996:37)
In the so-called Age of Discovery and ever The United Nations (UN) Human Development
since, people of different origins and trades, of Index (HDI) is a composite index that combines
diverse religious beliefs, and with a variety of indicators related to health (infant mortality and
goals have been attracted by the circumpolar life expectancy), education (measured by educa-
North. Because the waters of the Arctic have tional attainment), and income (gross national
been abundant with marine mammals, fish, and income [GNI] per capita). Whereas the UN HDI
shellfish and the tundra and the forests have been is computed at a state level, a regional approach
the habitat for a large number of species includ- is needed to compare human development in the
ing furred animals, the renewable resources of circumpolar Arctic. The increased focus on
the Arctic have provided for a more permanent human development in the Arctic has initiated a
habitation of both indigenous peoples and other number of efforts to gather and organize data to
Arctic residents. Both renewable and nonrenew- facilitate inter- and intraregional comparisons of
able resources have been a primary reason for a human development and socioeconomic condi-
variety of short-term visitors like whalers, fisher- tions in the Arctic. The sources of the data in this
men, businessmen and trading companies, and section are primarily ArcticStat (n.d.) and the
prospectors for gold and other minerals who Circumpolar Health Observatory but to add to
wanted to prosper from the resources of the and substantiate these data archives, we also
Arctic. included Web sites of national and regional sta-
Missionaries from a variety of churches and tistical institutes, including the United Nations,
religious communities went to the Arctic to work the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
among the indigenous peoples; others were reli- Development, and the International Monetary
gious dissenters (Vaughan 1999: 100). Explorers Fund. These sources were used to apply the UN
and scientists came to the Arctic in quest of dis- HDI to the circumpolar Arctic. To further illus-
coveries, to study and map the geography, geol- trate well-being among Inuit, Sámi, and the
ogy, peoples, and cultures, often for short indigenous peoples of Chukotka and the Kola
periods. At the state level, coordinated efforts Peninsula, some of the findings from the Survey
have been made to colonize regions of the Arctic, of Living Conditions in the Arctic (Kruse et al.
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 579

2008; Poppel 2015a, b; Poppel et al. 2007) have however, within these regions there are sig-
been added to the respective HDI subsections nificant disparities between indigenous and
below on health, education, and economic nonindigenous people.
well-being. • Greenland and Nunavut—with over 85 % of
the population indigenous, there is a wide gap
in health status between these regions and
17.6.1 Health Well-Being Denmark and Canada.
• The Russian Arctic—while the regions in the
A cold and frequently harsh climate is not the European North tend to fare better than those
only health challenge facing Arctic residents, in Siberia for almost any health indicator, the
who often live far away from health care facili- Arctic region tends toward the lower end of
ties. The warming climate has already begun to the spectrum (Rautio et al. 2014: 300).
affect food and water supplies in some parts of
the Arctic (Rautio et al. 2014: 308–310). Research The two health indicators used in the HDI,
since the 1990s has documented transboundary infant mortality and life expectancy, both sub-
pollution for southern industrial areas (Rautio stantiate this conclusion.
et al. 2014: 310–311). For example, the amount
of mercury in marine mammals that for millennia 17.6.1.1 Infant Mortality
have been part of the Arctic diet has now reached Figure 17.2 compares infant mortality rates in all
a level where health practitioners advise pregnant Arctic regions and states. Most of the Russian
and breast-feeding women to avoid eating seal Arctic regions as well as Greenland and Nunavut
and whale meat (Jeppesen et al. 2011). have infant mortality rates just below or higher
Health conditions vary across the Arctic: than 10 per 1000 live births, whereas northern
between regions and between population groups, Fennoscandia, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland
including between indigenous and nonindige- rank lowest, with infant mortality rates around or
nous people. In most cases, there are significant below 5. The infant mortality rates of the latter
differences in health conditions among Arctic are at roughly the same level as those of the
residents and people living in the southern parts Arctic states of which they are a part. Compared
of the Arctic states (Rautio et al. 2014: 300). On with infant mortality rates 30 years or more ago,
the basis of comparisons between a number of most regions show marked improvements. In
health indicators (such as life expectancy; infant Greenland, for instance, rates have decreased by
mortality rate; and incidence of tuberculosis, two thirds from 33 deaths per 1000 (1980–1984)
lung cancer, and sexually transmitted diseases), to approximately 11. Iceland and the northern
Rautio et al. conclude the following: regions of Fennoscandia as well as Yukon and
In general terms, circumpolar regions basi- Northwest Territories have experienced substan-
cally fall into four groups in terms of their health tially decreased infant mortality rates.
status:
17.6.1.2 Life Expectancy
• The Nordic countries—these rank the highest Longevity, defined as the number of years a new-
in every health indicator, and there is gener- born can be expected to live, follow the same pat-
ally little difference between north and south tern as infant mortality. The longevity of women
or between indigenous and nonindigenous compared with men is greater everywhere. In the
people. north of Norway, Sweden, and Finland, the Faroe
• Alaska, Yukon, and Northwest Territories— Islands, and Iceland, life expectancy is greater
health status in these jurisdictions is compa- than 80 years for women and greater than 75
rable to, or even better than, the national years for men. In all other regions (apart from the
average of the United States and Canada; Northwest Territories), life expectancy is lower.
580 B. Poppel

Alaska

Yukon

Northwest Territories
infant mortality 2005-09
Nunavut
infant mortality 2000
Greenland
infant mortality 1990
Iceland infant mortality 1980
Nordland infant mortality 1951

Chukotka AO

Nenets AO

0 10 20 30 40

Fig. 17.2  Infant mortality rates (deaths per 1000 live births), various periods (Data from national statistical institutes
covering Arctic regions)

Yukon

Northwest Territories

Greenland

Iceland

Nordland

Chukotka AO

Nenets AO

0 20 40 60 80 100
2000/2001 1991 1981 1971 1961 1954

Fig. 17.3  Male life expectancy for selected arctic regions and periods (Data from national statistical institutes covering
Arctic regions)

In the Russian Arctic regions, life expectancy for between some of the Russian Arctic regions
women is 10–15 years higher than for their male (Chukotka, and Nenets AO)8 and Iceland and
counterparts. In some of these regions life expec-
tancy for men is between 50 and 55 years. “AO” refers to discrete political units, Autonomous
8 

Figure 17.3 shows male life expectancy for Okrugs, that were previously subjected to rule by the for-
mer Soviet Union. Today, all are independent territories in
selected Arctic regions and selected periods and their own right but retain the original title as part of their
years. The figure illustrates the major differences name to reflect their previous political histories.
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 581

Nordland in northern Norway and illustrates The increased longevity, in parallel with a
large increases in life expectancy within a few general decrease in fertility, adds to an age distri-
decades. Greenland is an example of the latter. bution in the Arctic that follows the aging popu-
Due to generally improved living conditions lation trend experienced in North America,
(such as better housing and access to health care) Europe, and Southeast Asia (Heleniak 2014;
in the Arctic since World War II, life expectancy Rasmussen 2011).
has increased considerably in many regions. In
Greenland, life expectancy in the mid-1950s was 17.6.1.3 M  ortality Rate of the Inuit
51 and 55 years for men and women, r­ espectively. People in Greenland
Sixty years later, a decade into the twenty-­first Figure 17.4, prepared by Professor Peter
century, life expectancy was 69 and 73 years, an Bjerregaard (one of the founding fathers of Arctic
increase of almost 20 years. In just 20 years since public health research), shows the dramatic
the early 1990s, both Iceland and the northern decline in the mortality rate among Greenlanders
parts of Finland and Norway have experienced in the first half of the twentieth century, as rates
increased life expectancy of 4–5 years. of death from tuberculosis and acute infections
The positive message is that the regions rank- were lowered.
ing lowest (regions of the Russian Arctic with a Although many basic health indicators have
few exceptions: Koryak AO, Evenki AO and improved, the indigenous populations of the
Magadan Oblast) experienced a decrease in Arctic regions suffer from higher rates of injury
infant mortality rates and an increase in life and lethal violence, both homicide and suicide,
expectancy. Furthermore, these regions also than the populations of the nation-states in which
made significant progress compared to most they reside. Although attempts have been made
other Arctic regions. to measure rates and summarize trends around

Fig. 17.4  Age-adjusted mortality from major causes of death in the Inuit population of Greenland, 1924–2009 (Data
from Bjerregaard and Larsen 2016)
582 B. Poppel

the Arctic (Larsen and Fondahl 2014: 308–310), but the 1970s and 1980s saw tragic increases in
few attempts have been made to explain why the the number of people taking their lives—an
rates of critical social pathologies are higher in increase and new normal rates that are without
the Arctic. equal on the planet. It should be noted that there
are few, if any, other societies in the world where
17.6.1.4 S  uicide Rate of Alaska such a suicide transition can be documented,
Natives, Inuit in Nunavut, because their transitions were far less recent than
and Greenlanders those of the Inuit and occurred before systematic
One important question is whether the indigenous record-keeping began (Figs. 17.5a and 17.5b) The
societies of the Arctic were always as violent as latter figure shows the significant age and gender
they are today. Historical data for suicide by Inuit differences among Inuit in Nunavut, with
in Alaska, Nunavut, and Greenland present soci- extremely high suicide rates among young men
eties where historical rates of suicide were low, between 15 and 30 years of age.

140
Rate of death by suicide by Inuit, per

Alaska Naves
120 Nunavut Inuit
Greenlanders
100,000 populaon

100

80

60

40

20

0
190

194

197

200

201
Fig. 17.5a  Rates of death by suicide for Alaska Natives, Inuit in Nunavut, and Greenlanders, 1900–2014, 5-year roll-
ing averages (Data from Hicks 2016)

600
Males
Rate of death by suicide by Inuit, per

Females
500
100,000 populaon

400

300

200

100

Fig. 17.5b  Rates of death by suicide by Inuit in Nunavut per 100,000 population by age and gender (Data from Hicks
2016)
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 583

The temporal sequence in which the regional Canada and noted, “low socioeconomic develop-
suicide transitions occurred, first in Alaska, then ment and high inequality will increase the homi-
Greenland, then Nunavut) is noteworthy because cide rate of a given country” (Christensen et al.
it mirrors, roughly one generation later, processes 2015).
of active colonialism at the community level. We Arctic governments and indigenous organiza-
can use the decline in the incidence of tuberculo- tions have been slow to develop and implement
sis as a historical marker of the early years of strategies, programs, and services to address ele-
active colonialism at the community level. The vated rates of lethal violence in their communi-
historical sequence in which Inuit infectious dis- ties, but work is now underway in most regions.
ease rates fell (as a result of the introduction of One challenge is strengthening culturally appro-
Western medicine) was the same as that in which priate mental health services in small, isolated
Inuit rates of death by suicide later rose across communities. A 5-year suicide follow-back (or
the Arctic (Hicks 2009). psychological autopsy) study conducted in
An attempt to explain the causal factors behind Nunavut found that depression and other mental
this suicide transition was made in the Nunavut disorders were significant risk factors for suicide
Suicide Prevention Strategy, a partnership behavior in the territory (Chachamovich et al.
between the Government of Nunavut, the repre- 2015). This higher burden of psychiatric illness
sentative Inuit organization Nunavut Tunngavik signifies the importance of clinical risk factors
Inc., the police, and an interagency suicide pre- that are relevant to suicide globally, in addition to
vention body: others which may be culturally distinct.
The trauma experienced firsthand by Inuit in the
settlement transitional period has had an immense 17.6.1.5 S  ome Findings on Health
impact on all following generations, as many Inuit from the Survey of Living
who were negatively affected in this period did not Conditions in the Arctic
ever heal. This unresolved trauma compromised
their ability to cope with stress in a healthy man- It is well documented that life expectancy
ner. Negative behavior often followed in the form dropped dramatically in Russia after the col-
of alcohol abuse, sexual, physical, and emotional lapse of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the
abuse, child neglect, and violent crime. It is impor- 1990s. This was especially the case in remote
tant to note that elevated suicide rates emerged
within the first generation of Inuit youth who grew regions, which suffered because some regional
up in communities. In the absence of an adequate health care services were abolished (Heleniak
healing process, a continuous cycle of trauma has 2014:64). Most results from the answers in the
been created, which has been passed from genera- health section of the Survey of Living Conditions
tion to generation. This is referred to as the inter-
generational transmission of historical trauma. The in the Arctic (SLiCA) questionnaire point to a
understanding that historical trauma can be passed health status that is generally worse in Chukotka
from one generation to the next does not excuse and the Kola Peninsula (diagnosed but untreated
afflicted individuals who harm others; nor does the medical problems is just one example). Medical
examination of the roots of historical trauma in
Nunavut allow definitive blame for the current sui- research has substantiated that self-rated health
cide rate to be placed on any single entity. Rather, is a fairly good predictor of life expectancy (de
understanding historical trauma and how it is Salvo et al. 2006). The results from self-rated
transmitted from generation to generation is an health present a diverse picture: fewer than
imperative first step in breaking its cycle in
Nunavut.’ (Nunavut Suicide Prevention Strategy 50 % (Chukotka) and 95 % (Greenland) of the
2010: 6–7). indigenous residents perceive that their health is
“good,” “very good,” or “excellent.” At the same
A recent study examining the high of rate of time, the results show that one out of five in all
homicide in Greenland (which is as high as 15 regions/countries (except Canada and
times that of Denmark) noted the similarity to the Greenland) rate their health “poor or fair”
situations prevailing in Alaska and northern (Poppel 2015b:722).
584 B. Poppel

17.6.2 Education and Intellectual cities, and industrial development. Areas and

Well-Being regions with a large proportion of indigenous
peoples most often have fewer universities and
For the first residents of the Arctic, living off the university colleges (Hirshberg and Petrov 2014).
land and sea, hunting, fishing and gathering, Level of education can be measured in various
transfer of knowledge from one generation to the ways. The HDI focuses on expected years of
next was essential to survive in and adapt to schooling, whereas the second Arctic Human
extreme weather and changing environmental Development Report (Larsen and Fondahl 2014)
conditions. Given that a mixed subsistence and measures the level of education by the proportion
market economy is still prevalent in large parts of of the population (15 years and over) with post-
the circumpolar North, the intergenerational and secondary and tertiary educations, respectively,
informal transfer of knowledge is still important because educational attainment reflects both edu-
for many households and communities (also cational status and development in the Arctic
because the subsistence lifestyle, apart from pro- states (Larsen and Fondahl 2014). As stated in
viding households with healthy diets, is part of the second Arctic Human Development Report
the social and cultural glue of many northern (2014), “Regional educational attainment levels
communities (Poppel and Kruse 2011). At the not only reflect the initiative of young people and
same time, traditional knowledge is challenged residents desirous of an education, but also the
by the impacts of climate change. demand for an educated work force in both the
The rapid socioeconomic, sociocultural, and public and private sector. Often, this demand is
political changes; the quest of Arctic indigenous met by immigrant labor that moves to the region
peoples for self-determination; the requests of on either a short or long-term basis” (Rautio et al.
Arctic communities and regions to benefit from 2014:317). Figure 17.6 shows the educational
increasing economic activities, including attainment by regions of the Arctic.
resource extraction and the resulting industrial Iceland, northern Fennoscandia, the Russian
activities; and the desire to be part of and partners North, and Yukon rank highest when postsecond-
in a more globalized world necessitate increased ary educational attainment is measured, whereas
levels of formal education. Therefore, most Greenland and most of the North American
Arctic regions have developed educational pro- Arctic lag behind. These numbers obviously
grams, and education is a political top priority reflect the different histories and educational pol-
resulting in investments in both the public school icies of the northern regions, which are also
system and in postsecondary and tertiary educa- reflected in the locations institutions of higher
tional institutions such as colleges and education.
universities.
The second Arctic Human Development 17.6.2.1 S  LiCA Findings: Education—
Report (AHDR 2014) cites 177 universities, uni- Formal and Informal
versity colleges, and university branch campuses Roughly eight out of ten people attended post-­
in the Arctic, most of which are members of secondary school (high school or a vocational
University of the Arctic (UArctic), a cooperative school/college) in Norway, Chukotka, Alaska,
network of universities, colleges, and other insti- and the Kola Peninsula. The percentage is some-
tutions and organizations engaged in Arctic edu- what lower in Greenland, and just 15 % of the
cation. Roughly one quarter of the total higher Swedish Sámi (this might be, at least partly,
education institutions are universities, and most because of the age composition of the Swedish
of the institutions of higher education are located Sámi sample).
in the Russian Arctic. No universities are located As subsistence harvest activities are still
in the Canadian North. In general, there are more important to the indigenous peoples in the Arctic,
institutions of higher education in areas and knowing about the continued intergenerational
regions with a higher population density, larger transfer of traditional knowledge is important.
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 585

Fig. 17.6  Attainment of

tertiary education among Alaska
adults aged 25–64,
selected arctic regions, Yukon
development from
2000–2004 to 2005–2009
Northwest Territories
(Data from national
statistical institutes
Nunavut
covering Arctic regions)
Greenland

Iceland

Nordland

Chukotka AO

Nenets AO

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
2005-09
2000-04

SLiCA respondents were asked about traditional 17.6.3.1 Economic Measurements

education skills learned as a child and the skills Using the Gross Regional
learned or improved since childhood. A majority Product
among the Inuit and Sámi in Norway, the Kola The living standard dimension of the HDI,
Peninsula, and Chukotka said that they learned income, is measured by GNI per capita.
11 or more traditional skills, and more than 8 of Comparing the Arctic regions presupposes that
10 indigenous residents in all regions/countries GNI exists or can fairly easily be calculated on a
stated that they had learned or improved regional basis (gross regional income [GRI]) and
traditional skills since childhood (Poppel
­ that the currencies can be compared because if
2015b:722–23). these conditions are not both present, we use the
regional measure, GRP.9
The geographical categorization used to rank
17.6.3 Economic Well-Being the Arctic regions according to the health indica-
tors does not apply to or reflect the ranking of the
The circumpolar North spans the whole range of Arctic regions according to income, although
economic activities from subsistence hunting, there are parallels. Table 17.1 gives details about
fishing, gathering, and reindeer herding via
small-scale processing activities, fisheries of dif-
Gross domestic product is measured in domestic curren-
9 

ferent scales, construction and resale, public and cies of each country, and each country experiences differ-
private services to large-scale construction, min- ent consumer patterns, price levels, and inflation rates.
eral, and oil exploration and exploitation activi- Comparing GRP per capita thus presupposes the existence
of regional statistical assessments of production value, a
ties. This variety of activities is not only present
procedure that converts GRP (in basic prices) in domestic
across the Arctic but often also within regions. currencies to a common currency (USD) and creates a
The diversification is generally considered to new statistic referred to as purchasing power parity [PPP].
strengthen local and regional economies but Furthermore, using the so-called gross domestic product
deflators, the values are adjusted for inflation when
often also causes conflicts when mining activities
changes in GRP from 2000 to 2009 (where data were
are planned in areas where hunting or herding available, otherwise for a shorter period of time – c.f.
constitutes the local means of making a living. Table 17.1) are calculated.
Table 17.1  Gross regional product by arctic region, 2000 and 2009
GRP (fixed
prices) 2000 =
100
per capita USD
PPP

Country/Region GRP-change 2000-2009* Country/Region

2000 2009 fixed prices (2000 = 100)
United States 35029 36609 0.05 United States
Alaska 41292 52381 0.27 Alaska
Canada 28509 30938 0.09 Canada
Yukon 31776 43240 0.36 Yukon
Northwest Northwest
Territories 50486 63608 0.26 Territories
Nunavut 24646 32283 0.31 Nunavut
Northern Canada 37480 48128 0.28 Northern Canada
Denmark 28864 Denmark
Greenland 18139 22584 0.25 Greenland
Faroe Islands 22346 25941 0.16 Faroe Islands
-
Iceland 28879 22260 0.23 Iceland
Norway 36174 38415 0.06 Norway
Nordland 18709 22447 0.20 Nordland
Troms 19305 22879 0.19 Troms
Finnmark 18230 21840 0.20 Finnmark
Northern Norway Northern Norway
Sweden 27985 Sweden
Västerbotten 22577 26902 0.19 Västerbotten
Norrbotten 25117 28377 0.13 Norrbotten
Northern Sweden Northern Sweden
-
Finland 48634 40313 0.02 Finland
* 2000-
Kainuu 29147 27924 0.07 2007 Kainuu
Oulu/Pohjois- - * 2000-
Pohjanmaa 42784 37030 0.04 2007 Oulu/Pohjois-Pohjanmaa
* 2000-
Lappi 40995 38447 0.05 2007 Lappi
* 2000-
Northern Finland 40375 36256 0.00 2007 Northern Finland
Russian
Russian Federation 5375 8926 0.66 Federation
Murmansk Oblast 8097 9493 0.17 Murmansk Oblast
Kareliya Republic 5277 6115 0.16 Kareliya Republic
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk Oblast 6134 10138 0.65 Oblast
- Nenets AO 39697 121971 2.07 - Nenets AO
Komi Republic 7758 12466 0.61 Komi Republic
Yamalo-Nenets
Yamalo-Nenets AO 32249 47233 0.46 AO
Khanty-Mansi AO 40320 46784 0.16 Khanty-Mansi AO
- ** 2000-
Taymyr AO 6801 6237 0.08 2005 Taymyr AO
** 2000-
Evenki AO 4505 7825 0.74 2005 Evenki AO
Sakha Republic 11698 13713 0.17 Sakha Republic
Magadan Oblast 9000 11718 0.30 Magadan Oblast
- ** 2000-
Koryak AO 14093 10201 0.28 2005 Koryak AO
Chukotka AO 8965 36551 3.08 Chukotka AO
Northern Russia 5375 21402 0.37 Northern Russia
Total Northern Total Northern
Regions Regions

*AO Autonomous Okrug, GRP Gross regional product, PPP Purchasing power parity, USD US dollar
*Colors indicate the direction of change: green indicates a better situation during the first decade of the twenty-first
millennium; yellow indicates the status quo; red indicated a retrograde step
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 587

incomes in all Arctic regions in 2000 and in 2009 ing the first decade of the 21st millennium; “yel-
and therefore provides a way to compare devel- low” indicates status quo; and “red” indicates a
opments within the first decade of the twenty-­ retrograde step.
first century. Comparing GRPs with national GPDs indi-
In 2000, the per capita GRPs in some of the cates that several regions such as Alaska, the
Russian regions such as Yamalo-Nenets AO, Canadian territories, and some of the Russian
Khanti-Mansi AO, and Nenets AO were among regions have higher GRPs per capita than the
the highest in the circumpolar North and above respective national GDPs. Considering the impli-
USD PPP 40,000. At the same time, the rest of cations for economic well-being, it is important
the Russian Arctic regions had GRP per capita to stress that this does not necessarily imply that
below USD PPP 15,000. The regions with the Arctic residents in these regions are economi-
highest GRP per capita (USD 25,000 and above) cally better off and have higher living standards
included Alaska and the three Canadian Arctic than their fellow citizens south of the Arctic bor-
regions as well as the Arctic regions of Finland ders. One reason is that there is a net transfer of
and Norrbotten (northern Sweden). GRP data for value out of the Arctic. Resource development
the last year of the first decade of the twenty-first might have regional economic spin-offs and gen-
century are not available for all regions, and erate income locally, but often, major extractive
GRPs for these regions have been measured for activities are decoupled from both local and
the period including the last year for which data regional economic activities and therefore con-
were available.10 tribute more to economic activities and to large
The more significant changes in the economic corporations and economic centers outside the
human development indicator (GRP USD PPP in Arctic (e.g., Duhaime 2004). Another reason is
fixed prices) from 2000 to 2009 (2005 or 2007 that neither production value nor conventional
for some regions) include: income measures tell about the living costs that
are substantially higher in the Arctic.
• A decrease of more than 20 % in the Icelandic The data from 2009, and for some regions, the
GRP from 2000 to 2009 (due to the huge data for 2005 and 2007, respectively, indicate a
impacts of the financial crisis) (Matthiasson narrowing of the income differences (measured
2013). The Icelandic economy has gradually by GRP) and thus a somewhat decreased dispar-
recovered, and the Icelandic GDP in 2013 was ity between the Arctic regions measured by the
almost at the same level as in 2008 gross production value of the regions. The back-
• The decrease from 2000 to 2005 in the GRP of ground for the decreased disparity between
Koryak AO and Taymyr AO Arctic regions is economic growth, primarily in
• The generally high percentage increases in the Russian Arctic, based on oil, gas, and mineral
most Russian Arctic regions caused by inten- resource exploitation. The dramatic decrease in
sified oil, gas, and mineral exploration and the oil prices in recent years (2014–2015) at the same
increasing world market prices. time shows the vulnerabilities of regions relying
on mineral extraction.
In Table 17.1, the HDI indicator for economic It should be noted, however, that GRP only
well-being, GNI per capita, is replaced by GRP tells us about the total added value of production.
per capita. The colors indicate direction of It does not reveal the distribution of income and
change: “green” indicates a better situation dur- thus the intraregional income differences nor
does it tell us about potential negative externali-
The GRP time series for the three Finnish Arctic regions
10 
ties (environmental problems, for example).
are only available for the period 2000–2005 and for three Finally, it is important, when considering future
of the Russian Arctic regions (Evenki AO, Taymyr AO and
Koryak AO). GRP data are only available for the period
economic well-being, to acknowledge that the
2000–2007. nonrenewable resources that have been extracted
588 B. Poppel

for the region represent a loss of wealth for future There seems to be a relation between income
generations (Mäenpää 2009). differences (measured as “part of the population
in poverty”) and satisfaction with the standard of
17.6.3.2 F  indings About Living living. Between seven and eight out of ten indig-
Standards, Income, enous Chukotkans and residents of the Kola
and Poverty from the Survey Peninsula state that they are somewhat or very
of Living Conditions dissatisfied with their standard of living. One in
in the Arctic ten Norwegian Sámi and roughly every fourth
Whereas the HDI measures GNI per capita, the Inuit in Greenland and Inupiat in northern Alaska
SLiCA project measures individual and house- are dissatisfied with living standards.
hold income as well as income inequalities and An overall assessment of living standards
poverty. Income differences in the Arctic exist measured by cash income must include the sub-
not only between regions and countries but also sistence harvest (see Sect. 17.7.3.3), including
within regions and countries. what is shared and received from or given away
Both relative11 and absolute12 poverty were to family and fellow community members. The
measured on the basis of detailed self-reported subsistence harvest contributes significantly to
income information. About 40–50 % of house- the food supply of many households and thus
holds in Greenland, Alaska, Chukotka, and the compensates for food that otherwise would have
Kola Peninsula are relatively poor (with incomes been bought in a local grocery or supermarket. At
below 60 % of the median income). The largest the same time, SLiCA data from the Inuit survey
proportion of relatively poor (53 %) is in regions documented that subsistence activities
Chukotka, whereas fewer than two out of ten depend on cash and that, when there was a cor-
Norwegian Sámi can be counted as relatively poor relation between cash income and subsistence
(data are not available from Canada and Sweden). activities, individuals with higher incomes took
Using an absolute poverty level reveals large dis- part in more subsistence activities (Kruse et al.
crepancies between indigenous households in 2008).
Chukotka and the Kola Peninsula (roughly three The answers to the question about the house-
out of ten households live in absolute poverty) at hold’s ability to make ends meet economically
one end of the scale, and Norway and northern reflected the same economic reality and the per-
Alaska (less than one household out of ten) at the ceptions referred to above: 85 % of the indige-
other end of the scale. About 15–18 % of the nous residents in both Russian SLiCA survey
indigenous households in Greenland and northern regions reported that they were only able to make
Canada live in absolute poverty. ends meet with some or great difficulty (Poppel
Indigenous individuals and households in 2015a:723–724)
Chukotka and the Kola Peninsula have consider-
ably lower incomes13 (Swedish data are not avail-
able) than households in Greenland, northern 17.7 Well-Being
Alaska, and northern Norway, with the income Among Indigenous
level in Norway ranking highest. and Other Arctic Residents

Relative poverty was measured using the Eurostat defi-

11  The terms subjective well-being, quality of life,
nition for households: “the households earning less than and happiness increasingly appear in a variety of
60 per cent of the median income.” assessments, surveys, and analyses of the Arctic.
To measure absolute poverty, the United States defini-
12 
Recent examples include the AHDR (AHDR
tion and standard were applied.
2004; Larsen and Fondahl 2014), the Arctic
The incomes include all sources of income: wages, earn-
13 

ings from self-employment, and transfer income. The

Social Indicator (ASI) project (Larsen et al. 2010,
income figures are measured in USD and are 2014), the SLiCA (Andersen and Poppel 2002;
PPP-adjusted. Kruse et al. 2008; Poppel 2014a, b, 2015a, b),
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 589

and chapters focusing on well-being in the Arctic 17.7.2 Arctic Social Indicators
Climate Impact Assessment (Nuttall et al. 2005)
and in the Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the The recommendations of the AHDR were fol-
Arctic Report (Hovelsrud et al. 2011b). This lowed up in the ASI project (Larsen et al. 2010,
trend reflects discourses about human develop- 2014). The first ASI study defined a set of indica-
ment, not only in the Arctic but also on a global tors within six domains, the first three of which
scale in both political and academic forums. In are closely related to the HDI and the last three of
discussions related to Arctic human development which are Arctic specific:
this trend might be seen as an indication of an
increasing demand from indigenous and other • Health and population
Arctic residents to be acknowledged as active • Material well-being
participants in developing the Arctic rather than • Education
as passive recipients of the consequences of rapid • Fate control
social and economic changes. • Cultural well-being
• Closeness to nature

17.7.1 The Arctic Human In the second ASI study (Larsen et al. 2014),
Development Report the indicators were applied to different Arctic
regions; domains were tested in several regions;
The first AHDR (2004) focused on well-being and one survey instrument, the SLiCA (Kruse
in the chapter “Human Health and Well-being.” et al. 2008; Poppel 2015b; Poppel et al. 2007),
Well-being was considered in close relation to was applied to the homelands of the Inuit, the
and determined by a number of different health Inuit Nunaat.
indicators as well as by other overall living con-
dition dimensions such as “local control” and
“spiritual values” (AHDR 2004:157). 17.7.3 Survey of Living Conditions
Furthermore, the first AHDR stated, “‘[c] in the Arctic
ommunity cohesion’ and individual and com-
munity ‘resilience’ are important for well- The goal of the SLiCA was that “Human develop-
being, but these factors are seldom reflected in ment shall be measured in ways that reflect subjec-
health statistics. We need to find ways to quan- tive well-being; thus partnerships with the
tify these factors and their role in quality of life respondents—in SLiCA the indigenous peoples of
in a way that makes it possible to compare the the Arctic—is key to study and understand living
situation across the Arctic nations” (AHDR conditions and welfare priorities.” (Poppel 2015b).
2004: 166). The AHDR then concluded as SLiCA was initiated in 1997/98. To contribute
follows: to a concerted effort to assess human develop-
Residents of the Arctic—settlers as well as ment in the Arctic by applying relevant indica-
Indigenous peoples—regularly emphasize the tors, the first SLiCA results were organized
importance of at least three dimensions of human according to the six domains recommended by
development over and above those included in the the AHDR (2004) (see also www.arcticliving-
HDI:
conditions.org).
• Fate control (controlling one’s own destiny) The goal of this section is to present SLiCA find-
• Maintaining cultural identity
• Living close to nature (AHDR 2004: 240).
ings on the three additional well-being dimensions:
590 B. Poppel

• Control of destiny/fate control A majority in all survey regions also indicate

• Cultural continuity/cultural well-being an interest in “politics in general.” The variation
• Ties to nature/closeness to nature in responses to this question is, however, larger:
50–60 % in the Kola Peninsula say they are inter-
17.7.3.1 C  ontrol of Destiny/Fate ested or very interested, whereas more than 80 %
Control of the Sámi in northern Norway and northern
Control of destiny/fate control can, according to Sweden declare an interest in politics in general
Dahl and his co-authors, be measured using indi- (Fig. 17.7) (Poppel et al. 2007).
cators within the following categories: political The Norwegian Sámi are interested, declare
power and political activism, decision-making that they are also knowledgeable, and find gov-
power, economic control, knowledge construc- ernment decisions important to them, but dis-
tion, and human rights (Dahl et al. 2010:131). agree on the statement that their own vote is not
Many indicators within these categories can be important. At the other end of the spectrum of
found in publicly available assessments and perceptions related to interest in and knowledge
reports at an aggregate level. The same availabil- of politics, roughly half the indigenous people of
ity of data does not generally exist if the research the Kola Peninsula expressed interest in politics,
focus is the individual’s evaluation of, for but only every fourth felt her/himself to be
instance, distribution of power and influence on knowledgeable about politics. Almost half of the
decision making. SLiCA illustrates some aspects indigenous people of the Kola Peninsula agreed
of individuals’ perceptions about political knowl- with the statement that it did not matter how she
edge and influence. or he voted. Still, three out of four found govern-
Most Inuit, Sámi, and indigenous people in ment decisions important.
Chukotka and the Kola Peninsula find “decisions There are several reasons for the Arctic being
made by government” important or very impor- center stage in discussions at conferences and in
tant to their own lives, ranging from 74 % in the international forums, but a fundamentally impor-
Kola Peninsula to 91 % in Chukotka. tant one is certainly that global warming and the

100%
90%
80% Level of knowledge about
polics in general (' somewhat'
70%
or 'very knowledgeable')
60%
Perceived importance of
50% parcipaon in naonal
elecons ( 'completely' or 'partly
40% disagree')
Importance of government
30% decisions to life ('important' or
'very important')
20%
10% Level of interest in polics in
general ('interested' or 'very
0% Interested')

Fig. 17.7  Level of political knowledge and interest and perceived importance of politics (Data from Poppel et al. 2007)
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 591

80%

70%

60%
Somewhat or very sasfied
with Influence on
50% Management of Fish and
Game
40% Somewhat or very sasfied
with Influence on Oil, Gas,
30% Mineral development

20% Somewhat or very sasfied

with Influence on Reducing
environmental Problems
10%

0%

Fig. 17.8  Satisfaction with influence over the management of natural resources such as fish, game, petroleum and min-
ing, and over reduction of local environmental problems (Data from Poppel et al. 2007, 2011)

resulting climate change manifest themselves Kola Peninsula. The Alaskan Inupiat are an
more rapidly in the circumpolar regions than exception: They report a higher degree of satis-
elsewhere, thus affecting people’s livelihoods, faction with influence over the management of
living conditions, subjective well-being, and natural resources.14
quality of life (Arctic Council 2013; Hovelsrud Analyses of the explanatory power of different
et al. 2011a, b; Nuttall et al. 2005; Rasmussen aspects of “fate control” on “satisfaction with
2011). quality of life” and “quality of life in this commu-
Whereas Inuit and Sámi across the circumpo- nity” seem to support the importance of influence
lar Arctic and the indigenous peoples of Chukotka in the management of natural resources (Poppel
identify a number of environmental problems in 2015a). If one takes into account the importance to
their communities, their satisfaction with their subjective well-being of nature and subsistence
influence as indigenous people to reduce environ- activities, having influence over these aspects of
mental problems is, at best, modest (Fig. 17.8). life seems of particular importance to the indige-
Only in Alaska, more than half (62 %) are some- nous peoples in the SLiCA survey regions.
what or very satisfied, whereas the percentage in
Greenland is 46 %, in northern Norway 30 %, and 17.7.3.2 Cultural Well-Being
in the two Russian regions, 15 % in Chukotka and and Cultural Continuity
10 % in the Kola Peninsula (Poppel et al. 2007). The way in which cultural activities and cultural
The picture is much the same when the focus values are transferred from generation to genera-
is on evaluating the influence that the indigenous tion (e.g., mastery of language, traditional values
people have on management of nonrenewable and self-identification, spirituality, participation
natural resources like oil, gas, and minerals. The in cultural events, and use of media) and how
most significant difference is that only 10 % of they are valued (e.g., satisfaction with communi-
the Norwegian Sámi are somewhat or very satis-
fied with their influence. This level of satisfaction
See Kruse (2010) for a comparative study of living con-
14 
is the same as that reported among the indigenous ditions and quality of life among Inupiat in 1973 and
people in Chukotka and a little higher than in the 2002/03, before and after oil extraction started.
592 B. Poppel

Table 17.2  Activities and customs important/very important to maintaining indigenous identity, by country
Greenland Alaska Norway Sweden Kola
Canada (%) Chukotka (%) (%) (%) (%) Peninsula
Traditional food * 95 98 96 84 79 *
Hunting and * 79 99 95 72 77 *
fishing
Naming kinship * 87 100 90 96 87 *
relationships
Harvesting of wild * 75 98 89 78 80 *
berries and plants
Occupation or * 87 77 87 76 56 *
profession
Preservation of * 85 89 96 78 85 *
traditional foods
Use of indigenous * 98 84 84 90 63 *
language
Participation in * 71 81 85 83 64 *
traditional cultural
events
Childhood * 96 98 94 93 89 *
upbringing
Clothes worn * 78 71 76 60 58 *
Contacts with * 95 58 93 91 88 *
other indigenous
people
Indigenous poetry * 79 61 73 58 40 *
and literature
Religious and * 79 66 81 57 33 *
spiritual beliefs
View of nature * 97 98 96 92 96 *
Meeting * 88 81 94 82 78 *
expectations of
family and
indigenous friends
Data from www.arcticlivingconditions.org, Table 142 & SLiCA database [not publicly accessible]
*Data not available

ties’ promotion of traditional values and the indi- two exceptions) of the Arctic indigenous peoples
vidual application of traditional values in personal in the SLiCA survey regions find the same activ-
life) are embedded in several living condition ities and customs important or very important to
dimensions, but all aspects are considered to be their identity: view of nature, eating traditional
resources and are assumed to affect quality of food,15 preservation of traditional food, harvest-
life. A few SLiCA findings on self-perceived ing of wild berries and plants, language use,
identity and language are introduced below as
examples of the strength of cultural continuity
and cultural well-being. Traditional food (in the English-speaking regions often
15 

called “country food”) is the overall term for meat, fish,

With respect to self-perceived identity among
herbs, and vegetables harvested locally or regionally and
Arctic indigenous peoples, all SLiCA respondents either prepared traditionally (e.g., boiled, fried, dried, or
were asked whether, and to what degree, a number fermented), eaten raw, or prepared according to more
of activities and customs were important in main- modern recipes (Poppel and Kruse 2009). The term tradi-
tional food was not used as such in the questionnaire but
taining their indigenous identity (Table 17.2).
related to what is considered traditional in the different
The results across the Arctic are strikingly regions, e.g., Inupiat/Yupik food in northern Alaska and
similar. More than three out of four (with only Kalaalimernit, Greenlandic food in Greenland.
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 593

naming kinship relationships, childhood Sámi perceived their language abilities as very
upbringing, contacts with other indigenous peo- good or relatively good compared with the
ple, and meeting expectations of family and Swedish Sámi. Among the Inuit, the Greenlanders
indigenous friends. Whereas these values all ranked highest in all four categories of language
point to the living conditions dimension of cul- management because almost everyone stated that
tural continuity (and many also relate to ties to they understood and spoke Greenlandic very or
nature), the latter identity markers also highlight relatively well; more than eight out of ten reported
the importance of family and friends, close inter- that they read and wrote Greenlandic very or rel-
personal relationships, and social networks. atively well. The self-perceived language skills in
There are also significant differences between Greenland ranked somewhat higher than those of
the regions—for example, when it comes to “use the Canadian Inuit and considerably higher than
of indigenous language” and “religious and spir- the language skills of the Inupiat in northern
itual beliefs.” Alaska.
With respect to language retention, the right The language abilities were reflected in
of indigenous peoples to speak and write their responses to “current use of indigenous language
mother tongue and to use the indigenous lan- in household” (Table 17.4). The three regions
guage as the language of instruction has been a where language skills were perceived to be high-
major issue in most, if not all, indigenous peo- est, Greenland, Arctic Canada, and northern
ples’ fights for recognition as peoples and for Norway—are also the regions where the largest
self-determination. One of the traumas, both segments of the indigenous people reported that
individually and collectively, for many indige- they spoke the indigenous language most or all
nous peoples has been the way many children the time in the household.
were sent to boarding schools for several years, Given the fact that many languages of small-­
far from their families, restricted and sometimes numbered indigenous peoples are either threat-
forbidden from speaking their mother tongue. ened or on the verge of extinction, the survey
This situation pertained in, for instance, Alaska, results seemed to substantiate, e.g., Greenland,
Canada, and among the Sámi in the 1950s and the that public policy over a longer period, combined
following decades (Smith 2009). with a concerted effort, can enhance an overall
Table 17.3 contains findings related to lan- goal, despite all odds.
guage issues: individual, self-perceived language
abilities, and relationships. Study results showed 17.7.3.3 Living Close to Nature
significant differences in the ability of indigenous The statements from organizations representing
peoples to understand, speak, read, and write the majority of the indigenous peoples of the
their respective indigenous languages: The Arctic prefacing this chapter present concordant
Swedish Sámi ranked lowest, not only among the perceptions stressing the indigenous peoples’
Sámi but also compared to the other indigenous history dating back thousands of years and the
groups. Twice as many of the Kola Sámi and connectedness to and the dependency on nature
almost three times as many of the Norwegian and the natural environment.

Table 17.3  Language: fluency in indigenous language = understand, speak, read, and write (very or relatively well)
Kola
Northern Greenland Chukotka Northern Northern Northern Peninsula
Canada (%) (%) (%) Alaska (%) Norway (%) Sweden (%) (%)
Understand 92 97 61 54 84 34 65
Speak 89 96 55 45 75 28 56
Read 70 88 42 29 62 19 36
Write 73 84 40 22 44 12 26
Data from Poppel et al. (2007, 2011)
594 B. Poppel

Table 17.4  Language: fluency in indigenous language = currently use indigenous language in household
“Currently use indigenous language in household”
Northern Greenland Chukotka Northern Northern Northern Kola
Canada (%) (%) (%) Alaska (%) Norway (%) Sweden (%) Peninsula
(%)
All the 50 82 17 14 40 * 15
time
Most 22 11 11 16 16 * 8
of the
time
Some 28 8 73 70 44 * 77
of the
time or
less
Total 100 101 101 100 100 * 100
Data from Poppel et al. (2007, 2011)
*Data not available

In all survey regions (except Canada, where food security has recently become an even more
the question was not asked), more than nine out significant issue in Arctic communities.
of ten Inuit and Sámi found “the way I view Subsistence encompasses a number of aspects:
nature” as a very important or important identity
marker. Nature and wildlife activities like hunt- • The economic aspect—the importance to the
ing and fishing and harvesting of wild berries and economy of the household;
plants ranked high among indigenous identity • The nutritional aspect—part of the diet of the
markers. These identity markers substantiated household (more nutritious than store-bought
the meaning of “ties to nature” as a human dimen- food);
sion domain focusing on important aspects of • The social aspect—including intergenera-
well-being for Arctic indigenous peoples. tional transfer of knowledge;
From the beginning of the SLiCA research • The sociocultural aspect—principles of shar-
process, subsistence activities16 were the focus of ing and community relations;
the discussions between researchers and indige- • The identity aspect—markers of identity
nous experts because the assumption was that the related to subsistence; and
mixed cash and subsistence harvest economy was • The integration aspect—the mix of subsis-
still a prevailing mode of production in many tence and cash activities (Poppel and Kruse
Arctic communities and regions. Using SLiCA 2009)
data for the Inuit homelands, Poppel and Kruse
(2009) concluded that subsistence harvest is not Survey results confirmed that subsistence
just a matter of “meat on the table,” although activities were as important in Sápmi as in the
Inuit-populated regions. The overall finding was
We defined subsistence activities as harvesting local
16 
that the vast majority of the Inuit and Sámi have
resources: hunting, fishing, herding, husbandry, gather- participated in several subsistence-, and thus
ing, and other harvest activities that people conduct as a
nature-related activities over the last 12 months.17
nonmarket activity with the primary purpose of contribut-
ing harvest products to the household, to share with fam-
ily and community members (including ‘meat gifts’) or to Unpublished paper: Are subsistence activities, harvest
17 

sell locally outside the market economic sector. A of renewable resources and herding important to indige-
‘Household Production Model’ was developed to be tried nous peoples in modern Arctic economies and cultures?
out as a part of the research effort (Kruse et al. 2008; Presented by B. Poppel at the IPY Oslo Science
Usher et al. 2003). Conference 2010, June 8–12.
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 595

Table 17.5  Proportion of meat and fish harvested by household traditional food by country
Kola Peninsula
Canada Greenland (%) Chukotka (%) Alaska (%) Norway (%) Sweden (%) (%)
None * 25 18 8 6 14 42
Less than * 38 38 31 37 44 35
half
About half * 15 27 25 17 43 22
More than * 21 17 36 40
half
* 100 100 100 100 100 100
Data from Poppel et al. (2007, 2011)
* Data Not Available

Table 17.5 shows the proportion of meat and seems fair to assume that the influence people
fish consumed by the household that people per- have on these changes would be of vital impor-
ceive as also being harvested by a household tance. The SLiCA project thus included ques-
member. The consumption of traditional food tions about the environmental concerns of the
harvested by one or more household members is Arctic indigenous peoples in the survey regions
significant in all regions, although with variations as well as perceptions of influence on “the man-
(Poppel 2006; Poppel and Kruse 2009; see foot- agement of fish and game” and “the development
note 15). of oil, gas and minerals” (Poppel et al. 2011).
To elucidate the strength of traditional values, A majority cited the following problems in the
a number of questions were asked about “satis- region where they lived: contamination of local
faction with community’s promotion of indige- sites, pollution of local lakes and streams, and
nous values,” of which one was “respect for pollution from industrial development. Most
nature” (see Sect. 17.7.3.2). A vast majority of Greenlanders perceived pollution from other
indigenous residents in five out of seven Arctic countries as a problem, whereas erosion of
regions and countries (there are no data for coastal areas and river banks was a concern for
Canada) reported that they were very or some- the majority of indigenous people in Alaska,
what satisfied with the promotion of “respect for Chukotka, and the Kola Peninsula. Three out of
nature.” Only in Chukotka, a majority of 57 % four cited climate change as a problem in their
was “somewhat or very dissatisfied” with the communities (Poppel et al. 2011).
promotion of “respect for nature.” Given that the There are marked differences from region to
vast majority of Inuit in Greenland, Chukotka, region: The vast majority and a considerably
and Alaska confirmed that they apply traditional larger part of the indigenous peoples of Chukotka
values in their lives, it seems reasonable to inter- and the Kola Peninsula, respectively, were con-
pret the answers about satisfaction with a com- cerned about the above-mentioned problems.
munity’s promotion of “respect for nature” as This concern might be a response to a number of
supporting the assumption that nature is impor- environmental disasters in the wake of the rapid
tant to the indigenous people. development of oil, gas, and mineral exploitation
Infrastructure projects (e.g., hydropower sta- in the Russian Arctic (Forbes 2005; Stammler
tions), extractive industries, and climate change and Forbes 2006).
are just a few examples of human activities with The identification of and concern with envi-
huge environmental impacts. If contact with ronmental problems and their assumed impact on
nature and nature-based activities is important to “ties to nature” are not generally paralleled by a
people, the way nature changes and the impact of high score on satisfaction with influence on the
access to and use of nature and its resources “drivers for change.” Only in northern Alaska is
would seemingly also be of concern. Therefore, it more than half of the indigenous population
596 B. Poppel

somewhat or very satisfied with the influence Greenlandic was spoken at home as well as at
indigenous people have on renewable resources, work. This finding correlates with the long-term
nonrenewable resource development, and reduc- public policy of giving priority to the Greenlandic
tion of environmental problems. The Sámi, espe- language and ultimately establishing Greenlandic
cially in Sweden, rate their influence very low. as the official language.
The indigenous people of the two Russian regions Whereas Inuit and Sámi across the circumpo-
also rate their influence very low. At the same lar Arctic and the indigenous peoples of Chukotka
time, they are the ones most concerned with the reported that “closeness to nature” and subsis-
environmental problems they identify (Poppel tence activities were important in many aspects,
et al. 2011). the self-reported influence to reduce environmen-
tal problems was, at best, modest. The picture is
17.7.3.4 S  ummary of Findings much the same when the focus is on evaluating
on Indicators Specific the influence indigenous people have on manage-
to Indigenous Peoples ment of nonrenewable natural resources like oil,
of the Arctic gas, and minerals, with the Alaskan Inupiat being
To learn about the well-being of the Inuit, the an exception.
Sámi, and the indigenous peoples of Chukotka
and the Kola Peninsula, the SLiCA asked almost
8000 Arctic indigenous residents about their per- 17.8 F
 indings from Studies
ceptions and priorities within well-being domains Assessing Arctic Human
that reach beyond and add valuable insights to the Development by Measuring
HDI. The domains and the indicators beneath Subjective or Community
were selected with the indigenous partners of Well-Being and Quality
SLiCA to more fully reflect the welfare priorities of Life
of Arctic indigenous peoples. The indicators can
be clustered under the following headings: con- A number of measures have been developed to
trol of destiny/fate control; cultural well-being/ better express the individual’s subjective percep-
cultural continuity; and living close to nature. tion of his or her life situation. Happiness is one
The overall SLiCA findings were that the pre- such measure. The question often asked in inter-
vailing lifestyle for many Arctic indigenous peo- national surveys, in order to identify “the happi-
ple is still the mixed economy, combining est countries in the world,” is “How satisfied are
subsistence activities with cash income. This life- you with your life as whole?” This question was
style provides the necessary cash income and also part of the questionnaire used in the SLiCA
includes activities that are important for food and in the Rethinking the Top of the World:
security, a healthy diet, social relationships, and Arctic Security Public Opinion Survey. Some key
cultural continuity. Furthermore, hunting, fish- findings are presented below.
ing, herding, and gathering create the closeness
to nature that is important to the identity of most
indigenous peoples. The results regarding what is 17.8.1 Perceived Quality of Life
important to identity were similar across the among Inuit and Sámi
Arctic and included “eating traditional food” and and Indigenous Peoples
the “importance of family and friends.” The rela- of Chukotka and the Kola
tion between “speaking the indigenous language” Peninsula: Survey of Living
and “identity” ranked differently in the different Conditions in the Arctic
regions and reflected the possibilities and the
obstacles that former colonial powers established The SLiCA is an attempt to measure quality of
to retain the indigenous language. The life among Inuit, Sámi, and the indigenous peo-
Greenlandic Inuit, for example, reported the ples of Chukotka and the Kola Peninsula (Poppel
importance of language to identity and that 2015b), both by addressing a variety of living
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 597

Fig. 17.9 Satisfaction
with life as a whole.
Percentage “very or
somewhat satisfied.”
(Data from Poppel
2015a; Poppel et al.
2007, 2011)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Very or somewhat sasfied

conditions and by asking for people’s self-­ bility seem to mean more to the quality of life of
evaluation. The “quality of life as a whole” ques- Inuit than satisfaction with the actual job and
tion was asked in three SLiCA survey regions actual catch. Also important in explaining overall
(Alaska, Greenland, and Sweden), whereas a well-being is the combination of market and non-
question asking about “quality of life in this com- market activities (hunting and fishing, for exam-
munity” was asked in all SLiCA survey regions. ple) and the influence people have over natural
Among indigenous people in Greenland, resources and the environment (Kruse et al. 2008;
northern Alaska, and northern Sweden, 9 out of Poppel 2015a; Poppel and Kruse 2009).
10 were “somewhat” or “very satisfied” with Figure 17.10 refers to “satisfaction with qual-
their life as a whole (Fig. 17.9). Taking into ity of life in this community,” i.e., the perceived
account that living standards are typically lower quality of community life where the respondent
among the indigenous peoples of the Arctic than lives, including the quality of life of the respon-
among nonindigenous peoples, these findings dent. Of those interviewed, more than three out
support the assumptions that other than material of four Sámi living in northern Sweden and
factors influence subjective well-being (Poppel, northern Norway and Inuit in northern Alaska
2015a). were somewhat or very satisfied with the quality
Both overall satisfaction with life as a whole of life in their community.18 The corresponding
and satisfaction with a number of specific dimen- figure in Greenland was seven out of ten. A sig-
sions of peoples’ lives were analyzed, which nificantly smaller proportion, only one out of
made it possible to assess to what degree satisfac- seven, of the indigenous people of Chukotka and
tion with these specific dimensions can explain the Kola Peninsula were somewhat or very satis-
satisfaction with life in general. Analysis of the fied with the quality of life in their community.
data for Greenland and Alaska combined led to Other SLiCA findings suggest a correlation
the conclusion that satisfaction with an individu-
al’s actual job or outcome of actual fishing and Interviews were conducted in different periods in the
18 

hunting activities was less important to overall different regions/countries due to lack of coordination
between funding agencies: northern Canada (2001);
satisfaction with life than job opportunities and
Alaska (2002–2003); Greenland (2004–2006); Chukotka
the amount of fish and game locally available. (2004–2006); northern Norway (2006–2008); northern
This finding means that availability and accessi- Sweden (2006–2008), and Kola Peninsula (2006–2008).
598 B. Poppel

100% land-claim regions with a total of 50 communi-

90% ties (both Inuit and non-Inuit) with First Nations
80% communities and nonindigenous communities
across Canada (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern
70%
Development Canada 2015).
60%
Figure 17.12 shows that the average commu-
50% nity well-being score for Inuit communities
40% increased by 15 points over the 30-year period
30%
1981–2011. The increase in well-being slowed in
the latter part of the period from 12 points during
20%
the first 15 years to only 3 points in the last 15
10% years. Compared to First Nations and non-­
0% aboriginal communities, Inuit communities were
marginally better off than First Nations but
ranked lower than nonaboriginal communities.
Given that the Inuit Community Well-Being
Very or somewhat sasfied Index comprises a number of indicators (income,
with the quality of life in
community education, housing, and labor market) as well as
data from all four Inuit regions, looking at the
Fig. 17.10  Satisfaction with the quality of life in this subcomponents and regions revealed some sig-
community, percentage “very or somewhat satisfied.” nificant details. Figure 17.11 shows that the
(Data from Poppel 2015a)
16-point difference between Inuit and non-­
aboriginal communities covered major discrep-
between a low rating of satisfaction with quality ancies in education and housing whereas
of life in the respondent’s community, different non-aboriginal communities were considerably
kinds of social problems such as unemployment, better off (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern
domestic violence, and suicide, lower self-rated Development Canada 2015).
health, and poor health care among indigenous A comparison of CWB component scores for
people in the two Arctic Russian survey regions the four Inuit regions indicates parallel develop-
(Poppel 2015a). ment in community well-being over the 30-year
period (Fig. 17.12), except for Nunavik, which
had the lowest score in 1986 but has now caught
17.8.2 Canadian Community Well-­ up to Nunavut. Both lag behind Nunatsiavut and
Being Index the Inuvialuit region. A review of the Inuit region
CWB components reveals a levelling off in sev-
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development eral components such as housing, high school
Canada has developed and published The completion, and labor market participation and
Community Well-Being (CWB) Index for 1981, increased scores in income.
1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011 (Aboriginal
Affairs and Northern Development Canada
2015).19 A special study, Community Well-Being: 17.8.3 The Aboriginal Economic
Report on Trends in Inuit Communities, 1981– Benchmark Report
2011, compared the communities in the four Inuit
In 2015, the National Aboriginal Economic
The index for 1981–2006 is based on Statistics Canada’s
19 
Development Board (NAEDB)20 published the
population census data and composed using indicators on
income (income per capita), education (high school and
university completion rates), housing (quantity and qual- The NAEDB was established in 1990 and was
20 

ity), and labor force activity (employment and labor force “appointed by Order-in-Council to provide policy and
participation rates). The figures for 2011 are based on the program advice to the federal government on Aboriginal
2011 National Household Survey. economic development” (NAEDB 2012: 2).
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 599

90

79
77
80
73
71 72
67
70
Average CWB Score

61 62 63
60
60 57

59
48 57 57
50 55
51
47
40
Inuit Communities

30 First Nations
Non-Aboriginal Communities
20
1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011

Fig. 17.11  Community well-being averages over time: Development Canada 2015. Source: Aboriginal Affairs
Inuit, First Nations, and nonaboriginal communities, and Northern Development Canada 2015)
1981–2011 (Data from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern

80
79
75

70
67 67
65
Average CWB Score

62
60 61
55
53
51
50 50
Nunatsiavut
45
Nunavik
40 Nunavut
Inuvialuit Region
35 36
Non-Aboriginal Communities
30
1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011

Fig. 17.12  Average community well-being scores: nonaboriginal communities and Inuit regions, 1981–2011 (Data
from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 2015)

Aboriginal Economic Benchmark Report education, entrepreneurship and business devel-

(NAEDB 2015). The 2015 report focuses on the opment, governance, lands and resources, and
economic progress of First Nations, Inuit, and infrastructure. The report is based on official sta-
Métis in Canada and builds on three core indica- tistics from Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada’s
tors: employment, income, and wealth and well-­ National Household Survey from 2011) as well
being as well as five underlying indicators: as from a number of other sources to establish
600 B. Poppel

baseline indicators. In total, more than 100 indi- 17.8.4 Quality of Life in Northern
cators were used to assess the economic develop- Canada and Alaska
ment of indigenous peoples in Canada and to
compare the findings with the development of In a report from the Gordon Foundation,
nonindigenous Canadians (NAEDB 2015). Rethinking the Top of the World: Arctic Public
The NAEDB report compares socioeconomic Opinion Survey, Vol. 2 (Gordon Foundation
conditions among the different aboriginal and 2015) conducted in 2015, a number of living con-
nonaboriginal groups; the community well-being ditions, perceptions, and attitudes, including
index is calculated according to this typology. respondents’ overall rating of quality of life, were
Because all Inuit communities are located in the analyzed. The 2015 survey was a follow-up to a
Canadian North, some results concerning Inuit 2010 survey, and the analyses are the first based
and Inuit communities are briefly discussed on an international comparative study (9000
below. It should be noted that Inuit communities interviews). Almost 3000 people were inter-
also include non-Inuit residents of these commu- viewed in Canada: 770 (of which 213 were indig-
nities. The report’s conclusions, in brief, about enous) resided in North West Territories, Yukon,
Inuit and Inuit communities are that “The Inuit and Nunavut. In Alaska, 108 respondents out of
have made gains between 2006 and 2011” 500 were indigenous. The analysis compared
(NAEDB 2015: 3). responses in northern and southern Canada,
“Gaps between the Inuit and the non-­ Alaska, and the continental United States as well
Aboriginal population were reduced for unem- as between indigenous and nonindigenous resi-
ployment rates and average income. However, dents21 and reached among others the following
gaps in postsecondary completion rates and the conclusions (Gordon Foundation 2015):
proportion of homes in need of major repair The lowest household incomes are reported by
increased. At 4.9 %, university completion rates Indigenous respondents in Nunavut, where the
for the Inuit group remained the lowest among number of occupants and expenses are highest. In
heritage groups, while the university completion Alaska, 20 per cent of Indigenous respondents in
the sample report household incomes of less than $
rate for the non-Aboriginal population was 20,000 and only 11 per cent report incomes of $
25.8 %. The proportion of homes in need of 100,000 or more compared with 33 per cent of
major repair increased for Inuit, the only heritage non-Indigenous respondents. The unemployment
group whose conditions worsened relative to the rate at 27 per cent is over four times higher than the
non-Indigenous sample at six per cent. As well,
non-­Aboriginal population for this indicator.” considerably fewer Indigenous respondents are
(NAEDB 2015: 3). Furthermore, the report con- employed full-time, 36 per cent compared with 58
cludes that Inuit, despite having made progress in per cent. The difference is no less stark in Alaska:
reducing the gap in overcrowded dwellings, still 26 per cent unemployment among Indigenous
respondents compared with only eight per cent
live in the most overcrowded dwellings. among others in the state. In terms of Quality of
Based on the CWB developed by Aboriginal life and health, indigenous respondents in the
Affairs and Northern Development Canada, the Canadian North are not as positive as non-­
AEBR further concludes “Community well-­ Indigenous respondents, as 51 per cent of
Indigenous respondents rate their quality of life
being scores increased by 1 point for Inuit com- good, compared with 81 per cent of non-­Indigenous
munities from 2006 to 2011 compared with two respondents. Compared with other territories,
points for non-Aboriginal communities” and Indigenous respondents in Nunavut are the least
that the gap in CWB scores between non-
Aboriginal communities increased by 1 point The report notes “that the indigenous portion of the sam-
21 

from 2006 to 2011 for Inuit communities ple captured in each of the territories is considerably
lower than found in the population” (Gordon Foundation
(NAEDB 2015: 26). 2015:66).
17  Well-Being of Circumpolar Arctic Peoples: The Quest for Continuity 601

positive about their quality of life and health. …

Attempts to apply the conventional indicators of
The gap in rated quality of life is even wider in
the HDI met with many obstacles because of the
Alaska where 48 per cent of Indigenous respon-
dents and 70 per cent of non-Indigenous respon- lack of comparable official statistics for the dif-
dents are positive. Rated health follows same ferent Arctic jurisdictions. Furthermore, assess-
pattern as quality of life, with Indigenous respon-
ing individual well-being and quality of life, as
dents less apt to rate themselves positively (52 per
well as monitoring indicators reflecting what is
cent) compared with non-Indigenous respondents
most important to indigenous and other Arctic
(70 per cent). This is also true in Alaska (49 per
cent versus 65 per cent among non-Indigenous residents such as ties to nature, cultural continu-
respondents). (Gordon Foundation 2015: 67) ity and vitality, and control of destiny, is an even
bigger challenge.
That being said, the more intense international
17.9 Conclusion focus on the Arctic, the increased self-awareness
of indigenous peoples, and their creation of
The livelihood and living conditions of the indig- national and international organizations as well
enous peoples of the Arctic have changed rapidly as the establishment of international collabora-
since World War II—the period in history that tive entities such as the Arctic Council has
has seen the largest immigration of newcomers. resulted in a number of promising initiatives
Characterizing the development of the changes in focusing on human development in the circum-
the Arctic as “rapid” is not a cliché. The indige- polar North: the AHDR, the Arctic Social
nous peoples have, generally speaking, proven to Indicators, and the SLiCA.
be both resilient and adaptive despite hardships The overall findings, which are based on offi-
due to injustices arising from a lack of social and cial statistics, indicate that, generally speaking,
cultural empathy from colonial powers. In many conditions have improved during the first decade
regions, and through the different arrangements of the twenty-first century in physical health
they negotiated with the states they found them- (measured by infant mortality rate and years of
selves to be citizens of, indigenous peoples have life expectancy), educational attainment (mea-
managed largely to maintain critically important sured by people with a tertiary education), and
aspects of their lifestyles, including close rela- income (measured by GRP per capita). The most
tions to nature through subsistence use of the recent figures and the actual rankings vary among
land water and their living resources. Many the different indicators, but in recent decades all
indigenous peoples have also succeeded in retain- Arctic regions have experienced improvements
ing their ancestral languages. in physical health, education, and economic well-­
The indigenous people make up roughly 10 % being as measured by the HDI indicators. In
of the total Arctic population. A majority of the comparison, the overall mental health status of
Arctic population are, from a historical perspec- many indigenous populations has suffered.
tive, newcomers. All Arctic regions depend on There are, however, huge differences between
exploitation of natural resources (renewable and/ regions and between population groups (espe-
or nonrenewable), and all are impacted by global- cially indigenous and nonindigenous) within
ization and climate change. These impacts have regions. One expression of increased social suf-
resulted in multifaceted challenges because the fering is the rapid rise in the rate of death by sui-
changes are intertwined with demographic, cide in several Arctic indigenous populations,
socioeconomic, and sociocultural changes. especially among young people.
A key question, therefore, is how the changes Surveys comparing well-being among indige-
have impacted the living conditions and well-­ nous and nonindigenous groups in Alaska and
being of the indigenous and other residents of the Arctic Canada confirm that nonindigenous resi-
Arctic. A precondition for being able to answer dents rate their individual well-being higher than
this question is developing relevant indicators to indigenous residents do. The SLiCA focused on
measure and compare human development. quality of life of Inuit, Sámi, and the indigenous
602 B. Poppel

peoples of Chukotka and the Kola Peninsula and AMAP. (2011). Arctic oil and gas assessment. Oslo:
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme
concluded that despite facing social problems the
(AMAP).
majority of Inuit and Sámi were satisfied or very Andersen, T., & Poppel, B. (2002). Living conditions in
satisfied with the quality of life in their commu- the Arctic. In M. R. Hagerty, J. Vogel, & V. Møller
nity. Among the indigenous people in the two (Eds.), Assessing quality of life and living conditions
to guide national policy (The State of the Art. Social
Russian survey regions, the Kola Peninsula and
Indicators Research Series, Vol. 11, pp. 191–216).
Chukotka, however, fewer than two out of ten Kluwer Academic Publishers. Reprinted from: Social
were satisfied with the quality of life in their Indicator Research.
community. Furthermore, more than nine out of Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. (2005). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
ten Inuit surveyed in Greenland and Northern
Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR). (2004). In
Alaska, and also Swedish Sámi, reported that N. Einarsson, J. N. Larsen, A. Nielsson, & O. Young
they were satisfied or very satisfied with their (Eds.). Akureyri: Stefansson Arctic Institute.
quality of life as a whole. The availability of fish Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP).
(2011). Snow, water, ice and permafrost in the Arctic
and wildlife as well as the availability of wage
(SWIPA): Climate change and the cryosphere. Oslo:
jobs were important explanatory factors, indicat- Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.
ing that to these indigenous residents a mixed Bjerregaard, P., & Larsen, C. V. L. (2016). Health aspects
lifestyle is still of utmost importance. of colonization and the post-colonial period in
Greenland 1721 to 2014. Journal of Northern Studies,
in press.
Acknowledgements  The author is grateful to Jack Hicks Bogoyavlenski, D., & Siggner, A. (2004). Arctic demog-
and MarieKathrine Poppel for inspiration and insightful raphy. In N. Einarsson, J. N. Larsen, A. Nielsson, &
contributions and to Hunter Snyder for the first O. Young (Eds.), AHDR (Arctic Human Development
proof-reading. Report). Akureyri: Stefansson Arctic Institute.
Broderstad, E. G., & Dahl, J. (2004). Political systems. In
N. Einarsson, J. N. Larsen, A. Nielsson, & O. Young
(Eds.), Arctic human development report. Akureyri:
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 Part IV
Special Issues Related to the Well-Being
of Nations and Population Groups

The world is changing. It is no longer a world just for boys and men.
(Alice Walker – Walker, A. (1982). The Color Purple (p. 136). [pocket book]. New York:
Pocket Books.)

Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.
(Thomas Merton – Merton, T. (n.d.). Brainy Quote. [Web site]. http://www.brainyquote.
com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasmert385072.html. Accessed 6 February 2016.)
608 IV  Special Issues Related to the Well-Being of Nations and Population Groups

K’an –  Fourth day of the Maya calendar. Mixed media on paper—22″ × 30″. © 2015 Lylia Forero Carr. Used with
permission.
 The History of Well-Being
and the Global Progress of Women 18
Elizabeth Eckermann

The education of women is the best way to save the environment.

(Wilson—E. O. Wilson n.d.)
Gender inequality is a far-reaching societal impairment, not merely a special deprivation
of women. That social understanding is urgent as well as momentous.
(Sen 2005: 250)

the focus from women’s well-being, seen on its

18.1 Introduction own, to women’s agency. We need a fuller cogni-
zance of the power and reach of women’s enlight-
A comprehensive history of women and well-­ ened and constructive agency and an adequate
appreciation of the fact that women’s power and
being requires two key shifts from the traditional initiative can uplift the lives of all human beings—
audit of a disadvantaged population. First, it is women, men and children.
vital to move beyond simple documentation of
the specific objective conditions and subjective Examination of the history of well-being
experiences of women and girls to examine research reveals a largely disembodied and gen-
diversity and changes in gender relations across der neutral understanding of the human condi-
time and space (Eckermann 2014). Second, we tion. Even Aristotle, in his exploration of the
must acknowledge that women and girls are not concept of happiness, overlooked gender as a key
just victims of negative power but also have con- variable, other than representing women as “irra-
stitutive power themselves as active agents in tional beings” (Freeland 1999; Gayle 2008;
both their own and others’ lives (Nussbaum Lange 2003). Sex socialization and gender
2001). The public policy implications of these socialization have only been regarded as signifi-
two departures from orthodoxy are, as Sen (2005: cant differentiators of quality-of-life and well-­
250) suggests, profound: being experiences in the past two decades. This
The importance of women’s agency and voice situation can largely be attributed to an earlier
reflects itself in nearly every field of social life. dearth of conceptual sophistication about the
Even though for many purposes such simple indi- subtler role of gender socialization in framing
cators as women’s education, employment and human experience and the consequent lack of
land ownership have much predictive power, there
are broader influences on women’s agency that perceived need to develop measures to sex disag-
also need consideration… It is necessary to widen gregate and gender analyse quality-of-life find-
ings. Furthermore, early accounts of the history
of gender relationships in non-Western contexts
E. Eckermann (*)
Arts and Education Faculty, Deakin University, were largely written by Western, albeit female,
Geelong, VIC 3217, Australia anthropologists (for example, Ruth Benedict and
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 609

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_18
610 E. Eckermann

Margaret Mead). Women writers originating since 1995. The GDI, as a gender-­sensitive elabo-
from the South1 (particularly India, South Africa, ration of the HDI, addressed gender gaps in life
and South America) have recently started provid- expectancy, education (adult literacy and school
ing a very different version of their gendered cul- enrollment), and income. The GEM measured
tural history and emphasize the intricate nexus women’s access to power in economics, politics,
between gender, class, and racial oppression. and other forms of decision making. The succes-
This chapter takes a historical journey through sor of these two measures, the GII, was introduced
quality-of-life and well-being research, using a into the Human Development reports beginning
gender lens, and explores how gender mediates in 2010 to counter the criticisms of the validity of
other dimensions of life such as class, age, gen- its predecessor indices. The GII provides a com-
eration, cultural context, and race to produce gen- posite measure of gender disparity in reproductive
dered patterns of well-being across the world health, empowerment, and labor market participa-
(Eckermann 2014). tion. The specific indicators to measure reproduc-
tive health are maternal mortality rate and
adolescent birth rates. Empowerment is measured
18.2 Methods by the proportion of parliamentary seats occupied
by women and the proportion of adult women and
The best way to encapsulate the global progress men aged 25 years and older with at least some
of women and gender relationships is to build a secondary education. Economic status is
timeline tracing the sequence of key events that expressed as labor market participation, and the
have impacted gendered understandings of well-­ indicator is labor force participation rate of men
being from ancient times to the present and sug- and women aged 15 years and older.
gest policy implications for the future. Given the Systematic recording of changes in women’s
sparse documentation in academia of women’s subjective well-being across the globe is an even
well-being predating the twentieth century, we are more recent addition to the quantitative and qual-
required to look beyond the field of academic itative quality-of-life toolbox and is exemplified
inquiry into women’s period literature, journals, in the World Values Survey and the Personal
letters, and poetry to obtain an accurate under- Well-being Index measures. These tools are used
standing of female discourses across the globe in to establish baseline data and gauge shifts in sub-
ancient, colonial, and precolonial times. jective well-being over time. The Household
Systematic quantitative recording of global Income and Labour Survey Australia provides a
changes in women’s and girls’ education, health, sample data set for examining changing gender
decision making, political power, and economic relations in the shares of paid and unpaid work.
role has been possible only since 1995 with the
introduction by the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) of the Gender-related 18.3 Timeline
Development Index (GDI), which is a gender-­
specific version of the Human Development Index The trajectory of differential life chances for men
(HDI), the Gender Empowerment Measure and women can be traced back to the beginnings
(GEM), and later the Gender Inequality Index of recorded history as outlined in the chapters in
(GII). The subcomponents of these indices pro- Part 1, which cover the Western, Eastern, and
vide a comprehensive picture of progress in wom- South Asian traditions of well-being. Even cave
en’s objective well-being compared to that of men drawings by the first humans depicted highly spe-
cialized roles in survival based on physical
The North–South divide is broadly considered a socio- strength, which generated discrepant rewards.
1 

economic and political divide. Generally, definitions of This gender-based unequal share of the spoils of
the Global North include North America, Western Europe,
human development has persisted for thousands
and developed parts of East Asia. The Global South is
made up of Africa, Latin America, and developing Asia of years and continues in many parts of the world
including the Middle East (North-South divide 2016). (United Nations Development Programme 2015).
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 611

Figure 18.1 depicts key events in the uneven lineal, and matrifocal communities, both past and
and gradual dismantling of gender discrimination present, in various parts of the world have not
and in the improvement in women’s well-being been adequately recorded. Debates continue in
from ancient times to the present. The journey anthropological circles about the degree of free-
takes us from the example of a matrilineal, gen- dom that female lineage confers, and some
der equitable Chera Dynasty of the Sangam Age Darwinist commentators argue that matrilineality
(300 Before the Common Era–400 Common Era) represents an early evolutionary stage of human
in what is now the state of Kerala, India, to the development. Whatever perspective one takes on
end of the international United Nations these matters, matriarchal, matrilineal, and matri-
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) cam- focal communities provide useful benchmarks
paign in 2015. During that time, major strides against which we can measure advances in gen-
toward equitable gender relations have been der relationships in what remains a predomi-
achieved in health, basic rights, leadership roles, nantly patriarchal world.
and economic independence and power. For One of the largest remaining matrilineal soci-
some countries, however, universal suffrage and eties is the Minangkabau in Sumatra, where
female political representation, universal quality female lineage since ancient times has conferred
education, universal high quality health cover- considerable power in relation to family location
age, and optimum social and economic condi- and use of family resources. Similarly, the Mosuo
tions for maximizing quality of life and well-being from southwest China, who number over 40,000,
remained an elusive dream in 2015. For example, have always practiced female lineage. To this
progress on MDG5, Target 5.A, which aims to day, Mosuo women are in charge of family
“Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and finances, do not marry, and have extensive per-
2015, the maternal mortality ratio (MMR),” sonal freedom. Another case study from antiquity
reveals that, although “the number of maternal where gender equity was promoted through edu-
deaths per 100,000 live births—decreased glob- cation as well as social, economic, and political
ally by around 45 % between 1990 and 2013, this empowerment of women, and continues today, is
rate of decrease is unlikely to lead to the achieve- in South Asia. The state of Kerala in southwest
ment of the targeted 75 % reduction by 2015.” In India has a long history of elevated status for
particular, “of the 89 countries with the highest women and girls (Maddox 1999). Unlike in other
maternal mortality ratios in 1990 (100 or more) parts of India, from 300 BCE to 400 CE, the
13 have made insufficient or no progress at all, Chera Dynasty of the Sangam Age had a matri-
with an average annual decline of less than 2 % lineal society in the area that now forms the state
between 1990 and 2013” (World Health of Kerala, and son-preference was absent.
Organization 2015: 15). Women owned land, which was passed down
Major challenges for gender equity persist as through the female line; women were involved as
do opportunities for addressing these challenges. key decision makers in affairs of state and
Some of these are reflected in the SDG outcome finance; and female literacy was seen as the cor-
documents developed by the 193 United Nations nerstone of a successful society (Population
member states and 23 international organizations Connection 2012). The continuation of this long
charged with monitoring international progress tradition of female agency in Kerala accounts for
into the middle of the twenty-first century. the status of women’s health, education, eco-
nomic and social power, and general well-being
into the twenty-first century, despite continuing
18.3.1 Ancient Times to World War II high population density and low overall gross
domestic product. The historical elevated status
The historical literature provides details of more of women provided the ideal base for further
than 40 matrilineal societies (Narayan 2014). No landmark developments in gender equity in
doubt many other examples of matriarchal, matri- Kerala with the establishment of a Protestant
 612

FEMALE SUFFRAGE - NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AUSTRALIA ORAL CONTRACEPTION UN CEDAW UN CONFERENCE ON WOMEN – BEIJING
WWII
KERALA - MATRILINEAL SOCIETY
POLITICAL REPRESENTATION – BAHRAIN, KUWAIT

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
BHUTAN - GNH REPLACES GDP UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD QUALITY OF LIFE MOVEMENT MDG END DATE
WWI

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

300 1755 – 1760 – 1789 - 1893 - 1906 1914 - 1928 - 1939 – 1944 - 1948 1954 – 1960 1960 - ? 1972 1976 1979 1990 1990 1994 1995 2000 2000 - ?2001 - ? 2002 - 2011 2015
B.C. to 69 1840 99 94 18 34 45 50 68 05
400
A.D.
FRENCH REVOLUTION POLITICAL REPRESENTATION - UK, TURKEY CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT UNIFEM ICPD – CAIRO OECD BETTER LIFE INDEX

[CATEGORY NAME] POLITICAL REPRESENTATION – FRANCE, CHINA, INDIA

POLITICAL REPRESENTATION – FINLAND WOMEN’S MOVEMENT UNDP GDI, GEM UN MDGS UN GII

Fig. 18.1  Timeline of key events in the improvement of women’s well-being

E. Eckermann
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 613

School for Girls in 1819 by the early missionaries These developments and their associated dis-
and the rise of communism in 1957. courses spread rapidly across the Western world.
However, widespread interest in women’s The Industrial Revolution was a double-edged
rights in most regions of the South came much sword for women. Although it gave women
later. It coincided with more general moves remunerated work outside of the home, precipi-
toward equity, including the rise of justice-based, tating a degree of economic independence and
nongovernmental organizations, socially con- mobility (and in some cases an improved stan-
scious missionaries throughout the South, and dard of living), the working conditions were
communism in countries like China, Cuba, often unsafe and unsanitary, and the work was
Vietnam, and Lao PDR. Writing on women’s repetitive, boring, and arduous. Furthermore,
rights in the South slowly increased in the 1980s women were paid lower wages than men for
but burgeoned after the 1995 United Nations equal work and were subjected to the double bur-
(UN) Conference on Women in Beijing. den of paid and unpaid work. Arriving home tired
It was also a long time before any society in after a full shift in the factories, they started their
the North (see footnote 1) would achieve Kerala’s second shift attending to domestic chores in the
level of gender equity even after substantial eco- family (the Household Income and Labour
nomic development and lowering of population Dynamics in Australia Survey (Melbourne
densities. With the Agrarian and Industrial Institute 2015) suggests not much has changed in
Revolutions in Europe, physical strength no lon- the past 300 years). Young women often cut short
ger exclusively defined gender roles, but social, their already limited education to support their
economic, and political devaluing of women per- families by working in the factories and became
sisted long after technology had freed women economically essential to family maintenance.
from their disadvantage in physical strength However, exposure to the public domain made
(Kaminski 1998; Rowbotham 2013; Tarbin and women aware of new technologies for birth con-
Broomhall 2008). In the North it was not until the trol and the need to avoid pregnancies. The even-
French Revolution and the philosophical enlight- tual decrease in fertility, reduction in maternal
enment that the inequalities in power, income, mortality, and subsequent increased longevity
leisure, and status between groups of individuals, certainly contributed to improved well-being,
including between men and women, were even despite increased exposure to industrial hazards.
seriously debated. However, many of these The French Revolution was also a mixed
enlightened ideas were not translated into con- blessing for women. Although all sectors of
crete action for centuries, including the late intro- French society had come to appreciate the bene-
duction of full female suffrage in France in 1944, fits of female education, female literacy was
in Italy in 1945, in Belgium in 1948, in Greece in largely seen as an avenue for educating children.
1952, and in Switzerland not until 1971. Female suffrage and female political representa-
In Europe, the seventeenth and early eigh- tion were seen as going against the natural order
teenth centuries of the Common Era witnessed of women’s primary role in the private sphere. In
major challenges to traditional forms of political, Emile (1762), the Enlightenment author Jean-­
economic, and social power that were instrumen- Jacques Rousseau, although strongly promoting
tal in shaping the massive social transformation the education of women and girls, reinforced the
of the Industrial and French Revolutions. The traditional French understanding of women as
challenges to the ownership of feudal land, tradi- both biologically and socially distinct from, and
tional production methods, the power of religious inferior to, men. This attitude contributed to the
orders (particularly the Roman Catholic Church), exclusion of gender equity from the broader
and the absolute power of the monarchy were agenda of human rights inherent within the spirit
designed to benefit all citizens, but the issue of of the Revolution. It is little wonder that France
gender inequities simmered beneath the debates. was one of the last countries in Europe to grant
614 E. Eckermann

universal suffrage in 1944. However, the senti- The first country in the world to institute full
ments of the French Revolution were exported female suffrage was Corsica in 1755, even before
across the globe, and women fared better in the Industrial and French Revolutions. However,
applying those sentiments in the United Kingdom, by 1769, female suffrage was revoked. Prior to
the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and this time, Sweden (1718) provided limited suf-
Australia, especially in the early suffragette frage to land-owning women in 1718; during the
movements. French Revolution, Poland gave land-owning
Outside of the Western world, other than the women over 30 years of age the vote in 1795. It
limited examples of matriarchal and matrilineal was a century before the next countries and states
societies mentioned above, traditional patriarchal issued full female suffrage: New Zealand in 1893
regimes persisted as they had since ancient times. and the state of South Australia in 1894. By the
Traditional gendered inequities were in fact often middle of the twentieth century, Finland (1906),
exacerbated by the strictures of imperialism and the United Kingdom (1928), Turkey (1934),
colonialism. The black feminist publishing house France (1944), Italy (1945), China and Belgium
Seriti Sa Sechaba and the Congress of South (1948), India (1950), and Greece (1952), among
African Writers published anthologies, poems, other countries, had given women full rights to
and stories by marginalized groups such as vote and to stand for political office. The rate of
domestic servants that attest to the interplay universal suffrage granting escalated after the
between class, race, and gender in multiplying Second World War, during which the capacity of
the oppression of black women in colonial times women to succeed in both the civilian workforce
and later (Oosthuizen 1987). Thus both the North and in combat situations was established.
and the South entered the nineteenth century with Successive governments found it difficult to
gendered patterns of culture that had changed invoke traditional understandings of the gender
minimally since the Middle Ages. These gen- division of labor in light of women’s demon-
dered patterns were detrimental to fulfilling the strated capabilities in paid work, yet it was not
potential of both men and women, and the inher- until 1971 that Switzerland granted full suffrage.
ent inequality represented “a far reaching societal
impairment” (Sen 2005: 250). 18.3.1.2 Health
“Death borders upon our birth and our cradle
18.3.1.1 P  olitical and Economic stands in the grave.” (Joseph Hall, Bishop of
Equality and the Suffragette Exeter [1564–1656], cited in Chamberlain 2006).
Movement A defining domain of well-being is health, and in
The first signs of significant social movements to women’s health the key indicator of progress is
improve the lot of women in the Western context the maternal mortality rate (MMR), which cur-
came in the women’s suffragette movement from rently varies widely across regions and countries
the mid-nineteenth century, although in isolated (World Health Organization 2015) (see Table
instances, selected groups of women were given 18.1 and Figs. 18.7 and 18.8). Historical data are
the vote in Sweden, Corsica, and the United hard to find on maternal mortality ratios, but we
States in the eighteenth century. However, even have anecdotal narratives (such as the quote from
when full female suffrage and political represen- the Bishop of Exeter above) and unsubstantiated
tation were granted sequentially in countries statistics that suggest that maternal and infant
across the world throughout the nineteenth and mortality rates were high in all parts of the world
twentieth centuries, there was no guarantee that until the nineteenth century. Until the discovery
this right would lead to improved well-being for of germ theory (1860s), the introduction of con-
women. Female suffrage is certainly a prerequi- traception (from the 1890s), the widespread
site for improved well-being for women, but training of midwives (from 1900), introduction
political equality is not a sufficient condition, as of public hygiene and nutrition campaigns (from
the past century has shown. the 1920s), and extensive use of antibiotics
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 615

Table 18.1  Global and regional progress in achieving selected Millennium Development Goal (MDG) outcomes:
MDG 5, 1990–2015
Performance levels
Target Global AFR AMR SEAR EUR EMR WPR
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Target 5.A: reduce Maternal Mortality Rates (MMR) by 75 %,
1990–2015
Reduction in MMR 75 45 49 37 64 59 50 60
1990–2015 (%)
Births attended by skilled 90 74 51 96 68 98 67 96
personnel (%)
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) TARGET 5.B: achieve universal access to reproductive health by
2015
Antenatal coverage = or 100 83 77 96 77 … 78 95
>1 visit, 2007–2014, (%)
Unmet need for family 0 12 24 9 13 10 18 6
planning 2012, (%)
AFR African region, AMR Region of the Americas, EMR Eastern Mediterranean region, EUR European region, SEAR
Southeast Asia region, WPR Western Pacific region
Data from World Health Organization (2015)

(1930s), women from all over the world (and live births in 2013. In parts of Nigeria, MMRs
their babies) died before, during, and after child- have risen to over 3,200 during famine and civil
birth at alarming rates (Campbell 1924; Fildes strife in combination with the HIV/AIDS epi-
et al. 1992; Morantz et al. 1982; Preston and demic over the past decade. Furthermore, MMRs
Haines 1991; Schofield 1986). The main causes and infant mortality rates (IMRs) remain high
of death were puerperal pyrexia, haemorrhage, among Fourth World communities living in First
convulsions, and illegal abortions. World countries, such as the indigenous popula-
Loudon (1992) argued that in England mater- tions of Canada and Australia (Holland 2015).
nal mortality rates were about 1,000 per 100,000 Similarly, indigenous communities in newly
live births at the start of the 1700s and reduced to developed countries such as Malaysia (Orang
400–500 per 100,000 births throughout the nine- Asli) and ethnic minorities in rapidly developing
teenth century. The Registrar General Reports countries like Laos (such as Lavan and Ta Oi)
(Fig. 18.2) provide higher maternal mortality suffer many times the MMR of the respective
rates in England and Wales in the nineteenth cen- national averages. The impact on the communi-
tury, peaking at more than 70 per 1,000 total ties of high levels of MMR and IMR is devastat-
births during plague epidemics and falling rap- ing, but these deaths are often met with a smile of
idly after the 1930s (Chamberlain 2006). quiet resignation as a “normal” part of life
Chamberlain attributed this decline to the wide- (Eckermann 2014). The challenge is to find out
spread use of midwives, improved public health what lies behind the smile.
campaigns, contraception, and the introduction Minimal eighteenth and nineteenth century
of female obstetricians and gynaecologists as literature exists on maternal and infant mortality
well as the introduction of antibiotics and in the non-Western world other than through
chemotherapy. songs, stories, and sayings passed down from
However, in Third and Fourth World coun- generation to generation. One example is the tra-
tries, MMRs remain high, and the causes of death ditional Tagalog (Philippines) saying that “A
currently parallel those predominant in nine- woman giving birth has her one foot in the grave”
teenth century Europe. Sub-Saharan Africa (UNICEF 2004), which is similar to the above
remains the least safe place to be pregnant. Sierra quote by the Bishop of Exeter describing the
Leone still had 1,100 maternal deaths per 100,000 risks of giving birth in seventeenth century
616 E. Eckermann

80

Maternal Mortality Rate Per 100,000 Births 70 67

64
60 55 57
50
50 45
43 42 42 43
41 40 40 40
39 38 38 39
40

30 28

20 15
10
10 7
3 2
1
0
1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970

Fig. 18.2  Maternal mortality rates per 100,000 births in England and Wales, 1850–1970 (Data from Registrar General
Reports from Chamberlain 2006)

Britain. In Lao PDR, a baby is not given its full countries, the emphasis in public health cam-
name (or acknowledged personhood) until it is 12 paigns broadened to the notion of a healthy
months old because the cost of a funeral for the woman as a productive woman. For example,
large percentage who die in the first year is pro- connections between female health and preserv-
hibitive (Eckermann 2006; Lao baby names ing American culture were drawn: Women were
2007). presented as needing to be physically healthy in
Van der Kwaak and Dasgupta (2006) argued order to perform their many roles as mother,
that the first scientific citations of gender and wife, moral guardian, and social reproducer
nonreproductive aspects of health and well-being (Borish 1990, 1995; Morantz 1977). But there
in the West were in the nineteenth century. They was a lack of congruence between the public por-
referred to the system for routinely recording the trayal of pioneering women’s health and their
causes of death set up by Farr in 1839 as the actual well-being. Although urban reformers and
benchmark for studies in health statuses of differ- farmers defending farm life believed rural women
ent social groups with reference to socioeco- enjoyed outstanding physical and mental
nomic class disparities and gender relations. A health—compared to urban women—an exami-
general malaise is reflected in much of the nation of farm women’s opinions of their well-­
female-authored literature in the eighteenth and being and the material culture of their lives yields
nineteenth centuries; gendered aspects of dis- a dramatically different view. “These women per-
eases and disorders such as chlorosis, consump- ceived their dismal well-being as not only physi-
tion, hysteria, tuberculosis, anorexia, and fainting cal, but also social and cultural, noting the lack of
spells dominate narratives (Sontag 1978). appreciation shown for their domestic labors and
Women’s health issues are particularly well-­ their contributions to the rural household”
documented throughout this period in the pio- (Borish 1995: 25).
neering communities of the United States and On the other, less progressive end of the health
during and after the American Civil War. spectrum, Victorian women were repeatedly
Following the nineteenth century spotlight on chastised in much of the medical literature from
pregnancy and maternal mortality in Western the nineteenth century across the United States
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 617

and Europe through a diagnosis labelled “female gested that the only way for “women’s issues to
hysteria”; as a result, many women considered to be governed by universalist principles” was to
be mentally unstable were sent to asylums remove this historical dichotomy between the
(Briggs 2000; King 1993). Sane women could public and private spheres, “thus overriding the
find themselves labelled insane and institutional- ‘particularist principles which tend to perpetuate
ized for anything from postnatal depression to the subordination of women.’” This situation is
alcoholism or senile dementia, and even for true of women’s experiences of well-being in
social transgressions such as infidelity (consid- both the North and the South.
ered to be “moral insanity”), or for simply being Uchem (2003) provided an iconic example
opinionated or outspoken (Lutes 2002; Parry from the Igbo African Culture where women have
2006; Wallace 2012; Worell 2001). The primitive been subordinated by both ancient traditional reli-
and oppressive treatment of women suffering gion and the colonial influence of the Roman
from mental health problems included the use of Catholic Church. Uchem (2003: 2) argued that
antimony (a toxic chemical now used in fire retar- “the status of women among the Igbo has suffered
dants, which was used to keep patients in a state under the perpetuation of religious myths related
of nausea, making acts of violence less likely) to human origin and ‘female evil,’ which have
and blood cooling and thinning by way of leech-­ rationalized and legitimized the subordination of
letting (Kornstein and Clayton 2004). Primitive women under colonial and missionary policies,
as these methods were, they represented an reinforcing gender biases in Igbo culture.”
important shift away from the idea of mental As with many institutions, religion has been a
health control from without, via chains and double-edged sword in terms of women’s well-­
shackles, and toward control from within, via being in both the North and South. Undoubtedly,
treatment or cure (Wallace 2012). An interesting “religion provides ways for people to deal with
linkage between women’s gynaecological and the hardships associated with war and often
mental health was drawn by many authors in this promises a better life. It also serves as a uniting
era. It was commonly assumed throughout much force for populations in their resistance of unjust,
of medical history that the female reproduction corrupt or ineffective governments and provides
system and the female neurological system were an identity for minority groups that otherwise
one and the same or so intertwined that there was don’t fit in” (Salbi 2003: 2). However, individuals
not much difference. It could be argued that ver- can also “fall prey to religious extremists who
sions of female hysteria and the insulting notion utilize religion for political gain and resort to vio-
that a woman’s ovaries control her mind and lence as a means to obtain their goals” (Salbi
body are still grappled with today in discussions 2003: 2). Fundamentalism can be at odds with
of gender inequity. the liberation of women as in “the cases of the
Muslims in India and Palestinians in Israel”
18.3.1.3 Family and Religion where “women’s struggle for their rights as
Throughout history “many societies have rele- women has been said to undermine the national/
gated both religion and women to the ‘private’ religious struggle.” Consequently, the “one-­
sphere of life.” Salbi (2003: 3) argued that “the dimensionality of insisting that communal iden-
administration of religious rather than secular tity take precedence undermines feminist efforts”
laws regulating issues of concern to women, such (Salbi 2003: 2). This effect is similar to the
as marriage, divorce, and wealth distribution” has impact of the Roman Catholic Church on contra-
put women at a distinct disadvantage. In response, ception and family planning in countries like the
women have struggled to have their grievances Philippines, where women’s rights and health
addressed by secular rather than religious laws, outcomes can be severely undermined by funda-
which is exemplified by dowry abuses through- mentalist approaches to family life.
out South Asia and the struggles for rights by Vohra (2003: 2) applied this tension between
Palestinian women in Israel. Salbi (2003: 3) sug- religion and feminism to the “internalization of
618 E. Eckermann

female ideologies in Hinduism that have resulted noted that the church’s counselling or mediation
in a feeling of powerlessness among Indian efforts coalesced around the central idea that a
women.” She pointed to the practice of dowry, woman should remain by the side of her spouse
where assets are “given along with the bride as (it was her preordained role) and should she stray
compensation for her weakness and inferiority as from this role—regardless of the risks to her own
a woman” and this tradition is “perpetuated by well-being—the church must act in a way to
women out of their own sense of devaluation.” ensure that the woman assumes the same role in a
Vohra argued that “while laws related to women different environment. “A divorcée should have
are in need of reform, so is the self-perception of her dowry returned so that she could remarry and
Indian women.” She suggested that reconciliation join another family; otherwise she should return
between apparently mutually exclusive world- and live in her father’s household” (Vintilă-­
views is possible “by reconstructing the notion of Ghiţulescu 2008: 15–16).
gender in Hinduism” to encourage women to Studying female-authored artefacts during
“become aware of their rights and inherent worth this period (familial and political letters, account
as human beings, enhancing their confidence and books, visual sources, and artworks) is one (albeit
self-reliance and encouraging them to work to limited) way to gain insight into how women
improve women’s access to property, employ- expressed themselves and how they were repre-
ment and education.” sented by contemporaries. This area of scholar-
Key themes in women-authored Western lit- ship is underdeveloped at present (Broomhall and
erature of the eighteenth century cover similar Spinks 2011). Primary sources like Hannah
domains: household conventions as definitive of More’s Coelebs in Search of a Wife:
a woman’s place in society and power struggles Comprehending Observations on Domestic
as women challenge dominant religious dis- Habits and Manners, Religion and Morals (1809)
courses (extending as far as legal jurisdiction). In seem to support the purported general malaise of
America, eighteenth century women’s literature women during this period, whereas others
focussed on women’s experiences of the emphasize as a positive attribute the enhanced
Revolutionary War and civil unrest. capacity of women to express themselves in
Women’s well-being at the beginning of eigh- writing.
teenth century Europe was characterized by the The passing of the Witchcraft Act of 1735 in
household and its associated discourse, with the Great Britain marked the beginning of the Church
ecclesiastical court as the omnipresent and paral- of England’s diminishing dominion over wom-
lel institution that supervised social order and en’s well-being. Religion had been a primary
family policies pertaining to the household, com- motivator behind the witch hunts of sixteenth and
munity, and larger society. Its jurisdiction was seventeenth century Europe (Roberts 2014). In
extended to some of the most intimate aspects of fact, female victimization throughout history and
individuals’ personal lives: for a woman, this across cultural contexts regularly occurs when
meant her relationship with her husband and chil- women are attaining economic independence
dren. Studies of the household offered a set of from men (Hoch-Smith and Spring 1978). Many
rules to order the emotional content of individu- argue that witch hunts were substantially tools
als (Rowe 2002). For example, Vintilă-Ghiţulescu for the suppression of women (encouraged by the
(2008) conducted a study of the normative role Church of England) and that such rituals fre-
the Roman Catholic Church played in Romania quently develop at precisely those times when
in reinforcing roles of women in the home and in men are losing the economic advantages of hav-
the community, focusing particularly on the emo- ing a subordinate female class to serve their
tional ramifications of divorce (2008). Although needs (Bullough 1973; Nelson 1975; Roberts
the ecclesiastic tribunal attempted to mediate and 2014).
offer solutions for women whose health suffered Clark and Richardson (1977: 120) suggested
under a somewhat oppressive regime, the author that the witchcraft hysteria came to an end
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 619

because a new male-female equilibrium was and they began to question their role in society,
established such that men were no longer threat- demanding that women receive a better education
ened by new gender-role relationships: “If the in order to be better equipped to do so (Ballard
persecution of witches was rooted in male anxi- 1785–1812; Brown 1996; Madigan 2009). This
ety about the sexual power of women, an anxiety attitude was reflected in much of the female-­
that burst forth in persecution as the old patriar- authored literature of the time, for example, Mary
chal culture was disintegrating, then the witch Wollenstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of
craze would end only as women attained a new Woman (1792), which explored the emotional
status and men began to find themselves rela- excess associated with the discourse of sensibil-
tively secure with it.” ity and how it was also identifiable with greater
Roberts (2014) and Clark and Richardson suffering (Barker-Benfield 1989).
(1977) have suggested that religious discrimina- Other collections of poetry, letters, and jour-
tion is often merely an expression of deeper eco- nals written by women in the late eighteenth cen-
nomic and political conflicts, and, indeed, the tury reveal similar discontent with their
eighteenth century social conflict between men preordained roles within society (Brophy 1991;
and women over jobs and family roles was cen- Haggerty 1998; Kerber 1980; Parka 1976). For
tral in the witch-hunt holocaust sanctioned by the example, the diaries of eighteenth-century mid-
Christian churches. However, without the pres- wife and healer, Martha Ballard, unravel the
ence of a worldview that made this discrimina- medical practices, household economies, reli-
tory action toward women seem universally right gious rivalries, and sexual mores of women in the
and just, it is unlikely that it would have taken New England frontier. Between 1785 and 1812,
place. The criminalization of witch hunts repre- Martha Ballard kept a diary that recorded her
sented a collective shift (across nations) in think- arduous work and domestic life in Hallowell on
ing about what constitutes acceptable treatment the Kennebec River, District of Maine. Her writ-
of women. ing also illustrates struggles and tragedies within
In parts of the world it became less acceptable her own family and local crimes and scandals and
to regard women as part of a unit (a couple) that provides a woman’s perspective on political
constituted a mere economic necessity (Amussen events then unfolding in the nascent years of the
1988; Hufton 1975). In eighteenth century American republic (Ulrich 1991).
Romania, for example, the wife’s dowry and the Particularly in America, colonial women who
husband’s assets formed the nucleus around were literate were beginning to voice their objec-
which coalesced the financial resources needed tions to patriarchy and became involved in poli-
for the survival of the couple and the upbringing tics and current affairs (Fithian, as cited in Farish
of children. Moreover, these assets were going to 1957; Isaac 1999; Rowe 2002). For example, in
constitute later the patrimony which would help 1773, the vestry of Bruton Parish asked two
the children form their own family units. Single women to testify to what they knew about a par-
or divorced women in Romanian society (and ticular reverend’s orthodoxy. Their testimony
indeed, Great Britain and Europe, where witch about his religious opinions contributed to the
hunts were a popular religious ritual) represented vestry’s rejection of the reverend’s bid for the
a real threat to the moral order established by the pulpit (Isaac 1999). These small but significant
Roman Catholic Church: They could “destabilise acknowledgements of women as valid and con-
social order and contribute to the ruin of a house- tributing members of society represent sizeable
hold” (Vintilă-Ghiţulescu 2008). shifts in collective attitudes toward, and treat-
Toward the end of the eighteenth century, ment of, women, thus encouraging a closer inves-
however, The Revolutionary War brought tigation of their health and well-being in the
American women into many new causes (Ballard coming century.
1785–1812; Brown 1996). In 1766, Daughters of Although religion may have offered, in both
Liberty started to appear throughout America, Western and non-Western contexts, “a haven of
620 E. Eckermann

sorts for women through its glorification of tradi- During the early industrialization of Britain,
tional roles” (Salbi 2003: 2), the private sphere Frederick Engels noted in his 1844 classic, The
often proved far from a haven when it came to Condition of the Working Class in England, that
women’s safety. Women’s well-being by the conditions of poverty had led to an increase in
nineteenth century was characterized by a new sexual violence and rape—with prostitutes and
onus on family violence as a social problem, an factory-working women being the most victim-
emerging awareness of women’s mental health, ized. By the same token, “Expressions of every-
suffragette/suffragist movements, and break- day violence such as public brawling and other
throughs in women’s education. In addition, a examples of interpersonal violence previously
more attentive focus on women’s physical health considered minor and so tolerated by both author-
during the decades leading up to “the vote”2 led ity and the communities in which they occurred
to some of the earliest critiques of normative dis- were steadily criminalized from the late eigh-
courses of the female body. teenth century on” (Rowbotham 2013). The latter
view is supported by many sources highlighting
18.3.1.4 Violence the ways in which “unnecessary violence”—par-
Women’s well-being, according to Joanne ticularly toward women—was publicly con-
McEwan (in Broomhall and Van Gent 2011: demned, or at least disapproved of: “… excessive
247), was dictated by “normative social expecta- violence dragged down everyone’s reputation.
tions regarding gender roles within marriage and Rules about ‘legitimate’ violence set the tone of a
assumptions about legitimate spousal interac- neighbourhood and it did no-one any good to
tions.” Her chapter on eighteenth-century cases break them” (Bourke 1994: 73) and “… [neigh-
of domestic violence in London explores how bours would] prevent or moderate a wife beating
witnesses linked wife-beating with ideas about by a combination of surveillance and reproach.
masculinity and, more specifically, masculine When a fight seemed likely they watched a cou-
authority. She supports Iorga’s notion that, ple closely… Surveillance was usually
although women’s plight was acknowledged, ­accompanied by reproaches for the husband…
they still had little power over their own domin- The most common community response to a
ion. Though domestic abuse was a punishable wife-beating was simply to help the wife, either
offence in eighteenth-century London, it was by nursing her or offering her shelter” (Tomes
only as a misdemeanour of common assault. 1978: 336).
Therefore, abused wives had little recourse for Shifts in the cultural milieu over time began
assistance or protection under the law, and the reflecting practical changes in daily life. For
prohibitive cost of applying for remedies like women, this meant re-conceptualization of social
legal separation was a barrier for a majority of power and shifting gender ideologies and expec-
London women (in Broomhall and Van Gent tations. As outward displays of violence became
2011: 249). less acceptable, physical strength and brute force
Historians have suggested that Western atti- lost influence as markers of masculinity (Simpson
tudes toward violence in general underwent a sig- 2012). Rather, as Wiener (1998) argues, an
nificant change between the seventeenth and increasing condemnation of violent behavior in
nineteenth centuries, during which there was a the nineteenth century saw the passage of legisla-
transition from “a society justified by hierarchy tion to protect vulnerable groups, such as women
and status to one justified by the social contract” and children, from male violence. The courts also
(Clark 1992; Wiener 1998; Wood 2004a, b). punished this violence with more severity.
It could be argued that here lay the beginnings
of conceptualizing and reprimanding workplace
The periods before and after the turn of the century when
2 

women were given the right to vote around the world,

harassment —for the benefit of women—but the
starting with New Zealand in 1893 through to the United doctrine of the two spheres ensured that domestic
Kingdom in 1928. violence remained hidden from public view or
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 621

condemnation (Clark 1987; Lea 2002). ries, these records are sparse and even sparser in
Exceptions can be seen in female-authored litera- the South.
ture from the second half of the century, such as Despite the ancient history of female freedom
Ellen Wood’s (1861/2008) novel East Lynne, in India in the Vedic period, women’s rights dete-
which brings to light ways in which the Victorian riorated during the medieval period. It was not
family served to disempower and disenfranchise until 1846 that the first school for girls was estab-
women, highlighting the violent injustices its lished in Bengal and in 1847 in Calcutta. These
heroine suffers at the hands of male family mem- schools were closely followed by a school for
bers. Interestingly, the source of the novel’s con- girls in Pune in 1848, with the first woman
flict is economic disparities between the heroine teacher in India, and the Bethune School in 1849,
and her husband, which supports the notion that which became the first women’s college in India
female economic emancipation was a key source in 1879. As in other parts of the world, the impe-
of agitation with regard to the treatment of tus for female education came from middle class
women throughout the previous century (Clark men, who saw it as desirable for girls to be trained
and Richardson 1977; Hoch-Smith and Spring to converse intelligently with their future hus-
1978; Nelson 1975). bands and to teach basic literacy and numeracy to
Criminologist John Lea (2002) contested that their future children (Rama 2009: 105). Rama
a privatization of violence occurred in the latter (2009: 105) argues that in “precolonial India elite
half of the nineteenth century, resulting in a Hindu and Muslim girls were taught either infor-
reduction in public visibility of and the flow of mally or formally at home and in village schools”
information to the criminal justice system about and that the content of that education was very
violence in the private sphere of the home. The limited.
author maintains that modern (Victorian) gender Other parts of Asia went through a similar tra-
and family relations became consolidated to the jectory. For example, in China “it was only after
disadvantage of women. As family life moved the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) at the end of
out of the public sphere—a process led by the the Qing Dynasty that a campaign to establish
suburbanization of the better-off sections of the girls’ schools began” (Wong 1995: 345). Prior to
working class—the criminal justice system lost this period, women’s education was distinct from
its jurisdiction over domestic violence. It is a men’s in that the “aim of traditional women’s
valid counterargument and one that persists to education was limited to the teaching of social
this day: If the overriding concern is to defend the ethics and family traditions with an emphasis on
stability of the family rather than to treat the per- how to become a virtuous wife and good mother.”
petrator of domestic violence as a criminal Similar motives for female education and lit-
offender, violence (behind closed doors) will eracy emerged in the North, but the motives
persist. evolved over time toward issues of leadership and
rights. The changing structure of the nineteenth
18.3.1.5 Education century family unit in American pioneering com-
The first official record of a woman receiving a munities increasingly required women to mod-
tertiary education comes from Spain, where ernize their values and the values they imparted
Juliana Morell received a doctorate in 1608. to their children. As the primary care givers, they
Evidence indicates that administrators of the were expected to educate their children in a new
Spanish colonies encouraged female education at way: preparing them to enter a modern society,
all levels throughout the 1600s. Later that cen- focusing on enlightened ideas about progress and
tury, there are records of women graduating from individual freedom. It was argued that in order
universities in Utrecht in Holland, Quebec in for them to shape the nation’s youth effectively,
Canada, New Orleans, various parts of Sweden, they had to be better educated themselves.
and Padua and Bologna in Italy. However, Catherine Beecher (1855), a well-known wom-
throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centu- en’s education reformist, considered women as
622 E. Eckermann

natural teachers and saw teaching as an extension was emerging, imbued with ideals of liberty, per-
of their domestic role. sonal freedom, and legal reform.
Although many supporters of women’s educa- By the twentieth century, this change was
tion at the time shared Beecher’s belief that being translated into public recognition of
higher education was necessary to make women women, as the following section on post-War II
more effective wives, mothers, and teachers, a developments reveals. Women started assuming
few started to see education as a means to change leadership positions in politics, administration,
women’s lives and to give them the same oppor- and the economy.
tunities as men (Dyhouse 1995; Howarth 2000; American anatomist Florence Rena Sabin
Tullberg 1998). The first women’s college in the (1929), who in 1925 became the first woman to
United States was Bethlehem Female Seminary be elected to the U.S. National Academy of
(now co-ed Moravian College), which was estab- Sciences, said in her acceptance speech for the
lished in 1742. The first to remain an all-female 1929 Pictorial Review Annual Achievement
college was the Single Sister’s House (now Salem Award, “It matters little whether men or women
College), established in 1772 originally as a pri- have the more brains; all we women need to do to
mary school, then a high school, and finally a col- exert our proper influence is just to use all the
lege. Nearly a century later, a radical agenda brains we have.”
accompanied the establishment of Wellesley
College as a privately funded liberal arts college 18.3.1.6 Body Image
for women in Massachusetts in 1870 and the The eighteenth century was a notable period for
foundation of another seven sister colleges across the reputation and social advance of the medical
the country soon after. Far from only preparing profession in both Europe and America
women to become effective wives, mothers, and (Cunningham and French 1990). Because medi-
teachers, Wellesley College was founded with the cine was almost exclusively a male profession,
specific intention of equipping women with the knowledge and observation of the female body
skills to lead the country through “…great con- left much to be desired. Unachievable expecta-
flicts” and “vast reforms in social life.” Wellesley tions for how the female body should look were
has been largely headed by female presidents set, and therein lay a myriad of consequential
over its 145-year history and actively encouraged health issues for women.
women to move into leadership positions. Soong For example, in American studies, the correla-
May-Ling (later Madame Chiang Kai-shek), tion between a woman’s physical appearance and
Madeleine Albright, and Hillary Rodham Clinton how she was treated had much to do with deter-
are among the long list of political leaders who mining her mental and physical health (Banner
are alumni of Wellesley College. 1983; Mazur 1986). Banner described two oppos-
In Britain, from 1860 onward, the few became ing images of female beauty: the “steel engraving
a few more as the suffrage movement gained lady” (early eighteenth century) and the “volup-
momentum in establishing many institutions of tuous woman” (late eighteenth century). The
higher education for women (Girton College, steel engraving lady was delicate and fragile, in
Bedford College for Women, Westfield College) both appearance and in health, and warranted
designed not only to educate, but also to mobilize protection (Mazur 1986: 284–285). She was a
and politicize. Institutions like The Langham model of proprietary and admiration but at the
Place Group embraced not just education but also same time susceptible to damage. The thin
suffrage for women, employment opportunities, woman represented high social class whereas the
and reform of the law regarding married wom- voluptuous woman represented the lower classes
en’s property (see Jones 2009; Phillips 2004; (often actresses or prostitutes). Lea (2002: 20),
Spender 1987). Thus, by the mid-nineteenth cen- also, identified the distinction of body image as
tury, the current social order was being chal- representative of social class as problematic for a
lenged in several countries, and a new philosophy woman’s self-esteem: “But women in public
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 623

faced the intrusive gaze of men, and the distinc- of women’s economic power, education, and
tion between respectability and non-­respectability political engagement.
in mode of dress, appearance etc., became con- Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the first female
tinuously more important. Important strategies of head of state in Ceylon in 1960, followed by
dress, walk, not looking back when stared at had Indira Gandhi of India in 1966, Golda Meir of
to be developed, and any women who appeared Israel in 1969, and Elisabeth Domitien of the
outside these conventions was open to labelling Central African Republic in 1975. Since 1960,
as deviant or prostitute.” This nexus between more than 70 women have been heads of state
affluence and thinness was later reinforced in the worldwide, and some of them have served several
1930s by the famous quote from Wallis Simpson, terms in office.
Duchess of Windsor, who proclaimed that “You Blaszczyk (2002: 2) argued that, in terms of
can never be too rich or too thin” (Knowles women’s leadership in business, “the watershed
2009). That sentiment appears to have persisted moment was the 1970s, when female entrepre-
into the twenty-first century as a dominant theme neurship was invigorated by the feminist move-
in discourses about women’s appearance. ment and national legislation that encouraged
equal opportunity.” She noted that “by the late
1980s, women owned half of all American busi-
18.3.2 Post World War II nesses” and “by 1989, they accounted for more
than a third of MBAs earned in the United States
The dramatic social changes of the twentieth cen- in a single year.” Women came into their own by
tury saw far-reaching transformation of gender the turn of the century when “the number of
relationships that impacted women’s and girls’ American companies owned or controlled by
lives in all parts of the globe. After WWII we women grew dramatically” and “three American
have more data on developing and non-Western women headed companies with earnings that
countries, much of which are authored and initi- exceeded $1 billion.” In 2015, 4.6 % of CEO
ated by women. The massive movement of positions at S&P 500 companies were held by
women from the domestic sphere to the public women. These are undoubtedly remarkable
sphere in many parts of the world during the achievements given the short history of women’s
Second World War created a watershed in wom- leadership in modern times; however, the goal
en’s voices. In many countries it was the first time should be that women comprise 50 % CEOs,
that women had entered the paid workforce. 50 % of world leaders, and 50 % of leading
After the war, many women did not want to return professionals.
to the domestic realm despite significant govern- In the 1950s, for the first time, fertility became
ment incentives for them to do so (including post- more controllable with the introduction of the
war baby bonuses). contraceptive pill and other modern contracep-
The mass movement of women into the paid tive technologies, allowing women more choices.
workforce started to break down the traditional These developments impacted significantly on
gender division of labor because the women the format of the family, including reduction in
chose occupations that had previously been family size. Reliable methods of family planning
reserved for men. By the 1960s, in many parts of also allowed governments greater flexibility in
the world, men were also entering formerly femi- housing, infrastructure, and social and economic
nized occupations such as primary school teach- planning.
ing and nursing. This two-way flow of In most rural communities (especially in poorer
occupational choices led to social, legislative, regions), women had always been integral to the
and political calls for equal pay. Thus the experi- production process but often in an unpaid capacity.
ence of working during the Second World War Ironically, the movement of women into the public
was a major trigger for the social transformation sphere was not without its disadvantages.
624 E. Eckermann

18.3.2.1 E  conomic Equality, Family, Egypt (82 %) and Kuwait (61 %). In Japan, 30 %
and Work agreed, 17 % disagreed, and the majority either
The lack of a reciprocal movement of men into did not know or did not care either way.
the domestic sphere resulted in double-shift labor
for working women, which significantly impacted 18.3.2.2 H  uman Rights, Politics,
their well-being much as it did when women and Feminism
moved into the factories during the Industrial Widespread interest in women’s rights in most
Revolution. The Household Income and Labour regions of the world came after the Second World
Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, which War and as a consequence of the suffragette gains
has been collecting data since 2001, suggests that in the prior period and the rise of feminism. In the
women in the paid workforce still predominantly North, gender issues were highlighted by the evi-
do a double shift when they get home, which dence of women’s capacity to fully function in
impacts on their well-being. The HILDA research the public sphere during and after the Second
shows that the majority of men do not increase World War and from women’s key roles in the
their hours of housework after marriage whereas civil rights movement, which built on suffragette
women’s hours of housework increase dramati- sentiments. Many women were not prepared to
cally upon marriage. This finding holds true even return to exclusively domestic duties, having
when couples decide not to have children or experienced the public spheres of paid work and
before the children are born. Thus, despite sig- administrative decision making, and, in some
nificant changes in the format of the family since cases, armed combat. In the South, attention to
the 1950s, women still undertake the majority of women’s rights and well-being coincided with
domestic work in the household. This burden is more general moves toward equity, including the
exacerbated in women-headed, single-parent formation of justice-based nongovernmental
households, which constitute a significant pro- organizations, socially conscious missionaries,
portion of household formations internationally and communism in countries like China, Cuba,
(Eckermann 2015). The subjective well-being Vietnam, and Lao PDR. In fact India, Chile,
data point to this group of women (particularly China, Cuba, Lebanon, and Panama were instru-
divorced and separated women) as having the mental in framing the wording of the Universal
lowest quality of life of all groups other than peo- Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 from which
ple who care for the frail, disabled, and infirm many women’s rights covenants have sprung.
(Cummins 2014). However, in some parts of the world, those
Over the past 70 years, women’s wages for debates are still at an early stage.
equal work have caught up with men’s in a few The civil rights movement had an effect on the
spheres such as medicine and law. However, in feminist movements of the 1960s across the
sectors that remain feminized, such as nursing, globe that led to major international initiatives by
women’s wages remain lower than men’s for the end of the twentieth century. International
equivalent work, and women are systematically organizations such as the World Health
underrepresented in senior executive and higher Organization, the United Nations Development
salary levels. Furthermore, the World Values Programme, and UNICEF have worked along-
Survey wave 6 suggests that across countries, side women’s organizations, governmental agen-
even in the second decade of the twenty-first cen- cies, civil rights movements, local communities,
tury, a wide variation remains in attitudes of both and nongovernmental organizations over the past
men and women to women’s right to paid 60 years to address the social, economic, and cul-
employment. For example, in response to the tural dimensions of gender inequality and now
statement “when jobs are scarce men should have systematically report on progress in countries
more right to a job than women” (Fig. 18.3), a across the globe. Although they had major
majority of both men and women in Sweden responsibilities in the civil rights movement,
(96 %) disagreed, but the majority agreed in “until recently women’s accomplishments have
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 625

100.0
90.0
80.0
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
Agree Neither Disagree No Answer Don’t know
Japan 30.0 49.0 14.3 0.0 6.7
Kuwait 62.0 17.8 18.3 0.8 1.1
Sweden 2.0 4.5 93.1 0.3 0.2
Egypt 83.4 5.7 11.0 0.0 0.0

Fig. 18.3  World Values Survey Wave 6 v45: “When jobs Sweden 2011, Kuwait 2013) (Data from World Values
are scarce, men should have more right to a job than Survey Wave 6 2014)
women.” Responses by country (Egypt 2012, Japan 2010,

been absent from historical analysis and were and a contradiction in terms” because “the
ignored by the contemporary press. Yet through ­eradication of poverty requires equal opportuni-
their dedication, organizational skills, teaching, ties and full and equal participation of women
and leadership, it was women who served as the and men as agents and beneficiaries of people-­
backbone of the civil rights movement” (Ezra centred sustainable development” (United
2009). Nations Development Programme 1997: 109–
Prior to the United Nations Beijing Conference 110). This understanding of the nexus between
on Women in 1995, the United Nations poverty and gender discrimination underscored
Development Programme introduced two new the creation of the United Nations Development
measures of gender inequality, the GDI and the Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in 1976; the agen-
GEM, to assess human development (United das of the International Conference on Population
Nations Development Programme 2013), which and Development in Cairo in 1994 and of the UN
started the systematic sex disaggregation of data Conference on Women Beijing in 1995; and the
in many fields and provided the tools to measure formulation of all eight of the MDGs in 2000 and
progress in gender equality. Since that time, fur- the SDGs in 2015.
ther refinements of gender measurement and ana- The 12 areas of concern in the Beijing
lytical tools have taken place (including Platform for Action (see attached e-file of strate-
widespread introduction of the GII) that allowed gic objectives) address women and poverty; edu-
for worldwide comparative analysis of the effects cation and the training of women; women and
of gender on well-being since 2010. Use of these health; violence against women; women and
indicators reflects the crucial point that “poverty armed conflict; women in the economy; women
eradication without gender equality is impossible in power and decision making; institutional
626 E. Eckermann

mechanisms for the advancement of women; and attitudinal barriers and challenges to univer-
human rights of women; women and the media; sal human rights.
women and the environment; and the girl child. The World Values Survey indicates that,
These events again proved to be turning points despite several decades of global commitment to
but this time they were universal—no country political, economic, and social equality between
could escape the global surveillance of their gen- the sexes, huge variations remain in attitudinal
der dealings, and governments became account- values. To the statement “on the whole, men
able for their levels of domestic violence, unequal make better political leaders than women do,”
pay, gendered health outcomes, and unequal edu- over 50 % of Egyptians and 49 % of Kuwaitis
cational opportunities and were obliged to report strongly agreed, whereas only 4 % of the Swedish
to the international community on progress in and Japanese populations strongly agreed with
these areas. These events culminated in the the statement (Fig. 18.4).
MDGs, which the United Nations required final Similar discrepancies in attitudes toward the
reporting on in 2015. importance of women’s rights are evident
Reporting on MDGs has revealed that gender-­ between countries in the World Values Survey
based poverty, high MMRs, female infanticide, data from 2010 to 2013 (Fig. 18.5). Over 80 % of
selective abortions (Sen 2005: 226–228), high Swedes argued that women’s rights are an essen-
rates of domestic violence, and unequal pay and tial ingredient for democracy compared with
educational opportunities persist in many parts of 36 % of Japanese, 30 % of Kuwaitis, and 24 % of
the world (World Health Organization 2015). The Egyptians. Sixteen percent of Kuwaiti respon-
Beijing Platform for Action is very much a work-­ dents to the Wave 6 Volume 139 survey said that
in-­progress as countries struggle with geographic, women having the same rights as men was not an
religious, political, social, economic, cultural, essential ingredient of democracy, compared to

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0
Agree Strongly Agree Neither Disagree No Answer Don’t know
Japan 3.7 23.9 31.8 5.5 0.0 35.0
Kuwait 49.3 26.4 14.7 5.3 2.0 2.3
Sweden 4.3 11.0 53.4 27.7 1.0 2.7
Egypt 54.4 32.0 11.8 1.8 0.0 0.0

Fig. 18.4  World Values Survey—Wave 6 v51: “On the 2013, Sweden 2011) (Data from World Values Survey
whole, men make better political leaders than women do.” Wave 6 2010–2014)
Responses by country (Egypt 2012, Japan 2010, Kuwait
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 627

90.0

80.0

70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0
Not essenal Essenal
Japan 2.7 37.0
Kuwait 14.0 30.8
Sweden 1.2 81.4
Egypt 3.9 24.7

Fig. 18.5  World Values Survey—Wave 6 v139: “Women Kuwait 2013, Sweden 2011) (Data from World Values
have the same rights as men: Essential to democracy or Survey Wave 6 2010–2014)
not.” Responses by country (Egypt 2012, Japan 2010,

less than 1 % of Swedes, 2 % of Japanese, and Similar rates were found in the Republic of
4 % of Egyptians. The remainder of respondents’ Korea, many of the Central Asian and Central
attitudes for each of these countries ranged European States, and South Asia. The attitude
between these two extremes. toward being born female implied in this out-
come impacts the well-being of girls and women
18.3.2.3 Health as exemplified in the traditional Indian saying
A key rights issue raised in the Beijing Platform “having a girl is like watering your neighbour’s
for Action was the growing trend in several coun- garden.” Son-preference has economic as well as
tries toward gender-skewed birth rates since the social and cultural roots.
1960s that defy the natural sex imbalance in favor Recent data suggest a slight reversal of this
of boys of 102–106 births per 100 female births. sex-at-birth skew in Asia since the relaxation of
Technological advancements such as amniocen- the one-child policy in China, the legislation dis-
tesis and ultrasound have been important in couraging sex-selective abortion in India (Pre-­
improving health outcomes, especially in provid- Natal Diagnostic Techniques [Regulation and
ing advance care for unborn babies with health Prevention of Misuse] Act, 1994), and the gov-
problems. However, the use of these techniques ernment policies addressing the impact on an
for prenatal sex selection since the 1980s has aging population of insufficient female offspring
serious ethical, social, economic, and gendered carers in Korea. However, it is too soon to estab-
consequences. For example, in China, under the lish whether this is a trend.
one-child policy, the sex ratio of newborns in The Central Intelligence Agency’s World
favor of boys rose from 106/100 in 1964 to Factbook 2013–2014 (Central Intelligence
123/100 in 2005 (Fig. 18.6). Agency 2013) data suggested that by 2011 China
628 E. Eckermann

125 124

122 122
121

120 119 119

118
117
Boys per 100 Girls

115
115
112

110 110
110 109 109 109
108 108 108
107 107
106 106
105
105
103

100
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Aged 0 Aged 2 Aged 4

Fig. 18.6  China: The ratio of boys per 100 girls as reported in population censuses, 1953–2005 (Data from China
population censuses and surveys 1953–2005)

and Korea were redressing the imbalance. The (EMR) are likely to fall short on both measures,
countries with the most skewed reported sex ratio and the Americas are particularly low on ­reducing
at birth in 2011 were Liechtenstein (1.26), the MMR, albeit from a lower MMR baseline
Curacao (1.15), Macao and Azerbaijan (each than other regions.
1.14), China (1.13), Vietnam, India, and Armenia MDG Target 5B refers to achieving by 2015
(each 1.12), and Albania and Georgia (each 1.11). “universal access to reproductive health” with
However, addressing the gender skew at birth specific targets of 100 % antenatal care coverage
does not address survival rates and gender differ- and 0 % unmet need for family planning. Although
ences in mortality, morbidity, and treatment the Western Pacific region of the WHO achieved
across the life span from differential nutritional 95 % antenatal coverage by 2014 and the American
status in childhood, to differential rates of life region 96 %, the African, Southeast Asian, and
expectancy (usually favouring females), and Mediterranean regions lagged behind with
gerontological intervention. 77–78 % coverage. In unmet need for family plan-
As emphasized previously, the most sensitive ning, the regional discrepancy was also substan-
indicator of inequality across the globe is the tial, with 24 % for the African region and 18 % for
MMR. The impact of MMRs on well-being is felt the Mediterranean region compared to 13 %,
across families, communities, and nations, which 10 %, 9 %, and 6 %, respectively, for Southeast
is why MMR was the key area of attention in the Asia, Europe, America, and the Western Pacific
MDGs. The indicators used to inform progress (Table 18.1) (World Health Organization 2015).
on meeting Target 5.A of the MDGs (see Sect. Wide discrepancies remain within these regions.
18.3) are percentage reduction in the MMR and For example, in the Western Pacific region, despite
percentage of births attended by skilled health its overall success in meeting MGG Targets 5A
personnel. As seen in Table 18.1, some progress and 5B, countries like Papua New Guinea lag far
has been made in these two indicators on a global behind their particular targets, with subareas
and regional basis, especially in the Americas within the country faring even worse.
(AMR), Europe (EUR), and the Western Pacific If we look at countries within regions, we get
(WPR), but Africa (AFR) and the Middle East an even greater range of progress results on
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 629

2000
1800
1600
Modelled Estimates of MMR

1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Cameroon 1200 1900 1250 1050 780
Chad 900 1000 1070 1070 1070
Congo Rep 400 480 500 510 530
Lesotho 500 500 650 670 600
Liberia 620 660 650 640 610
Somalia 880 920 980 980 980

Fig. 18.7  Selected countries that have underperformed on Millennium Development Goal 5.1: Maternal mortality rate
(MMR) (Data from United Nations 2013; United Nations Women 2015; World Health Organization 2015)

MDG 5. In some cases, little change has occurred child bearing, one needs data on maternal mor-
or MMR rates have risen or fluctuate widely bidity and disability (especially incontinence
(Fig. 18.7). Many of these countries did not meet from unresolved vaginal fistula) and qualitative
the 2015 targets for MDG 5A for MMR. For and quantitative measures of subjective well-­
example, Cameroon, Chad, the republic of being as well as service availability.
Congo, Lesotho, Liberia, and Somalia were far A popular saying in the West, “men die and
from meeting their MMR targets, and all have women get sick,” reflects the almost universal life
experienced increases at some point between expectancy advantage for women but the morbid-
1990 and 2015. ity advantage for men as exemplified in the
However, many other countries have made Global Burden of Disease assessments. The
dramatic progress in MMRs and easily met or health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE3) rate
exceeded the 2015 MDG 5A targets, especially provides a more complete picture of health out-
for births attended by skilled health personnel comes than does the life expectancy at birth rate.
(Fig. 18.8). For example Bhutan, the Maldives, The HALE rate for women in the Western Pacific
Nepal, and Eritrea have experienced steady Region from 2002 to 2007 was between 70 and
declines in MMR since 1990 and were well 80 years in five high-income countries and did
below the target by 2010, with the Maldives not exceed 60 years in many countries in the low
down from 850 maternal deaths per 100,000 live
births in 1990 to 60 in 2010. The health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) rate
3 

Maternal mortality rate is just one indicator of attempts to capture a more complete estimate of health
than the standard life expectancy rate. HALE estimates
well-being for pregnant women and those who represent the number of expected years of life equivalent
have recently given birth. To get a clear compara- to years lived in full health; therefore it is a measure not
tive picture of women’s well-being related to only of quantity but also of quality of life.
630 E. Eckermann

1200

1000
Modelled Estimates of MMR

800

600

400

200

0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Bhutan 1000 680 420 280 180
Maldives 850 380 200 100 50
Nepal 780 520 350 220 200
Eritrea 890 510 400 300 280

Fig. 18.8  Selected countries that have exceeded the Millennium Development Goal 5.1, Maternal Mortality Rate
(MMR) (Data from United Nations 2013; United Nations Women 2015; World Health Organization 2015)

and lower-middle income categories. The 76 % exposure in Samoa, suggest a strong cul-
improvement between 2002 and 2007 was more tural component to the behavior.
marked in the lower-income countries, whereas This issue remains a major challenge across
the high-income countries with an already high the world. Despite legislative and health
HALE, as expected, saw little change. ­promotion campaigns in all countries, no country
The subjective quality-of-life literature sug- has significantly reduced domestic violence since
gests a mixed bag across countries, with women the 1990s. This difference may be partly because
expressing higher levels of subjective well-being more women are willing to report violence than
than men in some contexts but lower levels in in the past, but even 9 % of the female population
other contexts (Eckermann 2014). One of the key experiencing domestic violence is unacceptable.
issues contributing to women’s compromised The impact on women’s well-being reverberates
well-being is gender-based violence. across generations. Violence not only “causes
physical injury, it also undermines the social,
18.3.2.4 Gender-Based Violence economic, psychological, spiritual and emotional
Successive World Development Reports have well-being of the victim, the perpetrator and soci-
identified violence against women as a major ety as a whole” (Eckermann 2001: 196) and is
contributor to the burden of disease, and Murray best encapsulated in the following quote from a
and Lopez (1996) confirmed that the burden from domestic violence survivor. “The scars mend
all forms of violence falls disproportionately on soon enough but damage to the soul stays
women of all ages. World Health Organization forever.”
multicountry comparisons of reported lifetime
exposure to gender-based physical and sexual 18.3.2.5 Education
violence are presented in Fig. 18.9. The extreme “A mother’s education is more important to her
differences, from 9 % exposure in Singapore to child’s survival than is household income or
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 631

80 76
73
68 70
70
64
60

50

40

30
18 20
20 17
15
9
10

Europe Asia Africa Lan America Oceania

Fig. 18.9  Lifetime physical and sexual violence prevalence ordered alphabetically by country (Data from Krug et al.
2002)

wealth” (United Nations Development active policy, can produce rapid and dramatic
Programme 2013: 89). Increases since 1990 in results. The state of Kerala in India re-emerged as
female literacy as well as in the number of girls the iconic positive example in the twentieth cen-
completing primary, secondary, and even tertiary tury of the impact of female education on all
education have been dramatic, but in the least aspects of well-being and for all members of the
developed countries the number of women with community. A concerted policy for 100 % female
at least secondary education remains at 17.9 % literacy and extended education of women and
compared with men at 27.1 %, so major chal- girls in Kerala in the second half of the twentieth
lenges remain. The equivalent values worldwide century has produced the best health and well-­
are 53.3 % for women and 62.9 % for men being outcomes in all of India despite Kerala
(United Nations Development Programme 2013: being one of the poorest and most densely popu-
159). lated states of India. Female literacy rates (for
When we look at attitudes to girls’ and wom- those aged 7 and above) rose from 36.43 % in
en’s education, we see continuing resistance in 1951 to 91.98 % in 2011, which has had a posi-
some parts of the world (Fig. 18.10). For exam- tive effect on health, employment, and empower-
ple, in Kuwait and Egypt, 36 % of respondents to ment indicators as well as on subjective
the World Values Survey strongly agreed or well-being.
agreed with the statement that “a university edu-
cation is more important for a boy than a girl,” 18.3.2.6 Subjective Well-Being
whereas 15 % of Japanese respondents and only The predominantly quantitative approach to
2 % of Swedish respondents strongly agreed or assessing well-being improvements in objective
agreed with the statement. conditions for women contained in the GDI,
Positive government and community attitudes GEM, GII, and MDGs has more recently been
to women’s and girls’ education, along with pro- complemented with qualitative and quantitative
632 E. Eckermann

Egypt 24.5 11.3 30.2 33.9

Sweden 40.0 56.2

Kuwait 21.0 15.4 35.4 25.1

Japan 13.4 46.1 10.0 27.6

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Agree Strongly Agree Disagree Stongly Disagree No Answer Dont Know

Fig. 18.10 World Values Survey Wave 6 v52: “A Kuwait 2013, Sweden 2011) (Data from World Values
University education is more important for a boy than for Survey 2010–2014)
a girl.” Responses by country (Egypt 2012, Japan 2010,

measures of the subjective dimensions of well-­ tries of Eastern and Central Europe in particular,
being (see Parts 1 and 2 of this volume for a although the well-being scores of both men and
detailed history of the international rise of the women conform to the U-curve configuration
quality-of-life and well-being movement). The identified by Blanchflower and Oswald (2008),
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and the subjective well-being scores of women tend
Development (OECD) Better Life Index, the to remain lower across the life span (Baltatescu
Personal Well-being Index, and the World Values 2014; Michon 2014; Uglanova 2014) because life
Survey are just a few of the burgeoning measure- challenges for women are difficult enough to
ment tools that provide comparative templates compromise the usual subjective well-being set
for comparison of subjective well-being across point.
space and time.
The recent cross-national research provides
often contradictory findings on the differences 18.3.3 The Twenty-First Century
between the quality-of-life experiences of men and the Future
and women (Eckermann 2014). In some cultural
contexts, women have better subjective well-­ In the twenty-first century, the global picture for
being outcomes than men, despite worse objec- gender progress in individual countries will con-
tive conditions of life. Cummins (2014) argues tinue to use the GII (2012 onward) as one of the
that a gender bias in resilience socialization next generation-gendered indicators from the
accounts for much of this advantage for women GDI and GEM (1990–2012). However, by the
in countries like Australia as measured by the end of the twentieth century, it had already
Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI). In other con- become obvious that gross domestic product,
texts, men fare better than women (Baltatescu HDI, GDI, and GEM were not sufficient indica-
2014; Uglanova 2014). In the postsocialist coun- tors of progress in society. The development of
18  The History of Well-Being and the Global Progress of Women 633

subjective well-being indicators to provide a sub- public dimensions of gender equality meet. If we
jective reflection of progress alongside objective hold a vision of making the private troubles of the
indicators created an opportunity to reflect on past the public issues for the present and future,
progress in gender relations across the world. we can avoid historical mistakes. One can make
The OECD embraced noneconomic indicators of this case especially for the hidden aspects of gen-
progress in its Better Life Index (Organisation for dered abuse such as domestic violence, sexual
Economic Co-operation and Development 2011). violation, and work-based exploitation.
Similarly, the United Nations Development The future will see a significant move from
Programme (2013: 28) acknowledged the grow- concentration on first-world women to women’s
ing “interest in using subjective data to measure enhancement in the South (United Nations
well-being and human progress and to inform Development Programme 2013), and the focus of
public policy” following in the footsteps of research and hopefully research funding and
Bhutan’s move to Gross National Happiness as resources too will reflect this shift. The gender
its guiding policy template. agenda will be broadened to examine the proac-
Problems with the assumption within objec- tive role of women as well as their disadvantaged
tive measures of progress of the “rational eco- status, thus moving beyond approaching women
nomic agent” can be overcome by using as victims, which has dominated gender-based
subjective methods. However, these methods policies since the time of the suffragettes.
cannot stand alone as measures of progress Examining gender relations alongside sex disag-
because comparability issues prevail. Thus, our gregated health, economic, educational, and
toolkit for assessing progress in gender relation- social indicators will provide a more comprehen-
ships in the twenty-first century will include an sive understanding of how all members of society
eclectic mix of objective and subjective measures gain from gender equality.
of economic, social, political, cultural, and per- “Findings from the WVS [World Values
sonal well-being. The Women’s Well-being and Survey] indicate that support for gender equality
Development Foundation argues that “the devel- is not just a consequence of democratization. It is
opment of women and their communities requires part of a broader cultural change that is trans-
a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach that forming industrialized societies with mass
addresses both personal and collective chal- demands for increasingly democratic institutions.
lenges.” Melding objective indicators with sub- Although a majority of the world’s population
jective well-being assessments and use of new still believes that men make better political lead-
tools to gauge levels of well-being and impact of ers than women, this view is fading in advanced
interventions will inform policy makers, service industrialized societies, and also among young
providers, and communities generally about people in less prosperous countries” (World
remaining gaps in understanding gender inequal- Values Survey n.d.). However, as the 2014
ities and challenges including global inequalities Human Development Report (UNDP 2015)
in choices and opportunities for women and girls. reveals, even among advanced industrial nations
The post-MDG agenda for the second decade there is some way to go to achieve gender equity.
of the current century provides an ideal forum for Comparing the ranking of countries on the
high-lighting gender dimensions of quality of life Human Development Index with their ranking on
and well-being. Gender relationships are central the Gender Inequality Index, we find that
to all aspects of well-being from education, work, Australia is ranked 2nd on HDI but only 19th on
health, leisure, reproduction, and child-rearing to GII. The United States is ranked 5th on HDI but
political decision making and creating environ- a low 47th on GII; similarly, New Zealand is 7th
ments free of violence and abuse. High subjective on HDI but 34th on GII and Canada, 8th on HDI
well-being as a complementary aspiration for and 23rd on GII. The country that ranks highest
global advancement, alongside economic and on GII, Slovenia, is 25th on the HDI. Other coun-
social progress, is where the personal and the tries that are pulling above their weight in the
634 E. Eckermann

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 The Role of Technology
in the History of Well-Being: 19
Transformative Market
Phenomena Over Time

Audrey N. Selian and Lee McKnight

Our lives today are strung with a profound and constant tension between the virtues of
more technology and the personal necessity of less. … What is this global force that
elicits both love and repulsion? How should we approach it? Can we resist it, or is each
and every new technology inevitable?
(Kelly 2010)
The more there is to invent with, the greater will be the number of inventions.
(William Fielding Ogburn (1922))

19.1 Introduction the difference between prosperity and poverty in

both developed and developing economies, as
Technology is defined as “a manner of accom- well as in the social organization and fragmenta-
plishing a task, esp. using technical processes, tion that result in intraregional warfare.
methods, or knowledge” (Merriam-Webster Technology fuels the wealth of nations and indi-
2012). Technology, in turn, creates the fabric of viduals through commerce and trade, as innova-
human life by transforming the threads of our tions unleash the creative destruction of markets,
everyday experiences with the environment we firms, and workplaces. The impacts of technol-
live in and one another. The earliest human tech- ogy changes on people and communities are also
nologies were handmade flint sharpened tools profound.
used to skin animals and, in the process, create From re-inventing avenues for political par-
art and clothing. Such tools were used to assist in ticipation, to providing information and transpar-
hunting and to control the spaces inhabited by the ency, to financial access, to basic matters of
earliest peoples in the surrounding ecosystem on housing and feeding the planet’s burgeoning
which they depended. In more recent centuries, population, to mapping the human genome,
technologies were created to help humans culti- among others, it is fair to say that nearly every
vate crops and manage water, thereby providing dimension of human well-being today is affected
food security and improving well-being on many by technology. The accumulated innovations
levels essential to survival. Technology is often accessible on and through the Internet are a par-
ticularly ubiquitous and transformative example
A.N. Selian (*) impacting most nations substantially by the early
Halloran Philanthropies, Geneva, Switzerland twenty-first century. The history of more than a
e-mail: [email protected] half century of technology innovation and
L. McKnight ­synthesis in packet switching, data communica-
School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, tion, semiconductors, software, service, compu-
Syracuse, NY, USA tation, and network architecture enabling the
e-mail: [email protected]
Internet innovation ecosystem is largely forgot-
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 639
R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_19
640 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

ten by the public even if its impact on human innovations over time, capturing the human expe-
well-being half a century later is self-evident. rience of adaptation to technology with reason-
The ubiquity of mobile handsets likely in every able accuracy.
reader’s hand or pocket is evidence of the perva- Technology as a causal factor to (or “driver”
siveness of technology and its apparent signifi- of) human well-being outcomes is difficult to dis-
cance for human well-being. Commercial Web cern in real time because unintended conse-
sites are used to make purchases or to work quences and reverse feedback loops—both
remotely (e.g., Amazon.com, eBay.com, or positive and negative—of a technology may not
Basecamp.com, Slack.com, respectively), be easily detectable. In other words, there could
whereas social media channels may to push for be many contributing and complex elements that
life-changing political news to the public, to drive a particular subjective or even objective
communicate with family and friends and some- assessment of an aspect of well-being. It is also
times, to find a long lost friend. Social media are difficult to isolate technology in terms of its cau-
used both locally and globally and have been sality, as part of a symbiosis of the past and the
some of the most innovative inventions of the present, of engineering and of human custom,
recent past, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Weibo. The and of technical and social phenomena. It is cre-
myriad daily encounters of humans and machines, ated and changed by human action while it is
both directly and indirectly, are all examples of being used by human actors to interact with the
the way(s) in which technology can affect well- structures of their own creation; in this sense it is
being with a powerful multiplier effect. recursive (Orlikowski 1992: 398–427).
Popular intuition and conventional wisdom Some scholars, such as Borgmann (1984),
correctly surmise that the unintended conse- Ellul (1964) broadly, Pacey (1983: 4–6), and
quences of new technology and automation (the Deneen (2008: 65–67), suggest a heightened
use of control systems for operating equipment awareness of the sociological aspects of technol-
such as machinery, industrial processes in facto- ogy that is considering technology as its own
ries, boilers and heat-treating ovens, routers on “cultural system”, the full amalgamation of all
digital networks, flying aircraft, and other appli- the technology we have invented so far, plus the
cations) with minimal or reduced human inter- products of those inventions, plus anything else
vention (Automation 2015), the effects of creative our collective minds have produced (Kelly 2010:
destruction would also include job loss and 10). In some ways, Fukuyama’s (1992: 126) ref-
industrial restructuring, resulting in an intensely erence to the emergent “global culture,” as a tech-
competitive environment where some firms, nologically driven global liberal political
communities, and entire regions and cultures economy, is about this standardization that he
could fall behind, or even disappear (Schumpeter argues portends “the end of history.” These are
1934). It is no accident that technologies are dif- difficult questions, and it is clear that the way we
fused along S-curves (a general concept devel- think about technology is a key part of assessing
oped by Everett Rogers [1983] and others), the relationship of technology with well-being.
building on epidemiologic data that show in Pacey (1999) and Winner (1986) were among the
graphical form a cumulative percentage of adopt- scholars who explored this phenomenon in depth.
ers of a new technology over time—gradual at Popular media often place disproportionate focus
first, more rapid with increases in adoption, and on the technology itself, who is credited with
then plateauing until only a small portion of non- having invented it, and how it works rather than
adopting “laggards” remain). These validate the on what led to it, its role as a source of present
intuition that only small portions of the popula- and future creativity, and its philosophical
tion are usually consistently ready for new solu- ­implications for our everyday lives. There are
tions and change; these curves provide a visual clearly evident path dependencies that have car-
illustration of the cycle of the introduction, grad- ried forward the widespread adoption of certain
ual growth, and maturation of technological technologies (e.g., railway gauges, heating solu-
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 641

tions like gas as a function of pipes laid and 19.1.1 The Major Milestones
sources, the QWERTY keyboard format, early of Technology History
Internet dial-­up on copper lines), since the emer-
gence of our cave-dwelling ancestors through to Appendix C outlines major technological mile-
the present day; it is not unfair to presume that, to stones in a compilation of scientific, medical,
some extent, continued demand for new technol- mechanical, agricultural, and communications
ogies is a reasonably proxy indicator itself that technology innovations over time. The informa-
technology is improving our human lives and tion summarized in this appendix is intended to
driving more good than bad outcomes. serve as a general point of reference and chronol-
This chapter addresses empirical, philosophi- ogy for readers of this chapter, with an emphasis
cal, socioeconomic, and developmental aspects on the tremendous leaps forward that have been
of technology in its broadest sense as well as the achieved largely in the twentieth century and,
impact of technological innovation on the evolu- more particularly, during the decades that fol-
tion of human society. The chapter reviews con- lowed the end of World War II.
cepts and phenomena that characterize its study
and relationship to well-being over time. During
the decades that followed WWII, information and 19.1.2 A Brief Glance at Technology
communication technologies (ICTs) in particular History
have transformed the fabric of social interaction
globally and are therefore emphasized in the The ancient Greek word technelogos meant art,
chapter. With the global growth and adoption of skill, craft, or craftiness; ingenuity would have
the Internet and mobile technologies, the dra- been the closest translation. Techne was used to
matic impact of ICTs on well-being, especially in indicate the ability to “outwit circumstances”
fostering worldwide communication between according to Kelly’s 2010 work on What
peoples, is clear, profound, and rapidly changing. Technology Wants. To the best of our knowledge,
Further change and opportunities to improve it was in Aristotle’s treatise on Rhetoric that the
human well-being are readily foreseeable as arti- word techne was first joined to the term logos
ficial intelligence, cognitive radios, 5G, and (meaning word or speech or literacy) to yield the
Internet of Things technologies emerge and get term technelogos, which was barely used thereaf-
integrated, even if they are not yet fully under- ter for many centuries. Kelly further stated that
standable (McKnight 2016). After having intro- until 1939, the colloquial use of the term technol-
duced the broad topic of technology and human ogy was basically absent until Johann Beckmann
well-being in the prior section, the remainder of from Gottingen University in Germany used it
this chapter attempts to answer the following extensively in 1802 to refer to his many
questions: (1) What are the major historical mile- innovations.
stones of technology? (2) How is the role of tech- From the Stone Age (the period lasted roughly
nology conceptualized in theory and what 3.4 million years and ended between 6000 BCE
attributions of power and influence accompany and 4000 BCE with the advent of metal work-
these theoretical frameworks? (3) What impor- ing—Stone Age 2015) to the Information Age
tant nuances should be flagged in a review of the (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age,
role of technology in society today? (4) How can or New Media Age), technology and human
analysis of technology through time be seg- well-being have been intertwined in the provision
mented into a useful systems framework that of basic human needs related to energy, water,
separates technology inputs from throughputs, to and transportation infrastructure. We can already
outcomes? (5) What have been the longitudinal observe the first semantic indicators of critical
impacts of technology on the core indicators significance that exist for the technology for
(education, health, and income) of human human well-being over the millennia: entire his-
development? torical epochs have been named for key technical
642 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

innovations of their time, extending back to the technology, have historically improved global
Bronze, Metal, and Iron Ages. Examples of the communication, economy, trade, and cultural
former include smelting copper and alloying it exchange. The Silk Road (209 Before the
with tin or other metals (Bronze Age 2015); Common Era [BCE]—9 Common Era [CE]) was
examples of the latter include the use of iron in a transportation trade route that connected the
making cutting tools, weapons, personal orna- East and the West and facilitated trade, business,
ments, pottery, and systems of decorative design and cultural exchange within China and across
(Iron Age 2015). South Asia, Europe, and Africa. The “Four Great
The word technology entered common use in Inventions of China” (Fan et al. 2015) included
the early twentieth century (Technology 2015). papermaking, the printing press, the compass,
This fact does not indicate that technology was and gunpowder, as well as other specialty goods
not already having significant impact on human such as tea and porcelain, were brought to the
well-being far earlier than this. White (1940: West through the sea route used by Marco Polo,
156), for example, stated “… the chief glory of who opened the possibilities of cultural exchange
the later Middle Ages was not in its cathedrals or between China and the Western European, world.
its epics or its scholasticism [though these cer- It is noteworthy that the Silk Road1 (Silk Road
tainly were among its major accomplishments]; it 2014) between East and West certainly did not
was the building for the first time in history of a function just as a passage through the Near East.
complex civilization which rested not on the The Silk Road still exists today, and many coun-
backs of forced labor but primarily on non-human tries are trying to revive the economic meaning
power.” Galileo’s conviction in the early 1600s that this route brought with it. The Editor of The
on grounds of heresy for supporting the position World Today, Alan Philps (2015), suggests “The
of heliocentrism was part of a cornerstone of Silk Road—a name invented by a romantic
events that characterized the creative tension German geographer, Ferdinand von Richtofen, in
between science and religion at this historical 1877—is most likely a misnomer. Its historic
juncture; his use of telescopes to observe the importance lies not in the number of bolts of silk
phases of Venus circling the sun and moons orbit- carried by soft-footed camel caravans, but in the
ing Jupiter was challenging for theologians and two-way traffic of ideas and technologies.” Fifty-­
natural philosophers because his observations seven countries who are members of the Asian
contradicted the geocentric ideas of Ptolemy and Infrastructure Investment Bank support of the
Aristotle that were closely connected to beliefs of establishment of “One Belt and One Road,” the
the Catholic Church. Within a year or two, the Silk Road Economic Belt and the twenty-first
availability of good telescopes enabled Jesuit Century Maritime Silk Road, indicating the con-
astronomers to repeat the observations. tinued significance of transportation technologies
Nevertheless, whereas some argue that nearly a and systems for advancement of human well-­
1000 years of scientific progress in Europe was being even or perhaps especially in a time of
sacrificed at the behest of the Catholic Church,
others support the idea that the foundations of
The Silk Road was known as the ancient trade route
1 

academic enquiry in the form of universities such across which goods and ideas flowed between East and
as those in Bologna (founded in 1088), Oxford, West, linking China and Rome. Silk came westward,
Salamanca, Cambridge, Padua, and others were while wools, gold, and silver went east. China also
received Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism (from
laid at this time. India) via the road. Originating at Xi’an (Sian), the 4000-
mile (6400-km) road, actually a caravan tract, followed
19.1.2.1 China and the Silk Road the Great Wall of China to the northwest, bypassed the
Transportation and communication technologies Takla Makan Desert, climbed the Pamirs (mountains),
crossed Afghanistan, and went on to the Levant; and from
have been woven into the fabric of social history the Levant (modern Iraq and Syria) the merchandise was
since before the invention of the wheel. shipped across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe and
Transportation and logistics, with the help of elsewhere.
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 643

advancing information technologies (Islam and 19.1.2.3 Near and Middle East

Kabir 2015: 19). Until the sixteenth century, the Near East led the
Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 BCE– world in technological innovation and advance;
210 BCE), the first emperor in the imperial techniques in agriculture, irrigation, hydraulic
Dynasty of Qin, became famous not only for the engineering, and manufacture were an integral
terracotta warriors, but also for early movements part of the life and skills of people who culti-
of unification and standardization in communica- vated them in Islamic contexts and who passed
tions methods. To make them more convenient, them from Christian Spain into Italy and north-
he standardized logistical parameters, measuring ern Europe. Some examples include the purifi-
units, Chinese written characters, and various cation of potassium nitrate; the invention of the
currencies of exchange, thus leaving lasting water clock, the astrolabe, and the first combi-
impacts on the economy of the country. Qin Shi nation locks; innovations in mechanical engi-
Huang also standardized the length of the axles neering; Damascus steel; and various Arabic
of carts to facilitate transport on the road systems alchemical treatises Indeed, Multhauf (1966:
used by his subjects, just as Julius Casear did for 167) illustrates that between 1144 and 1300,
the Roman Empire shortly thereafter (Neuman major Arabic alchemical works that were trans-
et al. 1999). Huang’s activities also marked the lated into Latin included the Tabula Smaragdina,
beginning of the gold standard-backed currency the Turba Philosophorum, The Secret of
system, which many countries of the world today Creation by Balinus, De Perfecto Magisterio
still accept. This dynasty thus established a solid (attributed to Aristotle), De Anima of Ibn Sina,
foundation for the growth of the Chinese empire; De Aluminibus et Salibus (On Alums and Salts),
contemporary China and the global economy and the Secret of Secrets, both by al-Razi, and
2000 years later still operate on some of its core parts of Kitab al-­Sab’in (the Book of Seventy) by
innovations. Jabir. This era, known as the Dark Ages in
Europe, spanned several centuries, during which
19.1.2.2 The Roman Era little was contributed to the advancement of
Since Roman times, secure communication technology vis-à-vis Muslim scholars and sci-
methods, such as Caesar’s cypher (one of the entists. Adjusting such standards, a century or
simplest and now widely known encryption tech- more later is neither easy nor cost-effective or
niques, which uses a type of substitution cipher desirable.
in which each letter in the plain text is replaced
by a letter some fixed number of positions down
the alphabet) (Caesar’s cypher 2015) was a game-­ 19.2 Technology and  Theory
changing innovation. Mass transportation
emerged because of technical standards that have In this section, we discuss two major theories of
endured for millennia, just as Caesar’s roadway the role of technology in society: technology as a
standard has become today’s standard railway mirror and technology as a driver.
gauge (Neuman et al. 1999). These efforts helped
spread the flow of innovations as part of trade.
The construction of dams, canals, and water 19.2.1 Technology as Mirror
wheels was reliant on ancient inventions created
with the technology of the time. Two examples of The systems from which technologies emerge are
the canals that greatly improved global trade and often a mirror of the political, business, societal,
transportation are the Panama Canal and the Suez and even cultural choices made by their leaders,
Canal, both of which have expanded to meet con- and the impact of technology on the political
temporary needs for shipping standards and tech- economy has been embraced by many leaders
nologies in the twenty-first century. throughout history.
644 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

Karl Marx, for example, perceived technology causally isolated or easily separated from the
as the principal means by which to shift from one value of the actual technologies themselves.
mode of production to another, even when it is What remains to be seen is whether human well-­
laden with deep sociopolitical influences. In their being in the long run will be enhanced by one or
original Manifesto, Marx and Engels described another pattern of technology use, and whether
three situations in the world of 1848 upon which the options before us today are indeed desirable
to base a revolution: the replacement of the indus- for driving optimal well-being outcomes in the
trial middle class by the wealthier industrial mil- future.
lionaires, the replacement of manufacturing by On a related theoretical plane, it is interesting
modern industry, and the emergence of a global to note that the technologies that emerge within
market. For them, technology had several core the sphere of a particular innovation community
facets that altered the face of an economy (and by reflect the existing or desired social structures
extension, society), including its implications for around them. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
savings on labor, the turnover of capital, and the social scientist Langdon Winner (1986: 19–30)
sheer access it enabled to wider markets and espoused a self-aware “soft” technological deter-
thereby, economies of scale. These interactions minism, suggesting that specific social or physi-
and outputs of productive technologies had cal structures (or limitations) have to be in place
strong influences on human social relations and in order for a given innovation to see the light of
organizational infrastructure and thus also car- day. He presented a great example: managed
ried profound implications for the centers of nuclear power, for example, requires a well-­
power in any national context. organized, fully resourced centralized “command
Many aspects of our wider political economic and control style” facility run by experts capable
system, and of capitalism per se, are a mirror of of managing it. The same logic applies to the use
the technical outcomes and processes that ema- of particular kinds of weaponry; e.g., the atomic
nate from the devices we work with today. bomb requires a top-down, hierarchical, central-
Quantitative analysis conducted at RAND in ized system for its deployment.
1995 indicated a strong correlation between On the other hand, the adoption of solar, bio-
democracy and electronic network interconnec- mass, or wind (renewable) technologies (and the
tivity, which in this case consisted of a metric requisite policies) is more likely to reflect a dis-
based on e-mail data; the correlation coefficient tributed, bottom-up ethos of a decentralized,
for interconnectivity was not only large, it was comparatively less rigid or disciplined ecosys-
substantially larger than that of other traditional tem. When top-down social structures are not
predictors of democracy. The physical configura- needed to use technologies such as solar energy
tions of industrial production, warfare, and com- for individual homes, these technologies become
munications not only transformed the exercise of democratic, populist tools. That said, the use of
power and the experience of citizenship but also large-scale, alternative energy systems that are
introduced “inherently political technologies” more cost effective than small-scale energy sys-
that are, by their nature, centralized or decentral- tems (given their potential safety and cost impact
ized, egalitarian or nonegalitarian, repressive or on the electrical grid) might be feasible only
liberating (London 1995). That is not to say that when (e.g., a fuel-cell farm selling excess energy
a new technology that may appear to favor a back to a power grid) centralized control systems
return to small-batch, decentralized production can technically accommodate distributed genera-
such as 3D printing (the process by which three-­ tion surges in energy production. The politics of
dimensional structures are built from a digital energy technology development thus are reflected
file, using a layer-by-layer approach) may not at the local level, and the adoption or rejection of
also be centrally managed and produced. The new energy technologies reflects much more than
systemic implications of how public services are just cost and know-how. One could surmise that
delivered (and paid for or subsidized) cannot be certain types of technologies simply would be
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 645

unlikely to flourish in certain sociopolitical con- (1917–1984), posited that the more dispersed,
texts, e.g., distributed microgrids in high com- easily available, and decentralized the modes of
mand and control economies or government-run communication are, the greater is the degree of
centralized nuclear facilities in advanced liberal freedom that should be possible (at least in the-
societies. ory). Such debates ask whether the new technol-
ogy is conducive to fundamental shifts in the
distribution of power and whether it may there-
19.2.2 Technology as Driver fore encourage the dissolution of strong, central-
ized political hierarchies (Selian 2002: 2). De
Simplistic attempts to frame the role of technol- Sola Pool (1983) wrote that only in the unique
ogy as inherently democratizing are often mis- history of the modern West did printing become a
leading. The Web and related mobile tools are “technology of freedom”; he also observed that,
often given credit as imaginary societal and as yet, there is no linear path between printing
developmental “equalizers.” Technology and and liberalism because the reactions to liberation
progress, however, while in theory optimally of any kind occur after and not before the disrup-
imagined to be working in concert, do not neces- tion of the status quo.
sarily travel hand in hand toward greater human For hard-core technological determinists, or
well-being. A global Internet that connects all those who attribute great influence to technology,
people— at present actually about half of all peo- the dearth of technology (and synonymously the
ple on the planet— does not feed its information capital to develop or pay for it) is in itself a com-
to all people equally. Search engines are neither mentary on its developmental status, social struc-
predisposed nor able to create some kind of ture, and cultural values. Whereas liberal visions
“information paradise” of equal access and appli- find validation in the viral mobilizing power of
cation of knowledge to advance human well-­ social networks like Twitter and Facebook, the
being. The work of scholars like Hindman et al. idea that ICTs spread equivalent liberal princi-
(2003) on the theories and power laws that sup- ples and support democratic change is perhaps
port the phenomenon of “Googlearchy” attests to simplistic. Perhaps it is enough to say that new
this fact. They explore whether the aggregate technology may allow more liberal forms of
structure of the Web is antiegalitarian and how a authority to emerge if the right social, cultural,
“winners take all” power-law distribution pre- political, and other conditions are present.
vails, whereby a few successful sites receive the Steven Berlin Johnson references what he
bulk of online traffic (Hindman et al. 2003:1). calls the “hummingbird” effect of an innova-
Although new technologies contribute to eco- tion—or cluster of innovations—in triggering
nomic development and may thereby advance all changes that seem to belong to a different domain
global society over time, it is relevant to bear in altogether (Johnson 2014a). Increases in energy-
mind that such diffusion of benefits likely or information-sharing have set in motion unprec-
depends on equitable patterns of income distribu- edented waves of social and business change via
tion (Senker 2000: 212) and on a variety of other the Internet. “Observing hummingbird effects in
variables like legislation, civil society action, and history makes it clear that social transformations
innovation/social entrepreneurship ecosystems are not always the direct result of human agency
that are not necessarily equally prevalent in some and decision-making. Sometimes change comes
nations in the developing world. The subject of about through the actions of political leaders or
how modern communications may alter the way inventors or protest movements, who deliberately
in which various entities of the private sector, the bring about some kind of new reality through
public sector, and civil society interact has their conscious planning” (Johnson 2014a). In
spurred much debate. other cases, Johnson states, ideas and innovations
Ithiel de Sola Pool (1983: 5), a revolutionary seem to have a life of their own, engendering
in the field of technology and the social sciences changes in society that were not part of their cre-
646 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

ators’ vision. The inventors of air-conditioning dations of a functional national innovation sys-
were not trying to redraw the political map of tem, we take for granted everything from the
America when they set about to cool down living electric grid, to financial and transportation sys-
rooms and office buildings, but the technology tems, and the appliances that cook, cool, and con-
they unleashed on the world enabled dramatic serve our food, or create the stitching in our
changes in American settlement patterns that in clothing. The devices and services we use to
turn transformed the occupants of Congress and absorb news, information, and entertainment; run
the White House (Johnson 2014b). Another nota- our households; communicate with friends, fam-
ble example he cites is the early twentieth-­century ily, and co-workers; and know what to face when
scientific and public health breakthrough of add- we step out our door are created and typically
ing calcium hypochlorite (or chlorine) to drink- distributed across global technology supply
ing water to kill bacteria. This innovation not chains spanning continents and nations.
only had a dramatic impact on mortality rates but There is a duality in the impact of technologi-
it also totally transformed recreational habits as cal development writ large: It is neither a blanket
thousands of chlorinated public baths and pools panacea that “sweeps human development off its
opened across America; it also changed all the feet” (UNDP 2001: iii), nor is it a phenomenon
rules of “public decency” and indeed the levels to we can ignore. To a large extent it is important to
which women revealed their bodies in public consider the implications of technology not just
spaces (Johnson 2014b). Johnson’s work illus- as a function of directly positive or negative out-
trates the complex, multidimensional, path-­ comes on society, but in the context of the ratio-
dependent phenomena of shaping technology nality that guides its every move; “… technology
history and the journey of human development. as such cannot be isolated from the use to which
it is put” (Marcuse 1964: 16). Marcuse’s point
was that there is nothing neutral about technol-
19.3 T
 echnology and Society ogy; the technological society that rendered it
Today would be a system of domination, and therefore
neither its effects nor its roots could be treated
Is technology a panacea or curse for human soci- with indifference.
ety? We address this question and the issue of One way to appreciate the effect of human
negative externalities of technology in this agency in providing “the greatest good to the
section. greatest number” is to adopt a constructivist view
on technology born out of the cycling and recy-
cling of human knowledge and ingenuity through
19.3.1 Panacea or Curse? the millennia. Technology, in all its reflexive sig-
nificance for the transformation (and projection)
This section offers a philosophical view on the of our identities on the planet, is the net outcome
interactions of human beings and technology, as of all that has been learned since human knowl-
well as on how the adoption of technology occurs edge began to be codified. It is the literal, earthly
in systems. Every day, people on our planet wake incarnation of what some like Laszlo refer to as
up and go about their daily activities, using tools the Akashic field, something akin to a Jungian
and devices such as clocks, electric teapots, and collective subconscious, a field that contains all
telephones that encompass hundreds if not thou- the “in-formation” ever known and aggregated in
sands of prior technology innovations. These the entire virtual vessel of human knowledge
items may perhaps be bought, sold, and used as (Laszlo 2004). Its implications for the multiple
integrated technologies, layered one atop another spheres elaborated upon in this chapter, its link-
over the sedimentary foundations of modern life. ages to innovation and growth and our daily lives,
In many developed nations that demonstrate a and its ultimate physical manifestations in the
relatively high capacity for supporting the foun- cables, masts, turbines, towers, tunnels, and
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 647

microchips that characterize our landscape, are technology is evident in the emergence of mod-
undeniably positive, although it brings with it the ern telecommunications infrastructure and the
responsibilities of better stewardship of our Internet. The Internet is an outcome of many
planet and better distribution of the gains it decades (1950s–1990s) of prior state-sanctioned
affords its billions of inhabitants. The “darker innovation. It is important to note that strategic
side of technology,” i.e., that which produces ill-­ initiatives and decisions to undertake large public
being, is explored later in this chapter. and public-private projects are clearly more about
The impact of technology on human well-­ the governing public institutions than the creative
being thus has many aspects, with the less opti- genius of one individual.
mal consequences for some largely mitigated by
the positive effects enjoyed by many others.
Examples of those who may suffer (in an eco- 19.3.2 The Negative Externalities
nomic sense) could include those who were, in of Technology
their heyday, the grandfathers of innovation; the
producers (and adopters) of the Betamax and the It is also important to articulate the negative
VHS cassette), of Super 8 mm film, laser disc impacts of technology, because they are multifac-
players, the turntable, cassette tape recorders, eted and deeply intertwined with the dynamics
transistors radios, telex machines, fax machines, described in this chapter. They are evident in on
analog telephones, portable televisions, and the the both the micro and macro spheres and in eco-
portable radio, the “Walkman.” However, the nomic, social, and cultural spheres, and they can
more or less effective bans and controls on par- be as latent as they can be blatant, including
ticular weapons, on drugs and health care proce- impacts on work life and social interaction.
dures, and on most monopolistic behaviors Technology at times produces perverse out-
illustrate that society has choices to make and comes: Whereas it has shed the spotlight on
does place controls on technologies, routinely human rights abuses and given the means to
regulating and constraining the application of activist organizations like Amnesty International,
technology in instances that are deemed to have Transparency International, and Freedom House
potential negative consequences or risks for to decry transgressors, it has also given those
society. who abuse masses of people the tools to discover,
Where the impact of technologies has been repress, subjugate, and generally maintain the
unknown or hard to control, human beings have trappings of tyranny. Many governments through-
used regulation, policy, customary norms, and out the world continue to use a variety of tools,
cultural mores to help shape the trajectories of including licensing, limits on access to news-
how technologies could be developed and how print, control over government advertising, jam-
they should be used and by whom (Neuman et al. ming, and censorship, to inhibit independent
1999). Examples include setting minimum ages voices (Selian 2002).
and license requirements to drive cars and to pilot Examples of latent negative impacts of tech-
planes or to determine when it is or is not legal to nology include the forced and gradual buy-in of
use mobile phones. There are situations, particu- consumers who succumb to a network effect,
larly in the public domain, where statistical prob- having to follow suit if they wish to share their
abilities of danger or accidents provide a sound documents or pictures. More obvious results
basis for regulating user behavior of items such stem from the aforementioned dynamics of
as mobile phones. With a mounting body of evi- Schumpeterian creative destruction; online
dence that is, ironically, bolstered by technology ­commerce has taken a major toll on small busi-
itself, we have created the groundwork for both nesses that do not operate at scale. Today, every-
rules and norms to be applied to what is socially thing from bookstores to DVD/video rental stores
and legally acceptable and what is not. to travel agencies have been forced to redefine
In today’s context, the need for public invest- the way they do business. On a macro-economic
ment to advance knowledge and transformative scale, decisions taken on how to adopt or apply
648 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

technology can also manifest in many spheres; use. The “Great Withdrawal” in China is a good
mismatches between technology and an eco- example: In the fifteenth century, innovations in
nomic or political context can sometimes lead to irrigation, agriculture, furnaces, textiles, and
disaster. For instance, a nation whose economy is water power stagnated and atrophied for no
largely reliant on technology exports may find apparent reason (Smillie 1991:74). Examples
that declining demand for a given good or service abound of knowledge lost at the doorsteps of
can have a devastating impact on society, decreas- invasion, conflict, and colonialization. The deci-
ing individual human well-being, and hence mation of the Aztec nation at the hands (and dis-
emerging as a negative impact of technological eases) of Europeans, and the similar fates of the
change. Another nation prospering under one Incas of Peru and the Native Americans of North
particular type of technology paradigm may see America, are but a few examples of the advances
its business leaders, government policy makers, and losses of technological know-how impacting
and educational institutions incapable of adapt- the well-being of societies and individuals.
ing to a particular technological change, thereby Through time, specific gains and losses of knowl-
contributing to a livelihood problem stemming edge have written and rewritten the pages of his-
from an inability to connect innovative produc- tory, and thus as well the story of human
tion technologies to firm or national competitive experience and well-being. Unintended conse-
advantage. quences of technology can also emerge far later
The application of technology to military in time, cascading forward with potentially unde-
spheres has been the key driver for what is known sirable effects for decades and even centuries.
as the “revolution in military affairs,” changes in What is seen and unseen in contemporary tech-
the conduct of warfare driven by information, nology innovation may matter for human well-­
communications, and space technology. The being today, tomorrow, and, in some cases, not
innovations’ of American theoretical physicist just in the twenty-first century but quite possibly
and wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, into the twenty second and twenty third centuries
J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team, known for and beyond as well.
their work on the infamous Manhattan Project in Understanding the complex web of research
1941, resulted in the creation of the world’s first and human creativity that has culminated in the
atomic bomb, which exploded over Japan in 1945 thousands of amenities technology has afforded
and killed many people very quickly. Many tens us in developed societies requires an astute eye
of thousands more suffered the after effects of and mind. At the same time, taking just one step
radiation. Japanese novelist Kenzaburo Oe, a beyond the bounds of “life within infrastructure,”
Nobel laureate for literature, wrote in his 1965 even the untrained eye or any child can tell imme-
nonfiction work Hiroshima Notes, “From the diately what is lacking or where technology has
instant the atomic bomb exploded, it became the not been invested in as a priority. Once you have
symbol of all human evil; it was a savagely primi- seen technology, it is hard to imagine life without
tive demon and a most modern curse” (Valiunas it.
2006: 85–104)
Technology is not simply a forward-moving
process incapable of regression. The presence of 19.4 A Framework
technology in one place can make its absence in for Understanding
another be perceived as a terrible negative exter- Technological Impact
nality; for example, those who innovate with
various transportation or communication tech- This volume goes to great lengths to articulate
nologies in one tourist destination can destroy the the modalities of the measurement of human
market of a neighboring locale. Lack of innova- well-being across geographic areas. Technology
tion and improvement may further lead some is a cross-cutting theme that runs along the
technologies to be forgotten or withdrawn from length of these studies, woven deep into the fab-
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 649

ric of many well-being trajectories over time (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005a:
albeit in varying latent and blatant ways. Well- 73–74).
being is essentially an experiential human phe- In this section we use a systems model that
nomenon, even as it is also something that can be breaks down the analysis of the impact of tech-
analyzed through objective indicators of stan- nology on well-being into several dynamic, inter-­
dards and achievements through time. The role related categories or phenomena. We seek to
of technology in providing material, tangible measure the role of technology as a major input
improvement to the core areas of the Human into a given system, where we capture the com-
Development Index (HDI), which serves as the mon indicators of technology (e.g., technological
key methodological reference point for all of the achievement) and demonstrate their link to well-­
geographically focused chapters, is intrinsic to being indicators such as those reflected by the
both the measures and perceptions of well-being. HDI. Thereafter, we examine the measures of
Data on technology development, implementa- technology “throughput” indicators that are
tion, adoption, and use, compiled by the World linked with indicators related to core technologi-
Bank, the World Health Organization, the cal infrastructure (e.g., electricity, sanitation,
International Monetary Fund, the International transportation, telecommunications). Finally, we
Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the United examine the connection between these through-
Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural put indicators and the outcomes that we associate
Organization (UNESCO) as well as other orga- with enhanced human well-being, depicted by
nizations, are referenced in this chapter to their HDI rankings. The HDI incorporates the
illustrate technology’s objective impacts on
­ approach developed by Amartya Sen (1985) that
well-being. Subjectively, there is a variety of focused on “capabilities,” an approach to human
case work for review as well. well-being that emphasized the importance of
Analyzing the complex relationship between ends (e.g., a decent standard of living) over
technology and human well-being depends on means (e.g., income per capita). In the HDI, com-
accurately distinguishing between the determi- ponent indices for life expectancy, literacy,
nants of well-being and its constituents; that is, school enrollment, and income are aggregated
what some have referred to as “well-being as an into a unified index that allows for analysis of
end” (Dasgupta 2001: 305). Determinants are human well-being levels over time, as compared
sometimes expressed as commodity inputs, many to a one-dimensional assessment of development
of which are provided by societal and business on the basis of simple per capita income.
ecosystem services, including areas reliant upon
technological processes such as food and fuel
supply chains; water distribution and purification 19.4.1 The Input Ingredients
systems; materials for shelter; and marketed for Technological Progress
crops, livestock, forest products, and minerals.
The enablement of physical, environmental, and Each subcomponent factor of the HDI has been
social conditions that govern how local resources strongly influenced by technological progress
and space are regulated (increasingly more with because the fulfillment of basic human needs
the use of information technology), is an impor- related to health, education, and welfare (income
tant determinant of well-being. Thus, various ele- productivity) requires iterative and sustained
ments of well-being that are a function of commitment to the delivery of services at scale.
technological process or know-how can be seen Several of the sections that follow outline HDI-­
as both constituent and determinant parts of well-­ related data inputs and outcomes, while estab-
being. For example, education and health, and lishing a qualitative correlation with the
the means by which they are delivered, adminis- improvements brought about by technology. The
tered, and achieved can be both ends in them- qualitative correlations between the input,
selves and means to experiencing well-being throughput, and output variables hold together
650 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

under the framework of innovation and what it 19.4.2 Innovation and Research

comprises. With the inputs factors described and Development
below, the throughputs have emerged, and the
outputs link directly to the HDI analysis pre- Theories of national innovation systems (first
sented in Sect. 19.5. developed by scholars such as Nelson, Freeman,
A landmark study in the Human Rights and Lundvall in the 1980s) preceded broader
Quarterly in 2003 found a strong correlation innovation and more focused entrepreneurial
between the Technology Achievement Index ecosystem studies. These analyses looked at the
(TAI) (Desai et al. 2001)2 and the HDI, confirm- interplay of enterprises, institutions, and people
ing empirically that the utilization of technology and are premised on an understanding that the
(as well as its creation and dissemination) and interactions between actors are as important as
human advancement exist within an essential, overt inputs like investment in research and
reciprocal relationship. This point is foundational development. Innovation is a measure of the
for this chapter. This correlation means that scope of human creativity and is also by proxy an
countries categorized as least developed nations important signaling tool of well-being or the
face acute deficits in technological development. immediate potential to achieve it.
The advancement of technology builds human Necessity may be the mother of invention, but
capabilites through the swift dissemination of the fabric of cooperation required to realize an
knowledge in medicine, communications, agri- effective new solution to serve society derives
culture, energy and manufacturing, improve- from those who are well-educated, in good
ments in education, income, health, and political health, and in a position to live without relative
freedom, which in turn fuel the creation of concern for their basic human needs.
knowledge for more technological change (Hill Unsurprisingly, rankings indicate that the more
and Danda 2003: 1028–1029). Research findings “efficient” countries achieve, on average, the bet-
corroborate this mutually reinforcing association ter are their Global Innovation Index scores
with HDI values in certain areas as the TAI cate- (Dutta et al. 2014: xviii). Just as some high
gories advance from “marginalized” to “dynamic” income states are not able to demonstrate effi-
adopters and from“potential leaders” to “lead- ciency in the workings of their innovation sys-
ers.” The strength of this correlation and the tems, some lower income states surprisingly
results of this analysis support the conclusion outperform their expectations and achieve higher
that the importance of technology achievement than expected levels of overall well-being. When
for human development may be greatest under Global Innovation Index scores are plotted
the least favorable conditions. We have an impor- against gross domestic product (GDP) per capita
tant reinforcing loop to acknowledge that propels (in purchasing power parity [PPP] dollars), econ-
certain well-being trajectories and outcomes. omies close to the trend line show results that are
mostly in accordance with what is expected from
their level of development.26 Others that show
relative weaknesses in their innovation systems
when compared with countries of similar income
levels (i.e., Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, and Greece) may be suffering from a
phenomen known as the “resource curse” or the
The TAI is not a measure of which country is leading in
2 

global technology development; it focuses rather on how “paradox of plenty” (Dutta et al. 2014: 28)—not
well the country as a whole is participating in creating and unlike the Easterlin Paradox.
using technology. It focuses on four dimensions of tech- When one examines the efforts of a society to
nological capacity that are important for reaping the ben-
efits of the network age: creation of technology, diffusion
progress or develop technologically, one of the
of recent innovation, diffusion of old innovations, and most powerful input indicators to address is inno-
human skills. vation. There is an underlying assumption that
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 651

technological achievement is a function of the make technological achievement as a national

means of years of schooling, research and devel- priority.
opment (R&D) expenditures, and the number of From the macro perspective, economies that
scientists and engineers working in R&D are “catching up” are more dependent on tech-
(Table 19.1). Although data in this arena are not nology transfer than on basic research, with R&D
consistently available, there is clear evidence that expenditures generally considered unprofitable in
where the data do exist, they appear only to show countries with low levels of human capital (Dutta
unquestionable improvement over time. Mean et al. 2014). Economies at the lowest levels of
years of schooling in the Organization for development and thus of human well-being may
Economic Cooperation and Development be trapped in a vicious cycle: Low economic
(OECD) overall has increased by over 30 % in development does not offer a context that pro-
three decades, which correlates well with the vides incentives for young people to pursue
absorptive capacity of such countries to use R&D higher education; if they do pursue higher educa-
expenditures to hire thousands of scientists and tion, suitable positions in which to use their skills
engineers. Comparatively speaking, there has may not be available in their homeland, leading
been a 60 % jump in mean years of schooling in to emigration or “brain drain” as individuals seek
Latin America and the Caribbean and an 85 % to advance their well-being beyond national
increase in years of schooling in South Asia, with borders.
little concomitant allocation of funding for R&D More detailed data about R&D from the World
as a percentage of gross national product. Bank demonstrates related aggregate inputs by
Although the table is not well populated, the region over time, from the first most robust avail-
absence of data is itself indicative of the reason- able datasets from the mid-1990s to the present day
able extent of the will of a particular region to seen in Fig. 19.1. Substantial increases in the last 5

Table 19.1  Constituent parts of technological achievement

Scientists and
Research and engineers in research
Mean years of schooling development expenditures and development
In business
As % of (as % of (Per 100,000
GNP total) people)
1970 1980 1990 2000 1987–1997 1987–1997 1987–1997
Developing countries N/A 3.9 4.9 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Least developed N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
countries
Arab states N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
East Asia and the N/A 4.7 5.7 1.3 N/A N/A
Pacific
Latin American and the 3.8 4.4 5.3 6.1 0.6 N/A N/A
Caribbean
South Asia 2.1 3.0 3.9 0.6 N/A 152
Sub-Saharan Africa N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Eastern Europe and the N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.9 N/A 2437
Commonwealth of
Independent States
OECD 7.3 8.6 9.1 9.6 2.3 N/A 2585
High income OECD 7.7 9.2 9.5 10.0 2.4 N/A 3141
UNDP (2001: 45)
N/A not available or missing data, OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
 652 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

3.00

2.50
R&D Expenditures (% of GDP)

2.00

1.50

1.00

0.50

0.00
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

East Asia & Pacific Europe & Central Asia Lan America & Caribbean
Middle East & North Africa North America South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa World

Fig. 19.1  Average regional expenditure on research and development (as % of GDP) (Data from World Bank 2015a)

years in particular are evident in the Middle East nology, and measurement, all of which rely on
and North Africa, East Asia, and the Pacific regions. and embed information technology in their inno-
vation and product development processes.
19.4.2.1 Patents Figure 19.3 depicts the evolution of all regions in
The filing of patents is used to protect new knowl- the world over time as pertains to patentable
edge and is a strongly correlated output indicator innovations in computer technology. Another
of increasing technology and innovation, in turn powerful proxy for relevant inputs where tech-
relating to the overall likelihood of improvement nology trajectories are concerned is the number
in well-being. Figure 19.2 shows a nearly 230 % of peer reviewed scientific and technical publica-
increase in total global patent applications over tions; data on this activity are available with con-
about three decades. The number of patents in the sistency starting in 1985. Figures 19.3 and 19.4
application stage has steadily increased since the depict the relative prominence of and commit-
information was first compiled in the World ment to technical documentation and research
Intellectual Property Organization databases in and demonstrate unsurprisingly that, whereas
1980, with strong, steady growth particularly in global technical publications have more than
Asia, North America, and Europe. The World doubled in number over the last three decades,
Intellectual Property Organization (2014) found the deepest foundations for this work exist in
that the top five fields for technology patent North America, Europe and Central Asia, and
applications in 2013–2014 under the Patent East Asia & the Pacific. It is fair to say that the
Cooperation Treaty of 1970 were computer tech- preponderance of high quality academic institu-
nology, digital communication, electrical tions and think tanks is both a driver and function
machinery, apparatus and energy, medical tech- of success in this arena.
 19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 653

Fig. 19.2  Total patent applications (direct 2800

and PCT national phase entries), 1980–2013
2600
(Data from World Intellectual Property
Organization 2015) 2400
2200

Patent Applica ons (thousands)

2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
Oceania Europe
North America Asia
La n America and the Caribbean Africa

800000

700000

600000

500000
Total Patents

400000

300000

200000

100000

0
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

Computer Technology Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Energy

Measurement Medical Technology
Digital Communicaon

Fig. 19.3  Patent publications by computer technology 1980–2013 and five dominant fields of technology (Data from
World Intellectual Property Association 2015)
 654 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

900.0
Scienfic Journal Aritcles (thousands)

800.0

700.0

600.0

500.0

400.0

300.0

200.0

100.0

0.0
1986

1989

1991

1994

1996

1999

2001

2004

2006

2009
1985

1987
1988

1990

1992
1993

1995

1997
1998

2000

2002
2003

2005

2007
2008
East Asia & Pacific Europe & Central Asia Lan America & Caribbean
Middle East & North Africa North America South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa World

Fig. 19.4  Scientific and technical journal articles over time (Data from World Bank 2015a)

19.4.2.2 Technology Begets connectedness, especially in technology

Technology (Schwartz 2014). They suggest that, for emerg-
Technological innovation and well-being anal- ing economies to even play in this game, they
yses encompass more than just inputs (such as need to encourage better innovation and
research expenditures) and directly related out- improve their infrastructure underlying Internet
puts (such as patents). It is important to point data and communication flows (Manyika et al.
out that the R&D leading to innovation is not 2014: 9).
necessarily applied to alleviate poverty or to
treat the problems of the poorest. For instance,
in 1998 global spending on health research was 19.4.3 Technology Throughput
$70 billion, with just $300 million dedicated to Indicators
vaccines for HIV/AIDS and about $100 million
to malaria research; of 1223 new drugs mar- This subsection discusses how various technol-
keted worldwide between 1975 and 1996, only ogy input indicators are linked with indicators of
13 were developed to treat tropical diseases technology “throughputs” such as electricity
and only 4 were the direct result of pharmaceu- (Fig. 19.6), sanitation (Figs. 19.7 and 19.8),
tical industry research (UNDP 2001: 3). Over transportation, and telecommunications.
the past decade, research by the McKinsey Research reveals that the material prosperity that
Global Institute suggests that knowledge-inten- has been experienced by people over the last 50
sive flows relative to GDP have grown more years has increased overall objective human
quickly in developed economies than emerging ­well-­being. Infrastructure in the form of roads,
economies (Fig. 19.5), perhaps reflecting their variety and abundance in agricultural outputs,
more highly skilled labor forces, better-devel- electric grids, functioning sanitation, and clean
oped innovation platforms, and more advanced water are all non-negotiable priorities for most
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 655

Fig. 19.5  The majority of knowledge-intensive inflows flow because it often entails the transfer of embedded
and outflows occur in developed economies. A knowledge-­ ideas, management expertise, and technology. Relative
intensive flow is a flow with embedded information, ideas, area corresponds to the portion of global inflows/outflows
or expertise that is transferred when exchanged. Foreign (Data from Schwartz 2014)
direct investment is classified as a knowledge-intensive

16000

14000
North America
12000

10000
kWh per Capita

8000

Europe & Central Asia

6000

4000

2000

0
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
East Asia & Pacific Europe & Central Asia Lan America & Caribbean
Middle East & North Africa North America South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa World

Fig. 19.6  Electrical power consumption (kWh per capita)

656 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

Fig. 19.7  Sanitation coverage increased most in large parts of Asia and North Africa (Data from World Health
Organization and UNICEF 2014)

1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015 1990 2015

Northern Sub- Eastern South Southern Western Oceania Lan Caucasus & Developed Developing Least World
Africa Saharan Asia Eastern Asia Asia America & Central Asia Regions Regions Developed
Africa Asia Caribbean Countries

Improved Shared Other unimproved Open Defecaon

Fig. 19.8  Trends in rural sanitation coverage 1990–2012 (Data from World Health Organization and UNICEF 2014)

people today. We assert that the foundation of 19.4.3.1 Electricity

serving basic human needs at scale is without The basic technology infrastructure of the indus-
question a function of technology inputs, trial era, electric power, is depicted in Fig. 19.6.
throughputs and the success of its outcomes in The figure shows the production of power plants
driving well-being. and combined heat and power plants (less trans-
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 657

mission, distribution, and transformation losses and 732 million use a facility that does not meet
and own use by heat and power plants). This indi- minimum hygiene standards, whereas the remain-
cator is essentially a basic, powerful (no pun ing billion practice open defecation. That said,
intended) throughput for the diffusion of other open defecation as well has declined consider-
technologies, increasing the likelihood with its ably over the same time period from 24 % in
own growth that other key elements of successful 1990 to 14 % in 2012 (World Health Organization
development may be achieved where electrifica- and UNICEF 2014: 17). Moreover, as depicted in
tion and energy have been made a priority. The Fig. 19.8, sanitation services, including the
sheer scope of its increase since 1960 is a removal of waste and the introduction of good
resounding confirmation of the extent to which it practice for managing water and indoor plumb-
is a demand driven driver (and proxy measure) of ing, have improved, particularly in rural areas in
the rate of introduction of new technologies. nearly every region of the world between 1990
and 2012 (World Health Organization and
19.4.3.2 Sanitation UNICEF 2014: 75).
Another vital output to consider is sanitation;
those who must live without it are on the poor 19.4.3.3 Automobiles
end of the economic spectrums wherever they The other basic cornerstone of technological
live. For this reason, it has been among the core progress visible in every country of the world is
Millennium Development Goals articulated by the automobile. Between the mid-1990s and the
the United Nations and is an area monitored care- present day, we have seen a quadrupling of global
fully by those who specialize in water and sanita- production and a compounded annual growth
tion programming. It is an area in which the rate of 3.4 %, with a particularly stark jump in
correlation with technology is starkly clear; man- numbers in China in the last decade (Fig. 19.9).
agement of excreta and wastewater is a complex Advances toward connected cars and autono-
task for even the most advanced societies, cou- mous vehicles, while having exciting implica-
pled with the challenge that “90 % of wastewater tions for human well-being in future, are beyond
in developing countries is discharged untreated the scope of this chapter to address in detail (see
directly into rivers, lakes or the ocean” (World McKnight 2016, for related work on digital
Health Organization and UNICEF 2014: 44). As architectures).
depicted in Fig. 19.7, although there are well over
40 countries today half of whose populations still 19.4.3.4 Telecommunications
do not have access to basic sanitation, tremen- Indicators
dous progress has been made, particularly in The speed and power of technological diffusion
Eastern Asia, where measures show 40 % is rarely illustrated as powerfully as with the
increases in coverage since 1990. In Southern example of telecommunications, which also hap-
Asia, use of improved facilities has increased by pen to reflect some of the best objective outputs
19 % since 1990 to reach 42 % of the population of societal innovation efforts. Since 1865, the
in 2012; sub-Saharan Africa, in contrast, has ITU (previously the International Telegraph
made much slower progress in sanitation—its Union) has been a supranational regulatory and
sanitation coverage of 30 % reflects only a 5 % technical support body that has tracked and docu-
increase since 1990 (World Health Organization mented the penetration of communications
and UNICEF 2014: 16). technology and is an oft-cited source for all
­
Access to improved sanitation has increased objective indicators related to the usage of fixed
in all developing regions except Oceania, where and mobile telephone lines and Internet usage. A
it has remained steady at 35 %; of the 2.5 billion look at the impact of fixed phones on productivity
people without access to improved sanitation in the United States yields the following finding:
facilities, 784 million people today use a public “…the amount of US telecommunications invest-
or shared facility of an otherwise improved type ment at any point in time is a reliable predictor of
 658 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

100
88
90

80 19
Car and Truck Sales (millions)

70
63
60
52 15 25
50
11
41 8
40 1 5
32 8 7 6
1
30 5 4 19
22 2 16 16
14
20 2 12
1
7
10 18 18 20
13 15
11
0
1964 1974 1984 1994 2004 2014
(esmated)
North America Europe Japan China Rest of World

Fig. 19.9  Automobile and truck production by region 1964–2014 (Data from Gao et al. 2014)

the level of US economic activity at a later point Union 2014). The number of mobile cellular sub-
in time” (Kavetsos and Koutroumpis 2011: 743). scriptions globally is fast approaching the num-
Figure 19.10 compares growth rates and, at its ber of people on the planet, having reached about
earliest dates, depicts the critical point at which 7 billion by the end of 2014. More than half of
mobile connectivity overtook fixed line connec- these (3.6 billion subscriptions) are in the Asia-­
tivity early in the last decade; it captures a com- Pacific region (International Telecommunication
parative view of the broad dynamics of fixed line, Union 2014). By the end of 2013, Gartner Group
mobile, and Internet penetrations on a global estimated that there were already one billion
level. The phenomenon of leapfrogging has thus smartphones and more than 420 million iPhones
proliferated; originally applied in the context of shipped to various parts of the world (Gartner
innovation studies and economic growth theory Group 2014). The same group estimates that as
to describe the impact of radical innovation for of May 2015, worldwide sales of smartphones to
new companies on incumbent positions, it refers end users reached 336 million units, an increase
to the use of cheaper methods to progress rapidly of nearly 20 % during the first quarter of the year,
through the adoption of a modern system while led by strong smartphone sales growth in many
skipping intermediary steps. The best known emerging markets (excluding China).
example is the deployment of wireless technol- In developing countries, mobile penetration
ogy, where the costs of laying fixed-line copper reached 90 % by the end of 2014, compared with
wires were too high to establish a working tele- 121 % in developed countries. Yet growth rates
communications network. slow as markets approach saturation; the fastest
According to the United Nations specialized growing regions were Asia/Pacific, Eastern
agency, the ITU, developing countries are home Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa
to more than three quarters of all mobile-cellular (Gartner Group 2015). Mobile penetration in
subscriptions (International Telecommunication developing countries continues to grow at twice
 19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 659

100
96.8
90
80
70
per 100 People

60
50
47.2
43.4
40
30
20
14.5
10 10.8

0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015*
Mobile-cellular telephone subscripons Individuals using the Internet
Fixed-telephone subscripons Acve mobile-broadband subscripons
Fixed (wired)-broadband subscripons

Fig. 19.10  Comparative view of mobile, fixed, and Internet penetration (per 100 people) (Data from International
Telecommunication Union 2014)

the rate of developed countries (3.1 % compared world average (International Telecommunication
with 1.5 %, respectively, in 2014) (Gartner Group Union 2014).
2015). Figure 19.11 depicts the relative rate of The convergence of the phenomena related to
mobile cellular adoption per 100 inhabitants mobile penetration and the Internet access culmi-
(International Telecommunication Union 2015). nates in Fig. 19.13, which captures active mobile
As depicted in Fig. 19.12, approximately 43 broadband per 100 inhabitants in total and by
out of every 100 persons on the planet are cur- segment of the world. Nearly 87 out of every 100
rently using the Internet. Global individual people in the developed world is accessing the
Internet user penetration has exceeded 40 %, Internet from their mobile handset, and, their
with nearly one third of Internet users in develop- access to appropriate products and services con-
ing countries; 44 % of households in total have tributing to better health, education, and income
Internet access at home, whereas global growth is unprecedented.
rates slowed to approximately 3.3 % (International
Telecommunication Union 2014). More than
four billion people in the world still do not yet 19.4.4 Technology Outputs
use the Internet, more than 90 % of whom are in and Well-Being
the developing world. For example, more than
one out of two households in the Commonwealth This section focuses on the link between technol-
of Independent States was online by 2014, ogy throughputs and the ultimate outputs that
whereas in Africa, that ratio escalated to one in drive and characterize human well-being; how do
ten households. The rate of household Internet the solutions and tools we develop ultimately
access in Africa does, however, continue to grow play a role in our levels of well-being? The cul-
at double-digit levels, approximately 18 % in mination of all the throughput and outcome phe-
2014, more than three times the growth of the nomena arising from improved technological
 660 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

140
Mobile-Cellular Subscripons per 100 Inhabitants

120 120.6

100 96.8
91.8

80

60

40

20

0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015*
Developed Developing World

Fig. 19.11  Mobile cellular suscriptions per 100 inhabitants (2001–2015) (Data from International Telecommunication
Union 2015)

100

90
82.2
80

70

60

50
43.4
40
35.3
30

20

10

0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015*
Developed Developing World

Fig. 19.12  Percentage of individuals using the Internet by two worlds of development (2005–2014) (Data from
International Telecommunication Union 2015)
 19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 661

100

90
86.7
80
Subscripons per 100 Inhabitants

70

60

50
47.2

40 39.1

30

20

10

0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015*
Developed Developing World

Fig. 19.13 Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, 2007–2014 (Data from International
Telecommunication Union 2015)

products and services is innovation at scale in conditions of the masses, to modes of production,
those countries whose growth stories have been to the landscapes we live in and the traffic we
trending upward. face each day all rely on technology outputs that
Technologies available at scale means that generate concrete well-being outcomes, some
nearly every product or service offered in a soci- negative and most positive. In general, the con-
ety or community is riding upon their founda- clusions we draw from the relationship between
tions. One of the most interesting examples that technology penetration/adoption and general
is clearly tied to enhanced well-being is the way social progress rest on a simple hypothesis: coun-
the use of physical space and real estate is being tries that have not invested in their basic techni-
reinvented in most major cities. Thanks to tech- cal or social infrastructure are less likely to be
nology, today’s workforce and that of the future capable of providing the conditions for high
may at least in part no longer have to commute to quality of life on an objective level.
work. A great outcome indicator in a specific
niche area is the growth of co-working spaces in 19.4.4.1 Technology as Equalizer?
every region of the world. A success story in this An examination of “equity” or relative gains in
sector is We Work, a US company with 39 loca- development as a function of technology by
tions across 16 cities that today has a net worth of necessity draws on the discourse of the most
about USD10 billion (CoWorkingEurope.net: recent major gatherings convened by the ITU on
2015). Other significant examples include Uber the World Summit on the Information Society in
Office, Impact Hub, and Cove. Geneva and Tunis in 2003 and 2005, as well as on
The core outputs of technology are addressed the jargon of the “digital divide” as it was (prob-
in Sect. 19.5 on the relationship between technol- ably) created by Al Hammond and Larry Irving
ogy and the core HDI components of education, at the U.S. National Telecommunications and
economy, and health; everything from the labor Information Administration (NTIA) in the mid-­
662 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

1990s (Rapaport 2009). However, as suggested are frequently further removed from the informa-
by the Human Development Report in 2001, the tion age than the men whose poverty they share.
technology divide does not have to follow the If access to and use of these technologies is
income divide (UNDP 2001: 1). As incomes proven to be directly linked to social and eco-
increase so too does people’s access to the bene- nomic development, it is imperative to ensure
fits of technological advance; yet, it is particu- that women in developing countries understand
larly true today that opportunity areas abound for the significance of these technologies and use
technology to reach the “have-nots” and work to them (Hafkin and Taggart 2001: 1). Figure 19.14
their benefit. Hence, this situation may result in a demonstrates not only the challenges of access to
digital dividend (Brotman 2002; World Bank technology but also its dark side t: Women are
2016). nearly four times more likely to be stalked and
An entire movement of social entrepreneurs twice as likely to be sexually harassed as men in
today, for example, is working to use the tools at the cyberworld (the world of intercomputer
their disposal to improve human development communication).
circumstances, innovating around access to last-­ This observation is all the more important
mile health care (i.e., telemedicine, service deliv- given that the propensity of women to be on line
ery supported by enterprises like Sevamob in is higher than of men; 69 % of women use social
India, health data gathering such as the work of networks compared to 60 % of men (Fig. 19.15.
Mobilemetrix in the favelas of Brazil), liveli- It is equally interesting to note that the numbers
hoods (i.e., online platforms like VARI in India of adults in the United States (to the extent this
supporting the ability of farmers to post crop pro- may be a useful proxy for global analysis) off line
duce for sale by Short Message Service [SMS] on is decreasing substantially every 5 years, with a
basic 2G handsets), security (i.e., apps on mobile new low of 15 % in 2015 (Anderson and Perrin:
phones that help women flag when they are in 2015). The equity perspectives on technology
unsecure areas) and political and social participa- penetration and related societal consequences
tion. Each of these vertical silos or sectors of should continue to remain at the forefront of the
opportunity for entrepreneurs effectively consti- broader discussion about impact on human well-­
tutes an area in which there have been failures in being, even if the evidence suggests that health,
public sector capacity to deliver service. In each education, and economic welfare are generally
of these problem areas lie great opportunities for positively correlated to it. It is in this arena and in
creativity and innovation, where the use of tech- the analysis of subjective well-being that the crit-
nology features prominently in thinking “out of ical questions about cost and benefit must be
the box” to provide needed services and products asked and answered.
to populations that frequently have no alterna-
tives. There is no “inevitability” inherent to the 19.4.4.2 T  echnology and Subjective
now slightly dated debate about the digital divide, Well-Being
and technology can still offer a leapfrog opportu- Technology and all its manifold implications
nity in a country with amenable policies (and exist in multiple dimensions for all of us, the
possibly subsidies). It is still a clear challenge social beings that have created it, and for those of
that capital does not flow easily to enterprises us who are served by it. Technology ripples
that seek to serve these markets. alongside to reflect the values, beliefs, norms,
According to the UNDP, technology use is and customs that characterize our cultures and
often concentrated into urban areas, among the shared meanings; it shimmers on public surfaces
better educated and wealthier segments of soci- where the politics of regulation, investment, and
ety, in the young, and in the men (with the excep- deployment reside. It is not just a tangible good
tion of the recent trends in social networking). or service; it may also reflect and affect people,
Most women within developing countries fall their ideas, the way they think and feel, the orga-
into the deepest part of the divide because they nizations they work in, and the processes they co-­
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 663

100

90

80

70

60
51 50
50

40 38
36

30 27 26 25 26
22 23
20 18
16
13
10 8 7 8 7
6

0
Called offensive Purposefully Stalked Sexually Physically Sustained
names embarassed harassed threatened harassment

All Internet users Men, 18-24 Women, 18-24

Fig. 19.14  Young women online and harassment statistics (Data from Pew Research Center 2014a)

Fig. 19.15  Social networking 80

sites by gender (Data from
Madden and Zickuhr 2011) 69
70 67

60
60
50 56
50

40 42
30
30
28
20 18

9 14
10
6
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Male Female

create, impacting well-being both directly and or infrastructures as they are created, but of how
indirectly. Research about the dimensions of the these things are embedded into the very fabric of
experience of technology highlights the impor- human experience (Pacey 1999: 2–3).
tance of a deep reflexive lens, one that can make Research psychologist Edward Diener (1984)
sense not just of the explosions of new product[s] defined subjective well-being as the way in which
664 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

people evaluate their lives and thereby conclude which in turn positively predicts well-being. On a
their levels of quality of life and related satisfac- subjective level of analysis, the lens shifts to indi-
tion. It is thus in some ways a function of the vidual interpretations of meaning to these experi-
human willingness to try new things and to adapt ences and to norms and mores reflected in the
or adopt them to improve life, thereby simultane- expression of life satisfaction and happiness.
ously discarding practices that may be wasteful, Technology indeed has something of a “pull”
inefficient, or harmful on various levels. Self-­ effect on people throughout the world because it
perception is a key part of one’s subjective psy- offers the prospect of personal and professional
chological well-being because it majorly reinvention, alongside access to markets, infor-
influences life satisfaction; positive perceptions mation, and knowledge.
about oneself are likely to increase one’s confi- This situation requires an infinitely more com-
dence and self-esteem, whereas negative self-­ plex equation to account for the variable emo-
perceptions in adolescence are linked with tional states, perceptions, cultural biases, habits,
truancy and interference in the classroom and patterns of human beings who generally take
(Petrides et al. 2004). for granted the facets of the very “developed”
Whereas much of the phenomena related to lives they lead. The percentage of people in the
technology creation, deployment, and adoption is United States who say they are very happy has
relayed in this chapter in quantitative terms, the fallen slightly since the early 1970s—even
issue of how it is experienced and “given mean- though the income of people born in 1940 has
ing to” is perhaps best conveyed in qualitative increased, on average, 116 % over the course of
terms and often by sources focused on capturing their working lives. Similarly, in Japan, where
trends in the shorter term. The segmentation of GDP quintupled over a span of two decades dur-
objective vs. subjective indicators here is impor- ing which their economy was completely trans-
tant: Although the impact of technology on sub- formed, the population appeared to be no happier
jective happiness appears to draw the attention of than they were in 1960 (Surowiecki 2005). There
the press and social critics (and the occasional is a fascinating and unusual dichotomy in key
philosopher), it seems this topic has been left well-being outcomes such as life satisfaction,
largely unexamined by economists and social sci- daily stress, and the role of work-related mobile
entists (Surowiecki 2005). technology usage, providing evidence that behav-
To the extent that rudimentary technologies iors related to technology usage can both posi-
that enable proper sanitation, electrification, and tively and negatively influence employees’
the fulfillment of basic human needs create the well-being (Witters and Liu 2014). Apparently,
comfort, leisure, and space for human beings to even after controlling for all key demographics,
focus on their social ties, the corresponding workers who leverage mobile technology more
improvements in objective indicators of social often outside of work are much more likely to be
progress and human welfare may be taken at face stressed on any given day, while simultaneously
value. To the extent that more sophisticated com- being more likely to rate their lives better.
munication technologies amplify and expand our Does our personal well-being get significantly
ability to connect to other people at great dis- affected by technological innovations? A
tances, enabling access to family members and ­practical interpretation and analysis of this ques-
friends in heretofore unprecedented models of tion is not without its challenges. When the rela-
virtual proximity, so too can we assume that tech- tionship between life satisfaction and frequency
nology expands and reinforces our objective of television viewership was estimated in a cross-
well-being. A study confirms that technology section of 22 European countries, findings sug-
addiction (defined generally as the compulsive gested that heavy viewers reported, on average,
need to use devices like smart phones, comput- lower levels of life satisfaction (Frey et al. 2005).
ers, or video games) positively predicts online It was further found that high television viewer-
social capital (Magsamen-Conrad et al. 2014), ship was correlated to lower levels of life satis-
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 665

faction. That said, there is a significantly higher won battles for handset supremacy. The everyday
degree of life satisfaction found in the research experience of billions of people in their personal
cited above for individuals who possess relevant lives and as employees around the world has
amenities and reside in countries with higher pen- been transformed by personalized access to com-
etration rates (i.e., digital network participation in
munication, information, applications, and ser-
a country). This finding presupposes that there is vices. The flood of information to which we are
an important distinction to be made between the exposed shows no signs of abating. The “push”
presence of infrastructure and how it is used. settings of our mobile devices drive content to us
On average, individuals in countries with high whether we seek it or not and have created a mes-
broadband penetration report higher satisfaction saging and communications culture and experi-
levels, and mobile phone and Internet users in ence that operates around the clock.
countries with high penetration report higher lev- A recent article by the BBC cited the chal-
els of life satisfaction, although the saturation oflenges of UK employers tackling an “epidemic”
mobile phone networks plays a role in the relative of staff checking work e-mails after-hours, result-
levels reported (Kavetsos and Koutroumpis ing in collective diminutions of productivity and
2011:750) Is this merely because they likely live strains on the basic social capital of communities
in more developed societies? The answer is of employees working within close proximity in
unclear. The same researchers indicated that the same building (Kelion 2015). The same arti-
ownership of a fixed phone, a mobile phone, a cle referenced the emergence of a “macho cul-
compact disk player, a computer, and an Internet ture” in which employees want to be seen as
connection is associated with significantly higher available by e-mail at all hours, causing stress
levels of self-reported subjective well-being, the and depression, while in fact making workers
more so, the more of these technologies an indi- less efficient. Meantime, a report by Deloitte
vidual possesses. (2014) presents the new human capital “issue”
Research from the Pew Center in 2014 (Table that is as relevant to nation-states as it is to orga-
19.2), illustrates the range of mental priorities ofnizations: the overwhelmed citizen or employee.
individuals from around the world; naturally The reality is that we are as yet at a stage in time
good health scores highest across the board. where the long-term implications of information
Owning a cell phone and a car for mobility also overload are not well understood.
score highly in most parts of Africa and Latin The concept of information overload and its
America; interestingly, Internet access really potential threats to human well-being were raised
does not figure among the top priorities although as concerns in the 1990s at the dawn of the
it may well cross-pollinate and affect the ability Internet Age. Although worst-case concerns were
to maintain good health, access information that perhaps overblown, managing healthy work-life
supports education, and support the success one balance in an always-on digital environment is a
has in their workplace. challenge. Organizations face an imperative to
find ways to absorb more technology while
19.4.4.3 Technology and the simultaneously making it simpler (Deloitte
Workplace Development LLC 2014: 2–3), less stressful, and
Technology is a defining characteristic of the contributing to the well-being of their employees
average workplace; satisfaction at the work place rather than detracting from it. The operating
is a great influencer of life satisfaction overall model of cloud computing, which can support
and is in many ways a function of the tools at the “workplace as a service” offerings that provide a
collective disposal of a productive workforce secure workplace accessible on a personal smart
(Ahmed et al. 2010). Meanwhile, companies phone has been introduced by industry standards
such as Research in Motion, Nokia, Microsoft, groups influenced by the Open Specifications
Apple, HTC, LG, and Samsung have succeeded Model (which the chapter authors have contrib-
(and failed) over the last decades in waging hard-­ uted to). Indeed, Forrester Research cites that
666 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

Table 19.2  Globally, good health most important (subjective analysis) (Pew Research Center 2014)

cloud computing will grow from a $41 billion tent tremendously greater in volume, it is increas-
business in 2011 to a $241 billion business by ingly available everywhere network infrastructure
2020 (Dignan 2011). Not only is our digital con- reaches, anytime. Facebook, the dominant social
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 667

network on the planet, as of Q1 2015, had 1.44 fostering it. With more than 66 % of all 8- to
billion monthly active users (Statista 2015a). 18-year-olds owning their own cell phones, the
Twitter, a network originally limited to 140 char- image of a teenager with a cell phone in hand is
acter news bits and bytes, is now used by a little almost “iconic” in our society (Rideout et al.
over 300 million people (Statista 2015b). 2010, p. 18); further, most homes today use the
Drawing virtual lines within one’s personal television as a focal point, with parents going so
devices between that which is personal and that far as to allow media devices to “babysit” their
which is professionally delivered may or may not children when they are otherwise occupied.
help restore some balance. The example of the These dynamics fundamentally alter the com-
rich digital service experience enabled by cloud munication interactions of family members in
computing and artificial intelligence (including households. Findings conclude that watching
for Internet of Things applications) belies con- television at mealtime is a distraction and makes
temporary fears of the job-destroying qualities of it difficult for family members to engage in con-
artificial intelligence. Assuming that particular versation, therefore resulting in the prevention of
technologies in aggregate do not have negative important family connections (Fiese et al. 2008:
consequences on well-being and that prior evi- 7–8). The presence of media during the ritual of
dence supports this observation, McKnight and family mealtime could have detrimental effects
Kuehn (2012) suggested that these examples of on the development of a family system, and it is
new architectures entering markets today will apparent that media devices do affect the way a
more likely than not result in advanced and family unit socializes and, as a result, affects its
improved well-being. essential relationships (Villegas 2013). On the
Interestingly, entertainment is a powerful pre- other hand, the ability to transcend space and
dictor of how much time participants spend on time and to connect with people (including
Facebook (Hunt et al. 2012). Facebook was most friends and family members) at any time engen-
often used when subjects were bored, as opposed ders a strong ability to form connections with
to connecting with individuals to cultivate rela- others. There may in fact be no way of answering
tionships (Fitzgerald 2012). According to a study these questions because people do not just react
from researchers at the University of Michigan, to technology, they actively shape its uses and
the more one uses Facebook, the more unhappy influences (Fischer 1992).
one is likely to be3 (Konnikova 2015). Relatively
little rigorous academic research has systemati-
cally examined how interacting with Facebook 19.5 Technology
influences subjective well-being over time. and the Indicators of Human
Development
19.4.4.4 Technology and Family Life
The impact of technology on family is equally In this section we address the impact of technol-
challenging to assess. The mobile phone, laptop ogy on human well-being in relation to the three
computer, and gaming stations are some of the dimensions of the HDI, namely education, eco-
countless devices present in many homes today. nomic, and health well-being. We begin with the
How do these change the way a family interacts? impact of technology in the educational sector.
Research results support both sides of the oppos-
ing arguments that these devices are hindering
our family relations or conversely, that they are 19.5.1 Technology and Education
Well-Being
Researchers analyzed the moods and habits of 82 young
3 

adults; the results were published in the Public Library of

For the purposes of this analysis, education well-­
Science and widely referenced in popular media. For being is defined as the component parts and pro-
example, see Devgan and Stern (2013). cesses supported in the delivery of education
668 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

content to learning students, whatever their age, practitioners. The story of the twentieth century
captured by mean years of schooling and reflected in many ways may be defined by truly massive
by general literacy. The relationship of technol- increases in the numbers of educated people,
ogy with education is multifaceted and complex. although to be sure the starting points of coun-
Naturally, technology is a function of education, tries in the West were already generally high.
but it has also fundamentally altered the practical Such change was particularly dramatic in parts of
component parts mentioned above, including (1) the world where education was incorporated
formulation and verifiability of content; (2) dis- explicitly as part of the economic system’s “pro-
semination and delivery of content; and (3) test- duction machine” (i.e., Eastern Europe and the
ing and evaluation of students. To some extent, communist system).
our method of analysis in previous sections may One of the best proxies for education well-­
also apply to these parts as inputs, throughputs, being is adult literacy; fortunately, in most
and outcomes, respectively. Technology has nations today, we surpass this easily to trace
affected everything from the processes and degrees of higher education as well. Without a
modalities of learning (i.e., over distance) to the literate and skilled population, economies cannot
appraisal and assessment of pupils. Some would grow (Dutta et al. 2014: xviii). Max Roser’s
argue that the systematization of the latter to tem- (2015) Our World in Data project provides great
plated methods on standardized tests has stripped data upon which to reconstruct trends like those
away some necessary aspects of interactive and shown in Fig. 19.16, depicting the rapid rise of
Socratic dialogue. Possible negative externalities the global average level of education over the last
related to education well-being include the real century. There are clearly visible qualitative cor-
possibility that technology-mediated learning relations between the rise of the global average of
may not fit with the learning styles of all students, schooled populations (roughly estimated at just
particularly children; results include individuals over 80 % in 2010, representing an approximate
slipping through the cracks of an education sys- 67 % improvement since 1970), and the visible
tem, impersonal experiences, and possible alien- global increases in the research and development
ation from the common social interactions that and publication work that drives technological
deeply influence the experience of being in a advances.
classroom. The possibility of a less authentic Figure 19.17 illustrates the increasing global
interaction with a teacher is also potentially a literacy rates, which have risen 48 % over the last
serious loss and opportunity cost of increasing four decades, to hit a worldwide average of about
technology in educational environments. On the 83 %. Technology provides many devices and
other hand, the feat of moving many millions of processes that can be woven into the instructional
people along the backbone of public education environment by a teacher to assist the teaching
systems from grade to grade (and on to univer- and learning process (Lawless and Pellegrino
sity) is intensely challenging and arguably impos- 2007: 578). Indeed, computer technology is nei-
sible without technology. ther a remedy for education challenges nor an
It follows that technological innovation is a answer for sector-wide educational reform, but it
direct manifestation of human potential and should be seen as a tool to support learning
thereby of the education that feeds and foments (Keengwe 2007: 169–180); many teachers do not
it. It is thus a reflexive relationship; at the same successfully integrate these tools into their
time, for centuries, education has occurred instruction in ways that support and maximize
according to the levels of technological develop- student learning. Mobile devices are unique in
ment of the society in which it exists (Wang that they support “… taking advantage of a learn-
2014: iii). With its evolution comes the societal er’s specific location or moments of heightened
requirement to keep up, to revise, and to find new motivation” (Kukulska-Hulme 2010: 353). New
ways of supporting the field of education such online tools like weblogs or wikis for easing the
that individuals are poised as both adopters and point of entry and access to information are
 19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 669

100
Share of the Population (15 and older)
that Enrolled in Formal Education
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1820 1839 1858 1877 1896 1915 1934 1953 1972 1991 2010
Western Europe Eastern Europe
Western Offshoots Lan America and Caribbean
East Asia South and South-East Asia
Middle East and North Africa Sub-Sahara Africa
World

Fig. 19.16  Percent of population aged 15 years and older enrolled in formal education (Visualization by Roser 2015;
Data from Van Zanden et al. 2014)

100
79 82
Share of the P opulation
(15+) that Enrolled in

80 71
Formal Educaon

61 63
60 54
46 49
41
36 39
40 27 30 33
24
20

0
1820 1839 1858 1877 1896 1915 1934 1953 1972 1991 2010

100
81 83
80 68
Literacy Rate

56 56
60
42 42
36
40 32 33
26
19 20 21 21
20 12

0
1820 1839 1858 1877 1896 1915 1934 1953 1972 1991 2010

Fig. 19.17  More on rising education around the world, 1820–2010 (Visualization by Roser 2015; Data from Van
Zanden et al. 2014)
670 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

undoubtedly a positive enforcer of technological talks had been watched over one billion times
utility. worldwide on a ubiquitous platform curated by a
Improvements in technology, increased access small team that arguably creates magnitudes
to the Internet, and the enhanced legitimacy of more value over and above the cost value of their
online learning through research are fueling a operation (Fig. 19.18).
distance education revolution (Schachar and Shifting back to modalities of education deliv-
Neumann 2010: 318–334),” but the ability to ery, a powerful proxy for the analysis of the
transfer this mode of learning to primary educa- impact of technology on education well-being
tion (K–12) students in the context of distance lies in the overt adoption of online education
learning has been weak. The United States applications and methods around the world.
Department of Education (2010) suggests that far Online enrollment within degree-granting post-
more research has been undertaken on higher secondary institutions grew from about 1.6 mil-
education and that its ad hoc nature has unfortu- lion students taking at least one online course in
nately not lent itself to formulation of coherent 2002 to about 6.8 million in the fall of 2011, with
theory. Meantime, there is a fascinating shift 32 % of all higher education students taking at
underway from pedagogy to self-guided learn- least one online course (Allen and Seaman 2013:
ing, or the practice of teaching adult learners. It is 18). Higher education administrators appear to
a natural assertion to posit that people should see online learning as strategic, and institutions
receive more lifelong education in an information continue to build capacity to meet the demand for
society even if they have completed their “formal online programs and courses. Based on responses
education.” All trends related to technology and from more than 2800 colleges and universities,
education well-being signal that this idea is both the Babson Research Survey group asserted that
popular and increasing; indeed, the growth of the the proportion of all students taking at least one
Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) online course was at an all-time high of 32 %;
(2015) talks platform alone has been a powerful when their report series began in 2002, fewer
validation of this fact. By November 2012, TED than one-half of all higher education institutions

84%

82%
Percent Happy with School

Light Users
80%
Moderate Users
78%

76%

74%

72%
Heavy Users
70%
45% 50% 55% 60% 65% 70%
Percent with Good Grades

Heavy Users Moderate Users Light Users

Fig. 19.18  Light, moderate, and heavy users of formal systems of education organized by level of satisfaction with
school (Data from Rideout et al. 2010)
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 671

reported that online education was critical to their unhappy, and were often bored. The relationships
long-term strategy; that number today is close to between media exposure and grades and between
70 % (Allen and Seaman 2013). media exposure and personal contentment with-
In terms of the subjective outcomes of these stood controls for other potentially correlated
technology-induced transitions in teaching styles, factors such as age, gender, race, parent educa-
research conducted for the Kaiser Family tion, and household formats. This study was
Foundation found that youth who spend more unable to establish whether there was a cause and
time with technology or “media” reported lower effect relationship between media use and grades
grades and lower levels of personal contentment or between media use and personal contentment.
(Rideout et al. 2010: 4). For purposes of compari- In another study conducted in Hong Kong by
son, young people were grouped into categories Helen W. M. Yeh (in the handbook by Wang
of heavy, moderate, and light media users (Table 2014: 733), students confirmed that in fact ICTs
19.3). Heavy users were those who consumed and media actually helped them do academic
more than 16 h of media content in a typical day work better and faster and enhanced their pace of
(21 % of all 8- to 18-year-olds); moderate users work; they found online tasks and exercises help-
were those who consumed from 3 to 16 h of con- ful for their study and consolidation of subject
tent (63 %); light users were those who consumed knowledge. The only possible conclusion at pres-
less than 3 h of media in a typical day (17 %). ent, given the variety of outcomes and opinions,
Nearly half (47 %) of all heavy media users said is that the subjective well-being feelings of those
they usually got fair or poor grades (mostly Cs or receiving education informed or modulated by
lower), compared to 23 % of light media users. technology are a reflection of a multitude of other
Heavy media users were also more likely to say factors, including the intentions and inclinations
they got into trouble a lot, were often sad or of those using the tools at their disposal. There is
no real way subjectively to qualify the good ver-
Table 19.3  Media, grades, and personal contentment sus the bad in this domain.
Heavy Moderate Light
users users users
Among all 8- to 18-year-olds, percent of heavy, 19.5.2 Technology and Economic
moderate, and light media users who say they get Well-Being
mostly:a
Good grades (As 51 % 65 % 66 %
and Bs) The economic implications of technological
Fair/poor grades 47 % 31 % 23 % advancement for the economy and income gen-
(Cs and below) eration have run wide and deep, not only in their
Among all 8- to 18-year-olds, percent of heavy, effect on modes of production but also in the way
moderate, and light media users who say they:b they have shaped access to capital and to markets
Have a lot of 93 % 91 % 91 % and have driven growth. The importance of eco-
friends
nomic development lies in its ability to help
Get along well with 84 % 90 % 90 %
their parents
improve measures of human welfare, so we must
Have been happy at 72 % 81 % 82 % make a concerted effort to peer into the black box
school this year of technological phenomena (Rosenberg 1982:
Are often bored 60 % 53 % 48 % vii). As in previous sections of this chapter, the
Get into trouble a 33 % 21 % 16 % method of ascribing input, throughput, and out-
lot come factors/indicators is a helpful frame.
Are often sad or 32 % 23 % 22 %
unhappy
19.5.2.1 Defining Economic Welfare
Statistical significance should be read across rows
and Development
a
Students whose schools don’t use grades are not shown
b
Percent who say each statements is “a lot” or “some- Well-being improves with the level of economic
what” like them development (Goklany 2004) These improve-
672 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

ments are generally greatest at the lowest levels As Nobel Prize winners Joseph Schumpeter
of economic development and further validate (1934) and his fellow Nobelist Robert Solow
the idea that economic development is a key fac- (1957) observed, technological change in input
tor in advancing well-being (Lomborg 2001: 324, materials and processes accounts for a significant
327). The results of a study of a number of well-­ portion of economic growth. Romer (1990) con-
being indicators, such as available food supplies firmed this in Endogenous Technological Change,
per capita, life expectancy, infant mortality, eco- where he stated that technological change pro-
nomic development, education, and political vided the incentive for capital accumulation,
rights and economic freedoms, support the idea which in turn would be acted upon by people
that it is critical to focus on strengthening the responding to market incentives and the fact that
domestic and international institutions that boost technical blueprints create replicable value with
technological change and economic develop- economies of scale. As technology transforms
ment. These institutions include free markets, industrial techniques, practices, and indeed the
free trade, individual property rights, the rule of goods and services (and their flow) in an econ-
law, and transparent government and bureaucra- omy, inputs begin to yield different productive
cies (Goklany 2004: 75–76). The assertions in outputs. Professor Solow (1957: 312–320), build-
this section are thus both intuitive and empiri- ing upon the teachings of his mentor Schumpeter,
cally grounded; as available food supplies per highlighted the significance of the entrepreneur
capita per day increase with GDP per capita, life and distinguished in his research between the
expectancy increases over time with per-capita effects of technology and other causes of eco-
income; infant mortality declines as a nation’s nomic growth. His work, confirmed and elabo-
income increases; postsecondary education rated upon by more recent scholarship, shows
enrollment increases with time and with afflu- technological change and innovation as the most
ence; and the more economically free a country’s important factors by far in creating new jobs and
population, the higher is its economic growth improving productivity of firms across nations
(Goklany 2004: 56–69). and regions.
The impact of technology on economic well-­ The effect of technologies on emerging econ-
being is evident in the principal agents that carry omies seeking to enhance their competitiveness
out economic activity: businesses. Businesses and improve their productivity through new
that have successfully leveraged modern technol- channels to growth (Bilbao-Osorio et al. 2013: 3)
ogy have done so to great advantage in terms of is uncontroversially powerful, both as the fuel for
enhancements to human productivity in the post-­ production at scale and the diversity of the base
WWII era. Systems supporting automation, mass of products to be developed for export. The rapid
production, features like “just in time” supply increase of high technology exports (Fig. 19.19)
chain and inventory management, customer rela- in the economic repertoires of nations globally is
tionship management, enterprise resource plan- undeniable. Widespread efforts today leverage
ning tools, and the logistics of sophisticated mass technology with the goal of empowering people
product distribution together have created a net and invigorating socially motivated private sector
result far superior to the sum of its parts in the initiatives to fill the emerging gaps in service
economic base of most postindustrial economies. from public sector failures. Much proactive work
Digital technologies such as cloud computing, to find sustainable solutions is needed. These ini-
customer relationship management, distributed tiatives emphasize technology, whether environ-
ledgers, networked databases, and inventory mental (renewable energy), communications,
management give even the smallest firms access agricultural, or other, as a key component of their
to sophisticated tools to operate and reduce their efforts.
costs while supporting the transformation of
local economies.
 19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 673

2,500
High Technology Exports (billions of current USD)

1,990
2,000 1,939
1,827 1,842
1,764 1,779

1,585 1,565
1,500 1,432

1,161 1,192
1,052 1,069
987
1,000

World
500

0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Fig. 19.19  Global high technology exports over time (current USD) (Data from World Bank 2015b)

19.5.2.2 Access to Capital tual currencies pose a real threat to systemic

Access to capital and the volume at which this is stability.
possible today is very different from the situation
in the mid-twentieth century, which is a big 19.5.2.3 Access to Markets
throughput factor that affects economic well-­ Whereas natural markets have existed for millen-
being as defined in this chapter. A major factor is nia without real technology, technology in some
the emergence of technology-supported virtual sense is hard to extricate from markets. Invention
currencies at the topmost layers of technical and innovation almost by definition have ampli-
innovation using the Internet as its foundation. fied human ability to do just about everything at
For example, a San Francisco-based startup scale. Thus it is hard to imagine that a technology
BTCJam has taken peer-to-peer lending to a used in isolation, singled out, and starved of mar-
global audience, using bitcoin to achieve its ket forces to propagate and apply it could even
vision of bypassing the restrictions of fiat curren- yield the outcomes of the “techne logos.” Hence
cies and allowing any individual in the world to we see the intrinsic link between technology and
receive a loan via its platform (Cawrey 2014). In economic well-being in the HDI definition of a
2013 in the United States alone, more than three decent standard of living (reflected by GNI per
billion dollars was issued by the two largest P2P capita [PPP$]), which in large part derives from
platforms for fiat currency loans, Lending Club unfettered access to liberalized markets, the
and Prosper (Cawrey 2014). Whereas traditional capacity to generate diversified exports, and rea-
wire transfers are not always easy to set up and sonably resistant patterns of protectionism. The
can be costly, innovations like bitcoin allow bor- backbone of both access to and the markets them-
rowers to be approved to receive funds nearly selves today is almost entirely technology.
instantaneously, irrespective of where they live In The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Thomas
and how credit-worthy they are deemed to be Friedman (2000: 139) spoke about financial
locally. Regulators are still debating whether vir- markets: “… ever since the invention of the
674 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

transatlantic cable, in the pre WW I era of global- Experts, particularly those in the domain of
ization, some sort of Electronic Herd [comprised ICTs, have long recognized the place of technol-
of what he calls Short Horn Cattle and Long ogy in explaining growth outcomes. For reasons
Horn Cattle] has been at work.” He defines “short likely related to technopolitical and technosocial
horn cattle” as those involved in buying and sell- phenomena explained previously, it is not clear
ing stocks, bonds, and currencies on a daily basis, why technology emerges in some places and not
whereas his “long horn cattle” refers to large in others and whether that inherently technical
multinational corporations involved in foreign process is itself a synonym of progress and for-
direct investment and the development of facto- ward movement. Figure 19.20 demonstrates the
ries and their supply chains, utilities, energy importance of the contribution of ICT investment
plants, and other joint venture- or alliance-based to GDP growth over the last 10 years, with fur-
projects that leave large footprints on the ground ther evidence from the OECD supporting the
in developing countries (Friedman 2000: 115). facts that these ICT investments have grown,
Friedman identified the role of what he called the across the board, from country to country, over
“Supermarkets,” that is, the megamarkets of the last 25 years. If one of the three pillars of the
Tokyo, Frankfurt, Sydney, Singapore, Shanghai, HDI is welfare, which is a function of per capita
Hong Kong, Mumbai, Sao Paolo, Paris, Zurich, income levels of people around the world, it fol-
Chicago, London, and New York, which he sug- lows that the technology that drives industrializa-
gested are possible because of these two forces tion phenomena is both cause and effect.
that together reshape economies and the lives of Technology may spur industrialization, but it also
people. flows from it in a recursive and circular fashion.
The advance of information technology and This movement is related to the aforementioned
the Internet has provided an effective autobahn interplay of innovations that spur others over
for international trade expansion upon which time.
transmission and transaction costs have sunk to
near zero and upon which anyone can drive (very
fast), irrespective of whether they know how. 19.5.3 Technology and Health
Although this capability does not result in better Well-Being
or well-informed behavior, it does mean that, in
the aggregate, the net outcome has been a better, Health well-being through the lens of technologi-
albeit not necessarily optimal, distribution of cal development is defined by the tools, processes
wealth. of access, and products (including pharmaceuti-
Although an advanced cyberinfrastructure cals) and service delivery models successfully
catapults human beings into a supercharged applied at scale. Global life expectancy statistics
stratosphere where access to every kind of real-­ as compiled by the World Health Organization
time information is common, the content grows indicate a solid 10 % average improvement in life
expotentially and the value of the network of net- span (from age 64 to over 70) between 1990 and
works adheres to Metcalfe’s law: The value of a 2013, with the biggest leaps forward evident in
telecommunications network is proportional to Southeast Asia and Africa (Global Health
the square of the number of connected users of Observatory Data Repository 2015).
the system. Meantime, Moore’s law, another fun- People around the world subjectively rate
damental observation of the rate of technology health as one of their highest priorities, in most
innovation, states that the overall processing countries behind only economic concerns, such
power of computers doubles every 2 years. as unemployment, low wages, and high costs of
Technical feats do not disrupt the reality that living (Table 19.2). Health is often a politicized
human beings can only handle so much stimula- issue as governments try to meet societal expec-
tion and information. tations. The many ways of promoting and sus-
taining health sometimes lie outside the direct
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 675

Non-ICT investments ICT investments

0.9
Annual average growth (%) 0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
–0.1
Denmark
New Zealand
Australia
United Kingdom
Belgium
United States
Netherlands
Sweden
Japan
Canada
Spain
Switzerland
France
Austria
Korea
Portugal
Ireland
Finland
Italy
Germany
Fig. 19.20  Contribution of information and communication technology investment to gross domestic product growth,
1990–1995 and 1995–2002 (Data from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 2011)

confines of the health sector; for example, tech- of the world has made outstanding strides in the
nologies contributing to crop yields and the reduction of under-5 mortality rates. Although
debated decisions around the use of genetically the Millennium Development Goals have not
modified organisms, for example, have sparked always been achieved, the data still signal incred-
exchanges about the impact of agricultural pro- ibly positive changes.
cesses on health. This example encapsulates the None of these advancements would be possi-
broadest “circumstances in which people grow, ble without technology applications and inter-
live, work, and age, which strongly influence ventions, which some would characterize as
how people live and die” (World Health inputs and valuable tools. According to the World
Organization 2010: ix). Health Organization, “… health systems perfor-
A study cited in the Human Development mance has a number of aspects—including popu-
Report 2001 isolated the role of technology as a lation health, health outcomes from treatment,
driver for reductions in mortality rates and fur- clinical quality and the appropriateness of care,
ther validated the role of education in this regard responsiveness, equity and productivity—and
(Fig. 19.21). The data confirm that technical progress is varied in the development of perfor-
progress accounted for 40 to 50 % of the reduc- mance measures and data collection techniques
tion in mortality between 1960 and 1990, making for these different aspects. Considerable progress
technology a relatively more important source of has been made in such areas as acute hospital
gains in mortality than higher incomes or higher care, primary care and population health,
education levels among women. In other words, [though] … in areas as mental health, financial
whereas gains in income affected mortality rates protection and health systems responsiveness,
across the board by an average of 20 % and gains research is at earlier stages of development”
in education levels affected them by 34.5 %, (Smith et al. 2008: 15).
technology-related gains affected this key well-­
being indicator by over 45 %. Figure 19.22 is per- 19.5.3.1 Tools
haps one of the more useful macro level snapshots The impact of technology on health well-being,
capable of guiding our global understanding of essentially represented by data on mortality and
health trends; in a span of 25 years, every region life expectancy, can be segmented in two broad
 676 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

Under 5 Mortality Rate Female life expectancy at birth

17 19

45
49

38 32 Contribuon of Gain in Income

Contribuon of Gain in Educaon

Male adult mortality rate Female adult mortality rate Level of Adult Females
Contribuon of Gain in Technical
Progress
25 20
39
49

27 41

Fig. 19.21  Technology as a source of mortality reduction, 1960–1990 (Data from UNDP 2001)

200

180
Under-Five Mortality per 1,000 Live Births

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
Africa Americas South-East Asia Europe Eastern Western Pacific World
Mediterranean
1990 2015 MDG4 Target

Fig. 19.22  Under-five mortality trends, 1990–2015 (Data from WHO 2015)

categories: (1) the tools it creates for better diag- technologies in health care provision helps build
nostics and treatment and (2) the systems it bol- prevention, promotion, and self-care, enabling a
sters with these tools for administration and better absorption of knowledge by women and
service delivery at scale. The use of “lightweight” more knowledgeable interaction with health care
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 677

professionals (Mendonçaa et al. 2015). A won- tion for the applicability of mobile technology
derful example of this is the joint work of Pro for more diverse types of health interventions and
Mujer (a leading women’s development health self-management of chronic disease, it does sig-
and microfinance nonprofit social enterprise in nal that we are as yet in nascent stages of under-
Latin America), the Mayo Clinic, Pfizer, and the standing how our technological tools may be
Sesame Workshop (a nonprofit educational orga- administered and applied for wide health benefit
nization behind the television program Sesame outcomes. A glance at negative externalities as
Street) to launch and operate a technology plat- they relate to technology tools for health is
form integrating mobile, Web, and video technol- informed by an anecdote from research under-
ogy along with remote training and access to taken by the authors on the role of ICTs in politi-
specialists (PR Newswire 2013). The lower cost cal development in the Caucasus in 2003–2004.
technologies are and the easier the protocols of It was sometimes seen as a good thing when
administration, the more favorable the results in money was not available to update medical
prevention, particularly if used in the context of equipment; doctors could not get complacent or
primary health care; the use of oral rehydration lazy in circumstances where they had to work
therapies for diarrhea in children is a good exam- proactively with the outdated machines, to be
ple. Overall, the data tend to support the fact that highly creative, and, some argued, to be even
things are improving in health diagnostic, thera- more skilled than their counterparts in wealthy
peutic, and other research activities related to Western environments. Machines that do every-
medical R&D. thing leave little room for human intervention.
The role of technological access functions that
have been applied or been relevant directly for 19.5.3.2 Systems
healthy consumers include text messages (SMS), The role of technology in supporting health sys-
various software applications, and multiple tems consists of a relatively new concept.
media (SMS, photos) interventions; these func- Managing people and costs in health care sys-
tions support interactivity, which enables person- tems relies to a large extent t on computer-based
alized continuous monitoring (according to types patient records in which data and services are
of ailments or chronic conditions, gender, age) in expected to be delivered at scale. Health informa-
real time, and behavior support and change tools tion technology has the potential to support safer,
as necessary. According to the Pew Research more effective, and more efficient delivery of
Center (2012), 72 % of Internet users said they health care through the implementation of multi-
looked on line for health information within the functional, interoperable systems. As managed
past year, whereas 21 % of US adults said they care plans have evolved and grown, the ability of
used some form of technology to track their providers to adopt technology to gather, manage,
health data. Sensors, novel interactive displays, and aggregate clinical data has never been more
and advances in computing and networking con- important. The National Library of Medicine in
tribute to the development of networked commu- the United States has been at the forefront in
nities of users, whereas data drawn thereon hold stimulating research around the effective use of
great value in that they may be anonymized and computer-based patient record systems and net-
aggregated for purposes of generating best prac- worked access to share data (Dick et al. 1997: 9).
tice (and cost savings). An extensive, important Integration delivery systems include health care
survey concluded that mobile technology text providers, service providers, and facilities that
messaging interventions have been shown to together deliver a spectrum of services to specific
increase adherence to antiretroviral medication in populations.
low-income settings and to increase smoking The use of electronic health records to improve
cessation in high-income settings (Free et al. the quality of care in ambulatory care settings
2013: 40). Although this finding is but a signpost was demonstrated in a series of studies conducted
for further study and requires substantial valida- at four sites (three U.S. medical centers and one
678 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

in the Netherlands) (Shekelle et al. 2006). The September 11 2001 would not have been possible
studies showed improvements in provider perfor- without extensive use of mobile communication
mance when clinical information management tools, not to mention aviation technology. From
and decision support tools were made available the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, where at least
within an electronic health record system, par- 840 people were killed and more than 6000
ticularly when clinical information systems have injured (Mungin 2011), to the Ukrainian
the capacity to store data with high accuracy and Euromaidan in 2014, whereupon UN High
ever-ready accessibility and can assist clinicians Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al
in translating context-specific information that Hussein stated that the death toll in the conflict
can empower providers in their work. “All cost-­ exceeded 5358 people (with another 12,235 peo-
benefit analyses predicted substantial savings ple wounded from mid-April the prior year)
from the use of electronic health records (and (Euromaidan Canada Committee 2015), technol-
health care information exchange and interoper- ogy has allowed us to focus a global lens of
ability) implementation: The quantifiable bene- enquiry on human rights abuses and violations in
fits are projected to outweigh the investment unprecedented ways. Indeed, many have argued
costs, though the predicted time needed for that technology and social media for collective
breakeven to be achieved varied from three to as action were some of the key enablers of the
many as 13 years” (Shekelle et al. 2006). It is Egyptian overthrow of their corrupt president
worthy of mention that the use of these systems Mubarak, despite the significant damage to the
to manage health records also has risks: Privacy country.
concerns and the possibility of uncontrolled data Similarly, from September 11 in 2001 (where
flow or leakage are a real issue for many patients. dramatic images of unprecedented destruction
Although many studies have identified seared the screens of televisions across the world)
advances in technology as a major driver of to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, from
health spending, one study links the availability the BP oil spill in 2010 and the Fukushima
of specific technologies to higher use and spend- nuclear accident in 2011, to the most recent ter-
ing (Baker et al. 2003: 546). Although it is pos- rorist attacks in Paris in November 2015, technol-
sible that a large amount of health care spending ogy has played a critical role in executing
does not produce higher quality, it is nonetheless insidious man-made tragedies as well as in orga-
likely that some new technologies do produce nizing mass responses. It is in great measure
value for patients. For example, some research equally as powerful a force for good as for evil.
argues that the benefits for society of several From these major world events and disasters, we
recent advances are substantial and seemingly have learned that taking scientific, legal, and
large enough to justify their large costs when social responsibility for the technology we take
compared with common cost-benefit bench- for granted should be emphasized in technology
marks. Attempts to address the issue of technol- education and in our culture.
ogy availability and rising costs could end up At times, the implications of a newly invented
badly misguided if implications for quality were technology cannot be foretold. A perfect example
not considered (Baker et al. 2003: 549). is what the technicians and developers designing
the modern 2nd generation cellular telephone
could not have foretold: that SMS capability
19.6 T
 echnology in Modern would blossom into a boom industry. According
Context to the ITU, the total number of SMSs sent glob-
ally tripled between 2007 and 2010, from an esti-
Technology has played an instrumental role in mated 1.8 trillion to a staggering 6.1 trillion;
major world events, including in their aversion, close to 200,000 text messages are sent roughly
their mitigation, their discovery, and on occasion every second. Assuming an average cost of USD
their cause. The New York City terrorist attack on 0.07 per SMS, in 2010 SMS traffic generated an
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 679

estimated USD812,000 per minute (ITU News Ushahidi data challenged the data analytic capac-
2010). Often, technology is repurposed, and the ities of large international organizations tasked
idea of leaving open the design (as in open source with official emergency response, particularly in
distributed, development communities and its the example of the Haiti earthquake in 2010. As a
uses is itself a development approach. Such ludic result, people now use new technologies for med-
possibilities are referenced by some scholars ical procedures to cure the injured, to replace
(Vogiazou 2007: 41), who see this as part of the lethal weapons with nonlethal weapons, to use
recursive shaping of their world and their drones to limit (though as well in some cases to
societies. regrettably amplify) civilian casualties, and to
Twitter, an online social networking service use chemical, biological, or environmental mea-
that enables users to read and send short mes- sures to limit, restore, and recover the environ-
sages (not longer than 140-characters) called ment from pollution. Moreover, various
tweets, is used for good and for bad. It is a perfect technologies are also employed to use social
example of incorporating the will of the people to media to release information, potentially locate
take part in the reshaping of their societies. Some and capture terrorists to prevent planned attacks,
of this outcome is intended, in that the tool is and to alter the course of security and social jus-
used to organize and galvanize mass opinion or tice movements in the public.
actual movement. Some of the outcome is seren- In actual societal terms, social media have
dipitous, such as a tweet forecasting an earth- their fair share of challenges, including excessive
quake in a given city. Twitter bears the badge of Internet use causing physical ailments such as
honor of being one of the sites banned in various carpal tunnel syndrome and reduction of face-to-­
countries in the Middle East where leaders are face socialization. We see many cases of social
keen on preventing the mass mobilization capa- isolation and individual alienation, not to men-
bilities of their populations. Twitter has been tion the potential exposure of inappropriate con-
used in countries like Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen tent to children. Misuse of social media is also
by activists who played crucial roles in the Arab seriously damaging to human well-being:
Spring, partially by using social networking as a Cyberbullying, privacy invasions, identity theft,
tool. Although its founders may have understood and damage to thepersonal reputations of indi-
in broad terms what they were creating, it is viduals or organizations from false but widely
unlikely they could have imagined the actual propagated “news” and rumors are but the tip of
breadth of their footprint on the course of global the iceberg.
events after launching their service. At the same Overall, however, most agree that social media
time, it is being heavily leveraged by the Da’esh have improved our societies by increasing trans-
in 2015 in Syria, and it is the object of consider- parency between citizens and their political lead-
able cyber-warfare as virtual vigilantes (i.e., ership. Interaction between political leaders and
“Anonymous”) hack at the accounts of their average citizens make politics appear closer to
Islamic State enemies on line. Social networks people’s daily lives. Information disseminates
today ride one atop another to reach the farthest through these sites to inform people of news and
edges of the technological nets that tie together to help them make better-informed decisions.
global communities and populations. Disaster Leaders are seen as more than icons; one can
recovery and social media application interrela- regularly observe them (perhaps staff-assisted)
tionships have become widely prominent where expressing their emotions and political views on
humanitarian crises occur; for example, Ushahidi the widely used social media platforms. US
uses basic SMS technology to generate meshed President Barack Obama is an example of a poli-
geomaps of postcatastrophe emergency areas to tician actively and effectively using social media.
support emergency response. It was first devel- He started using Twitter in 2008 and successfully
oped in response to 2008 postelection violence in used it to interact with the public, which provided
Kenya; students used it to such effect that
680 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

him with a significant edge in his two presidential until the emergence of voice over Internet proto-
election campaigns. col or VoIP and just as dominant computing sys-
By 2015, according to Fig. 19.23, there were tems emerged to usurp telecommunications with
over two billion active social media accounts in disruptions like Skype, so too are the threads of
the world (Kemp 2015), over 3.2 billion active our future being woven today. They will change
Internet users, and even more billions of mobile the way we drive, cure disease, access informa-
phone users whose actions and location are con- tion, talk to one another, and consume food and
tinually monitored (see Figs. 19.11 and 19.13). water. The MIT Technology Review (2015:
The expectation by forecasters is that mobile 28–63) captures a wonderful cross-section of the
phones will help to push Internet penetration most promising breakthroughs on the horizon, of
beyond 50 % of the world’s population by mid to which a snapshot yields the following list:
late 2016 (Kemp 2015). The question worth ask-
ing at this point is: Will the spread of social media 1. Magic Leap: the device that makes virtual
have positive consequences on human well-­ objects appear in real life using an alternative
being? Most evidence would point to a cautious next generation solution to stereoscopic 3-D,
“yes,” though we should not forget the detractors potentially useful in gaming, travel, and film.
or the reality of the stated negative influences or Spearheaded by Magic Leap, Microsoft.
potential challenges. 2. Nanoarchitecture: materials whose struc-
If an extraterrestrial visitor appeared on Earth tures can be precisely tailored so they are
today to observe our global way of life and how strong yet flexible and extremely light,
our most populous urban centers are populated, potentially useful in energy efficient and
what would be more obvious than the key orga- ­versatile structures. Spearheaded by Caltech,
nizing principles of our roads, buildings, commu- HRL Labs, MIT.
nications, food, and water systems? All the 3. Car-to-car Communication: cars that talk to
knowledge of humanity is manifested in, and one another to avoid crashes, to lower the
informed and defined by technology, which is incidence of road deaths. Spearheaded by
why the fabric of our societies and the interac- General Motors, University of Michigan
tions of people are both a product and a source of 4. Project Loon: a reliable and cost-effective
technology. Technological systems interact with way to beam Internet service from the sky to
each other all the time, and the future holds great places lacking it, so that Internet access can
breakthrough potential. Just as circuit-switched help expand educational and economic
networks for voice and packet-switched telecom- opportunities to those offline. Spearheaded
munications for data co-existed for long periods by Google, Facebook

TOTAL ACTIVE ACTIVE SOCIAL UNIQUE ACTIVE MOBILE

POPULATION INTERNET USERS MEDIA ACCOUNTS MOBILE USERS SOCIAL ACCOUNTS

7.210 3.010 2.078 3.649 1.685

BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION
URBANIZATION: 53% PENETRATION: 42% PENETRATION: 29% PENETRATION 51% PENETRATION: 23%
+1.6% +21% +12% +5% +23%
+ 115 MILLION +525 MILLION +222 MILLION +185 MILLION + 313 MILLION

Fig. 19.23  Global digital statistics by WeAreSocial.net (Kemp 2015; used with permission)
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 681

5. Liquid biopsy: a blood test to catch cancer only force that transcends religion, politics, and
early. Spearheaded by Chinese University of norms and mores, even while serving as the vehi-
Hong Kong, Illumina, Johns Hopkins cle for cultural and socioeconomic development
6. Megascale desalination: pursuing the idea that does not need to progress on a linear curve to
that seawater desalination can cost-­affect change in human well-being. Steven Berlin
effectively provide a substantial portion of a Johnson’s (2014a) show on PBS (and book),
nation’s water supply. Spearheaded by IDE How We Got to Now, builds on the theme of inno-
Technologies, Poseidon Water, Desalitech, vation through a 500-year history that we take
Evoqua largely for granted in modern life, such as artifi-
7. Apple Pay: a service that makes it practical cial cold, time, clean drinking water, and the
to use one’s smartphone as a wallet in every- lenses in our glasses. The story he tells essen-
day situations. Spearheaded by Apple, Visa, tially is one of the hobbyists, amateur inventors,
MasterCard, Google entrepreneurs, and the collaborative networks
8. Brain organoids: three-dimensional clusters whose unintended consequences together built
of living neurons that can be grown in a labo- the foundation of our modern world. It starts with
ratory from human stem cells for possible the story of Galileo and his findings related to
therapeutic purposes. Spearheaded by heliocentrism and physics and the revolutionary
Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, nature of the first clocks and chronometers that
Massachusetts General Hospital changed not only the management of economies
9. Supercharged photosynthesis: engineering but also the business of world exploration by
rice plants to extract energy from sunlight ship. Concurrent with the massive shifts brought
more efficiently so that crop yields are opti- about by the Industrial Revolution, our human
mized. Spearheaded by International Rice experience with time shifted forever, as masses
Research Institute, University of Minnesota left the fields and entered factories. Activities as
10. Internet of DNA: technical standards that let simple as “clocking” in and keeping the same
DNA databases communicate so that one time in nearby cities were a huge challenge, as
medical treatment can derive benefit from were the complications of travel when there was
the experiences of millions of others. no unified way to support or access central time.
Spearheaded by Global Alliance for Johnson cites the creativity of those who would
Genomics and Health, Google utterly transform the US workforce and enable
people to synchronize their activities. By 1883
All of these technologies and many more are (“known as the day of two noons”), the United
continually going to impact all sectors of society States of America moved from running on mul-
and modern economies across the world. Together tiple times to four unified time zones stretching
they constitute a great advance in our human abil- from coast to coast.
ity to recognize, synthesize, understand, and tell Johnson’s examples and narrative convey the
the story of human well-being. The transforma- connections between technology and the fabric
tional properties of each of these and their obvi- of a nation’s culture; cold storage and air condi-
ous natural links to education, health, and income tioning contributed to the movement of American
for the human population are obvious. What retirees to the suddenly habitable Sunbelt; sperm
remains to be seen is the distribution of access to banks and freeze technology changed the way
these once they are propagated by market forces. women could conceive babies outside the tradi-
tional structures of marriage; sound technology
led to the ultrasound devices that can determine
19.7 Concluding Thoughts the gender of unborn babies; sanitation technolo-
gies revolutionized the way sewer systems
Technology, as the highest manifestation of worked and created the possibility of hypersani-
human creativity, may be considered the essence tized factory environments in which micro-chip
of global human “culture.” Indeed, it may be the manufacturing could flourish. Other break-
682 A.N. Selian and L. McKnight

throughs in our ability to track and measure phe- Whatever our assumptions about trajectory,
nomena (including time and temperature) opened technological innovation may be anticipated to
up a plethora of new possibilities for humanity, continue through the twenty-first century and
while lowering barriers and limits to human beyond, thereby advancing human well-being
growth and habitation dynamics. Technology even as its unintended consequences continue to
undoubtedly enhances our powers of observation arise and challenge societies and the individuals
and our ability to influence human well-being. living within them. This chapter concludes with
Whether best captured by the metaphor of a hum- the idea that even as we strive to understand the
mingbird’s wing or a rollercoaster, and irrespec- inter-relationship between the technology of our
tive of the subjective degrees of pleasure, comfort, modern world and our well-being, we must be
and security that it imparts to the average human ever conscious and vigilant that our technology is
being, technology is empirically the single most us and that we are our technology. Even in a lit-
important nonhuman determinant of human well-­ eral sense, this goal rings true: Large systems of
being globally. technology often behave like primitive organ-
The gains in the twentieth century in advanc- isms; this quasi-biological behavior (self-­
ing human development were a function of tech- assembly, self-duplication, self-catalysis)
nology breakthroughs and carry on into the apparent in both “… a working computer that
emerging technologies destined to shape human could be made to evolve like DNA, and DNA that
well-being in the twenty-first century. From the could be made into a working computer” has fan-
rapid decline in mortality rates in the 1930s in tastic implications for the observable mimicry
Asia, Africa, and Latin America, to the increases between what Kelly called “the made and the
in the 1970s in life expectancy at birth, all were born” (Kelly 1994).
fueled by medical technology (antibiotics, vac- In this idea lies the ultimate hope—leaving
cines, scanning modalities), whereas progress in both determinism and ideological assumptions
the nineteenth century evolved gradually as sani- aside, as the upward trending trajectory of human
tation and diets improved (UNDP 2001: 2). well-being catalogued empirically by this vol-
Technological breakthroughs in plant breeding, ume illustrates, the technologies on our planet
fertilizers, and pesticides in the 1960s doubled today are exactly the manifestation of our inde-
world cereal yields in just four decades, leading fatigable human spirit for finding purpose, solu-
to reductions in undernutrition in South Asia from tion, and betterment where there is no better way
around 40 % in the 1970s to 23 % by 1997 and the and no alternative. In our new Information Age
end of chronic famine (UNDP 2001: 2). A key and Social Media era, every subcomponent of the
recommendation of this chapter is need for new HDI, including the indices for education, health,
methods to measure technology and well-­being, and welfare, are being actively and dynamically
in particular to evaluate the quality of experience worked upon using the manifold technological
in the digital economy across the cloud-powered tools at our disposal to educate, narrate, inspire,
Internet of Things, The technological environ- and improve the lot of those who are marginal-
ment is ripe for new generations of data scientists ized or relegated to the fringes of global growth
to explore, thanks to the explosive growth in data and economic prosperity. Digital dividend inno-
resources continually generated by the ambient vations to reach the last mile; hub and spoke
systems, machines, and technologies pervasively models to facilitate easier replications and dis-
shaping the information environment in which semination; leapfrog attempts to simulate infra-
human well-being is pursued. We may rightly or structure for basic human needs in the most far
wrongly expect present trends of (disruptive) flung areas; and mobile/mapping tools to capture
innovation to continue to be driven by informa- and remediate everything from rights violations
tion technology, thereby powering advances in to emergencies in the wake of disasters, to
materials, processes, and products both of bioma- mother-to-child HIV transmission, are well
terials and cyberphysical processes. underway (World Bank 2016).
19  The Role of Technology in the History of Well-Being: Transformative Market Phenomena Over Time 683

The rampant emergence of open innovation jobs in a hyperconnected world. In B. Bilbao-Osorio,

S. Dutta, & B. Lanvin (Eds.), The Global information
processes that tie into all kinds of modern areas
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 Part V
Epilogue

To those who have neither public nor private affections, the excitements of life are much
curtailed, and in any case dwindle in value as the time approaches when all selfish
interests must be terminated by death: while those who leave after them objects of
personal affection, and especially those who have also cultivated a fellow-feeling with the
collective interests of mankind, retain as lively an interest in life on the eve of death as in
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Indianapolis, IN: Hacket Publishing.)
690 V Epilogue

Chikchan –  Fifth day of the Maya calendar. Mixed media on paper—22″ × 30″. © Lylia Forero Carr. Used with
permission.
 The History of Well-Being in Global
Perspective 20
Richard J. Estes and M. Joseph Sirgy

20.1 Introduction Wellness is the complete integration of

body, mind, and spirit—the realization that
The first 19 chapters of this book focus on (1) the everything we do, think, feel, and believe
history of well-being from ancient to modern has an effect on our state of well-being.
Greg Anderson, Wellness Speaker and
times, but, beginning with Part III, the focus Author (Anderson n.d.)
shifts to the history of well-being worldwide
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/
since the end of World War II; (2) the changes in
quotes/keywords/well-being.html#HR6sAo
well-being associated with the three component kH3HhSxA8O.99
sectors of development captured by the United
Nations (UN) three-item Human Development
Index (HDI)—health, education, and income; More specifically, this chapter summarizes in
and (3) consideration of contemporary social seven organizing themes the book’s major find-
events within a historical context. We have ings concerning national, regional, and interna-
divided this chapter, the last of 20, into twelve tional changes: (1) philosophical advances in
sections, each of which emphasizes the most well-being; (2) global advances in population;
important national and regional well-being find- (3) global advances in health; (4) global advances
ings reported in Parts III and IV. We use the in education; (5) global advances in income and
approach outlined in Chap. 6, which distin- poverty reduction; (6) global advances in social
guishes between the objective and subjective welfare, in particular, the steadily increasing lev-
dimensions of well-being, including a wide range els of income security provided to the world’s
of equity indicators that cut across both objective growing population via income security pro-
and subjective measures of well-being. We also grams and other publicly and privately financed
articulate the approaches we used in discussing social initiatives; and (7) global advances in sub-
each of these contrasting elements of well-being jective well-being. All of these components are
throughout history over the long term but espe- essential to assessing changes in well-­being, and
cially during the 65-year period since the end of each reveals unique patterns of the human condi-
the Second World War (1939–1945). tion in various nations and regions of world. At
the end of the chapter, we summarize the most
salient post-World War II changes, which eventu-
R.J. Estes (*) ally will serve as the basis for a series of regional
School of Social Policy and Practice, University
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
monographs and a second volume to this book.
e-mail: [email protected] Interspersed throughout are discussions of
M.J. Sirgy
advances in well-being that have occurred world-
Pamplin College of Business, Department of wide with respect to women and other histori-
Marketing, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State cally disadvantaged population groups (such as
University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA, USA children and youth, the elderly, persons with seri-
e-mail: [email protected]

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 691

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_20
692 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

ous disabilities, those who are financially impov- trends. Further, the analysis is historical in nature
erished, and other social, political, cultural, and focuses on changes in well-being that have
religious, and sexual minority groups). We also occurred over the long term but with particular
discuss contributions made by medical and other attention given to social advances that have
technologies in advancing well-­being over time occurred worldwide during the last half of the
that benefit people everywhere in the world (e.g., twentieth century and the first two decades of the
advances in telecommunications, transportation, twenty-first century, i.e., 1950 to 2015.
preventive and curative health care, and finance We committed at the outset of this project to
and accounting technologies). use a broad range of indicators associated with
the HDI as the underlying analyses reported
throughout the book (UNDP 1990; 2014). As
20.2 C
 onceptual Advances in Our stated previously, the HDI is one of the most fre-
Understanding of Well-Being quently cited measures used in social develop-
ment and well-being studies; therefore, it is
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon (2013; appropriate that we use the HDI as the foundation
UNDESA 2015), on inaugurating March 20 as for our own analyses, especially with respect to
the International Day of Happiness, said, improvements in access to food and shelter, basic
On this first International Day of Happiness, let us educational and employment opportunities, and
reinforce our commitment to inclusive and sustain- the ability to participate meaningfully in other
able human development and renew our pledge to aspects of society’s economy. The HDI also is
help others. When we contribute to the common associated with indicators that measure the
good, we ourselves are enriched. Compassion pro-
motes happiness and will help build the future we degree of political freedom that exists in societ-
want. ies, a statistic that highlights their role as their
own agents in helping to advance individual and
The action agenda that flows from such an collective well-being.
ambitious formulation of happiness (and, by The factors that we focus on in this chapter,
inference, well-being) is large but is sufficiently therefore, relate to the goals of the MDC. The
meaningful that people living everywhere on the chapter is intended to serve as a reference for
planet can become engaged in the process at vari- other scholars of human well-being and its sus-
ous levels. The editors’ approach to this engage- tainability, that is, as a foundation for implement-
ment has been to build on the framework of the ing the recently agreed upon Sustainable
Millennium Development Campaign (MDC) and, Development Goals of the new 15-year develop-
more particularly, on the realization of the eight ment plan of the United Nations (UN).
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), each
of which has its own set of operational goals and
objectives (United Nations Development 20.2.1 The Major Human
Programme [UNDP] 2015a). The narrative that Development Indices
follows revolves around the MDC and the MDGs and Assessment Tools
for all of the world’s major geopolitical regions. of Personal and Collective
We use time-series data as the foundation for Well-Being
analysis and include objective and subjective
indicators of well-being to place the agenda in a As mentioned previously, this book is organized
better perspective concerning the regional analy- around the HDI and its three constituent indica-
ses that have preceded this chapter. tors—improving personal and collective
More particularly, we pull together all of the advances in health, education, and at least a mini-
major findings reported in the regional chapters mum standard of wealth accumulation.
of Parts III and IV. We summarize the regional Nevertheless, these three components of the HDI
data and worldwide well-being patterns and are not sufficient to capture all of the substance
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 693

that we judge to be essential to a history of poverty among hundreds of millions of people

changes in worldwide well-being. We have also living in Africa and East and South Asia.
considered a secondary set of indicators and indi- Taken together, the six supplemental indices
ces in the analysis that are associated with the associated with the more universal HDI contain
goals and operational indicators of the eight more than 21 statistically independent social
MDGs of the UN. We also include subjective indicators measuring very different dimensions
measures of well-being and life satisfaction to the of well-being. The data collected using these
total range of social indicators included in the indexes can easily be aggregated and disaggre-
analysis. The subjective components of well-­ gated to capture the well-being reality of people
being are as important as the objective indicators, living in rural and urban communities as well as
albeit objective indicators lend themselves better that of people living under different socio-­
to comparative data analysis than subjective ones political-­
economic systems and in different
(Cummins 2014; Veenhoven 2015). regions of the world and of the world as a whole.
Specifically, we have incorporated in this
chapter findings obtained by applying supple-
mental indices to the HDI that were also devel- 20.2.2 Other Objective Indicators
oped by the UNDP and other major world think of Well-Being
tanks such as Freedom House, the International
Institute for Economics and Peace, the Stockholm Despite its prominence today, the HDI is but one
International Peace and Research Institute (SIPRI of a series of indices used to assess well-being in
2014), and Transparency International. The indi- earlier generations. The most frequently used
ces and other measures promulgated by these early measures, among many others that were
think tanks focus more specifically on the chang- mostly economic in nature, included the
ing social status of women and on global trends following:
with respect to advances in reducing extreme
poverty in the developing countries of Africa, • the two-item Misery Index developed by econ-
Asia, and Latin America. These data begin in the omist Arthur Okun in 1953;
middle of the 1990s and continue forward to • the three-item Physical Quality of Life Index
2015. developed by Morris David Morris for the
We included a detailed analysis of the chang- U.S. Overseas Development Council (Morris
ing status of women around the world that incor- 1979);
porates findings obtained from the Gender • the multifaceted Level of Living Index devel-
Empowerment Index, the influential Gender oped by the United Nations Research Institute
Inequality Index, and the Gender Development for Social Development;
Index. These three indices, but especially the • the 41-item Index of Social Progress devel-
Gender Inequality Index, focus only on the well-­ oped by Richard J. Estes of the University of
being of women and girls; they were designed to Pennsylvania (Estes 2015);
complement the more generic HDI. We also • World Values Survey (2014);
report some of the detailed, impressive changes • Social Progress Index (Stern et al. 2014);
regarding poverty and the poor that have taken • Gallup Organization Life Satisfaction Polls
place worldwide since 1990 as measured on the (Gallup Organization 2015); and
Inequality Adjusted Human Development Index • the Political Freedoms Index developed in
and the Multidimensional Poverty Index, which 1972 forward by the New York-based think
were developed jointly by the UNDP and the tank Freedom House (2015).
Oxford University Poverty and Human
Development Initiative. These data are very rich The intellectual histories and methodological
and provide rigorous evidence of the global prog- backgrounds associated with each of these well-­
ress that has been achieved in reducing extreme being-­related indices are reported in Appendix B
694 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

along with a list of other composite indices 20.3 W

 ell-Being and the Human
related to well-being that have emerged over the Development Index
past decade.
The UN created the HDI during the early 1980s.
The basic elements of the model were based on
20.2.3 The Importance of Self-­ the earlier Physical Quality of Life Index (Morris
Assessed Quality of Life 1979) as well as on the Level of Living method
in Measuring Well-Being developed by Donald McGranahan and his col-
leagues at the United Nations Research Institute
Measurement of self-assessed quality of life, for Social Development. The first UN report to
well-being, and even happiness also has a long make use of the more statistically robust HDI was
history in the social sciences. Of the measures the UNDP’s 1990 Human Development Report:
used to assess the subjective dimensions of well-­ Concept and Measurement of Human
being, most are contained in national and interna- Development prepared under the leadership of
tional polls that collect data from a random Pakistani development economist Mahbub ul
sample of adults in each country in response to Haq (1934–1998) (Fig. 20.1) and the Indian
variations of the following general question: “All Nobel Laureate in Economics Amartya Sen
things considered, how satisfied are you with (1933–) (Fig. 20.2).
your life today”? Respondents are offered preset Then, as now, the purpose of the three-item
responses to the question that arrange their self-­ index (health, education, and per capita income)
assessed level of happiness and life satisfaction was to monitor changes in the capacity of the
on a scale from “very happy/satisfied” to “very world’s nations, especially poor nations, to
unhappy/dissatisfied.” respond to the basic social and materials needs of
The most popular of these recent polls also are their steadily increasing populations. In subse-
the most established and represent the broadest quent years, the HDI was developed further.
possible spectra of time, populations, and cul-
tures—those conducted by the Gallup
Organization Polls (Gallup Organization 2015),
the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index polls
(Healthways 2015), and the World Values Survey
(WVS). Well-being data collected through these
polls are rich, so we have cited findings from all
three throughout the book. Other, more nuanced
polls that measure well-being within a cultural-­
specific context include the LatinoBarometer, the
EuroBarometer, the AsiaBarometer, and others
identified in Appendix C.
Appendix C also contains a partial listing of
some of the most widely used and most influen-
tial approaches to assessing the subjective aspects
of quality of life at the personal and collective
levels. The appendix contains hyperlinks to
nearly all of these polling sites so the interested
reader can easily access a fuller description and Fig. 20.1  Mahbub ul Haq (1934–1998) (Photo by Sniam;
in depth data reported by each poll. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mahbub-ul-Haq.jpg)
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 695

20.3.1 Global and Regional Patterns

and Trends in the Human
Development Index
Since 1980

The UN 2015 Human Development Report

(UNDP 2015a) summarizes HDI scores for all of
the world’s countries and major regions by over-
all level of health, education, and economic
development. The report also ranks countries and
regions by performance scores and disaggregates
the number so that the reader can see changes
that have occurred in each of the three major
component sectors of the HDI. The 2014 and
2015 reports also contain a rich array of supple-
mental tables, figures, charts, and graphs that
show progress in development (or lack thereof) in
other sectors not covered by the HDI. Appendix
Fig. 20.2  Amartya Sen (1933–) (Photo by Elke Wetzig A contains sets of scores for the period 1980 to
[Elya]; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 2014. In either case, our HDI 2015 data cover 35
Unported license; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ years of human progress since the end of the
File:Amartya_Sen_20071128_cologne.jpg)
Second World War. In all cases, the scores
reported on the HDI are discussed in consider-
Today it includes specialized data related to the able detail in Parts III and IV, the foundational
changing status of the world’s women, to the chapters for this chapter. Several critical patterns
chronically poor who comprise the majority pop- concerning changes in well-being emerge from
ulations of the world’s least-developed nations, the trend line data reported by geopolitical region
and to inequalities in wealth and income distribu- for the years 1980 to 2015 (Fig. 20.3).
tion. The HDI currently reports data for more It is essential to note that all eight of the
than 188 countries representing approximately world’s major regions experienced significant
95 % of the world’s total population (UNDP improvements in their HDI scores between 1980
2015a). and the end of 2014, albeit at a variable pace and
The UNDP reports annually to the UN General rate of progress in well-being for the peoples of
Assembly on the changing social conditions that each region in each period. These gains are often
exist in all of the UN member states. Data from dramatic, especially those recorded for the
the Gender Development Index, the Gender world’s socially least-developed countries but
Inequality Index, the Gender Empowerment especially for those in developing Africa, Asia,
Index (initially introduced in 1995), the and Latin America. Despite these differences, the
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), and the general pattern is significantly upward in HDI
HDI have been reported annually in the Human scores for all of the world’s regions. This upward
Development Report since 2010. This series of movement can be partly attributed to the success-
reports published by the UNDP is topical in focus ful implementation of the UN MDC and the large
and includes a large number HDI and other statis- investments made by businesses, governments,
tical tables that focus in depth on various aspects nongovernmental organizations, and private phi-
of development and well-being. lanthropists in developing a wide range of well-­
696 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

Fig. 20.3 Human 1.000

Development Index
(HDI) scores by
geopolitical region, 0.900
1980–2013. The figure
excludes data for the very
0.800

Human Development Index

large, but sparsely
populated, Oceania
region. Annual HDI
0.700
scores for many of the
Oceania countries,
however, are available in
0.600
Appendix A and cover
the same period reported
in this figure (Data from 0.500
UNDP 2014, Table 2)

0.400

0.300
1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 201

Arab States North America

East Asia and the Pacific South Asia
Europe and Central Asia Sub-Saharan Africa
Lan America and the Caribbean World

being sectors in each region (and, subsequently, Asia, North America, and selected countries in
country and lower geopolitical units). the Latin America and Caribbean regions, regions
that were already reasonably well off in terms of
MDG attainment at the outset of the
20.3.2 Regional Trends in  Well-Being, MDC. Regions falling below the world average
1980–2013 trend line for HDI scores in declining order are
East Asia and the Pacific, the Arab States, the
As confirmed throughout this book, significant many countries of South Asia, and those of sub-­
variations in well-being exist at the regional level Saharan Africa. Despite these persistent dispari-
and in relation to designated population groups ties, average HDI scores rose for all seven of the
and societies at various stages of attainment of highly heterogeneous regions identified in the
social, political, economic and general well-­ figure. Given the progress that has taken place
being. These data are summarized in Fig. 20.4 between 1980 and 2014, every indication exists
and Appendix A, which report HDI scores and for believing that HDI scores will continue to
changes in average HDI scores by major geo- improve for all world regions, including its poor-
graphic region and for the world as a whole. All est nations. At the same time, the more acceler-
of the findings reported in the figure are consis- ated paces of well-being development occurred
tent with those reported in the region- and in all of the regions and their member nations.
population-­specific chapters of Parts III and IV. This latter phenomenon is due primarily to the
Figure 20.4 shows HDI data for the most advanced standing already enjoyed by many
socially advanced regions Europe and Central socially advanced societies.
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 697

60

50

24 25
40

30 14

17 10 14
20 21 11
12
10
10 4 7
13 11 15 6
12 3
8 7
2 4 4
0
Arab States East Asia Europe and Lan North South Asia Sub-Saharan World
and the Central Asia America and America Africa
Pacific the
Caribbean
1980-90 1990-00 2000-13

Fig. 20.4  Percentage change in the Human Development Index scores by year and geographic region, 1980–1990,
1990–2000, 2000–2013 (Data from UNDP 2014, Table 2)

20.3.2.1 H  igh Versus Low Human for the countries of East Asia and the Pacific
Development Index Scores averaged 24 % and those of South Asia 25 % over
and the Dynamics of HDI the most recent 14-year period. In contrast, well-­
Improvement being gains in the North American region aver-
Figure 20.4 summarizes the average annual per- aged 4 % and those for the same time period for
centage change in each of six major geopolitical Europe and Central Asia averaged 11 %. The
regions and for the world as a whole for the importance of the differences in these numbers is
34-period 1980 to 2013. The figure shows aver- that the world’s socially least developing
age annual increases in HDI scores for the Arab ­countries are attaining higher levels of well-being
States, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and at a more rapid pace than are the already eco-
Central Asia, Latin American and the Caribbean, nomically advanced nations of Europe, Central
North America, South Asia, sub-Saharan Arica Asia, and North America, for which average
and, on the far right, for the world as a whole annual increases in HDI scores between 2000
(UNDP 2015a, b). All of the well-being gains and 2013 were 11 % and 4 %, respectively. This
experienced by individual countries and major pattern suggests that, in time, well-being parity is
geopolitical regions are impressive. The news is an increasing possibility for a much larger share
especially favorable for those regions for which of the world’s population, a pattern that has not
well-being advances have been especially diffi- previously been recorded in history.
cult to attain (Estes 2015). These region-specific findings must be
Indeed, the well-being gains attained by the regarded as remarkable and provide evidence that
world’s socially least developing countries dur- all regions of the world are making steady, sub-
ing the periods covered by Fig. 20.4 are truly stantial progress toward increasingly higher lev-
remarkable, especially for the most recent time els of well-being. The well-being gains reported
period reported—2000 to 2013. Well-being gains here are reflected in longer overall years of aver-
698 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

age life expectancy, lower rates of infant and actors including nongovernmental organizations,
child mortality, decreased rates of maternal mor- businesses, and private philanthropies).
tality, and, for most, major advances in per capita In reviewing the MDG outcomes summarized
income levels and higher levels of self-assessed in Supplemental Table 20.1, the reader will note
quality of life. These global findings support the that the social indicator and goal areas high-
findings reported in Chaps. 7 through 17 as well lighted in green are the ones that either were
as in the two specialized chapters contained in achieved or had been largely achieved by 2014.
Part IV that focus on women and technology. Others are well on their way to full realization, a
major accomplishment given the poverty and
20.3.2.2 Attainment Levels weak social infrastructures that exist in many of
of the Human Development the developing nations where these fundamental
Index and Millennium goals associated with well-being have or are
Development Goals, being realized. On this basis alone, the MDC can
1980–2013 be declared a success, parallel to the independent
In addition to identifying specific development conclusions arrived at by scholars doing research
goals to be achieved by 2015, the MDC also unrelated to the UNDP and the MDC (Andrews
articulated a discrete set of operational objectives and Khalema 2015). Today, from a well-being
for each goal. These objectives were designed to perspective, and due in large part to the sharply
accelerate the pace of the implementation of the honed goals of the MDC, the majority of the
MDGs by maintaining a laser-sharp focus on world’s socially least developing countries are
each dimension of the MDC. The MDGs and more than 40 % ahead of where they started at the
their associated objectives were judged essential onset of the MDC in 1995. More advantaged
to accelerating the pace at which the overarching developing countries have made even greater
intent of the MDC was to be achieved. This latter progress, such that, today, the 80 % of the world’s
point is particularly important in promoting population that resides in developing and least
health, education, and income well-being among developing countries have made significant gains
the world’s poorest countries. in advancing the objective and subjective condi-
As summarized in the MDC, the MDGs were tions of their lives. Every indication exists that
designed to (1) eradicate extreme poverty and this process will continue well into the future and
hunger; (2) achieve increased primary education; that, in time, some of the highest performing
(3) promote gender equality and empower developing countries will likely join the world-
women; (4) reduce child mortality; (5) improve wide group of most economically advanced. We
maternal health; (6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, have already seen this pattern occur following the
and other diseases; (7) ensure environmental sus- collapse of the former Soviet Union when several
tainability; and (8) develop a global partnership of its successor countries either joined the
for development (United Nations 2015a). The European Union (EU) directly (e.g., the three
objectives associated with each of the MDGs are nations of the Baltic region) or became candidate
identified in the supplemental table reprinted at states for likely EU membership, e.g., the
the end of this chapter. As of 2015, following Ukraine, Turkey.
decades of often contradictory planning, most The gains in well-being associated with the
governmental and nongovernmental actors MDC are impressive and can be directly attrib-
engaged in international development assistance uted to carefully implemented actions on the part
are now working within the same framework and of all of the world’s major well-being and devel-
toward the realization of the same well-being opment actors (not just the UN but also a wide
goals and objectives (i.e., state and “nonstate” range of nonstate actors) in accelerating the pace
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 699

of development in impoverished countries. The 20.3.2.3 A  verage Annual Percentage

world’s socially least developed countries— Changes on the HDI
Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, Somalia, and for Countries Grouped
more than 40 other nations—are likely to remain by Major Geopolitical
substantially less developed than the world’s Region for the Periods
most developed countries (Stockholm 1980–1990, 1990–2000,
International Peace and Research Institute and 2000–2013
[SIPRI] 2014). The blocks highlighted in red in More detailed well-being trends that build on the
Supplemental Table 20.1 indicate goals and HDI regional groupings reported in Figs. 20.3,
objectives of the MDC that remain unachieved 20.4, and 20.5 (showing average annual rates of
and for which even greater levels of international social progress on the HDI by region and for the
cooperation are needed. These unaccomplished world as a whole for the 14-year period 2000 to
goals are essential to well-being and to the politi- 2013). Using a pie chart to reveal the magnitude
cal and social stability of the nations involved. of improvements that occurred in each region, the
Unfortunately, the attainment of these critical gains in well-being are especially noteworthy.
well-being objectives seems many years away. First, the most significant well-being advances
Charts and timelines such as those reported in occurred among countries located in just three
the table are critically important in providing regions: (a) the chronically poor and diversity-­
objective evidence of the relative successes and ridden South Asia region (annual change =
failures associated with clearly focused develop- +1.39); (b) the chronically poor and often war-­
ment and well-being plans. Members of the gen- ravaged sub-Saharan Africa region (annual
eral public and policy officials alike can read change = +1.37); and (c) the highly populous but
them and arrive at more or less the same conclu- rapidly developing East Asia and the Pacific
sions with respect to the well-being progress of region (annual change = 1.29). Taken together,
nations. these three regions make up the bulk of the

0.62 0.85

1.37 Arab States

1.29 East Asia & Pacific

Europe & Central Asia
Lan America & Caribbean
South Asia
Sub Saharan Africa
Small Island Developing Naons

0.80
1.39

0.62

Fig. 20.5 Average annual rate of change in Human Oceania are included in this figure, but the reader is
Development Index scores by geopolitical region, 2000– referred to Appendix A for the annual HDI scores for
2013. Data for the small island developing nations of Australia and New Zealand (Data from UNDP 2014)
700 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

world’s population and are home to more than designed to facilitate the pace and depth of prog-
80 % of the world’s extreme poor. The rapid ress among poor countries:
improvements in well-being reflected in these
14-year HDI trend data are historical and may be 1. Poverty: “End poverty in all its forms
partly attributed to the highly concentrated efforts everywhere.”
undertaken through the MDC in cooperation with 2. Hunger and food security: “End hunger,
critical development assistance provided by pri- achieve food security and improved nutrition
vate philanthropists (e.g., those of George Soros and promote sustainable agriculture.”
in rebuilding post-Soviet Central Asia) and those 3. Health: “Ensure healthy lives and promote
made by hundreds of private development assis- well-being for all ages.”
tance organizations. 4. Education: “Ensure inclusive and equitable
The second set of world regions to experience quality education and promote lifelong
the most significant well-being gains between learning opportunities for all.”
2000 and 2013 were: (d) the Arab States of the 5. Gender equality and women’s empower-
North Africa and West Asia region (annual ment: “Achieve gender equality and empower
change = +0.85); (e) the countries of Europe and all women and girls.”
Central Asia, but especially the latter group of 6. Water and sanitation: “Ensure availability
Central Asian nations (annual change = +0.80); and sustainable management of water and
and, (f) Latin America and the Caribbean (annual sanitation for all.”
change = +0.62). The small island developing 7. Energy: “Ensure access to affordable, reli-
countries of the South Pacific also attained HDI able, sustainable and modern energy for all.”
improvements equal to those of Latin America 8. Economic growth: “Promote sustained,
and the Caribbean (annual change = +0.62). The inclusive and sustainable economic growth,
world annual HDI improvement for the world as full and productive employment and decent
a whole for the same time period was +0.73. work for all.”
The regional and global gains in well-being 9. Infrastructure and industrialization: “Build
reported above are very impressive and, indeed, resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive
more substantial than those anticipated prior to and sustainable industrialization and foster
the implementation of the MDC. Further, the innovation.”
regional averages reported in Fig. 20.5 mask the 10. Inequality: “Reduce inequality within and

often even larger country-specific improvements among countries.”
that occurred in each of the regions in Part III of 11. Cities: “Make cities and human settlements
the book. The magnitude of these changes in inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”
well-being and development is welcomed and 12. Sustainable consumption and production:

sets a solid framework for even more significant “Ensure sustainable consumption and pro-
changes over at least the near term. duction patterns.”
13. Climate change: “Take urgent action to com-
bat climate change and its impacts.”
20.3.3 The United Nation New 14. Oceans: “Conserve and sustainably use the
Sustainable Development oceans, seas and marine resources for sus-
Goals tainable development.”
15. Biodiversity, forests, and desertification:

In 2015, the UN committed itself to extend the “Protect, restore and promote sustainable use
current MDC for an additional 15 years. The new of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably man-
plan, referred to as the “Post-2015” period, has age forests, combat desertification, and halt
17 Sustainable Development Goals (Alonso et al. and reverse land degradation and halt biodi-
2014; United Nations 2015a, b; UNDP 2015b) versity loss.”
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 701

16. Peace and justice: “Promote peaceful and effective means of waste disposal, and preventive
inclusive societies for sustainable develop- vaccinations. These investments include expen-
ment, provider access to justice for all and ditures for primary (acute care), secondary (e.g.,
build effective, accountable and inclusive on-going care for people with diabetes and hyper-
institutions at all levels.” tension), and tertiary care (long-term care for the
17. Partnerships: “Strengthen the means of
elderly and others with permanent and disabling
implementation and revitalize the global physical limitations) and, of equal importance,
partnership for sustainable development.” pre- and postnatal care for mothers and their
infants. Since 1990, many developing countries
also have developed aggressive food and drug
20.4 Global Progress in Health safety programs as well as initiatives intended to
reduce drug, alcohol, and illegal substance abuse.
Health is imperative in individual and collective The data reported in this section summarize some
well-being. In this section, we begin by discuss- of the important health gains associated with
ing public investments in health followed by increasing levels of governmental investments in
well-being outcomes from those investments. the sector. Many of these changes have been sub-
stantial and have laid the foundation for even
more significant gains that will impact well-being
20.4.1 Social Investments in Health, in other sectors of social development.
1990–2011 The changing investments in the health sector
are summarized in Fig. 20.6. These trends are
Together with substantial investments in the edu- reported as a percentage of regional and world-
cation sector, governments also are making major wide GDP for the years 1990, 1998, and 2011.
investments in the health sector, especially More current data will soon appear in the new
through advanced approaches to urban sanitation, global report on health to be published by the

10.1
World 5.6
4.7
6.3
Eastern Europe and CIS 4.5
3.2
6.3
Sub Saharan Africa 2.4

6.3
North America 6.4
5.9
7.6
Lan America and the Caribbean 3.1
2.7
Southeast Asia and the Pacific 1.2
1.0
4.2
South Asia 0.9
0.7
4.8
East Asia and the Pacific 1.5
1.6
4.3
Arab States

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0

Public Sector Health Investments (%)

2011 1998 1990

Fig. 20.6  Percentages of public sector investments in health: 1990, 1998, 2011 (Data from UNDP 2014; World Bank
2015a)
 702 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

World Health Organization (WHO). Here, and in 20.4.2 Gains in the Health Sector
the soon to be available report, several significant from 1945 to the Present
patterns in the health sectors have emerged for
the world’s developing countries: (1) investments The outcomes associated with historic invest-
in health increased more or less steadily between ments in preventive health services are reflected
1990 and 2011; and (2) the regions with high lev- in Figs. 20.7, 20.8, 20.9 and 20.10, which show
els of public investment in health are Latin increases in annual years of life expectancy and
America and the Caribbean, North America, sub-­ declines in the numbers of infant, child, and
Saharan Africa, and, most recently, East Asia and maternal deaths for the years 1970–1975, 1995–
the Pacific. Public spending in the health sectors 2000, and 2013. The health trends summarized in
was comparatively low for other world regions, these figures reflect significant health gains real-
albeit appreciable increases in spending on pre- ized worldwide for all three periods. The changes
ventive and curative health care occurred between are impressive, albeit rates of improvement vary
1998 and 2011. A world annual expenditure of by region. Even so, the 34-year worldwide
10.1 % of global GDP on health is truly remark- changes are truly remarkable and reflect the
able and reflects a major commitment by all of appreciable outcomes associated with public and
the world’s nations to substantially decrease rates private sector investments in all levels of health
of infant, child, and maternal mortality as well as care.
the incidence of major illnesses and diseases.
These expenditures also reflect major commit-
ments on the part of less developed countries to 20.4.3 Advances in Global Health:
preventive health care, but especially to the early Progress
detection and treatment of potential mass infec- But with Qualifications
tions. The expectation, however, is that these
expenditures will decline over the near future as Smallpox was one of the earliest infectious dis-
increasingly larger numbers of people become eases to come under control and, today, small-
immunized against communicable diseases and pox bacilli are confined to a limited number of
preventive health programs are introduced. More ­scientific laboratories whose access is controlled
economically advanced countries have followed by scientists in selected economically advanced
this pattern since 1950 and have been successful countries (Garrett 2001). Poliomyelitis is
in bringing potential epidemics under control. another life-threatening, or at a minimum,

80

75
Arab States
70 East Asia and the Pacific
South Asia
Life Expectancy

65
Southeast Asia and the Pacific
60 Lan America and the Caribbean
Sub Saharan Africa
55
Europe and Central Asia
50 All Developing Countries
Least Developed Countries
45
World
40
1970-75 1995-00 2013

Fig. 20.7  Life expectancy, 1970–2013 (UNDP 2014; World Bank 2015a, b)
 20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 703

160
Arab States
140
East Asia and the Pacific

120 South Asia

Southeast Asia and the Pacific

100
Infant Mortality

Lan America and the

80 Caribbean
Sub Saharan Africa

60 Europe and Central Asia

Eastern Europe and the CIS

40
All Developing Countries
20
Least Developed Countries

0 World
1970 1984 1998 2012

Fig. 20.8  Infant mortality (Data from UNDP 2014; World Bank 2015a, b)

350

Arab States
300
East Asia and the Pacific
250 South Asia
Under-Five Mortality

Southeast Asia and the Pacific

200 Lan America and the Caribbean
Sub Saharan Africa
150
Europe and Central Asia

100 Eastern Europe and the CIS

All Developing Countries
50 Least Developed Countries
World
0
1970 1984 1998 2012

Fig. 20.9  Child mortality (Data from UNDP 2014; World Bank 2015a, b)

severely disabling disease that is under the full tually been eliminated, thanks to the availability
control of the world’s most economically of effective, widely available low-­cost vaccines
advanced countries. Effective immunizations designed to keep these life-­threatening illnesses
exist to prevent infection by poliomyelitis, and at bay. Cardiac and neurological diseases, can-
small supplies of the viruses that cause this dis- cer, and diabetes are just a few of the diseases
ease are confined to the deep freezers of selected that remain with us in large numbers and com-
pharmaceutical firms and government-sup- prise many of the leading causes of death. These
ported research laboratories. Deaths associated threats to health well-­being are likely to remain
with diphtheria, tetanus, typhus, and other with us for some time, despite appreciable
highly contagious childhood diseases have vir- advances in many areas.
 704 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

1000

900
Arab States
800 East Asia and the Pacific
South Asia
Maternal Mortality Rao

700
Southeast Asia and the Pacific
600 Lan America and the Caribbean
500 Sub Saharan Africa
Oceania
400 Europe and Central Asia

300 Caucasus and Central Asia

All Developed Regions
200 All Developing Countries
World
100

0
1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013

Fig. 20.10  Changes in maternal mortality, 1989–2013 (Data from UNDP 2014; WHO 2015)

tries, requires aggressive, multidisciplinary

Health is a state of complete physical, men- approaches—especially strategic outreach to at
tal and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity. (World
risk young adults, the solitary aged, and those
Health Organization 1948) struggling with serious mental illnesses. Suicide
also represents yet another silent emergency inas-
much as those who take their own lives must be
counted among the causalities of this global epi-
20.4.3.1 L  ifestyle Diseases: The New demic. To date, we have not succeeded in bring-
Threat to Global ing this health challenge under control,
and Regional Public Health particularly among the already identified popula-
Lifestyle diseases, such as type II diabetes and tions and those who are subject to severe mental
morbid obesity, have emerged as major threats to illnesses (Baudelot and Establet 2008).
health well-being. “Curing” these illnesses Recent advances in reducing behaviorally
require far more than a vaccine and a simple related deaths have contributed appreciably to
syringe. Because these diseases are frequently advances in psychological and social well-being
associated with “risky behavior” engaged in by (Mechanic and Mc Alpine 2000). However,
individuals, more complex interventions are and greater attention must be given to the seriousness
will continue to be needed to halt the “silent epi- of the preventable lifestyle illnesses that have
demics” that these diseases represent. Innovative emerged worldwide since the early 1970s. These
approaches to halting drug abuse, including the include diabetes, hypertension, pulmonary dis-
abuse of prescription drugs, and to significantly eases associated with smoking, and obesity,
reducing high-fat diets and low levels of exercise which occurs in every region of the world, includ-
are needed to impact meaningfully on these and ing Europe, where the health challenges associ-
other behaviorally based diseases (Estren 2013). ated with obesity were low during past decades
Reducing the incidence of suicide, a leading (WHO 2015). Serious mental and behavior disor-
cause of death in economically advanced coun- ders also are on the increase, many related to the
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 705

abuse of alcohol, prescription medication, and community and general hospitals now routinely
street drugs, particularly by young people. The include medical and psychiatric units (WHO
health care issues associated with these health 2015).
issues are complex and typically require active
partnerships between patients, care providers, 20.4.3.2 C  hanges in Leading Causes
and funders. Indeed, the bulk of substance abuse of Death: From Infectious
problems currently are being treated by layper- and Communicable Diseases
sons in physical environments not suitable for to Lifestyle Choices,
treatment of complex health problems (e.g., the 1900–2014
use of church or school meeting rooms to treat a Figure 20.11 identifies the leading causes of
broad range of substance abuse disorders in situ- death in the United States at four points in
ations where complex medical care is actually time: 1900, 1950, 2000, and 2013. The figure
needed). The absence of follow-up research on illustrates three broad patterns of causes of
those who have used these facilities, for reasons mortality that apply to other nations of the
of strict anonymity, makes it difficult to the assess world: (1) the highly dynamic and changing
outcomes of these services. nature of fatal diseases and illnesses through-
The large number of mental illnesses and the out the world; (2) a general decline in infec-
recurrent physical illnesses caused by poor tious and communicable diseases as the leading
­sanitation and inadequate health care, including causes of death in economically advanced
parasitic diseases such as river blindness and countries; and (3) the emergence of lifestyle
schistosomiasis, are examples of the health chal- diseases and illnesses as threats to personal
lenges confronting developing nations. and collective health. Data for the United
Fortunately, the development of more accessible States are illustrative of comparable patterns
facilities to treat these illnesses is receiving occurring in other economically advanced
increased attention by governments everywhere. countries, albeit great differences exist in the
Today, mental and physical diseases have attained causes of death in economically developing vs.
parity with one another with the result that most developed countries (WHO 2015).

1900 1950 2000 2013

Pneumonia (all forms) and
1 Diseases of the heart Diseases of heart Diseases of heart
influenza
Malignant neoplasms,
including neoplasms of
2 Tuberculosis (all forms)
lymphatic and
Malignant neoplasms Malignant neoplasms
hematopoietic tissues
Diarrhea, enteritis, and Vascular lesions affecting Chronic lower respiratory
3 Cerebrovascular diseases
ulceration of the intestines central nervous system diseases
Chronic lower respiratory Accidents (unintentional
4 Diseases of the heart Accidents
diseases injuries)
Intracranial lesions of Certain diseases of early Accidents (unintentional
5 Cerebrovascular diseases
vascular origin infancy injuries)
Influenza and pneumonia,
6 Nephritis (all forms) except pneumonia of Diabetes mellitus Alzheimer's disease
newborn
7 All accidents Tuberculosis, all forms Influenza and pneumonia Diabetes mellitus
Cancer and other
8 General arteriosclerosis Alzheimer's disease Influenza and pneumonia
malignant tumors
Chronic and unspecified
Nephritis, nephrotic Nephritis, nephrotic
9 Senility nephritis and other renal
syndrome and nephrosis syndrome and nephrosis
sclerosis
Intentional self-harm
10 Diphtheria Diabetes mellitus Septicemia
(suicide)

Fig. 20.11  The ten leading causes of death in the United States as percentage of all deaths, 1900, 1950, 2000, and 2014
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2015a)
706 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

The potential for highly contagious diseases nesses now overshadow the annual costs of care
likely will be with us for the foreseeable future, for non lifestyle illnesses (Centers for Disease
albeit they will differ dramatically in economi- Control and Prevention 2015b).
cally developing vs. developed countries. The
most effective approach to prevention, ultimately,
will be to limit public exposure to diseases such 20.5 Global Progress in Education
as Ebola, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. However,
the underlying sources of these diseases remain Education is the cornerstone of effective move-
with us (with certain rare exceptions such as ment in advancing individual and collective well-­
smallpox and poliomyelitis) and, hence, continue being. In this section, we begin by discussing
to pose threats to our collective well-being. The public investments in education followed by
global decline in other infectious but curable dis- well-being outcomes from those investments.
eases requires that we maintain a sense of preven-
tion awareness, especially in the presence of such
treatment-resistant diseases such as staphylococ- 20.5.1 Investments in Education
cus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus, or MRSA, infections. Diseases in both Unlike in past decades, governments today invest
categories may ultimately prove to be beyond our significant resources in advancing the educa-
reach over the near term, but a sense of optimism tional status of their citizens. They are joined in
remains for believing that cures or new treatment these efforts by private citizens, nongovernmen-
methods for intractable diseases will be found in tal organizations, business enterprises, and pri-
time (e.g., for HIV/AIDS, treatment-resistant vate charities committed to the advancement of
tuberculous). public education (Bishop and Green 2008). These
Lifestyle illnesses that are under our control, efforts are directed at preschool (K-12) and pri-
such as type II diabetes and the growing epidemic mary school education (grades 1–6) as well as at
of adult and child obesity found in rich and poor education and career training for youth pursuing
countries alike, fall into a separate category. The academic and technical training tracks (grades 7
mechanisms that lead to these diseases increase to 12). Virtually all countries currently make sub-
with decreases in socioeconomic status but, in all stantial investments in postsecondary education,
cases, these diseases manifest themselves eventu- especially in national college and university sys-
ally among the even larger population groups tems. They also make major investments in tech-
(Stern and Kazaks 2015). So, too, will the cur- nical education, which is especially critical to the
rently high mortality rates associated with pre- development of countries whose economies
ventable accidents and the high rates of suicides depend primarily on manufacturing. In most
among adolescents, young adults, and the soli- countries, girls and women have equal access to
tary aged, even in those countries rated as formal education at the same levels as do boys
“happy” or the “happiest” by public opinion polls and men, including post-tertiary technical and
(Habarta 2015; Szalavitz 2011). Tobacco smok- university education. Indeed, in many countries
ing, recreational drug use, and the abuse of pre- the proportion of university students who are
scription medications are included as lifestyle women is substantially larger than that of men
threats to health and well-being. Most likely, they (Ratcliffe 2013; UNESCO 2015). All of these
will continue to appear on the list of the most fre- changes are fundamental and reflect substantial
quent causes of death worldwide. These risky contributions to the well-being of the students
behaviors interfere with the well-being of the involved as well as to the society as a whole.
affected individuals and that of their families, Figure 20.12 reflects major investments in
who suffer enormous emotional and financial education made by countries grouped by geo-
consequences. The costs to nations of providing graphic region and the world as a whole for the
acute care for persons with chronic lifestyle ill- following periods: 1990, 1995–1997, and 2005–
 20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 707
Percent Public Expenditures on Educaon

7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
Arab States East Asia South Asia Southeast Lan North Sub Saharan Eastern World
and the Asia and the America America Africa Europe and
Pacific Pacific and the CIS
Caribbean
1990 1995-97 2005-12

Fig. 20.12  Percent public sector investments in education, 1990, 1995–1997, 2005–2012 (Data from UNDP 2014;
World Bank 2015a, b)

2013. The investment trends in education 20.5.2 Yields in Public Investments

reflected in these figures are impressive and con- in Education
firm that dramatic shifts have taken place on the
part of all national regional governments since The most central patterns regarding the relation-
1950 to invest in the human capital resource pro- ship between public investments in education and
files of their populations, albeit the investment well-being (Figs. 20.13, 20.14, 20.15 and 20.16)
levels differ by region. Of special interest is the reflect the fact that public expenditures in educa-
fact that the most dramatic shifts in education tion for the world as a whole remained more or
have occurred in the countries of North Africa less constant between 1990 and 2012. However,
and West Asia and in the sub-Saharan countries the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean
of Africa whose entire educational systems have made more substantial investments in education
expanded in response to the needs of their coun- during the 22-year period than any other world
tries for a more technically educated workforce. region—from 3.4 % in 1990 to 5.2 % in 2012.
Even so, these latter groups of countries, located These investments closely parallel the overall
principally in Africa, have invested progressively advances in well-being reported for the region as
higher levels of their public resources into pre- a whole during the same period and the years fol-
and post-secondary education. These investments lowing 2012. Substantial public investments in
mark a dramatic departure from past educational education also were made by the Arab States of
investment patterns and suggest that well-being North Africa and West Asia (4.8 % and 5.4 %,
can be expected to increase steadily as the invest- respectively) and, to a lesser extent, by the nations
ment in education continues. One of the most sig- of North America (from the world’s highest in
nificant outcomes is that adult literacy is now 1990 of 6.0 to 6.3 % in 2012).
widespread in the countries and subregions of Ironically, the nations that experienced the
Africa and in the developing nations of Asia and most serious ideological struggles for which re-­
Latin America, such that literacy, rather than illit- education was the most needed—those of Eastern
eracy, has become the norm in the contemporary Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent
globalized world (Irogbe 2014). States—allocated the lowest levels of public
708 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

130
Arab States
120
East Asia and the Pacific
Percent Primary School Enrollment

110
South Asia
100
Southeast Asia and the Pacific
90
Lan America and the Caribbean
80
Sub Saharan Africa
70
Europe and Central Asia
60
Least Developed Countries
50
World
40
1997 2012

Fig. 20.13  Global primary education. In this and the cially for elementary and secondary school enrollment
three figures that follow, some numbers are greater than levels. These numbers reflect important gains by govern-
100 % inasmuch as they reflect adults and other age ments in including adults in basic education programs
­nonappropriate enrollments by level of education, espe- (Data from UNDP 2014; World Bank 2015a, b)

Fig. 20.14 Global 100

secondary education
Arab States
(Data from UNDP 2014;
World Bank 2015a, b) 90
East Asia and the Pacific
Percent Secondary School Enrollment

80 South Asia

Southeast Asia and the Pacific

70
Lan America and the
Caribbean
60
Sub Saharan Africa

50 Europe and Central Asia

Least Developed Countries

40
World
30
1997 2012

expenditures to education—a substantial decline the nations of Eastern Europe and Central Asia
from 4.9 % of total central government expendi- declined appreciably following the restoration of
tures in 1990 to a low of 3.4 % of public invest- their independence after the collapse of the for-
ments in 2012. The public sector expenditures of mer Soviet Union in 1991. The results of these
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 709

Fig. 20.15 Global 60
tertiary education (Data Arab States
from UNDP 2014; World
Bank 2015a, b) 50

Percent Terary School Enrollment

East Asia and the Pacific

40 South Asia

North America
30
Lan America and the
Caribbean
20
Sub Saharan Africa

10 Europe and Central Asia

World
0
2000 2012

Fig. 20.16  Global adult 100

literacy (Data from Arab States
UNDP 2014; World Bank 95
2015a, b) East Asia and the Pacific
90
South Asia
85
Percent Adult Literacy

Southeast Asia and the Pacific

80
Lan America and the Caribbean
75
Sub Saharan Africa
70
Europe and Central Asia
65
All Developing Countries
60
Least Developed Countries
55
World
50
1998 2012

declines are reflected in the considerably short- long learning. Education is also crucial to the
ened life expectancy of men, the failure of much good life. Learning the skills necessary to
of the physical infrastructure, and the emergence cope with modern life and to be a productive
of a governmental sector that was neither able to citizen is imperative to the good life. We are
govern nor to provide for the most basic needs of delighted to report that major progress has
widely dispersed populations. Not surprisingly, been made toward increasing access to all lev-
people’s self-assessed satisfaction with life plum- els of education virtually worldwide. Major
meted during this period. progress has also been achieved in increasing
Education is a critical sector necessary for enrollments in schools, especially for women
progressive advances in well-being. Progress and girls. Here is a notable outcome:
in this sector is needed to ensure inclusive and Enrollment in primary education in develop-
quality education for all and to promote life- ing countries has reached 91 %.
710 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

However, the road ahead remains long and mented to ensure access on the part of all workers
challenging; today, for example, more than 57 to basic health, education, housing, food, and
million children in the most socially vulnerable other basic services (Social Security
subregions remain out of school (UNICEF 2012) Administration 2015). Public discussions of
and, therefore, unable to participate fully in the these poverty issues also exclude the substantial
world’s global international labor markets. Most transfers of wealth that occur through
of these children are concentrated in sub-Saharan government-­to-government foreign aid and tech-
Africa and in other war-ravaged and conflict-­ nical assistance programs as well as the substan-
affected areas of the world. The UN estimates tial contributions made by philanthropists to
that 103 million youth lack basic literacy skills less-economically advantaged people and com-
worldwide with the majority of them being girls munities. Private transfers of wealth are well in
(United Nations 2015c). excess of hundreds of billions of dollars each
Focusing on progress in education well-being year and those amounts continue to increase
between 1997 and 2012, we note that the Arab annually (Dobrianksy 2003; Foundation Center
states have made measurable progress in all 2015).
aspects of education—primary, secondary, ter-
tiary, and literacy at large. The same pattern of
social progress in education has taken place An imbalance between rich and poor is the
among the nations of East Asia and the Pacific, oldest and most fatal ailment of all repub-
lics. Plutarch ancient Greek orator and
South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean,
biographer (c. 46–120 CE) (Plutarch n.d.)
and Europe and Central Asia. Although sub-­
Saharan Africa made significant strides in
­primary education, comparable advances in edu-
cational infrastructure and enrollment levels have Poverty reduction has been a central goal of
not occurred at the secondary and tertiary levels most nations since the onset of the Industrial
of education. Revolution and earlier. The reasons for the cen-
trality of this goal in public policy are threefold:
(1) Financial poverty condemns people to the
20.6 Global Progress in Income, lowest possible level of well-being and, at the
Wealth, and Poverty same time, frequently transmits poverty from one
Alleviation generation to the next. (2) Poverty exerts enor-
mous political pressures on the capacity of
Both the popular and scholarly literature have nations to meet even the most basic social and
addressed the issue of poverty and poverty alle- material needs of their steadily increasing popu-
viation (Landes 1999; Parlipiano et al.; Porter lations. (3) Public and private expenditures for
2014). The issue is not a new one but its long-­ poverty reduce the capacity of nations and indi-
term nature lends support to the need to find solu- viduals to invest in higher levels of objective
tions that address poverty. The news is typically well-being, including health, education, univer-
filled with a sense of doom and gloom inasmuch sal welfare services, and support for the involun-
as the gap between upper and lower income has tarily unemployed (Day and Schiele 2012).
consistently widened since at least 1980. What The World Bank (2015a, b) designates
has not been discussed, however, is the use by incomes of USD 2 or lower per day per person
governments of a wide range of measures to alle- (or about USD 60 per month per person or USD
viate poverty. These initiatives include employer-­ 720 per year per person) as the standard for mea-
employee financed social security programs that suring the percentage of the populations of all
have nearly eliminated poverty among the elderly countries that live in poverty, i.e., USD 2880 per
in many nations as well as the tax-supported year for a family of four (World Bank 2015a).
social welfare programs that have been imple- The financial standard is intentionally low inas-
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 711

much as many developing countries are not sub- a whole, e.g., social security is privately financed
stantially monetized; instead, farmers and other by workers and employers but, owing to the size
agricultural workers depend on themselves to of the funds involved, is administered by the
produce their own food, places to live, and so on. ­central government. Similarly, the funds used to
These workers, however, need some cash to pur- support this near universal program are derived
chase goods and services, including health care, from employees (50 %) and employers (50 %),
that they cannot produce using their own labor. with the administrative costs of the program
The International Labour Organization (ILO) financed through general tax revenues at no direct
keeps track of monetized labor and the ability of cost to beneficiaries. All participants in the sys-
agricultural, indeed, all workers to generate tem receive benefits once certain age or other
money that can be used to purchase necessary major life events occur. Current payments are
goods and services in local, national, regional, made on a rolling basis such that payments made
and global markets (ILO 2015). by pre-­retired workers are used to finance pay-
Poverty levels in more economically advanced ments to retired recipients.
countries are assessed using a much higher stan-
dard of monetization because people must use
currency of one type or another to purchase the 20.6.2 Social Security as a Social
goods and services they require. Currently, the Investment
income standard used for measuring poverty in
economically advanced countries is USD 15 or Social security is the world’s most successful
less per day per person (i.e., USD 450 per person social program and today provides coverage to
per month or USD 5400 per person per year or people in more than 170 nations, or approxi-
USD 21,600 for a family of four [Luxembourg mately 90 % of the world’s total population
Income Studies 2015]). This standard is a more (Social Security Administration 2015). The pro-
reasonable one for postindustrial, service-based gram is widely credited with eliminating poverty
societies and better reflects the reality of the eco- among the elderly and for providing a safety net
nomic differences that exist between economi- not only for the aged but also for adult persons
cally developing and already developed with severe physical or emotional disabilities
countries. (Alzheimer’s disease, severe neuromuscular
degenerative diseases, and chronic mental ill-
nesses among many other categories of long-term
20.6.1 The Contribution of Social impairment).
Welfare and Social Security The concept of welfare originates from the old
in Advancing Economic English word “well-fare” or “fare well” and, in
Well-Being recent years, “well-being.” All three of these con-
cepts embrace the objective and subjective com-
Social welfare consists of a complex set of insti- ponents of well-being discussed throughout the
tutional arrangements between (1) families and book. Welfare and well-being are deeply embed-
households and extended kinship systems; (2) ded in history, sociology, anthropology, econom-
markets; (3) a broad range of private and volun- ics, and political science (especially public
tary organizations (also referred to as “nongov- finance and public policy). The history associated
ernmental organizations”); and (4) governments, with the concept goes back several millennia and
or what is generally referred to as the public or is present in the cultural understanding of all
state sector (Estes and Zhou 2015). The relation- societies—rich and poor, young and old,
ship that exists within and between these four Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western,
core sectors is illustrated schematically in Christian, Islamic, and Jewish.
Fig. 20.17, which depicts the complex ways in The yields associated with social security pro-
which each one functions to reinforce society as grams are many and include such diverse pro-
712 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

Market/ State/
Economy Government

Civil Society/
NGOs

Household/
Kinship System CONTEMPORARY
CONTEXTUAL
FACTORS FORCES
History Environmental issues
Tradion Populaon pressures
Values Economic pressures
Norms Degrees of social chaos

Fig. 20.17  The public-private development mix in social student loans, food stamps). The pattern is repeated in the
welfare and wealth redistribution. A range of social pro- inner matrix, demonstrating an entirely different set of
grams exist along each of the axes, e.g., state-supported, public-private partnerships, in this case emphasizing the
market-provided programs (e.g., subsidized housing and contribution of nongovernmental organizations to the
health care), state-supported family-provided programs mix. Contextual and contemporary forces shape the char-
(e.g., foster grandparent programs, subsidized child care), acter of all such arrangements (Estes and Zhou 2015)
and market-supported, family-provided programs (e.g.,

grams as subsidized health, education, food, and then, as now, was to introduce high levels of
housing programs as well as a wide range of ben- social stability to nations by ensuring that at least
efits to military veterans and their families. They the basic social and material needs of their popu-
include income security for the aged and severely lations would be met. Today, social security pro-
disabled and, in the case of young people, finan- grams are established in more than 170 nations.
cial support for those with neuromuscular and Most include income security programs designed
other neurological degenerative diseases. The to aid families in dealing with income security
numbers of such persons in the United States problems associated with (1) old age, disability,
exceeded 60 million in 2015 and included the and retirement; (2) work-related injury; (3) major
aged, young people, and families in need of pub- medical illness including pregnancy; (4) involun-
lic support. Social security is the most widely tary job loss; and (5) family allowances to assist
accepted approach for providing for the income with the costs associated with raising large fami-
security needs of people during predictable peri- lies. These programs have been highly successful
ods of income insecurity. Otto von Bismarck of and, given that they are financed jointly by work-
Germany first formulated the basic principles of ers and employers, they rarely carry the stigma
social security in the 1880s to quiet the growing associated with tax-supported welfare programs
discontent among jobless and impoverished such as social security income support programs
workers (Social Security 2015). The intention (SSSI, General Assistance); publicly organized
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 713

but privately financed and provided health care resources of the individuals to whom the pay-
services (Medicaid); subsidized housing, food, ments are made; but, ultimately, surplus social
and income support services for persons with benefits are returned to the investment funds via
severe disabilities and others who are jobless for general taxes assessed on each individual and
reasons beyond their control. household at the end of each fiscal year.
The precise nature and extent of coverage of
the five formally organized social security pro-
grams vary across countries as does the level of 20.6.3 The Goals of Social Welfare
financial benefits associated with them. Some Programs and Their
countries, mostly for ideological reasons associ- Contributions to Personal
ated with work, offer only three of the five core and Collective Well-Being
social security programs (old age, disability, sick-
ness), whereas a small number of others offer a The goals of social welfare programs are multi-
broad spectrum of income support schemes such faceted. Using formally identified criteria, social
as employment-related programs plus those for welfare benefits reach rich and poor people alike
involuntary joblessness and large family size. in every society and with the same set of shared
Worker and employer contributions to the social social goals: (1) to ensure adequate levels of
security administration finance these programs. In financial security such that individuals and fami-
turn, benefits are received directly from the central lies can function as self-sufficiently as possible
government and are rarely stigmatized. The within society (e.g., through the promotion of
United States, for example, offers four of the five basic and advanced education, the establishment
social security schemes but has no privately of preventive and curative health services, the
financed provisions for family allowance (Ray and availability of adequate, affordable housing, par-
Calasanti 2013). The one exception is those fami- ticipation in charitable arrangements and other
lies who are desperately poor and therefore eligi- activities for those unable to fully provide for
ble to receive assistance through programs that are their own needs); (2) to provide supplemental
financed through general taxation rather than income security programs and services for those
employment-based schemes (e.g., through such who are unable to meet their own needs (e.g., the
highly stigmatized programs as Aid to Families working poor, persons with severe disabilities,
with Dependent Children, General Assistance) persons with chronic illnesses, racial and ethnic
and dozens of other highly specialized programs minority groups that are blocked from participat-
such as food coupons, publicly supported housing, ing fully in society); (3) to promote the engage-
subsidized health care, and childcare. ment of all responsible actors in the provision of
The most ambitious social security programs welfare programs and services—families and
have all but eliminated financial poverty among their kinship networks, governments, businesses
their retired elderly populations. Poverty rates and other key market actors, nongovernmental
dropped from a high of 70 % at the outset of the organizations, and persons who cannot provide
Second World War to the low teens in 2015. adequately for their own needs (e.g., age-­
Family allowance schemes have proven highly dependent children, youth, and the elderly; vic-
successfully in supplementing financial support tims of incapacitating natural and man-made
services for large families and, even more cen- disasters; disabled veterans and other war heroes;
trally, to families whose primary income earner solitary survivors without children; and many
has experienced involuntary job loss. The impact other socially vulnerable groups of people).
of these privately and publicly financed support These population groups and the more than 170
programs has been enormous. Each plan is universal programs that are available worldwide
designed such that payments are made to all eli- to support them are identified in considerable
gible workers when certain criteria are met. depth by the International Social Security
These payments are made irrespective of the Association (ISSA 2015).
714 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

activities and are therefore accountable to their

In a country well governed, poverty is citizens for the priorities associated with the use
something to be ashamed of. In a country
badly governed, wealth is something to be
of these funds. Most national development aid
ashamed of. (Confucius) organizations carry out their responsibilities
effectively and consistently with their neveds and
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/key-
words/wealth.html#zmI4OiPRQZRWl those of aid-receiving nations. Even so, the pub-
i4L.99 lics of many of the largest aid-granting nations
frequently criticize these activities on the basis
that such funds should be spent on domestic,
rather than international, social programs (Moyo
Social welfare programs reflect social invest- 2010). Research has shown, however, that public
ments designed to help people function at their knowledge concerning the actual percentage of
highest possible level of self-­ sufficiency and public GDP allocated to international aid is
well-being. With the exception of the services highly inaccurate (Goldberg 2009). Nonetheless,
provided by the social democratic nations of and as result of increasing globalization, the
Europe, most services in other economically amount of international aid granted by these
advanced countries generally are time-limited national development organizations continues to
and provide for people only during periods of increase steadily while, at the same time, the
predictable income insecurity. Longer-term level of their national indebtedness also increases.
social programs planned to serve people with Figure 20.18 identifies those countries that
extreme and longer-term needs are available in provide the most substantial levels of foreign
­
other economically advanced nations but, typi- assistance via their public aid-granting bodies,
cally, have a wide range of eligibility require- and Fig. 20.19 identifies the top ten aid-receiving
ments associated with them. Unfortunately, countries (OECD-DAC 2015).
long-term income and other social support Other international sources of aid directed at
schemes often are associated with levels of social reducing disparities in income and wealth distri-
stigma and discourage many people in need from bution include the following:
availing themselves of these publicly sponsored
social benefits, e.g., welfare-­sponsored income • National and international nongovernmental
programs, food stamps, subsidized housing, and organizations such as charitable foundations,
the like. Doctors Without Borders, the American
Friends Service Committee, and more than
200,000 other legally incorporated groups in
20.6.4 International Development the United States and Europe (National Center
Assistance for Charitable Statistics 2015);
• Private philanthropists and philanthropies
A variety of international organizations contrib- (Lane 2013); and,
ute to reducing the inequalities brought about by • Volunteers in service—often associated with
the concentration of wealth. The aid-giving agen- either governmental or nongovernmental
cies of governmental development assistance organizations or may act on behalf of religious
organizations include the U.S. Agency for congregations that support their service-­
International Development, the Japanese oriented activities (Rochester et al. 2012).
International Cooperation Agency, Department
for International Development and more than 40 In 2014, American transfers of private philan-
others—nearly all of which are aid agencies of thropic wealth exceeded USD 358.38 billion
economically advanced nations. All of these (Giving USA 2015; Nonprofit Times 2014). For
organizations use publicly generated tax reve- illustrative purposes only, Figs. 20.20 and 20.21
nues to support their international aid-granting identify the major sources of private giving in the
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 715

Top 10 Donor Aid Countries United States as well as the sectors to which this
COUNTRY AID DONATED giving is applied. This pattern of private giving in
European Union $86.66 billion support of public purposes is remarkable. Further,
1 United States $31.55 billion the pattern of charitable giving reported in these
2 United Kingdom $17.88 billion figures excludes the large sums of money that
3 Germany $14.06 billion others give more informally in support of com-
4 Japan $11.79 billion munity service projects, which, most likely,
5 $11.38 billion
exceed or equal formal transfers via nongovern-
France
mental intermediary bodies. These patterns of
6 Sweden $5.83 billion
contemporary philanthropy represent historically
7 Norway $5.58 billion
high levels of voluntary contributions made by
8 Netherlands $5.44 billion
any group of people for charitable purposes
9 Canada $4.91 billion
(Breeze 2013; Stewardship Advocates 2015).
10 Australia $4.85 billion

Top 10 Development Assistance Commiee

Countries 20.6.5 Foreign Direct Investments
COUNTRY AID (% GNI) Strengthens the Commercial
1 Norway 1.07% Sector
2 Sweden 1.02%
3 1.00% Large businesses also make major contributions
Luxembourg
4 to international development through a wide
Denmark 0.85%
range of foreign direct investment (FDI) initia-
5 United Kingdom 0.72%
tives (i.e., business investments made to enrich
6 Netherlands 0.67%
and expand their own and the participating
7 Finland 0.55%
nations’ commercial activities in countries into
8 Switzerland 0.47%
which FDI funds flow [Chaudhuri and
9 Belgium 0.45% Mukhopadhyay 2014; Moran 2011]). These
10 Ireland 0.45% investments can be substantial, such as the cur-
Fig. 20.18  Top 10 aid donor countries, 2012. The Office
rent Chinese investments in mining and other
for Economic Cooperation and Development also lists industries in sub-Saharan Africa (Kachiga 2013),
countries by the amount of official development assis- or small, depending on the financial needs and
tance (ODA) they give as a percentage of their gross business prospects of particular industries (e.g.,
national income. Five countries met the longstanding UN
target for an ODA/GNI ratio of 0.7 % in 2013 (Data from
the adoption of microcredit and microlending
Development Aid 2015) schemes). In all cases, these investments have
had a substantial impact on the economies of the
COUNTRY AID RECEIVED countries in which the investments are made,
1 $6.73 billion especially those countries that become highly
Afghanistan
dependent on FDI funds to enter and sustain a
2 Israel $6.18 billion
global economic presence. In every case, FDI
3 Vietnam $4.12 billion
strengthens business and, in turn, their positive
4 Ethiopia $3.26 billion outcome further strengthens FDI initiatives.
5 Turkey $3.03 billion Foreign direct investments generally take one
6 Congo, Dem. Rep. $2.86 billion of three approaches (Guidewhois.com 2012;
7 Tanzania $2.83 billion Foreign direct investments 2015):
8 Kenya $2.65 billion
9 Côte d'Ivoire $2.64 billion 1. Horizontal FDI: FDI in which a firm dupli-
10 Bangladesh $2.15 billion cates its home country-based functions in a
host country, such as MacDonald’s opening
Fig. 20.19 Top 10 aid recipient countries, 2012 branches in a wide range of countries.
(Development Aid 2015)
716 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

Fig. 20.20 Charitable
giving, United States, $17.77
2014, USD 358.38 billion $28.13
(Data from Giving USA
2015)
Individual Giving
$53.97
Foundaon Giving

Bequest Giving

Corporate Giving
$258.51

Fig. 20.21 Distribution $10.50

$6.42
of charitable funds, 2014, $15.10
USD 358.38 billion (Data Religion
$17.23
from Giving USA 2015)
Educaon
Human Services
$26.29 $114.90
Gis to Foundaons
Health
$30.37
Public-Society Benefit
Arts, Culture, and Humanies
$41.62 Internaonal Affairs
$54.62 Environment/Animals
$42.10 Gis to Individuals

2. Platform FDI: FDI that occurs using a third The countries that receive FDI are expected
country or corporation to extend its core activ- to, and most with low levels of public corruption
ities abroad, e.g., financial and investment ser- do, experience substantial economic and social
vices such as Deloitte Consulting that open benefits through a selection of the following
major branches in a second country (England approaches: (1) low corporate and individual
or France), which, in turn, opens new branches income tax rates; (2) tax holidays; (3) tax forgive-
in developing countries (North African Arab ness; (4) preferential trade tariffs; (5) the creation
States). of special economic or export processing zones;
3. Vertical FDI: FDI of a vertical nature occurs (6) maquiladoras (large-scale factories located
when firms seek to diversify their core func- primarily along the Mexico-US border); (7) free
tions or activities though a secondary coun- land or land subsidies; (8) reimbursement for
try—situations in which domestic businesses relocation and expatriation costs; (9)
perform value-adding activities stage by stage ­infrastructure subsidies; and (10) research and
in a vertical fashion in a host country (via the development support (Foreign direct investment
addition of new product lines or production 2015). Other variations of FDI usually include
techniques that are introduced gradually over tax forgiveness or exclusion arrangements.
time in developing countries, especially in the Examples of each of these approaches to FDI are
mining and other extraction industries). interspersed in Parts III and IV.
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 717

FDI is one of the most effective approaches to h­ owever, that despite this progress, the number of
economic development in which businesses can people living in extreme poverty globally, though
engage at great benefit to themselves and to the substantially lower, still remains unacceptably
host countries. This method has been effective high (World Bank 2015b).
from the perspective of international technical
assistance (Chaudhuri and Mukhopadhyay • According to the most recent estimates, in
2014). 2012, 12.7 % of the world’s population resid-
ing in developing countries lived at or below
USD 1.90 a day (Fig. 20.22). That’s down
20.6.6 The Halving of Poverty from 37 % in 1990 and 44 % in 1981. This
Since 1981—Dramatic Gains means that, in 2012, 896 million people resid-
in Well-Being ing in developing countries lived on less than
USD 1.90 a day, compared with 1.95 billion in
No phenomenon in development has been stud- 1990, and 1.99 billion in 1981.
ied more often and in greater depth than that of • Progress has been slower at higher poverty
poverty. The reasons for this concern are three- lines. Over 2.1 billion people in the develop-
fold: (1) poverty and poverty rates provide us ing world lived on less than USD 3.10 a day in
with a reasonably clear picture of the extent to 2012, compared with 2.9 billion in 1990, so
which people are able to participate as either con- even though the share of the population living
sumers, producers, or both in their local, regional, under that threshold nearly halved, from 66 %
and national economies; (2) changes in poverty in 1990 to 35 % in 2012, far too many people
rates provide us with important indicators con- are living with far too little.
cerning the changing capacity of people, busi-
nesses, and governments to provide for at least 20.6.6.1 C  ountries and Regions
the basic social and material needs of their popu- Experiencing the Most
lations; and, (3) poverty rates serve as a base of Dramatic Reductions
comparison between the differing economic in Poverty
development levels of nations and geographic As is apparent from the discussion above, global
regions. progress in reducing poverty worldwide has
The primary agency within the United Nations been, and is likely to remain, quite uneven, albeit
system of agencies most concerned with poverty dramatic shifts in poverty reduction are positive
and poverty alleviation is the World Bank. and increasing in virtually every world region
Indeed, the Bank’s headquarters in Washington (Fig. 20.22).
DC has inscribed on its walls “Our Dream Is a
World Free of Poverty.” The World Bank also • East Asia saw the most dramatic reduction in
sets the operational criteria used in the determi- extreme poverty, from 80 % in 1981 to 7.2 %
nation of poverty (currently set at USD 1.90 per in 2012. In South Asia, the share of the popu-
capita per day) both within and between nations lation living in extreme poverty is now the
and, in turn, monitors the extent of global prog- lowest since 1981, dropping from 58 % in
ress in eliminating poverty and its causes (World 1981 to 18.7 % in 2012. Poverty in sub-­
Bank 2015b). Saharan Africa stood at 42.6 % in 2012.
In the Bank’s October, 2015 report to the UN • China alone accounted for most of the decline
General Assembly it announced that there has in extreme poverty over the past three decades.
been marked progress on reducing poverty over Between 1981 and 2011, 753 million people
the past decades. The world attained the first moved above the USD 1.90-a-day threshold.
Millennium Development Goal target—to cut the During the same time, the developing world as
1990 poverty rate in half by 2015—5 years ahead a whole saw a reduction in poverty of 1.1
of schedule, in 2010. The Bank indicated, billion.
718 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

70 2015 estimates (2011 PPS, $1.90)

Regional Poverty Headcount Rate (%)

2014 estimates (2005 PPS, $1.25)
60

50

40

30

20

10

0
1990 1999 2011

East Asia and Pacific Europe and Central Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa

Fig. 20.22  World poverty rates by region: 1990, 1999, and 2011 (using 2011 and 2015 PPP estimates) (Data from
Ferreira et al. 2015)

• In 2012, just over 77.8 % of the extremely 20.6.6.2 S  outh Asia’s Goal of Putting
poor lived in South Asia (309 million) and Poverty in a Museum
sub-Saharan Africa (388.7 million). In addi- To a great extent, much of the reduction in South
tion, 147 million lived in East Asia and Pacific. Asian poverty occurred among women and chil-
• Fewer than 44 million of the extremely poor dren, especially as a result of ambitious programs
lived in Latin America and the Caribbean, and of microcredit, microloans, and other unparal-
Eastern Europe and Central Asia combined. leled financial instruments that make available to
the poor access to credit for establishing their
Thus, and as summarized in Fig. 20.22, con- own businesses at extremely favorable rates.
siderable progress has been realized in halving American-trained economist and banker
the total incidence of poverty from 1990 to the Muhammed Yunus and his Grameen (People’s)
present. Still more efforts directed at poverty Bank of Bangladesh were the primary forces
reduction are needed, however, if we are to suc- behind the start of these financing schemes. After
ceed in removing the social, political, and eco- years of successful experimentation, commercial
nomic drivers that sustain poverty among large banks, government, and major international
numbers of the world’s poor. development organizations developed compara-
Efforts also must be undertaken to prevent the ble approaches to the granting of credit and loans
previous poor from slipping back into poverty, a to the poor—including to the solitary poor who
phenomenon that is all too typical of many devel- live on the streets of most South Asian cities
oping and developed nations. The year 2030 has (Yunus 2007). Yunus’ statement of his goal of
been designated by the World Bank and the establishing concessionary loans to the poor was
United Nations as the target date for, once again, most clearly formulated in the closing passage of
halving the incidence of abject poverty among his widely read book, Creating a World Without
the world’s then substantially larger population. Poverty (2007). Yunus wrote,
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 719

All human beings have the inner capacity not only poverty levels in the newly independent countries
to care for themselves but also to contribute to
of Eastern Europe—some of which are now at
increasing the well-being of the world as a whole.
Some get the chance to explore their potential to least middle-income member states or candidate
some degree. But many never get any opportunity members of the EU, such as Croatia, Bulgaria,
to unwrap this wonderful gift they were born with. Romania, and the Czech Republic. Others, par-
They die with their gifts unexplored, and the world
ticularly the Islamic nations of Central Asia, con-
is deprived of all they could have done…. It is pos-
sible to eliminate poverty from our world because tinue to struggle with the challenges of economic
it is not natural to human beings—it is artificially and ideological transformation resulting from the
imposed on them. Let’s dedicate ourselves to collapse of the former communist systems under
bringing an end to it at the earliest possible date
which they functioned. It is likely that they will
and putting poverty in the museums once and for
all (p. 233). require another 5–10 years before they attain a
level of social growth comparable to other, more
Dr. Yunus went on to win the Nobel Prize for politically progressive, successor states to the
Peace for his pioneering work in lifting hundreds former Soviet Union (Freedom House 2015). The
of thousands, likely millions, of women and chil- presence of authoritarian regimes is especially
dren out of desperate poverty. His approach of prominent among the poorest and least socially
extending credit to the “non-credit-worthy,” even developed of the Islamic countries of central and
in the small amounts of the typical loan (USD central south Asia.
50–USD 200) reflects an enormous technological
change in economics never before seen. 20.6.6.4 A  dvances in Reducing Adult
and Child Poverty in Central
20.6.6.3 P  overty Reduction in Central and South America
Asia and Other Successor Poverty rates in Latin America also declined dra-
States to the Former Soviet matically—from a high of 24 % in 1981 to a low
Union of 9 % in 2011 (Fig. 20.22). These regional
The Central European and Eastern Europe suc- advances in poverty reduction are remarkable
cessor states to the former Soviet Union experi- given the comparatively brief period in which
enced levels of personal and institutional poverty they occurred and the rapidly expanding popula-
never before witnessed in these countries prior to tion size of each of the region’s countries. These
the collapse of the former Soviet Union in advances also reflect the important contributions
December 1991. Not only did the economic sys- made by the commercial sectors in providing
tems of these countries collapse but so, too, did leadership in creating sustainable jobs and other
their ideological and philosophical understand- employment opportunities that pay well above
ings of economics as they transitioned from a subsistence levels. Urbanization is a prominent
Marxist central approach to one dominated by feature of poverty reduction in Latin America
regional and global free market economic forces. and the Caribbean as well, despite the growing
These transitions resulted in the economic dis- numbers of people living in the region’s many
placement of much of the populations of these slums, shantytowns, and favelas. Further, urban-
countries, a reality with which many continue to ized Latinos experience higher levels of well-­
struggle today. Even so, the bottom of the eco- being than do those continuing to reside in rural
nomic collapse that occurred in this region has communities and small-to-moderate-sized cities
likely already been reached for the majority of (LatinoBarometer 2015).
Central Asian nations. Today, most are experi- The North American Free Trade Agreement,
encing levels of recovery that equal, or actually or NAFTA, between Canada, Mexico, and the
exceed, those that existed during even their most United States also has had a major impact on the
stable years under communist rule. development of businesses not only in Mexico,
Poverty levels in Central Asia are compara- the region’s northern most country, but also in
tively low relative to other parts of Asia as are other subregions of Latin America on which
720 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

Mexico draws for its raw materials and, in some Violence is closely associated with poverty in
cases, low-skilled labor. Many of these latter rich countries as is exposure to illicit drug use,
workers are women who undertake piecemeal sex abuse, alcohol consumption, and other social
work within their own homes, e.g., handicrafts, pathologies (Worthington 2015). High premature
small-scale electronic assembly. Unfortunately, school dropout rates occur more frequently
considerable violence co-exists within many of among children living in impoverished commu-
Mexico’s economic trading zones located along nities as well. Pregnancy is a major threat to eco-
its border with the United States, such as Ciudad nomic security among these young people who
Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Tijuana, among others. often are poorly educated and who contribute to
This violence is tied directly to the sudden wealth higher transgenerational fertility and poverty
of these communities and to the emergence in rates (Wagmiller and Adelman 2009).
recent decades of large-scale drug cartels, human
trafficking, and other deeply enmeshed criminal
networks that feed off the new financial prosper- 20.7 Population, Population
ity of the region. It is unlikely that all of these Growth, and Well-Being
organizations will be brought under control any
time soon, given the high levels of internal public Population size depends on three factors, all
corruption associated with them. which affect personal and collective well-being:
(1) fertility, (2) migration, and (3) mortality.
20.6.6.5 Poverty Reduction Success Fertility and migration are added to compute
in Other World Regions total population size; deaths are then subtracted
and Subregions from the total to arrive at net changes in popula-
Tremendous successes also have occurred in tion size (which can be higher or lower depend-
reducing extreme poverty in other world regions. ing on the situation of the country in which the
These gains are especially noteworthy among the changes take place). Viewed from a global per-
developed countries of Oceania (Australia and spective, changes in population size are insepa-
New Zealand) as well as among selected small rable from overall levels of well-being, including
island developing countries of the South Pacific those experienced by communities and families.
(Tahiti, Samoa). Reductions in extreme poverty This relationship was recognized as early as 1946
also have occurred in the two nations of the North by famed sociologist Wilbert Moore, an early
American region, with the most significant reduc- pioneer in quality-of-life and well-being research
tions taking place in Canada. (Moore 1946). High net population growth, for
Poverty levels in the United States, however, example, places increasing demands on govern-
continue to range between 10 % and 13 %, a ment to provide more food and land space, to
range that has remained more or less constant for provide more schools and health care, and to
more than a century. Today, more than 47 million enhance opportunities so that as newborns age
poor in the United States, including one in five they can participate more fully in all aspects of
American children, are classified officially as liv- communal life. In general, economically
ing in poverty. A disproportionate share of these advanced nations can meet these needs readily,
children are children of color, children living in especially countries such as France that are eager
rural communities, and children living in single-­ to increase the numbers of their native popula-
parent families (most of whom are headed by tion. For economically developing countries,
women who themselves were previously children however, higher rates of population growth can
of poverty). A significant number of these chil- frustrate their social agendas by challenging their
dren also live in foster care or in institutions that ability to meet national social goals as they seek
provide for the care of abandoned, neglected, to meet the most basic needs of their population
unwanted, disabled, and physically abused chil- (i.e., 80 % of the world’s population live in devel-
dren (United States Children’s Bureau 2013). oping countries and 80 % of births occurring in
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 721

these countries take place among the poorest Predicament of Mankind; Mankind at the Turning
populations [UNPOP 2015a]). High fertility Point: The Second Report of the Club of Rome;
rates, in combination with longer annual years of and Reshaping the International Order.
life expectancy, the new norm for developing Fortunately, these dire warnings have now
countries, place heavy demands on the financial subsided due to a combination of the “green revo-
resources of many of these countries. lution” and technological innovations in agricul-
ture, access to reliable forms of contraception,
and decisions by families themselves to limit the
Almost half of the population of the world number and spacing of their offspring. Reliable
lives in rural regions and mostly in a state programs of social welfare that provide for the
of poverty. Such inequalities in human social, economic, and health needs of popula-
development have been one of the primary
reasons for unrest and, in some parts of the tions as they age also have had a dramatic impact
world, even violence. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, on reducing population growth (Dorling 2013).
Indian Politician and Statesman (1931– Adults no longer need to depend on their children
2015) (Kalam n.d.) as sources of financial support during periods of
predictable income insecurity—old age and dis-
ability, job loss, sickness, and an abundance of
age-dependent children (ISSA 2015).
20.7.1 Population Growth
Over the Long Term
20.7.2 World Population Size
Today’s global population of 7.4 billion people is by Region
the largest ever recorded in human history.
Indeed, the current size of the world’s population Population size varies appreciably by geopolitical
exceeds the combined population of all of the region. Figure 20.23 shows regional population
people who walked the Earth since before the sizes for 1900, 1950, 2013 and that estimated for
beginning of the Industrial Revolution (1750– 2050. The world’s most populous region in 2013,
1820/40). This growth trend is expected to con- as discussed throughout the book, is Asia (north,
tinue at more or less the same rate until about East, South, and west), which includes 60.2 % of
2050 when the global population will reach the world’s total population. Africa is the second
between 9 and 10 billion people. This projection most populous region (14.9 %); the majority of the
is far more favorable than the 12 billion that were population lives in or below the Sahara Desert.
projected to populate the earth by 2050 in the Population sizes are much smaller for Europe in
1960s when population growth rates were 2013 (10.5 %), Latin America (8.6 %), and North
increasing exponentially (UNPOP 2015b). Dire America (5.0 %) and much less than 1 % in Oceania
predictions concerning a population size of 12, or and in Australia and New Zealand (0.1 %). Of
even 13, billion people revived the early warn- importance to our discussion is that 80 % of the
ings of Thomas Malthus and other Social world’s population resides in developing Africa,
Darwinists of more than two centuries earlier Asia, and Latin America, although many of the
concerning the limited “carrying capacity” of the small island countries of the South Pacific are also
planet relative to the unlimited ability of people among the poorest, and least reachable, nations.
to reproduce. In recent years, Malthusian over- Unfortunately, 82 % of the world’s poor reside
population concerns contributed to the publica- in the most populous nations and, in the absence
tion of such foreboding books as Paul Ehrlich’s of comprehensive social welfare programs and
The Population Bomb: Population Control or services, these regions have higher than annual
Race to Oblivion and several reports issued by fertility and maternal mortality rates and lower
the highly influential Club of Rome: The Limits than annual years of life expectancy. Currently,
to Growth: A Report of the Club of Rome on the there exists no reason for believing that these
 722 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

9000 8909

8000
7052
7000
5978
Populaon (millions)

6000

5000

4000

3000 2521

2000 1650

1000

0
1900 1950 2000 2013 2050
Africa Asia Europe Lan America North America Oceania

Fig. 20.23  Chart version of world population size by major geographic region, 1900–2050 (estimated) (Data from
UNPOP 2015a, b)

underlying demographic trends will change any- that has served as their home and traditional
time soon. This reality exists despite high levels hunting ground. The two processes are inter-
of international aid and technical assistance to twined, particularly in relation to the impact of
developing countries with accelerated rates of global warming, which is steadily increasing the
population growth. Global commitment to this vulnerability of the peoples of these nations to
goal will be carried forward beginning in 2015 environmental forces over which they have no
with implementation of the Sustainable control (Beinecke and Dean 2014; National
Development Goals. Resources Defense Council 2015; Poppel 2002).
As one would expect, the regions experienc-
ing the most serious challenges to well-being are
also those that are the most and least populous. 20.7.3 Rural to Urban Migration
The flow of resources to these countries is slow and Its Impact on Well-Being
and, in many cases, is the result of development
aid (OECD-ODA 2015), outright charity (NCCS Everywhere in the world, rural to urban migra-
2015), and time-limited grants made by globally tion is a defining feature of modern life, i.e., more
wealthy philanthropists (Bellah and Madsen than 83 % of the population of economically
2007; Damen and McCuistion 2010; Kittross advanced countries now lives in cities as does
2013). This pattern is not likely to change appre- 46 % of the population of developing countries
ciably over the near term given the numbers of (Fig. 20.24). In addition, the percentage of peo-
people in need of basic services. The situation is ple migrating to urban areas continues to increase
especially problematic among the Arctic people at a rapid pace (UNPOP 2015b). These migra-
of the circumpolar region and the people of low-­ tions take three forms: (1) internal migration of
lying islands of the South Pacific. The latter face people from rural communities to urban centers
the inevitability of large portions of their nations (Ferrin 2010; United Nations-Habitat 2015); (2)
becoming submerged due to global warming, external migration of people to another nation in
whereas the former are dealing with the rapidly search of increased economic opportunity and
melting snow and ice of the circumpolar region political freedom; and (3) forced migration of
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 723

2020 51.3 56.0 80.8

2015 48.7 53.9 78.8
2010 46.0 51.6 77.5
2005 43.0 49.1 75.9
2000 40.1 46.7 74.1
1995 37.5 44.8 73.2
1990 34.9 43.0 72.3
1985 32.3 41.2 71.3
1980 29.5 39.4 70.1
1975 27.0 37.7 68.7
1970 25.3 36.6 66.6
1965 24.0 35.5 63.9
1960 21.9 33.6 60.9
1955 19.6 31.4 57.7
1950 17.6 29.4 54.5

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0
Percent Urban Populaon
Total Less Developed More Developed

Fig. 20.24  Percentage of world’s population distributed by rural and urban dwellers and persons living in more and
less developed regions, 1950–2020 (Data from UNPOP 2015a, b)

people due to internal conflicts or intraregional improved their own emotional and physical sta-
wars and other internal or regional conflicts. Each tus whereas the receiving countries frequently
type of migration affects well-being differently, experience increasing levels of financial stress.
with the most favorable levels reported for skilled Another effect of the migrations from conflict
workers who migrate voluntarily to urban areas zones is the loss of human resources (brain drain)
in search of improved economic or social condi- from the very societies in which their contribu-
tions (Veenhoven 2015). tions are most urgently needed. Refugees also
Migration has had a profound impact on the experience the loss of large numbers of members
population size of nations but not on the overall of their extended families as well as the rich kin-
population of the planet. Involuntary migration ship and social network ties that existed in their
also significantly impacts the well-being of country of origin.
receiving countries, especially countries that From a positive perspective, voluntary migra-
receive little or no external support to finance the tion of people from rural to urban centers has
basic needs of large numbers of involuntary resulted in substantial improvements in well-­
migrants, such as the forced migration of hun- being and in access to regular, well-paying
dreds of thousands of Afghanis, Iraqis, and employment, more competitive schools, and
Syrians into neighboring countries who, them- advanced health care and other systems of social
selves, are poor and are struggling to meet the care. Relocation to urban areas substantially
basic needs of their own citizens. Fortunately, the improves the quality of their lives, albeit the loss
global community in many such situations has of social capital in the process can be substantial.
provided money and in-kind contributions to Even so, urban migrants make regular visits back
make these “temporary” resettlements possible. to their rural communities to sustain their well-­
When viewed from a well-being perspective, being and that of their distant relatives and kin-
resettled refugees typically have appreciably ship systems. Financial remittances from the
724 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

migrants, in this case including migrant and con- sion. The figure identifies just 20 of the largest
tract labor, to their distant families also have urban agglomerations but easily could include
added substantially to the income base of their 100 or more metropolitan areas that are home to
community or country of origin. In 2013 alone, 10 or more million people—all of which would
known global foreign remittances from migrant be easily recognized by the reader. Some of these
workers exceeded USD 414 billion (World Bank cities, such as Mexico City and Tokyo, have met-
2013a, b). ropolitan populations exceeding 25 to 30 or more
million people. The long-term implications of the
rise of global cities, among others, is that,
20.7.4 The Rise of Global Cities ­increasingly, growing numbers of people will be
attracted to these urban centers, especially people
Figure 20.25 identifies the world’s largest urban migrating from rural to urban centers. In addition
centers—cities that function as global centers of to rising globalization, rural communities will
financial, industrial, artistic, and cultural expres- steadily lose much of their working age popula-

Tokyo, Japan 38.2

Delhi, India* 25.6
Shanghai, China* 23.0
Mexico City, Mexico 21.7
New York-Newark, USA 21.3
Bombay, India* 21.2
Sao Paulo, Brazil* 21.0
Bejing, China* 18.1
Dhaka, Bangladesh* 17.4
Karachi, Pakistan* 17.4
Kolkata, India* 15.1
Buenos Aires, ArgenŠna* 14.2
Los Angeles, USA 14.1
Lagos, Nigeria* 13.1
Manila, Philippines* 12.9
Istanbul, Turkey* 12.5
Guangzhou Area* 12.5
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil* 12.4
Shenzen, China* 12.4
Moscow, Russia 12.1
0 10 20 30 40
Millions

Fig. 20.25  World’s largest metropolitan areas and cities. *Asterisks indicate cities and metropolitan areas located in
socially developing or least developing countries (UNPOP 2015a, b)
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 725

tion, leaving disproportionate numbers of elderly which men and women were originally born.
persons and children in rural societies. The Such stories appear in all of the Abrahamic tradi-
resulting demographic picture is one in which tions (Jewish, Christian, and Muslim) and in the
rural communities are likely to consist primarily Hindu teachings of South Asia, albeit some of the
of age-dependent persons (young and old) who most worshipped and powerful gods (or manifes-
depend on remittances from their working-age tations of gods) are, indeed, women—Lakshmi,
family members for their basic support Durga, Kali, and Sarasvati. Polynesian culture
(Fullenkamp et al. 2008; Maimbo and Ratha also assigned high status to women deities (e.g.,
2005). This reality already exists in many of the the all-powerful goddess of volcanoes, Pelé) but,
remote rural communities of developing coun- in their daily lives, women were assigned a social
tries from which most working-age adults long status well below that of men. Elizabeth
ago migrated to economically sustainable urban Eckermann in Chap. 18 provides an in-depth dis-
centers. cussion of many of these contradictions. Other
The conclusion is that well-being and quality socially disenfranchised groups of people include
of life are closely associated with urban living. children and youth, the elderly, the poor, persons
This finding may be due to increased economic, with severe disabilities, migrants and refugees,
social, and political opportunities associated with and prisoners (International Organization for
urban life i.e., people are able to thrive at higher Migration 2015; Save the Children 2015; UNDP
levels of well-being in environments that accord 2014; UNICEF 2012).
them increased opportunities for social mobility
and access to a wide range of resources that are
less available in rural communities (Kotkin 2007; 20.8.1 Advances in the Social,
Pacione 2009; Spooner 2015). Every expectation Political, and Economic Status
exists for believing well-being in this sector will of Women
continue as increasing numbers of people benefit
from the unique socio-political-health-education Chapter 18 focuses on women and well-being.
advantages associated with urban life. As Professor Eckermann explains, well-being
research related to women has developed signifi-
cantly in the last two decades. She takes the
20.8 Well-Being reader on a historical journey through well-being
and the Advancement research, using a gender lens, exploring how
of Historically ­gender mediates socioeconomic status, age, gen-
Disadvantaged Population eration, cultural context, and race.
Groups

The concept of “historically disadvantaged popu- The education of women is the best way to
lation groups” has its origin in the UN and its save the environment. E. O. Wilson (Wilson
efforts to improve the status of persons who live n.d.)
on the periphery of society. These people include
girls and women who, for centuries, and apart
from long years of annual life expectancy, have The well-being of women has improved sig-
been historically disadvantaged relative to men. nificantly during the past 50 years but more needs
Discrimination against girls and women is evi- to be accomplished. Professor Eckermann dis-
dent in religious texts that identify Eve (the cusses key events related to the gradual disman-
woman) as being made from the rib of Adam (the tling of gender discrimination from ancient times
man) and as the one who tricked Adam into eat- to the present—from the gender equitable Chera
ing of the “forbidden fruit,” after which all of Dynasty of the Sangam Age in India (300 Before
humanity was assigned to a state outside that into the Common Era–400 Common Era), to the
726 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

United Nations MDG campaign of 2015. Major ondary education for both girls and boys).
strides toward the reduction of gender disparities Nevertheless, women and girls still suffer dis-
have been achieved in many areas—health, basic crimination and violence in every part of the
rights, leadership roles, and economic indepen- world.
dence. However, even in 2015, total gender
equality in some countries remains an elusive 20.8.1.1 Health and  Women’s
dream. Gender inequality is most pronounced in Well-Being
the least developed countries and is concentrated A defining domain of women’s well-being is
in the Arab states of North Africa and West Asia, health, and the key indicator used by quality-of-­
South Asia and wide expanses of sub-Saharan life researchers to gauge progress in this area is
Africa. maternal mortality rate. Much progress has been
The UN reports that many countries have made in reducing maternal mortality over the
failed to decrease already high levels of infant years, but unfortunately the data show wide vari-
and child mortality rates as well as maternal mor- ations across regions. Specifically, maternal mor-
tality rates. Challenges lay ahead. In education, tality rates are high in Third and Fourth World
the challenge is gender parity in primary educa- countries. For example, in parts of Nigeria,
tion (UNDP 2014). Only two thirds of develop- maternal deaths registered more than 3200 of
ing countries have achieved parity for women in 100,000 births annually over the past decade. The
secondary education. In employment, women in problem is most accentuated among women of
many parts of the world lack equitable paid indigenous populations of First World countries
employment (e.g., women in Northern Africa (e.g., Canada, Australia). Overall, significant
hold fewer than one in five paid jobs in the non- progress has been made in reducing maternal
agricultural sector). In politics, much disparity in mortality rates especially in the Americas,
leadership positions in government still exists. Europe, and the Western Pacific; however, Africa
As a result of continuing gender disparities, and the Middle East fall short on this critical
but building on past and recent successes, in 2015 measure of well-being, and the countries of Latin
the United Nations restated the goal of gender America have showed considerable progress on
equality at the 2015 Summit on Sustainable the rate of women surviving childbirth, albeit
Development: Goal 5: Achieve gender equality their baseline was more favorable than that of
and empower all women and girls (UNDP 2014). other world regions.
The UN Web site regarding the attainment of this To obtain a more comprehensive understand-
goal states the following: ing of women’s well-being related to child bear-
Gender equality is not only a fundamental human ing, in addition to maternal mortality rates,
right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, quality-of-life researchers use other indicators
prosperous and sustainable world. Providing such as maternal morbidity and disability, typi-
women and girls with equal access to education, cally captured by measures of health-adjusted
health care, decent work, and representation in
political and economic decision-making processes life expectancy (HALE). Based on the statistics
will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societ- cited by Professor Eckermann in Chap. 18, the
ies and humanity at large. HALE rate for women in the Western Pacific
region from 2002 to 2007 was 70 to 80 years on
As reported in specialized studies conducted average in five high-income countries; con-
by the UN (UN Women 2015), considerable versely, the HALE rate, as reported in Chap. 18,
progress has occurred worldwide in achieving did not exceed 60 years in most low-income
gender parity between men and women, espe- countries. However, significant progress was
cially as a result of the gains made through imple- noted for this latter group of countries during the
mentation of the MDGs focused on women decades that followed the end of the Second
(which include equal access to primary and sec- World War.
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 727

20.8.1.2 Education and  Women’s Unfortunately, men have not made as much
Well-Being progress as women in assuming major social
Considerable progress in education for girls and roles in the domestic sphere—a sphere of influ-
women has been documented. Education has ence traditionally relegated to women. This out-
been recognized as a means to change women’s come has resulted in double-shift labor for
lives and to improve gender equality in all walks working women—on the job and at home—
of life. Educated women assume leadership posi- which has adversely impacted their well-being.
tions in politics, administration, and the Women in single-parent households suffer even
economy. greater burdens than those living in two-adult
Since 1990, the good news is that female lit- households. On the bright side, gender disparity
eracy and the number of girls completing pri- in income has been reduced in spheres such as
mary, secondary, and even tertiary education has medicine and law. However, gender disparity has
increased dramatically. The bad news is that the not improved appreciably in other sectors of the
number of women in developing countries that economy and in occupations that continue to be
offer some secondary education remains low primarily relegated to women such as teaching,
compared to that of men (UNDP 2013). This sit- nursing, social work, home care, and skilled
uation does not mean that things cannot change health care.
for the better. Professor Eckermann (Chap. 18)
points to the example of the state of Kerala in 20.8.1.4 Subjective Well-Being
India. Government initiatives in education have Among Women
been successful, producing rapid and dramatic The quality-of-life research literature suggests
results. These initiatives have produced the best that women tend to report higher levels of subjec-
health and well-being outcomes in all of India tive well-being than men in some contexts but not
despite Kerala being one of the poorest and most in others. That is, research provides contradictory
densely populated states of India. Improved findings on the differences between the quality-­
female literacy rates had a positive effect on of-­life experiences of men and women. It may be
health, employment, and subjective well-being. that men are socialized to be more resilient than
women in some cultures, whereas the opposite is
20.8.1.3 Income and  Women’s true in other cultures.
Well-Being
Steadily increasing levels of income have played
a significant role in reducing gender disparities 20.9 Well-Being Advances
and in making progress toward gender equality in Other Sectors
and women’s well-being. Women’s income and
economic standing increased tremendously after A number of approaches exist for assessing
the Second World War. Increased income played changes in the well-being of populations, particu-
a significant role in far-reaching transformations larly those aspects related to the objective condi-
of gender relationships. A large number of tions of quality of life. They include (1) the
women moved from the domestic sphere to the United Nations Development Programme’s HDI
public sphere (i.e., paid labor) in many parts of (UNDP 2014); (2) Anderson’s Human Suffering
the world. This movement paved the way for the Index (Anderson 2014); (3) Estes’ Weighted
breakdown of traditional gender roles—women Index of Social Progress (Estes 2015); and many
chose occupations that had previously been other approaches that assess changes over time in
reserved for men. Conversely, men became more selected sectors of human development such as
accepting of formerly feminized occupations corruption and terrorism (Estes and Sirgy 2014;
(e.g., primary school teaching and nursing). This International Institute for Economics and Peace
change, in turn, has led to social, legislative, and 2014; National Consortium for the Study of
political calls for equal pay. Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism 2014).
728 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

(See Appendix B for a list of the major indices ­systems in many of the newly independent states
used regionally and globally to assess changes in of Central Asia that resulted from this collapse,
well-being over time.) These assessments also the percentage of the world’s population living in
have a strong relationship with our self-­ democratic societies increased from 46 % in
assessment of quality of life or well-being, dis- 1990 to 63 % by 2013 (Freedom House 2015).
cussed elsewhere in this chapter. Quality of life That number, as summarized in the data reported
among chronically hungry people, for example, in Fig. 20.26, continues to increase each year
is assessed to be low inasmuch as few people are (Currie-Alder and Kanbur 2014; Stutz and Warf
able to experience high levels of well-being while 2011).
they and their children go hungry. On the other This worldwide increase in political freedom
hand, it is possible to experience progressively is one of the most important gains in well-being
higher levels of well-being as long as the most since the end of the Second World War. Today,
basic physical and security needs are met on a the protection of civil and political rights is
sustainable basis (UNICEF 2012; Save the prominent on the social agendas of all nations—
Children 2015). those that are already free and those that are
moving toward full freedom or will achieve that
goal within the next decade. The dramatic
Human development is a process of enlarg- increase in the number of people living under
ing people’s choices. The most critical of conditions of freedom is one of the great accom-
these wide-ranging choices are to live a plishments of the last quarter of the twentieth
long and healthy life, to be educated and to century and the first decade of the twenty-first
have access to resources needed for a decent century. The expectation is that the numbers of
standard of living. (UNDP 1990, p. 1) countries and the percentage of the world’s pop-
Human Development Report (UNDP 1990) ulation living in freedom will increase steadily
during much of the first half of the current
century.

20.9.1 Advances in Participatory

Democracies 20.9.2 Public Corruption: Significant
Declines Still a Major
Participation in making and shaping the political Challenge to Well-Being
decisions and public policies by which one lives
is a critical element in freedom and well-being. Political corruption involves the use of power by
Tragically, large numbers of the world’s popula- public officials for personal gain. Corruption can
tion continue to live under authoritarian regimes take the form of bribery, extortion, cronyism,
(Freedom House 2015). In 1990, for example, nepotism, patronage, influence peddling, graft,
Transparency International (2014) estimated that and embezzlement. Political corruption can occur
only 46 % of the world’s population lived in soci- at the highest levels of government and may
eties that were ruled by freely elected participa- involve tens or even hundreds of millions of dol-
tory democracies. Most people lived in countries lars, such as occurred with the Marcos regime of
classified as either “not free” or “partly free,” the Philippines. Corruption also can occur at the
including such highly populated countries as the micro level, the sphere in which people live their
People’s Republic of China, the Union of Soviet daily lives, involving small sums of money or
Socialist Republics, and many smaller countries other types of economic exchanges in order to
located in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan obtain even the most perfunctory public services
Africa (Freedom House 2015). Following the (e.g., getting passports stamped, legal documents
collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 issued, trash picked up, food weighed accu-
and the subsequent establishment of parliamentary rately). Corruption also facilitates criminal enter-
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 729

250
63% 64% 63%
60% 59%

200

46%
Total Number of Countries
150
Total Number of Electoral
Democracies
100
Percent World's Populaon
Residing in Electoral
Democracies
50

0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2013

Fig. 20.26  Number of countries and percentage of the world’s population living in democratic and nondemocratic
countries 1990 to 2013 by 5-year intervals (Transparency International 2014)

prises and, in turn, leads to a considerable sense 20.9.2.1 L  ow Levels of Perceived

of “disease” among those who have no control Public Corruption
over it. Figure 20.27 presents Transparency
The misuse of public trust for personal gain International’s list of the 20 most corruption-free
can have an extremely negative impact on the nations in the world. Nearly all of these countries
well-being of people in that it undermines their are member states of the Organization for
sense of agency in getting necessary activities Economic Cooperation and Development and all
accomplished without having to “oil” the wheels have in place a variety of mechanisms for expos-
of the corrupt system to which they are subjected. ing either public or private corruption, and in
Such practices block the independence of indi- most cases, both. These countries are judged to
viduals and even that of nations. In turn, recurrent be safe places with which to do business.
and widespread corruption within nations detracts Individuals, in turn, will never, or at least rarely,
substantially from the willingness of other be asked to pay the “corruption taxes” that are
nations and businesses to engage in commerce imposed on citizens of and visitors to high-­
with those countries in which corruption is corruption countries. Not surprisingly, nearly all
pervasive. of the countries identified in the figure are listed
So important is the issue of corruption to qual- as countries characterized by either “high” or
ity of life that, throughout the world, dozens of “very high” levels of human development on the
nongovernmental groups have emerged in recent HDI. Also, people rate their subjective quality of
decades that monitor and seek to reduce public life much more favorably in these countries than
corruption in nations. Some of these groups, such in the high-corruption countries.
as the Berlin-based think tank Transparency
International, have been extremely effective in 20.9.2.2 H  igh Levels of Perceived
identifying and changing patterns of public cor- Public Corruption
ruption. They have added substantially to the Figure 20.28 shows the 20 countries identified by
quality of life or well-being of those persons, Transparency International as having the highest
business entities, and others who have been vic- levels of public corruption. Almost all of the
timized through public corruption. countries are located in developing Africa and
730 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

RANK COUNTRY SCORE RANK COUNTRY SCORE

1ST Denmark 92 174 TH Somalia 8
2ND New Zealand 91 174 TH North Korea 8
3RD Finland 89 173 RD Sudan 11
4TH Sweden 87 172 ND Afghanistan 12
5TH Norway 86 171 ST South Sudan 15
6TH Switzerland 86 170 TH Iraq 16
7TH Singapore 84 169 TH Turkmenistan 17
8TH Netherlands 83 166 TH Uzbekistan 18
9TH Luxembourg 82 166 TH Libya 18
10TH Canada 81 166 TH Eritrea 18
11TH Australia 80 161 ST Yemen 19
12TH Germany 79 161 ST Venezuela 19
12TH Iceland 79 161 ST Haiti 19
14TH United Kingdom 78 161 ST Guinea-Bissau 19
15TH Belgium 76 161 ST Angola 19
15TH Japan 76 159 TH Syria 20
17TH Barbados 74 159 TH Burundi 20
17TH Hong Kong 74 156 TH Zimbabwe 21
17TH Ireland 74 156 TH Myanmar 21
17TH United States 74 156 TH Cambodia 21

Fig. 20.27  Countries with the lowest levels of perceived Fig. 20.28  Countries with the highest levels of perceived
public corruption. Arrows indicate change in rank posi- public corruption. Arrows indicate change in rank posi-
tion relative to the prior year: yellow = no change; green = tion relative to the prior year: yellow = no change; green =
positive change; and red = negative change (Data from positive change; and red = negative change (Data from
Foreign Direct Investment 2015) Foreign Direct Investment 2015)

Asia and possess vast stores of natural and human 20.9.2.3 Public Corruption
resources, albeit they seem unable to take advan- and the Road Ahead
tage of these resources to promote social, politi- Unlike many of the overarching issues discussed
cal, and economic well-being for their people. in this chapter, the well-being challenges associ-
The majority of these countries also are politi- ated with public corruption remain a central issue
cally autocratic, and most are besieged by inter- on the world agenda. Reductions in corruption
nal turmoil or open conflicts with neighboring have occurred in economically advanced coun-
states on whom they depend for access to bring tries. However, in much of the developing world,
their goods and services to the international corruption is a phenomenon that persists and sig-
markets. nificantly undermines the sense of well-being
Not surprisingly, the majority of countries experienced by people at all levels of social
characterized as having high levels of public cor- organization. Corruption is a serious issue in
­
ruption also are grouped with nations with the terms of the history of well-being and is reflected
lowest levels of human development. Self-­ in the objective and subjective dimensions of how
assessed happiness and life satisfaction levels are we assess quality of life. Having to pay bribes, no
low in these countries. Rarely do any of these matter how small, to gain access to goods and
countries use their natural or human resources to services to which one already is entitled is demor-
promote peace and stability either within or alizing and weakens the social fabric on which
across their borders. nations and people depend. Corruption also pre-
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 731

vents many legitimate businesses from engaging partner violence have declined significantly as
in commerce with such countries, thereby further well (Pinker 2011; Pinker and Mack 2014).
depriving those countries of significant opportu- Halloran and others believe that these important
nities on which broad-based social, political, and elements in well-being will continue well into the
economic development is premised. future with the result that fewer and fewer people
will perish because of war-related and interper-
sonal violence (Halloran 2015).
20.9.3 Sharp Decline in Violence-­
Related Deaths
20.10 A
 dvances in Subjective
Although the news media seem to focus on armed Well-Being
conflict and casualties of war (i.e., fatalities) in
places such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Self-assessments represent an important compo-
and Ukraine, the fact is that the number of war nent of measuring well-being. The majority of
fatalities is at its lowest point in human history. these assessments are provided by national sur-
Today’s world is particularly peaceful. There are veys and polls such the WVS, which is well rec-
fewer wars and fewer people dying in wars than at ognized by quality-of-life researchers. The WVS
any time in history (Halloran 2015; SIPRI 2014). uses the following survey item to capture subjec-
Neil Halloran, a specialist in cinematic data tive well-being: “All things considered, how sat-
visualization (http://www.neilhalloran.com/), isfied are you with your life as a whole these
and his team of technical specialists have con- days?” Responses to this survey question are cap-
firmed that since the end of the Second World tured on a 10-point scale ranging from 1 (com-
War, the number of deaths associated with vio- pletely dissatisfied) to 10 (completely satisfied).
lence has dropped precipitously. This finding is Trend analyses based on WVS data show that
counterintuitive to public perception, but the pat- from 1981 to 2007 subjective well-being rose in
tern holds up under scrutiny (Fig. 20.29). The 45 of 52 countries for which long-term data are
rate of homicides in most areas of the world, for available. WVS experts attribute this positive
example, has steadily declined—from 7.1 homi- trend in subjective well-being to increases in eco-
cides per 100,000 people in 2003 to 6.2 in 2012. nomic development, democratization, and rising
The rates of rape or sexual assault and of intimate social tolerance.

Fig. 20.29  Declining war fatalities over time (Pinker as cited by Halloran 2015; reprinted with permission)
732 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

Professors Møller and Roberts note that rela-

Well-being cannot exist just in your own tively few countries in sub-Saharan Africa have
head. Well-being is a combination of feel-
ing good as well as actually having mean-
mean scores above the midpoint (5.0). These
ing, good relationships and accomplishment. countries include Malawi, South Africa, Nigeria,
Martin Seligman (Seligman n.d.) Djibouti, Chad, and Namibia. They also note that
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/ the overall annual level of satisfaction for all of
quotes/keywords/well-being.html#1qFub3 the countries in sub-Saharan Africa is 4.4, which
L58bXRMhRI.99 is below that of North Africa (5.6) and the world
(5.9). The authors attribute the low satisfaction
scores to the reality on the ground, namely pov-
erty, economic inequality, civil strife, and poor
Despite the seeming universality of the con- governance.
cepts contained in this question, in reality, impor-
tant cross-national and cross-­
cultural
understandings are associated with each of the 20.10.2 Subjective Well-Being
major concepts. Therefore, and to date at least, in Latin America
most opinion polls have been limited to either
national or to culturally comparable regional lev- Professors Mariano Rojas and Jose Garcia (Chap.
els (AsiaBarometer 2015; European Commission 8) report that Gallup Survey data show that 10 of
2015; Inoguchi 2015; LatinoBarometer 2015). the 11 countries in the world with people indicat-
Rarely do we have subjective assessments that ing a high degree of subjective well-being are in
attempt to include the world as a whole. The con- Latin America. That is, Latin Americans clearly
ceptual and methodological problems associated are happiest compared to other world regions.
with conducting such polls at this level of analy- The data show that Latin Americans have life sat-
sis are just too great to render polls at this level isfaction levels that, in general, are at least as
reliable and valid. Therefore, this section focuses high as those of the Europeans and Anglo-­
only on the responses of people to polling ques- Saxons. Specifically, annual life satisfaction
tions administered at either the national or the scores in the four more populous countries in
culturally comparable level. We do not attempt to Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and
apply or consolidate these data at the global level Argentina) are higher than those in countries
inasmuch as this level of data aggregation is not such as the United States, Germany, Australia,
valid. and Spain.
Within the region, countries such as Costa
Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras,
20.10.1 Subjective Well-Being Mexico, and Guatemala score the highest on life
in Sub-Saharan Africa satisfaction. The survey data show that the trend
during the last decade seems mostly positive,
In Chap. 7 on sub-Saharan Africa, Professors with only a few exceptions such as El Salvador,
Møller and Roberts provide empirical evidence Venezuela, Honduras, and Chile.
on levels of life satisfaction for 35 sub-Saharan The authors attribute the high satisfaction
African nations between 2000 and 2009. They scores to good access to health, education, and
report an appreciable spread in national averages other material benefits. Although the income of
in life satisfaction, with the highest rating of 6.2 the majority of Latin Americans is not as high as
(on a 10-point scale with 10 being “very satis- that of those living in the developed countries,
fied” and 1 being “very dissatisfied”) in Malawi the authors contend that the happiness of Latin
and the lowest rating of 2.6 in Togo. To put these Americans may be based on factors other than
figures in a global perspective, Togo was the low- economic well-being. In contrast to the Anglo-­
est ranked of 149 nations, with Costa Rica scor- Saxon world, Latin Americans may not be moti-
ing the highest (8.5). vated by material resources. Instead, emphasis is
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 733

placed more on the family and on community contrast, people in South Korea and Taiwan seem
social life. The authors point to survey data that to be less happy—just half of the population
show that the annual satisfaction with family life report they are “extremely happy” or “rather
is high, with an annual average rate of “very sat- happy.”
isfied” for Argentina and Mexico. Altogether, subjective well-being in East Asia
seems to be lower than that observed in Europe,
North America, South America, and Oceania.
20.10.3 Subjective Well-Being in Poverty, austerity, and other harsh conditions of
North America life cannot account for this decrease in happiness
because objective indicators of quality of life
In Chap. 9, Professors Richard Estes, Ken Land, paint a positive picture—people in East Asia, by
Alex Michalos, Rhonda Phillips, and Joe Sirgy and large, have good living conditions. Could it
report on how satisfied and happy Canadians and be a cultural confound? One plausible explana-
Americans are. They point to survey data show- tion is the fact that people in East Asia tend to
ing that Canada is ranked sixth in the world on express more humility in responding to survey
happiness, whereas the United States is ranked questions about their personal happiness. People
17th. In other words, despite being considered an in East Asia are influenced by Confucianism and
economic “power house,” for the United States at Buddhism. Humility plays an important role in
least, “money cannot buy happiness.” However, their psyche. Hence, people tend to report lower
North Americans seem to be materialistic. In levels of personal happiness because doing so
other words, their economic well-being is viewed shows pride that goes against their cultural pref-
by most to be an important part of their life satis- erence for public expressions of humility.
faction. To demonstrate this point, the authors
point to research that examined the relationship
between trends in median household income and 20.10.5 Subjective Well-Being
annual happiness levels. They assert that this in South Asia
research indicates that short-term increases/
decreases in median household income associ- Chapter 11 covers the well-being of people in
ated with periods of economic expansion/con- South Asia. Professors Vijay Shrotryia and
traction are reflected in short-term increases Krishna Mazumdar also discuss subjective well-­
(decreases) in annual happiness. On the average, being. They report an annual score of 4.94 (on a
the mean life satisfaction scores for people in 10-point scale) for life satisfaction for the people
Canada seem to be slightly higher than for people in South Asia (where 1 represents the bottom of
in the United States. In addition, the annual the happiness ladder or “worst possible life” and
scores in countries are stable—that is, these aver- 10 represents the “best possible life”) (Fig.
ages do not fluctuate much over time. 11.10). This response is deflated compared to
those of other world regions, particularly Europe,
North America, South America, and Oceania.
20.10.4 Subjective Well-Being Within South Asia, people in Pakistan report the
in East Asia lowest levels of life satisfaction whereas people
in India report the highest levels. Given the harsh
Professors Inoguchi and Estes (Chap. 10) discuss reality of living conditions (e.g., rampant poverty
the objective and subjective well-being of people and civil strife) in places such as Pakistan, no
in East Asia. Figure 10.22 shows statistics related wonder their life satisfaction scores seem to be
to the self-assessment of personal happiness in the most deflated.
selected East Asian countries (China, Japan, The authors also discuss Bhutan and its exper-
South Korea, and Taiwan). A slight majority of iment with the Gross National Happiness Index
people in China and Japan indicate that they are (GNH). In 1972, the Bhutanese king instituted
either “extremely happy” or “rather happy.” In gross national happiness as an important measure
734 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

of societal progress (in lieu of traditional mea- same level of happiness. Within Europe, the
sures such as GDP) and to guide public policy. In countries with highly satisfied people tend to be
2006, the Bhutan government reported that a located in northern and central Europe: Denmark,
large percentage of people in Bhutan felt happy Finland, Sweden, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium,
with life. Professors Shrotryia and Mazumdar Luxembourg, and Ireland. The same countries
attribute this level of subjective well-being to the rank highest among all of the world’s countries.
fact that Bhutan has been one of the most suc- The authors attribute this high level of subjective
cessful countries in South Asia in the develop- well-being to the fact that the countries are rela-
ment and delivery of social welfare and has a tively small, a factor that enhances social cohe-
strong record of sound macroeconomic manage- sion and national identity. These countries also
ment, good governance, and rapid development score favorably in terms of economic wealth,
of hydroelectric power resources. The authors long-term stable democracies, and welfare state
explain that gross national happiness is based on regimes.
four goals: (1) achieve equity in socioeconomic In contrast, most of the countries in southern
development; (2) preserve and promote cultural and Eastern Europe do not do as well as their
and spiritual heritage; (3) protect and preserve northern and central counterparts. These include
the environment; and (4) maintain good the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania),
governance. Western European countries with a history of
authoritarian political regimes (Greece, Portugal,
Spain), countries with a history of socialism
20.10.6 Subjective Well-Being (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary),
in Southeast Asia and Italy and Cyprus. Most of these countries are
also relatively poor economically (e.g., Greece).
Dr. Mahar Mangahas and Professor Edilberto de
Jesus describe the state of subjective well-being
of the people of Southeast Asia in Chap. 12. 20.10.8 Subjective Well-Being
These authors report that the vast majority (at in Oceania
least 90 %) of people living in Southeast Asia
(e.g., Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Professor Robert Cummins and his associate
and Indonesia) report that they are either “very Tanja Capic report in Chap. 14 on the subjective
happy” or “quite happy.” well-being of the people residing in Oceania
Within this region, they report the following (mostly in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua
ranking: Singapore is the happiest country, fol- New Guinea). These authors provide evidence
lowed by Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, that Australia is consistently in the top cluster of
Indonesia, Philippines, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and all countries in terms of subjective well-being.
Cambodia. However, as a region, the annual hap- They also point out that high levels of subjective
piness level of Southeast Asia is considerably well-being are concomitant with high levels of
below that of North America, but well above trust and low levels of perceived corruption. In
those of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. contrast, survey data show that New Zealanders’
levels of subjective well-being are lower than
those of Australians. The mean life satisfaction
20.10.7 Subjective Well-Being score in New Zealand is below the annual value
in Europe compared with those of 23 European countries.
These results are not easy to interpret, given that
Professors Wolfgang Glatzer and Jürgen Kohl Australia and New Zealand are similar in many
describe the state of subjective well-being of the respects.
people of Europe in Chap. 13. They discuss the The authors acknowledge that there are no
results of annual happiness surveys conducted reliable survey data capturing the subjective well-­
among Europeans. The major finding is that being of the people of Papua New Guinea.
Europeans and America share more or less the However, the authors indicate that the general
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 735

circumstances of living in this country are chal- 20.10.10 Subjective Well-Being

lenging in the extreme—appalling social condi- in the Countries
tions that reflect dysfunction at the highest levels; of the Middle East
hence, they do expect subjective well-being to be and Northern Africa
very low.
Professors Habib Tiliouine and Mohammed
Meziane report in Chap. 16 on the subjective
20.10.9 Subjective Well-Being well-being of the people residing in the countries
in the Nation-States of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
of the Former Eastern Bloc (the Arab states plus Israel, Turkey, and Iran).
These authors report evidence from the Gallup
Findings from the WVS reported a sharp decline World Poll indicating that the annual value for
in subjective well-being in Russia and many the countries of the MENA region is 5.8 (on a
other former communist countries during the 10-point scale where 1 represents “worst possible
1990s. Professor Carol Graham and her associate life” and 10 represents “best possible life”), with
Aurite Werman provide us with more informa- the United Arab Emirates scoring the highest
tion about this situation in Chap. 15. The authors (7.3), followed by Israel (7.0). The authors note
describe subjective well-being in terms of the that all country scores remain much lower than
transition that occurred from 1986 until 1996 and the highest score worldwide (8.5). Other surveys
the post-transition period. The authors provide show a similar pattern: Israel and most of the
much evidence suggesting that residents of the Gulf countries rank comparatively high on happi-
Russian Federation experienced lower levels of ness, with countries with a great deal of political
subjective well-being than those of developing instability and civil strife (e.g., Yemen, Iraq,
countries such as India and Nigeria. By the Syria, Lebanon, Libya, and Egypt) at the low
1990s, subjective well-being levels fell to the end. Although most people in Israel report high
lowest levels ever recorded. Before the transition levels of life satisfaction, the evidence also sug-
period, subjective well-being was not that bad. gests a great deal of stress and negative emotion.
The authors attribute this fact to the sense of The authors attribute this outcome to the security
security (e.g., guaranteed employment, a univer- threat posed by militant Palestinians and the sur-
sal safety net) that most people felt under com- rounding hostile Arab states.
munism even though communism brought with it
a lack of political freedom. The transition obliter-
ated this sense of security. The authors called this 20.11 Final Thoughts
pattern the “paradox of unhappy growth.” That is, and Recommendations
people who experience rapid change, such as for Future Research
rapid economic growth, tend to be less happy
than the average. Change brings higher levels of The focus of this chapter is to provide concluding
stress and a sense of dislocation. Hence, the commentary about the major changes in well-­
authors state that, in general, the pattern of life being experienced by the vast majority of people
satisfaction over time is V-shaped, with the low- residing in various regions of the world after the
est levels occurring as the transition progresses Second World War. We have cited, for example,
and then recovering toward pretransition levels, new and emerging studies of political life in
from roughly 2005. which people are able to participate more actively
The authors also remark on the inequality of in helping to shape the laws and public policies
life satisfaction in the transition economies. by which they would be governed. We have
Specifically, they provide evidence suggesting examined major threats to democratization—
that there were no significant differences in life especially fraud, public corruption, centralization
satisfaction between the rich and the poor. Since of political power in the hands of despots. We
1990, inequality in life satisfaction has increased have discussed the world’s rapidly changing eco-
considerably. nomic situation, especially with regard to the dis-
736 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

tribution of income and wealth across and within are discussed in detail, given their critical impor-
countries. Some of the findings reported under tance to regional and global ­well-­being (National
this topic proved to be highly discouraging, given Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and
the continued widening gap between the most Responses to Terrorism 2015).
and least economically privileged groups found Finally, the entire content reflects steady, sig-
in every society. nificant progress in well-being over time and in
We also have identified advances in well-­ all regions of the world. The well-being gains
being for those persons and population groups realized since the Second World War are espe-
that live on the margins of social, political, and cially remarkable, given their magnitude and the
economic life. We reexamined the role of women rapid pace at which they unfolded. The editors
in society as well as the large numbers of persons believe strongly that global well-being trends
who cannot provide fully for their own economic since at least 1945 will continue well into the
needs: children and youth, the elderly, the poor, future, despite the economic and political uncer-
persons with severe physical or emotional dis- tainties that characterize some of the world’s
abilities, prisoners, and illegal migrants. In each regions. The use of a historical approach to
case, we applied the three dimensions of the HDI study well-being has resulted in an optimistic
to illustrate the extent to which changes in well-­ picture concerning the present and future states
being that occur at national and regional levels of well-­ being, quality of life, and life
affect our empirical assessments of global well-­ satisfaction.
being, with special emphasis on the impact of This conclusion is reinforced by the findings
these changes on the least socially advantaged. reported in the just released book, How Was
Life? Global Well-Being Since 1820 (Van
Zanden et al. 2014).1 We make the argument
Bill Gates on “Modernization and
Innovation” The report examined 10 dimensions of well-being over
1 

Our modern lifestyle is not a political cre- time: per capita GDP, real wages, educational attainment,
ation. Before 1700, everybody was poor as life expectancy, height, personal security, political institu-
hell. Life was short and brutish. It wasn’t tions, environmental quality, income equality, and gender
because we didn’t have good politicians; equality. The findings are clear. Education and health
we had some really good politicians. But improved significantly. Literacy and schooling increased
then we started inventing—electricity, markedly since WWII. Life expectancy increased from an
steam engines, microprocessors, under- annual rate of 30 years in 1880 to 70 years on an annual
standing genetics and medicine and things basis by 2000. Political institutions improved dramati-
like that. Yes, stability and education are cally over the years—although the dramatic increase was
important—I’m not taking anything away nonlinear and marked by violence. Personal security also
from that—but innovation is the real driver increased, although there were “hot spots” such as homi-
of progress. Bill Gates cide rates in the United States, Latin America, Africa, and
the former Soviet Union. With respect to the quality of the
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/ environment, the report does not paint a positive picture.
culture/news/bill-gates-the-rolling-stone- Biodiversity, for example, declined in all regions and
interview-20140313#ixzz3nyOKSysu worldwide. Per capita CO2 emissions have increased dra-
matically. The good news in this and other sectors is that
we are beginning to see a slowdown in levels of environ-
mental pollution and degradation. Income inequality also
All of the findings reported in this chapter and declined from the end of the nineteenth century until
throughout the book are historical in nature and about 1970 but then began to increase and is still increas-
ing to date. The end of communism in many countries
reflect forces that continue to impact our daily
may partly account for this trend. Gender inequality
lives. Some of these forces, such as global terror- exhibits a noticeable variance: It has declined drastically
ism, are relatively new phenomena, but they, too, in most parts of the world but not everywhere.
20  The History of Well-Being in Global Perspective 737

that well-being has improved significantly since should or will take. It is our hope that the prog-
the Second World War; the Office for Economic ress that we have seen, particularly after World
Cooperation and Development, the sponsor of War II, will continue and that we will be able to
the report, reviews general trends in well-being track progress every 5 years to continue the ana-
from 1820 to the present and arrives at many of lytical exercise of this volume. Throughout this
the same conclusions. Overall, we believe that book, we have provided substantial historical
this and the many other global reports of well- evidence of the various pathways that can be
being that we have cited throughout the book taken to achieve that new future. Lack of action
confirm that remarkable social gains have been is not a possibility if we are to sustain and add
achieved over the centuries. Today, humanity is to the well-being gains already achieved.
in a much better position to advance individual “Working together, we can inspire, innovate and
and collective well-being than ever before. We accelerate sustainable social interventions that
have, however, arrived at a critical decision promote human wellbeing” (Halloran
point with respect to the directions these efforts Philanthropies 2015).

Supplemental Table

Supplemental Table 20.1  Level of indicator achievement for the Millennium Development Goals, 2014 (UNDP
2014)
738 R.J. Estes and M.J. Sirgy

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 Appendices

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 743

R.J. Estes, M.J. Sirgy (eds.), The Pursuit of Human Well-Being, International Handbooks
of Quality-of-Life, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4
Appendix A: Trends in the Human Development Index, 1990–2014 (Table 2, UNDP 2015, pp. 212–215)
744

Human development index (HDI) HDI rank Average annual HDI growth
Value Change (%)
HDI 2009– 1990– 2000– 2010– 1990–
rank Country 1990 2000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2013 2014a 2000 2010 2014 2014
Very high human development
1 Norway 0.849 0.917 0.940 0.941 0.942 0.942 0.944 1 0 0.77 0.25 0.11 0.44
2 Australia 0.865 0.898 0.927 0.930 0.932 0.933 0.935 2 0 0.36 0.33 0.20 0.32
3 Switzerland 0.831 0.888 0.924 0.925 0.927 0.928 0.930 3 0 0.67 0.40 0.14 0.47
4 Denmark 0.799 0.862 0.908 0.920 0.921 0.923 0.923 4 1 0.76 0.53 0.41 0.61
5 Netherlands 0.829 0.877 0.909 0.919 0.920 0.920 0.922 5 0 0.56 0.36 0.34 0.44
6 Germany 0.801 0.855 0.906 0.911 0.915 0.915 0.916 6 3 0.66 0.58 0.26 0.56
6 Ireland 0.770 0.861 0.908 0.909 0.910 0.912 0.916 8 −2 1.12 0.54 0.21 0.72
8 United States 0.859 0.883 0.909 0.911 0.912 0.913 0.915 7 −3 0.28 0.28 0.18 0.26
9 Canada 0.849 0.867 0.903 0.909 0.910 0.912 0.913 8 1 0.22 0.41 0.28 0.31
9 New Zealand 0.820 0.874 0.905 0.907 0.909 0.911 0.913 10 −1 0.64 0.35 0.24 0.45
11 Singapore 0.718 0.819 0.897 0.903 0.905 0.909 0.912 11 11 1.33 0.92 0.41 1.00
12 Hong Kong, China 0.781 0.825 0.898 0.902 0.906 0.908 0.910 12 2 0.55 0.85 0.32 0.64
(SAR)
13 Liechtenstein .. .. 0.902 0.903 0.906 0.907 0.908 13 −2 .. .. 0.14 ..
14 Sweden 0.815 0.897 0.901 0.903 0.904 0.905 0.907 14 −1 0.96 0.04 0.16 0.45
14 United Kingdom 0.773 0.865 0.906 0.901 0.901 0.902 0.907 15 −2 1.13 0.46 0.02 0.67
16 Iceland 0.802 0.859 0.892 0.896 0.897 0.899 0.899 16 −1 0.69 0.38 0.20 0.48
17 Korea (Republic of) 0.731 0.821 0.886 0.891 0.893 0.895 0.898 17 0 1.16 0.77 0.33 0.86
18 Israel 0.785 0.850 0.883 0.888 0.890 0.893 0.894 18 1 0.80 0.38 0.31 0.54
19 Luxembourg 0.779 0.851 0.886 0.888 0.888 0.890 0.892 19 −3 0.88 0.41 0.16 0.56
20 Japan 0.814 0.857 0.884 0.886 0.888 0.890 0.891 19 −3 0.51 0.31 0.18 0.37
21 Belgium 0.806 0.874 0.883 0.886 0.889 0.888 0.890 21 −2 0.81 0.10 0.21 0.41
22 France 0.779 0.848 0.881 0.884 0.886 0.887 0.888 22 −1 0.85 0.38 0.20 0.55
23 Austria 0.794 0.836 0.879 0.881 0.884 0.884 0.885 23 1 0.53 0.50 0.17 0.46
24 Finland 0.783 0.857 0.878 0.881 0.882 0.882 0.883 24 −1 0.90 0.25 0.13 0.50
Appendices
25 Slovenia 0.766 0.824 0.876 0.877 0.878 0.878 0.880 25 −1 0.73 0.61 0.13 0.58
26 Spain 0.756 0.827 0.867 0.870 0.874 0.874 0.876 26 2 0.90 0.47 0.27 0.62
27 Italy 0.766 0.829 0.869 0.873 0.872 0.873 0.873 27 −1 0.79 0.47 0.13 0.55
Appendices

28 Czech Republic 0.761 0.821 0.863 0.866 0.867 0.868 0.870 28 0 0.76 0.50 0.21 0.56
29 Greece 0.759 0.799 0.866 0.864 0.865 0.863 0.865 29 −2 0.51 0.81 -0.04 0.55
30 Estonia 0.726 0.780 0.838 0.849 0.855 0.859 0.861 30 3 0.73 0.71 0.69 0.71
31 Brunei Darussalam 0.782 0.819 0.843 0.847 0.852 0.852 0.856 31 1 0.46 0.29 0.37 0.38
32 Cyprus 0.733 0.800 0.848 0.852 0.852 0.850 0.850 32 −2 0.87 0.59 0.04 0.62
32 Qatar 0.754 0.809 0.844 0.841 0.848 0.849 0.850 33 −1 0.71 0.42 0.18 0.50
34 Andorra .. .. 0.823 0.821 0.844 0.844 0.845 34 .. .. .. 0.66 ..
35 Slovakia 0.738 0.763 0.827 0.832 0.836 0.839 0.844 36 3 0.34 0.82 0.48 0.56
36 Poland 0.713 0.786 0.829 0.833 0.838 0.840 0.843 35 1 0.99 0.53 0.41 0.70
37 Lithuania 0.730 0.754 0.827 0.831 0.833 0.837 0.839 37 −1 0.32 0.93 0.38 0.58
37 Malta 0.729 0.766 0.824 0.822 0.830 0.837 0.839 37 4 0.49 0.74 0.45 0.59
39 Saudi Arabia 0.690 0.744 0.805 0.816 0.826 0.836 0.837 39 10 0.76 0.79 1.00 0.81
40 Argentina 0.705 0.762 0.811 0.818 0.831 0.833 0.836 40 7 0.78 0.62 0.75 0.71
41 United Arab 0.726 0.797 0.828 0.829 0.831 0.833 0.835 40 −6 0.94 0.39 0.21 0.59
Emirates
42 Chile 0.699 0.752 0.814 0.821 0.827 0.830 0.832 42 2 0.74 0.79 0.56 0.73
43 Portugal 0.710 0.782 0.819 0.825 0.827 0.828 0.830 43 0 0.97 0.47 0.33 0.65
44 Hungary 0.703 0.769 0.821 0.823 0.823 0.825 0.828 44 −4 0.90 0.67 0.21 0.69
45 Bahrain 0.746 0.794 0.819 0.817 0.819 0.821 0.824 45 −6 0.62 0.32 0.14 0.41
46 Latvia 0.692 0.727 0.811 0.812 0.813 0.816 0.819 47 −5 0.49 1.09 0.25 0.70
47 Croatia 0.670 0.749 0.807 0.814 0.817 0.817 0.818 46 −1 1.12 0.75 0.32 0.83
48 Kuwait 0.715 0.804 0.809 0.812 0.815 0.816 0.816 47 −3 1.18 0.06 0.23 0.55
49 Montenegro .. .. 0.792 0.798 0.798 0.801 0.802 49 1 .. .. 0.32 ..
High human development
50 Belarus .. 0.683 0.786 0.793 0.796 0.796 0.798 51 4 .. 1.41 0.39 ..
50 Russian Federation 0.729 0.717 0.783 0.790 0.795 0.797 0.798 50 8 −0.17 0.88 0.47 0.38
52 Oman .. .. 0.795 0.793 0.793 0.792 0.793 52 −4 .. .. −0.06 ..
52 Romania 0.703 0.706 0.784 0.786 0.788 0.791 0.793 53 −1 0.04 1.06 0.26 0.50
52 Uruguay 0.692 0.742 0.780 0.784 0.788 0.790 0.793 54 4 0.70 0.50 0.40 0.57
55 Bahamas .. 0.778 0.774 0.778 0.783 0.786 0.790 55 2 .. −0.06 0.51 ..
745

(continued)
 Human development index (HDI) HDI rank Average annual HDI growth
746

Value Change (%)

HDI 2009– 1990– 2000– 2010– 1990–
rank Country 1990 2000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2013 2014a 2000 2010 2014 2014
56 Kazakhstan 0.690 0.679 0.766 0.772 0.778 0.785 0.788 56 6 −0.15 1.20 0.73 0.56
57 Barbados 0.716 0.753 0.780 0.786 0.793 0.785 0.785 56 −3 0.50 0.36 0.18 0.39
58 Antigua and .. .. 0.782 0.778 0.781 0.781 0.783 58 −6 .. .. 0.03 ..
Barbuda
59 Bulgaria 0.695 0.713 0.773 0.775 0.778 0.779 0.782 59 0 0.26 0.81 0.29 0.49
60 Palau .. 0.743 0.767 0.770 0.775 0.775 0.780 62 0 .. 0.31 0.44 ..
60 Panama 0.656 0.714 0.761 0.759 0.772 0.777 0.780 60 4 0.85 0.64 0.61 0.72
62 Malaysia 0.641 0.723 0.769 0.772 0.774 0.777 0.779 60 1 1.21 0.62 0.32 0.82
63 Mauritius 0.619 0.674 0.756 0.762 0.772 0.775 0.777 62 6 0.86 1.15 0.68 0.95
64 Seychelles .. 0.715 0.743 0.752 0.761 0.767 0.772 68 8 .. 0.39 0.97 ..
64 Trinidad and 0.673 0.717 0.772 0.767 0.769 0.771 0.772 64 −4 0.63 0.74 0.01 0.57
Tobago
66 Serbia 0.714 0.710 0.757 0.761 0.762 0.771 0.771 64 −1 −0.05 0.65 0.45 0.32
67 Cuba 0.675 0.685 0.778 0.776 0.772 0.768 0.769 66 −14 0.15 1.28 –0.28 0.54
67 Lebanon .. .. 0.756 0.761 0.761 0.768 0.769 66 1 .. .. 0.43 ..
69 Costa Rica 0.652 0.704 0.750 0.756 0.761 0.764 0.766 69 1 0.77 0.64 0.52 0.67
69 Iran (Islamic 0.567 0.665 0.743 0.751 0.764 0.764 0.766 69 7 1.62 1.11 0.74 1.26
Republic of)
71 Venezuela 0.635 0.673 0.757 0.761 0.764 0.764 0.762 69 −4 0.59 1.17 0.18 0.76
(Bolivarian
Republic of)
72 Turkey 0.576 0.653 0.738 0.751 0.756 0.759 0.761 72 16 1.26 1.23 0.79 1.17
73 Sri Lanka 0.620 0.679 0.738 0.743 0.749 0.752 0.757 74 5 0.91 0.85 0.62 0.83
74 Mexico 0.648 0.699 0.746 0.748 0.754 0.755 0.756 73 −2 0.77 0.65 0.35 0.65
75 Brazil 0.608 0.683 0.737 0.742 0.746 0.752 0.755 74 3 1.18 0.76 0.60 0.91
76 Georgia .. 0.672 0.735 0.740 0.747 0.750 0.754 76 4 .. 0.89 0.65 ..
77 Saint Kitts and .. .. 0.739 0.741 0.743 0.747 0.752 79 .. .. .. 0.44 ..
Nevis
78 Azerbaijan .. 0.640 0.741 0.742 0.745 0.749 0.751 77 −2 .. 1.46 0.35 ..
79 Grenada .. .. 0.737 0.739 0.740 0.742 0.750 82 .. .. .. 0.43 ..
Appendices

80 Jordan 0.623 0.705 0.743 0.743 0.746 0.748 0.748 78 −8 1.25 0.53 0.17 0.77
81 The former .. .. 0.738 0.742 0.743 0.744 0.747 81 −2 .. .. 0.31 ..
Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia
Appendices

81 Ukraine 0.705 0.668 0.732 0.738 0.743 0.746 0.747 80 2 −0.54 0.92 0.51 0.24
83 Algeria 0.574 0.640 0.725 0.730 0.732 0.734 0.736 84 4 1.09 1.26 0.35 1.04
84 Peru 0.613 0.677 0.718 0.722 0.728 0.732 0.734 85 15 1.00 0.58 0.57 0.75
85 Albania 0.624 0.656 0.722 0.728 0.729 0.732 0.733 85 2 0.50 0.96 0.35 0.67
85 Armenia 0.632 0.648 0.721 0.723 0.728 0.731 0.733 87 1 0.24 1.08 0.41 0.62
85 Bosnia and .. .. 0.710 0.724 0.726 0.729 0.733 89 2 .. .. 0.78 ..
Herzegovina
88 Ecuador 0.645 0.674 0.717 0.723 0.727 0.730 0.732 88 5 0.45 0.61 0.52 0.53
89 Saint Lucia .. 0.683 0.730 0.730 0.730 0.729 0.729 89 −5 .. 0.66 −0.02 ..
90 China 0.501 0.588 0.699 0.707 0.718 0.723 0.727 93 13 1.62 1.74 1.02 1.57
90 Fiji 0.631 0.678 0.717 0.720 0.722 0.724 0.727 91 1 0.72 0.56 0.36 0.59
90 Mongolia 0.578 0.589 0.695 0.706 0.714 0.722 0.727 95 14 0.18 1.68 1.11 0.96
93 Thailand 0.572 0.648 0.716 0.721 0.723 0.724 0.726 91 3 1.25 1.00 0.35 1.00
94 Dominica .. 0.694 0.723 0.723 0.723 0.723 0.724 93 −10 .. 0.41 0.03 ..
94 Libya 0.679 0.731 0.756 0.711 0.745 0.738 0.724 83 −27 0.75 0.34 −1.07 0.27
96 Tunisia 0.567 0.654 0.714 0.715 0.719 0.720 0.721 96 −1 1.43 0.88 0.26 1.00
97 Colombia 0.596 0.654 0.706 0.713 0.715 0.718 0.720 97 3 0.93 0.76 0.50 0.79
97 Saint Vincent and .. 0.674 0.711 0.713 0.715 0.717 0.720 98 −5 .. 0.55 0.30 ..
the Grenadines
99 Jamaica 0.671 0.700 0.727 0.727 0.723 0.717 0.719 98 −23 0.42 0.38 −0.30 0.28
100 Tonga 0.650 0.671 0.713 0.716 0.717 0.716 0.717 100 −4 0.32 0.60 0.14 0.41
101 Belize 0.644 0.683 0.709 0.711 0.716 0.715 0.715 101 −7 0.59 0.38 0.19 0.43
101 Dominican Republic 0.596 0.655 0.701 0.704 0.708 0.711 0.715 103 0 0.95 0.68 0.50 0.76
103 Suriname .. .. 0.707 0.709 0.711 0.713 0.714 102 −5 .. .. 0.24 ..
104 Maldives .. 0.603 0.683 0.690 0.695 0.703 0.706 104 2 .. 1.25 0.86 ..
105 Samoa 0.621 0.649 0.696 0.698 0.700 0.701 0.702 105 −3 0.45 0.70 0.21 0.52
Medium human development
106 Botswana 0.584 0.561 0.681 0.688 0.691 0.696 0.698 106 1 −0.41 1.96 0.61 0.74
107 Moldova (Republic 0.652 0.597 0.672 0.679 0.683 0.690 0.693 107 2 −0.87 1.19 0.78 0.26
of)
747

(continued)
 Human development index (HDI) HDI rank Average annual HDI growth
748

Value Change (%)

HDI 2009– 1990– 2000– 2010– 1990–
rank Country 1990 2000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2013 2014a 2000 2010 2014 2014
108 Egypt 0.546 0.622 0.681 0.682 0.688 0.689 0.690 108 −3 1.31 0.90 0.33 0.98
109 Turkmenistan .. .. 0.666 0.671 0.677 0.682 0.688 109 .. .. .. 0.80 ..
110 Gabon 0.620 0.632 0.663 0.668 0.673 0.679 0.684 111 1 0.20 0.48 0.76 0.41
110 Indonesia 0.531 0.606 0.665 0.671 0.678 0.681 0.684 110 3 1.34 0.92 0.71 1.06
112 Paraguay 0.579 0.623 0.668 0.671 0.669 0.677 0.679 113 −1 0.74 0.70 0.41 0.67
113 Palestine, State of .. .. 0.670 0.675 0.685 0.679 0.677 111 −4 .. .. 0.29 ..
114 Uzbekistan .. 0.594 0.655 0.661 0.668 0.672 0.675 114 0 .. 0.98 0.77 ..
115 Philippines 0.586 0.623 0.654 0.653 0.657 0.664 0.668 115 −1 0.61 0.50 0.52 0.55
116 El Salvador 0.522 0.603 0.653 0.658 0.662 0.664 0.666 115 0 1.46 0.79 0.50 1.02
116 South Africa 0.621 0.632 0.643 0.651 0.659 0.663 0.666 117 4 0.17 0.18 0.87 0.29
116 Viet Nam 0.475 0.575 0.653 0.657 0.660 0.663 0.666 117 1 1.92 1.29 0.47 1.41
119 Bolivia 0.536 0.603 0.641 0.647 0.654 0.658 0.662 119 2 1.19 0.61 0.79 0.88
(Plurinational
State of)
120 Kyrgyzstan 0.615 0.593 0.634 0.639 0.645 0.652 0.655 121 3 −0.37 0.68 0.84 0.26
121 Iraq 0.572 0.606 0.645 0.648 0.654 0.657 0.654 120 −2 0.58 0.62 0.34 0.56
122 Cabo Verde .. 0.572 0.629 0.637 0.639 0.643 0.646 122 2 .. 0.96 0.66 ..
123 Micronesia .. 0.603 0.638 0.640 0.641 0.639 0.640 123 −2 .. 0.56 0.06 ..
(Federated States
of)
124 Guyana 0.542 0.602 0.624 0.630 0.629 0.634 0.636 124 1 1.05 0.36 0.47 0.66
125 Nicaragua 0.495 0.565 0.619 0.623 0.625 0.628 0.631 125 1 1.34 0.91 0.51 1.02
126 Morocco 0.457 0.528 0.611 0.621 0.623 0.626 0.628 126 5 1.44 1.48 0.69 1.33
126 Namibia 0.578 0.556 0.610 0.616 0.620 0.625 0.628 128 3 −0.39 0.94 0.70 0.35
128 Guatemala 0.483 0.552 0.611 0.617 0.624 0.626 0.627 126 0 1.35 1.03 0.65 1.10
129 Tajikistan 0.616 0.535 0.608 0.612 0.617 0.621 0.624 129 1 −1.39 1.28 0.68 0.06
130 India 0.428 0.496 0.586 0.597 0.600 0.604 0.609 131 6 1.49 1.67 0.97 1.48
131 Honduras 0.507 0.557 0.610 0.612 0.607 0.604 0.606 131 −4 0.95 0.91 −0.16 0.75
132 Bhutan .. .. 0.573 0.582 0.589 0.595 0.605 134 .. .. .. 1.39 ..
Appendices

133 Timor-Leste .. 0.468 0.600 0.611 0.604 0.601 0.595 133 1 .. 2.51 −0.22 ..
134 Syrian Arab 0.553 0.586 0.639 0.635 0.623 0.608 0.594 130 −15 0.58 0.88 −1.82 0.30
Republic
134 Vanuatu .. .. 0.589 0.590 0.590 0.592 0.594 135 1 .. .. 0.19 ..
Appendices

136 Congo 0.534 0.489 0.554 0.560 0.575` 0.582 0.591 138 2 −0.87 1.25 1.61 0.42
137 Kiribati .. .. 0.588 0.585 0.587 0.588 0.590 136 −1 .. .. 0.09 ..
138 Equatorial Guinea .. 0.526 0.591 0.590 0.584 0.584 0.587 137 −5 .. 1.18 −0.18 ..
139 Zambia 0.403 0.433 0.555 0.565 0.576 0.580 0.586 139 1 0.71 2.52 1.36 1.57
140 Ghana 0.456 0.485 0.554 0.566 0.572 0.577 0.579 140 −2 0.63 1.33 1.13 1.00
141 Lao People’s 0.397 0.462 0.539 0.552 0.562 0.570 0.575 141 2 1.51 1.56 1.62 1.55
Democratic
Republic
142 Bangladesh 0.386 0.468 0.546 0.559 0.563 0.567 0.570 142 0 1.94 1.57 1.07 1.64
143 Cambodia 0.364 0.419 0.536 0.541 0.546 0.550 0.555 144 1 1.40 2.50 0.87 1.77
143 Sao Tome and 0.455 0.491 0.544 0.548 0.552 0.553 0.555 143 −2 0.76 1.02 0.52 0.83
Principe
Low human development
145 Kenya 0.473 0.447 0.529 0.535 0.539 0.544 0.548 145 0 −0.58 1.70 0.92 0.62
145 Nepal 0.384 0.451 0.531 0.536 0.540 0.543 0.548 146 3 1.62 1.64 0.78 1.49
147 Pakistan 0.399 0.444 0.522 0.527 0.532 0.536 0.538 147 0 1.07 1.62 0.79 1.25
148 Myanmar 0.352 0.425 0.520 0.524 0.528 0.531 0.536 148 1 1.90 2.03 0.72 1.76
149 Angola .. 0.390 0.509 0.521 0.524 0.530 0.532 149 1 .. 2.70 1.11 ..
150 Swaziland 0.536 0.496 0.525 0.528 0.529 0.530 0.531 149 −5 −0.78 0.57 0.28 −0.04
151 Tanzania (United 0.369 0.392 0.500 0.506 0.510 0.516 0.521 151 2 0.60 2.46 1.05 1.44
Republic of)
152 Nigeria .. .. 0.493 0.499 0.505 0.510 0.514 152 2 .. .. 1.06 ..
153 Cameroon 0.443 0.437 0.486 0.496 0.501 0.507 0.512 154 6 −0.13 1.07 1.32 0.61
154 Madagascar .. 0.456 0.504 0.505 0.507 0.508 0.510 153 −4 .. 1.02 0.27 ..
155 Zimbabwe 0.499 0.428 0.461 0.474 0.491 0.501 0.509 158 12 −1.53 0.75 2.50 0.08
156 Mauritania 0.373 0.442 0.488 0.489 0.498 0.504 0.506 156 1 1.71 0.98 0.92 1.28
156 Solomon Islands .. 0.446 0.494 0.501 0.504 0.505 0.506 155 −2 .. 1.02 0.57 ..
158 Papua New Guinea 0.353 0.424 0.493 0.497 0.501 0.503 0.505 157 −2 1.87 1.51 0.60 1.51
159 Comoros .. .. 0.488 0.493 0.499 0.501 0.503 158 −1 .. .. 0.75 ..
160 Yemen 0.400 0.441 0.496 0.495 0.496 0.498 0.498 160 −8 0.99 1.19 0.08 0.92
749

(continued)
 Human development index (HDI) HDI rank Average annual HDI growth
750

Value Change (%)

HDI 2009– 1990– 2000– 2010– 1990–
rank Country 1990 2000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2013 2014a 2000 2010 2014 2014
161 Lesotho 0.493 0.443 0.472 0.480 0.484 0.494 0.497 161 1 −1.05 0.62 1.30 0.03
162 Togo 0.404 0.426 0.459 0.468 0.470 0.473 0.484 167 3 0.52 0.76 1.29 0.75
163 Haiti 0.417 0.442 0.471 0.475 0.479 0.481 0.483 162 −3 0.58 0.62 0.67 0.61
163 Rwanda 0.244 0.333 0.453 0.464 0.476 0.479 0.483 163 5 3.16 3.13 1.61 2.89
163 Uganda 0.308 0.393 0.473 0.473 0.476 0.478 0.483 164 −2 2.47 1.86 0.51 1.89
166 Benin 0.344 0.392 0.468 0.473 0.475 0.477 0.480 165 −2 1.33 1.78 0.64 1.40
167 Sudan 0.331 0.400 0.465 0.466 0.476 0.477 0.479 165 −5 1.90 1.52 0.74 1.55
168 Djibouti .. 0.365 0.453 0.462 0.465 0.468 0.470 168 0 .. 2.17 0.97 ..
169 South Sudan .. .. 0.470 0.458 0.457 0.461 0.467 171 .. .. .. −0.15 ..
170 Senegal 0.367 0.380 0.456 0.458 0.461 0.463 0.466 170 −3 0.36 1.83 0.55 1.00
171 Afghanistan 0.297 0.334 0.448 0.456 0.463 0.464 0.465 169 0 1.20 2.97 0.97 1.89
172 Côte d’Ivoire 0.389 0.398 0.444 0.445 0.452 0.458 0.462 172 0 0.23 1.12 0.98 0.72
173 Malawi 0.284 0.340 0.420 0.429 0.433 0.439 0.445 174 2 1.83 2.14 1.49 1.90
174 Ethiopia .. 0.284 0.412 0.423 0.429 0.436 0.442 175 2 .. 3.78 1.78 ..
175 Gambia 0.330 0.384 0.441 0.437 0.440 0.442 0.441 173 −2 1.55 1.38 −0.02 1.22
176 Congo (Democratic 0.355 0.329 0.408 0.418 0.423 0.430 0.433 176 3 −0.77 2.18 1.52 0.83
Republic of the)
177 Liberia .. 0.359 0.405 0.414 0.419 0.424 0.430 177 1 .. 1.20 1.50 ..
178 Guinea-Bissau .. .. 0.413 0.417 0.417 0.418 0.420 178 −4 .. .. 0.42 ..
179 Mali 0.233 0.313 0.409 0.415 0.414 0.416 0.419 179 −3 2.97 2.73 0.61 2.47
180 Mozambique 0.218 0.300 0.401 0.405 0.408 0.413 0.416 180 0 3.25 2.96 0.94 2.74
181 Sierra Leone 0.262 0.299 0.388 0.394 0.397 0.408 0.413 182 0 1.32 2.63 1.59 1.91
182 Guinea .. 0.323 0.388 0.399 0.409 0.411 0.411 181 1 .. 1.83 1.50 ..
183 Burkina Faso .. .. 0.378 0.385 0.393 0.396 0.402 184 2 .. .. 1.58 ..
184 Burundi 0.295 0.301 0.390 0.392 0.395 0.397 0.400 183 0 0.20 2.62 0.66 1.28
185 Chad .. 0.332 0.371 0.382 0.386 0.388 0.392 186 1 .. 1.12 1.37 ..
186 Eritrea .. .. 0.381 0.386 0.390 0.390 0.391 185 −5 .. .. 0.62 ..
187 Central African 0.314 0.310 0.362 0.368 0.373 0.348 0.350 187 0 −0.14 1.58 −0.84 0.45
Republic
Appendices
188 Niger 0.214 0.257 0.326 0.333 0.342 0.345 0.348 188 0 1.85 2.40 1.69 2.05
Other countries or territories
Korea (Democratic .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Appendices

People’s Rep. of)

Marshall Islands .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Monaco .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Nauru .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
San Marino .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Somalia .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Tuvalu .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Human development groups
Very high human 0.801 0.851 0.887 0.890 0.893 0.895 0.896 – – 0.61 0.42 0.26 0.47
development
High human 0.592 0.642 0.723 0.730 0.737 0.741 0.744 – – 0.81 1.20 0.71 0.95
development
Medium human 0.473 0.537 0.611 0.619 0.623 0.627 0.630 – – 1.28 1.29 0.78 1.20
development
Low human 0.368 0.404 0.487 0.492 0.497 0.502 0.505 – – 0.92 1.90 0.92 1.32
development
Developing 0.513 0.568 0.642 0.649 0.654 0.658 0.660 – – 1.02 1.23 0.70 1.06
countries
Regions
Arab States 0.553 0.613 0.676 0.679 0.684 0.686 0.686 – – 1.02 0.99 0.38 0.90
East Asia and the 0.516 0.593 0.686 0.693 0.702 0.707 0.710 – – 1.39 1.48 0.87 1.34
Pacific
Europe and Central 0.651 0.665 0.731 0.739 0.743 0.746 0.748 – – 0.22 0.94 0.59 0.58
Asia
Latin America and 0.625 0.684 0.734 0.738 0.743 0.745 0.748 – – 0.91 0.70 0.47 0.75
the Caribbean
South Asia 0.437 0.503 0.586 0.596 0.599 0.603 0.607 – – 1.42 1.55 0.86 1.38
Sub-Saharan Africa 0.400 0.422 0.499 0.505 0.510 0.514 0.518 – – 0.54 1.68 0.94 1.08
Least developed 0.348 0.399 0.484 0.491 0.495 0.499 0.502 – – 1.39 1.95 0.92 1.54
countries
(continued)
751
 Human development index (HDI) HDI rank Average annual HDI growth
752

Value Change (%)

HDI 2009– 1990– 2000– 2010– 1990–
rank Country 1990 2000 2010 2011 2012 2013 20142013 2014a 2000 2010 2014 2014
Small island 0.574 0.607 0.656 0.658 0.658 0.658 0.660 – – 0.56 0.79 0.13 0.59
developing states
Organisation for 0.785 0.834 0.872 0.875 0.877 0.879 0.880 – – 0.61 0.44 0.24 0.48
Economic
Cooperation and
Development
World 0.597 0.641 0.697 0.703 0.707 0.709 0.711 – – 0.71 0.85 0.47 0.73
a
A positive value indicates an improvement in rank
Definitions
Human Development Index (HDI): A composite index measuring average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development—a long and healthy life, knowledge,
and a decent standard of living. See Technical note 1 (http://hdr.undp.org/en) for details on how the HDI is calculated
Average annual HDI growth: A smoothed annualized growth of the HDI in a given period, calculated as the annual compound growth rate
Main data sources
Columns 1–7: HDRO calculations based on data from UNDESA (2015), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2015), United Nations Statistics Division (2015), World Bank (2015a),
Barro and Lee (2014) and IMF (2015)
Column 8: Calculated based on data in column 6
Column 9: Calculated based on HDI data from HDRO and data in column 7
Columns 10–13: Calculated based on data in columns 1, 2, 3 and 7
Appendices
Appendix B: Major Instruments Used to Measure Well-Being

Prepared by Richard J. Estes, M. Joseph Sirgy, Audrey Selian, and Emmaline G. Smith
Appendices

International Instruments and Indexes

Year Innovation Innovator Significance of innovation—international indexes

1966 Level of living index Jan Drenowski This type of index was developed as a system of “congruencies” between different levels of economic and social
and Donald well-being. Patterns emerge from the application of the system that are useful in both distinguishing between and
McGranahan, assessing the different levels of living prevalent in alternative societies. The system was applied primarily to
United Nations developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Research Reference: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL5342166M/The_level_of_living_index
Institute for
Social
Development
Mid-­ Physical Quality of Morris David The PQLI was developed to assess the effectiveness of international financial and technical assistance to countries
1970s Life Index (PQLI) Morris, of developing Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Consists of three statistics: basic literacy rate, infant mortality
U.S. Overseas rate, and life expectancy at age 1, all equally weighted on a 0–100 scale. A modified version of the PQLI served
Development as the basis for the UN’s widely reported Human Development Index, which contains the same three elements
Council Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Quality_of_Life_Index
1976– Index of Social Richard J. Estes, The ISP/WISP measures level of social progress at the national, regional, and worldwide levels. The composite
2014 Progress (ISP/WISP) University of index consists of 41 social indicators distributed across 10 component subindexes: Health Status, Education
Pennsylvania Status, Women Status, Economic Status, Population, Environment Status, Social Chaos, Defense Effort, Welfare
Effort, Cultural Diversity
http://es.ucsb.edu/faculty/mcginnes/classes/es131/postings/WISP.pdf
1990 Human Development United Nations The HDI is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income indices used to rank countries into four
Index (HDI) Development tiers of human development.
Programme. Reference: http://hdr.undp.org/en/data
Created jointly
by Indian
economist
Amartya Sen and
Pakistani
economist
Mahbub ul Haq
(continued)
753
Year Innovation Innovator Significance of innovation—international indexes
754

1990 Gender Inequality United Nations The GII measures gender inequalities in three important aspects of human development—reproductive health
Index (GII) Development measured by maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rates; empowerment, measured by proportion of
Programme parliamentary seats occupied by women and proportion of adult women and men aged 25 years and older with at
least some secondary education; and economic status expressed as labor market participation and measured by
labor force participation rate of women and men aged 15 years and older
Reference: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii
1995 Gender-related United Nations The GDI, together with the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), was introduced in 1995 in the Human
Development Index Development Development Report written by the United Nations Development Program. The aim of these measurements was
(GDI) Programme to add a gender-sensitive dimension to the Human Development Index (HDI). The first measurement that they
created as a result was the GDI. The GDI is defined as a distribution-sensitive measure that accounts for the
human development impact of existing gender gaps in the three components of the HDI
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-related_Development_Index
2010 Inequality-adjusted United Nations The IHDI captures the HDI of the average person (as a result of self-repeating mechanisms targeting the
Human Development Development development of an individual as such), which is less than the aggregate HDI when there is inequality in the
Index (IHDI) Programme distribution of health, education, and income. Under perfect equality, the HDI and IHDI are equal; the greater the
difference between the two, the greater the inequality. In that sense, the IHDI is the actual level of human
development (taking into account inequality), whereas the HDI can be viewed as an index of the potential human
development that could be achieved if there were no inequality
Reference: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/inequality-adjusted-income-index
2010 Multidimensional United Nations The MPI reports the number of people who are multidimensionally poor (suffering deprivations in 33.33 % of
Poverty Index (MPI) Development weighted indicators) and the number of deprivations with which poor households typically contend. It reflects
Programme in deprivations in very rudimentary services and core human functioning for people across 104 countries. Although
cooperation with deeply constrained by data limitations, MPI reveals a different pattern of poverty than income poverty because it
the Oxford illuminates a different set of deprivations
Poverty & Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multidimensional_Poverty_Index
Human
Development
Initiative
Appendices
Year Innovation Innovator Significance of innovation—international indexes
Appendices

2013 Social Progress Index Social Progress The SPI consists of 12 social indicators divided across three broad sectors of human development: Basic Human
(SPI) Imperative Needs, Foundations of Well-being, and Opportunity. The index incorporates four basic design principles:
1. Exclusively social and environmental indicators: Our aim is to measure social progress directly rather than
utilize economic proxies. By excluding economic indicators, we can, for the first time, analyze rigorously and
systematically the relationship between economic development (measured for example by gross domestic product
[GDP] per capita) and social development. Prior efforts to move “beyond GDP” have commingled social and
economic indicators, making it more difficult to disentangle cause and effect
2. Outcomes not inputs: Our aim is to measure the outcomes that matter to the lives of real people. For example,
we want to measure the health and wellness achieved by a country, not how much effort is expended nor how
much the country spends on health care
3. Actionability: The SPI aims to be a practical tool that will help leaders and practitioners in government,
business, and civil society implement policies and programs that will drive faster social progress. To achieve that
goal, we measure outcomes in a granular way that links to practice. The SPI has been structured around 12
components and 54 distinct indicators. The framework allows us not only to provide an aggregate country score
and ranking but also to support granular analyses of specific areas of strength and weakness. Transparency of
measurement using a comprehensive framework helps change makers identify and act upon the most pressing
issues in their societies
4. Relevance to all countries: Our aim is to create a holistic measure of social progress that encompasses the
health of societies. Most previous efforts have focused on the poorest countries, for understandable reasons. But
knowing what constitutes a healthy society for higher-income countries is indispensable in charting a course to
get there
Reference: http://www.socialprogressimperative.org/publications
1930s– Gallup Poll, 2014 Gallup The Gallup Organization has been collecting quality-of-life and well-being data from around the world for many
2015 Organization decades. The polls are unique inasmuch as the same questions have been asked during each year and decade.
Consequently, a large body of time-series of quality-of-life data is available through Gallup. These data, however,
are proprietary and not available to either scholars or the general public without payment of a large fee. Even so,
a sufficient number of reports analyzing the data contained in these polls have been published in various journals
and books; therefore, one can gain significant insight into well-being trends and patterns occurring throughout the
world without paying the propriety fees
For a discussion of the global polls see: http://media.gallup.com/dataviz/www/WP_Questions_WHITE.pdf
(continued)
755
Year Innovation Innovator Significance of innovation—international indexes
756

2013- Human Suffering Ronald The HIS is a compound indicator of distress, compiled by “adding together ten measures of human welfare
Index (HIS) E. Anderson, related to economics, demography, health, and governance: income, inflation, demand for new jobs, urban
University of population pressures, infant mortality, nutrition, access to clean water, energy use, adult literacy, and personal
Minnesota at freedom” (Population Crisis Committee, Washington, DC)
Minneapolis Reference: http://www.soc.umn.edu/~rea/documents/Preprint%20of%20Human%20Suffering%20
SpringerBrief%20v5%2013june13.pdf
1995 Consumer Confidence Zagorski and The U.S. CCI is an indicator designed to measure consumer confidence, which is defined as the degree of
Index (CCI) McDonnell optimism on the state of the economy that consumers are expressing through their activities of savings and
spending. Global consumer confidence is not measured. Country-by-country analysis indicates huge variance
around the globe
Reference: https://www.conference-board.org/data/consumerconfidence.cfm
1998 Index of Economic Osberg and Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is a poor indicator of economic well-being. It measures effective
Well Being (IEWB) Sharpe consumption poorly (ignoring the value of leisure and of longer life spans); it also ignores the value of
accumulation for the benefit of future generations. Because incomes are uncertain and unequally distributed, the
average also does not indicate the likelihood that any particular individual will share in prosperity or the degree of
anxiety and insecurity with which individuals contemplate their futures. We argue that a better index of economic
well-being should consider current effective per capita consumption flows; net societal accumulation of stocks of
productive resources; income distribution; and economic security. The paper develops such an index of economic
well-being for the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Norway, and Sweden for the period
1980–1999. It compares trends in economic well-being to trends in GDP per person. In every case, growth in
economic well-being was less than growth in GDP per capita, although to different degrees in different countries
Reference: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/279605557_The_Index_of_Economic_Well-Being
Appendices
Year Innovation Innovator Significance of innovation—international indexes
1995 Genuine Progress Cobb et al. The GPI is a metric that has been suggested to replace, or supplement, gross domestic product (GDP) as a
Indicator (GPI) measure of economic growth. GPI is designed to take fuller account of the health of a nation’s economy by
incorporating environmental and social factors that are not measured by GDP. For instance, some models of GPI
decrease in value when the poverty rate increases. The GPI is used in green economics, sustainability, and more
Appendices

inclusive types of economics by factoring in environmental and carbon footprints that businesses produce or
eliminate
Reference: http://www.ips-dc.org/
2006 Happy Planet Index Nic Marks The HPI is the leading global measure of sustainable well-being. The HPI measures what matters: the extent to
(HPI) which countries deliver long, happy, sustainable lives for the people that live in them. The HPI uses global data
on life expectancy, experienced well-being, and ecological footprint to calculate this. The index is an efficiency
measure: It ranks countries on how many long and happy lives they produce per unit of environmental input. The
2012 HPI report (the third one published) ranks 151 countries
New Economics See more at http://www.happyplanetindex.org/about/#sthash.QQjgAsxu.dpuf
Foundation
1988 Quality of Life Index Johnston Using the results of a study group, the Quality of Life Index is calculated on the basis of what variables affect
individuals as they search for a new home, how much they would enjoy living in a place, and the impact of each
selected variable. For example, the crime index affects the total Quality of Life Index negatively and the
amusement index affects it positively. Positive Variables Weighted for Quality of Life Index: amusement,
culture, education, medical, religion, restaurants, and weather. Negative Variables Weighted for Quality of Life
Index: crime, earthquake, and mortality. Index score: The score for an area is compared to the national average
of 100. A score of 200 indicates twice the national average, whereas 50 indicates half the national average
Reference: http://www.clrsearch.com/Johnston-Demographics/IA/Quality-of-Life
757
Sector-Specific Instruments and Indexes
758

Year Innovation Innovator Significance of innovation—sector-specific indexes

Mid 1960s Misery Index The misery index was The Misery Index is an economic indicator, created by an economist and found by adding
initiated by economist the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It is assumed that both a higher rate of
Arthur Okun, an adviser to unemployment and a worsening of inflation create economic and social costs for a country
President Lyndon Johnson Reference: http://www.miseryindex.us/
in the 1960s
1996 Corruption Perceptions Transparency International Since the turn of the new millennium, Transparency International has published the CPI,
Index (CPI) [Berlin] which ranks countries annually “by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by
expert assessments and opinion surveys.” The CPI generally defines corruption as “the
misuse of public power for private benefit”
Reference: http://www.transparency.org/research/cpi/overview
2007 Global Peace Index (GPI) The GPI is the product of The GPI uses 22 indicators to gauge peacefulness at the country and global levels. It also
the Australian-based seeks to evaluate the level of harmony or discord within a nation; ten indicators broadly
Institute for Economics assess what might be described as safety and security in society. The assertion is that low
and Peace (Steve Killelea). crime rates, minimal incidences of terrorist acts and violent demonstrations, harmonious
It was developed in relations with neighboring countries, a stable political scene, and a small proportion of the
consultation with an population being internally displaced or refugees can be equated with peacefulness
international panel of Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Peace_Index
peace experts and collated
by the Economist
Intelligence Unit.
2012 Global Terrorism Index Steve Killelea and the The GTI measures the impact of terrorism in 162 countries. To account for the lasting
(GTI) Australian-based Vision of effects of terrorism, each country is given a score that represents a 5-year weighted average
Humanity The number of terrorist attacks around the world has increased dramatically; more than 80
% of all terrorism occurs in only 5 countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, and
Syria
Reference: http://www.visionofhumanity.org/#/page/our-gti-findings
1980- Political Freedoms Index Freedom House, New York The Political Freedoms Index measures (1) electoral process—executive elections,
legislative elections, and electoral framework; (2) political pluralism and participation—
party systems, political opposition and competition, political choices dominated by
powerful groups, and minority voting rights; and (3) functioning of government—
corruption, transparency, and ability of elected officials to govern in practice. In 2014, data
were reported for 195 countries and 14 related and disputed territories
Reference: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2014#.
Appendices

VL2EYWd0zIU
Year Innovation Innovator Significance of innovation—sector-specific indexes
1980- Civil Liberties Index Freedom House, New York The Civil Liberties Index measures (1) freedom of expression and belief—media, religious,
and academic freedoms and free private discussion; (2) associational and organizational
rights—free assembly, civic groups, and labor union rights; (3) rule of law—independent
judges and prosecutors, due process, crime and disorder, and legal equality for minority
Appendices

and other groups; and (4) personal autonomy and individual rights—freedom of movement,
business and property rights, women’s and family rights, and freedom from economic
exploitation. In 2014, data were reported for 195 countries and 14 related and disputed
territories
Reference: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2014#.
VL2EYWd0zIU
2013- Global Burden of Disease Global burden of diseases, The GBD reports up-to-date evidence on levels and trends for age- and sex-specific
(GBD) injuries, and risk factors all-cause and cause-specific mortality for the formation of global, regional, and national
study and The Lancet health policies. In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013, the authors estimate yearly
deaths for 188 countries between 1990 and 2013. The authors use the results to assess
whether there is epidemiological convergence across countries
Reference: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)61682-2/
fulltext
2013 Human Suffering Index, Ronald E. Anderson, Human Suffering and Quality of Life: Conceptualizing Stories and Statistics. (2013).
2013 University of Minnesota at Dordrecht: Springer
Minneapolis This brief monograph focused on suffering adds to human understanding of suffering by
contextualizing both stories and statistics on suffering while showing that suffering adds a
useful perspective to contemporary thought and research on quality of life, social well-
being, and measures of societal progress. The scholarship on suffering is made more
comprehensible in the book by using nine different conceptual frames that have been used
for making sense of suffering. The primary focus of this work is within the last frame, the
quality of life frame. Overall, this chapter shows how the research on quality of life and
well-being can be enhanced by embracing human suffering
2014 “Best Places” Index Money Magazine Reference: http://newhotelus.com/reviews/best-places-to-live-2015-money-magazine.html
1979- International Living International Living Reference: http://internationalliving.com/publications/reports/retirement-index/
Retirement Index (ILRI) Magazine
1987 Index of Social Health Marc Miringoff The ISH, which has been released annually since 1987, monitors the social well-being of
(ISH) American society. It is a composite measure of 16 social indicators that yields a single
number for each year
Reference: http://iisp.vassar.edu/ish.html
759
Subjective Well-Being Instruments and Indexes
760

Transformational
innovations in
Year subjective well-being Innovator Significance of innovation
1925 Fluegel studied moods Fluegel, J. C. Forerunner of modern experience sampling approaches to measuring subjective well-being
by having people Fluegel, J. C. (1925). A quantitative study of feeling and emotion in everyday life. British Journal of Psychology.
record their emotional General Section, 15(4), 318–355
events; he then
summed emotional
reactions across
moments
1930s The use of large-scale George Gallup, http://www.gallup.com/poll/122453/Understanding-Gallup-Uses-Cantril-Scale.aspx
surveys as an Gerald Gurin,
assessment of and Hadley
well-being was first Cantril
used
1969 Bradburn showed that Norman http://fetzer.org/sites/default/files/images/stories/pdf/selfmeasures/SATISFACTION-­
pleasant and Bradburn BradburnScaleofPsychologicWell-­Being.pdf
unpleasant affects are
somewhat
independent and have
different correlates,
not simply opposites
1976 Scientists found that Andrews and Andrews, F. M., & Withey, S. B. (1976). Social indicators of well-being: Americans’ perceptions of life quality.
global questions about Withey Springer Science & Business Media
people’s overall
evaluation of their
lives yielded scores
that joined well
Appendices
 Transformational
innovations in
Year subjective well-being Innovator Significance of innovation
1976 Campbell found that Campbell, Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., & Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The quality of American life: Perceptions, evaluations,
demographic variables Converse, and and satisfactions. Russell Sage Foundation
such as age, income, Rodgers
and education did not
Appendices

account for much

variance in reports of
well-being
1980s The field of subjective Because Western society has an abundance of material goods, the need to go beyond survival in seeking happiness
well-being grew grew
rapidly, becoming a
science
1990 Omodei found that the Omodei and This view fits with Freud’s pleasure principle and Maslow’s hierarchy
degree to which a Wearing Omodei, M. M., & Wearing, A. J. (1990). Need satisfaction and involvement in personal projects: Toward an
person’s needs had integrative model of subjective well-being. Journal of Personality and social Psychology, 59(4), 762-780
been met was
positively associated
with the degree of life
satisfaction
1996 It was demonstrated Lucas, Diener, Multi-item scales emerged that were more reliable and more accurate
that multi-item life and Suh Lucas, R. E., Diener, E., & Suh, E. (1996). Discriminant validity of well-being measures. Journal of Personality
satisfaction, pleasant and Social Psychology, 71, 616–628
affect, and unpleasant
affect scales formed
factors that were
separable from each
other
(continued)
761
 Transformational
762

innovations in
Year subjective well-being Innovator Significance of innovation
1999 Schwartz showed that Schwartz and They illustrated that life satisfaction judgments are not immutable
situation variables can Strack Schwarz, N., & Strack, F. (1999). Reports of subjective well-being: Judgmental processes and their methodological
exert a substantial implications. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology
impact on life (pp. 61–84). New York: Russell Sage Foundation
satisfaction and mood
reports
2000 The traits that are Diener, Suh, Diener, E., Suh, E., Lucas, R., & Smith, H. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of research.
most commonly Lucas, and Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276–302
linked to subjective Smith
well-being are
extraversion and
neuroticism
1999 Self-esteem and Diener, Lucas, Cultural differences have a deep effect on what traits affect subjective well-being
extroversion are less Grob, Suh, and Lucas, R. E., Diener, E., Grob, A., Suh, E. M., & Shao, L. (2000). Cross-cultural evidence for the fundamental
strongly associated Shao features of extraversion. Journal of Personality and Social psychology, 79(3), 452–470
with pleasant affects
in collectivist cultures
than in individualistic
cultures
2000 Authentic happiness: Seligman, Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for
Using the new M. E. P. lasting fulfillment. New York: The Free Press
positive psychology to
realize your potential
for lasting fulfillment
2005 > National accounts of Diener. E., Diener. E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2015). National accounts of subjective well-being. American Psychologist
2015 subjective well-being Oishi, S., & 70(3), 234–243
Lucas, R. E
2013 World happiness Helliwell, J., Helliwell, J., Layard, R., & Sachs, J. (Eds.). (2013). World happiness report, 2013. A study conducted by
report, 2013. A study Layard, R., & Columbia University’s Earth Institute and published in cooperation with the United Nations Sustainment
conducted by Sachs, J Development Solutions Network. Retrieved October 19, 2014 from http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/
Columbia University’s WorldHappinessReport2013_online.pdf
Earth Institute
Appendices
Appendices 763

Other subjective well-being indexes include the • The International Social Survey Programme
following: (http://www.issp.org/)
• The Latinobarómetro (http://www.latinobaro-
• The EuroBarometer (http://ec.europa.eu/ metro.org/lat.jsp)
COMMFrontOffice/PublicOpinion/ • The Midlife in the United States Survey
• The Americans’ Changing Lives (http://ec. (http://www.midus.wisc.edu/)
europa.eu/COMMFrontOffice/ • The National Child Development Survey
PublicOpinion/) ( h t t p : / / d i s c ove r. u k d a t a s e r v i c e . a c . u k /
• The AsiaBarometer (https://www.asiabarom- series/?sn=2000032)
eter.org/) • The National Survey of Families and
• The British Household Panel Survey (https:// Households [United States] (http://www.ssc.
www.iser.essex.ac.uk/bhps) wisc.edu/nsfh/)
• The Canadian General Social Survey (http:// • The Social Capital Community Benchmark
www5.statcan.gc.ca/olc-cel/olc.action?ObjId Survey [United States] (http://www.hks.har-
=89F0115X&ObjType=2&lang=en&limit=0) vard.edu/saguaro/communitysurvey/)
• The European Values Study (http://www. • The Russia Longitudinal Monitoring
europeanvaluesstudy.eu/) Survey (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/
• The German Socio-Economic Panel Survey rlms-hse)
(http://www.eui.eu/Research/Library/ • The Swedish Level of Living Survey (http://
ResearchGuides/Economics/Statistics/ snd.gu.se/en/catalogue/study/389)
DataPortal/GSOEP.aspx) • The Swiss Household Panel Survey (http://
• The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in forscenter.ch/en/our-surveys/
Australia Survey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ swiss-household-panel/)
Household,_Income_and_Labour_Dynamics_ • The General Social Survey [United States]
in_Australia_Survey) (http://www3.norc.org/GSS+Website/)
• The Hungarian Household Panel Survey • The China General Social Survey (http://
(http://www.tarki.hu/en/services/su/index. www.src.ust.hk/survey/GSS_e.html)
html)
Major Global Reports of Well-Being
764

Year Title Sponsoring Organization Major reports of well-being and quality of life
2013 Report on the World UN-DESA Over the years, the report has served as a background document for discussion and policy analysis of
Social Situation, 2013 socioeconomic matters at the intergovernmental level. Its goal is to contribute to the identification of
(RWSS) emerging social trends of international concern and to the analysis of relationships among major
development issues that have both international and national dimensions
http://undesadspd.org/Poverty/InternationalDayofHappiness.aspx
2013 World Youth Report, UN Social Policy and The report explores the situation of young migrants from the perspective of young migrants
2013 Development Division themselves. The report highlights some of the concerns, challenges, and successes experienced by
young migrants based on their own lives and told in their own voices. Experiences during the
different phases of migration are examined including preparation, journey and transit, challenges
faced in the destination, and awareness and engagement of young people on migration issues
http://undesadspd.org/WorldYouthReport/2013.aspx
Status of the World’s UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/sowc/
Children, 2015
Status of the World’s Institute of Policy http://fpif.org/the_state_of_the_worlds_women/
Women, 2015 Studies
2012 World Happiness Earth Institute of This report was commissioned by the United Nations Conference on Happiness (mandated by the
Report Columbia University, UN General Assembly). Published by the Earth Institute and co-edited by the institute’s director,
among others Jeffrey Sachs, it reflects a new worldwide demand for more attention to happiness and absence of
misery as criteria for government policy. It reviews the state of happiness in the world today and
shows how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness
The report shows that, where happiness is measured by how happy people are with their lives, (1)
happier countries tend to be richer countries. But more important for happiness than income are
social factors like the strength of social support, the absence of corruption, and the degree of
personal freedom. (2) Over time, as living standards have risen, happiness has increased in some
countries but not in others (for example, the United States). On average, the world has become a
little happier in the last 30 years (by 0.14 times the standard deviation of happiness around the
world). (3) Unemployment causes as much unhappiness as bereavement or separation. At work, job
security and good relationships do more for job satisfaction than high pay and convenient hours. (4)
Behaving well makes people happier. (5) Mental health is the biggest single factor affecting
happiness in any country. Yet only a quarter of mentally ill people get treatment for their condition in
advanced countries and fewer in poorer countries. (6) Stable family life and enduring marriages are
important for the happiness of parents and children. (7) In advanced countries, women are happier
than men, whereas the position in poorer countries is mixed. (8) Happiness is lowest in middle age
Reference: http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960
Appendices
 ppendix C: Selected Milestones in the Advancement of Well-­Being
A
Since 1900

by Richard J. Estes, University of Pennsylvania1

M. Joseph Sirgy, Virginia Tech
Audrey Selian, Halloran Philanthropies, and
Emmaline G. Smith, Management Institute of Quality of Life Studies (MIQOLS)

This list is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of all of the major changes that have occurred in well-being
1 

progress between 1900 and 2015. Rather, it is a selected list of some of the most important innovations that have
occurred that have impacted the domains of special interest in this book—health, education, social welfare, technology
and the like. For more comprehensive lists of all of the major social, political, economic, and technological changes that
have occurred in these sectors, readers are referred to various entries in Wikipedia and to dozens of other major histori-
cal services.
Core Domain: Selected Transformational Innovations in Health Since 1900
766

Year Transformational health innovations Innovator Significance of innovations

3000 BC Abacus developed Chinese and other East Asians Antecedent to development of computer
1823–1841 Automatic calculating machine Babbage Foundation for electronic computer
development
1823–1841 Anesthesia invented The earliest documented use of general anesthesia was by Attempts at producing a state of general
Hanaoka Seishū in 1804.[1] He used a mixture of herbal anesthesia can be traced throughout
extracts that he called tsūsensan. Crawford W. Long used recorded history in the writings of the
ether as a general anesthetic in 1842. He did not publish ancient Sumerians, Babylonians,
an account of his successes with general anesthesia until Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans,
1849, however. The first public demonstration of general Indians, and Chinese. During the Middle
anesthesia was in 1846 by a Boston dentist named Ages, which correspond roughly to what
William T.G. Morton at the Massachusetts General is sometimes referred to as the Islamic
Hospital. Dr. Morton gave an ether anesthetic for the Golden Age, scientists and other scholars
removal of a neck tumor by surgeon John Collins Warren made significant advances in science and
(the first editor of the New England Journal of Medicine medicine in the Muslim world and the
and dean of Harvard Medical School). About a decade Eastern world, while their European
later, cocaine was introduced as the first viable local counterparts also made important
anesthetic. John H. Packard, of Philadelphia, published advances
the first notice of using ether for general anesthesia in
1872.[2] It wasn’t until the 1930s that Dr. Harvey Cushing
tied the stress response to higher mortality rates and
began using local anesthetic for hernia repairs in addition
to general anesthesia
1856 The gene established as the unit of inheritance Gregor Mendel Eventually led to electronic DNA
sequencing—a process that may result in
major advances in diseases source
identification and treatment
1900 > 1920 Basic indicators for United States, 1900 Collected baseline data and subsequent
changes in these data for all member states
of the United Nations
 Average years of life expectancy, white male, Systems of social indictors have been
US: 48.2 subsequently improved upon as countries
have sought to use the data for purposes of
national and subnational social planning
Appendices
Year Transformational health innovations Innovator Significance of innovations
 Average years of infant deaths per 1,000 live Data have had a significant impact on
born, all races: NA changing the capacities of countries to
 Average maternal mortality death rate per plan more strategically for both their own
needs and those of other developing
Appendices

100,000 women: NA
countries with which the countries are
 Number 1901–1905 of cases of tuberculosis per
directly involved
10,000 adults: NA
 Suicide rate, males all ages, per 100,000: NA
1862 French microbiologist, Louis Pasteur, Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) Pasteur is best known, however, for his
conducted experiments that supported the germ work in studies on fermenting beverages.
theory and effectively debunked the theory of He found that microorganisms could
spontaneous generation. His work involved the develop during this process. He invented a
development of systems of inoculation including process in which liquids such as milk were
the first vaccine for rabies heated to kill all bacteria and molds. This
was first tested on April 20, 1862. This
process was soon afterwards known as
pasteurization
1901–1905 First radio received, wireless Multiple inventors associated with each innovation Use of automated machines intended to
transmission and reception by Marconi/first advance communication and to reduce
vacuum cleaner/first air conditioner /Wright routine work
brothers fly first gas motored and manned The ECG is especially effective in early
airplane/electrocardiogram detecting of a leading causes of death, i.e.,
health disease
1909 A pioneer in pharmacology was the German Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915) During the 20th century life spans
scientist Paul Ehrlich who—after much trial and Gerhard Domagk (1895–1964) lengthened in most parts of the world. The
effort—synthesized the arsenic-based compound flip side of this was the increased
Salvarsan, the first effective treatment for syphilis, prominence of the diseases of aging,
in 1909. Ehrlich, who coined the term above all, heart disease and cancer, and a
“chemotherapy,” thus created the first antibiotic focus on treating and preventing these
drug. A generation later, another German, Gerhard diseases. In a worrying development,
Domagk, who worked for Bayer, produced the some diseases that appeared to have been
first useful sulfa drug (another antibiotic). This conquered by drug treatments, such as
drug was used to treat streptococcal, or strep, tuberculosis, developed resistance to those
diseases, including meningitis medications toward the end of the 20th
century
(continued)
767
Year Transformational health innovations Innovator Significance of innovations
768

1900 Emergence of the global sanitation European and North American national health bodies, Stopped the spread of diseases associated
movement plus research laboratories, institutes, and universities with urban congestion: tuberculosis,
The Western world in the early twentieth century cholera, smallpox
was faced with the same public health challenges
as the previous century. Life expectancy was 50
years old. Many public health advances grew out
of social reforms. Thirty-eight states created
health departments
1900 United States Army Yellow Fever Walter Reed (1857–1902) This ended the belief that yellow fever
Commission (often called simply “The Reed spread by direct contact with infected
Commission” after its leader, proved that the people or “contaminated” objects and
Aedes aegypti mosquito was the vector for yellow focused the people’s efforts on the
fever eradication of the mosquito
1908 First Model-T car sold by Ford Henry Ford Mass production introduced and, at the
same time, produced consumers from
among their workers able to purchase a
new form of transportation
1909 In the early twentieth century, the most
common cause of death was from contagious
diseases. Bubonic plague hit San Francisco and
persisted until 1909. The influenza outbreak of
1918 killed over 600,000 people and did not
subside until the 1950s. It has recently been
discovered to have been an avian flu strain
1905 Austrian ophthalmologist, Eduard Zirm, Eduard Zirm Marked the beginning of an entire series
performed the world’s first corneal transplant, of successful organ transplants
restoring the sight of a man who had been blinded
in an accident
1906 Meat inspection. The book, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair Partly as a result of this book and the work
Sinclair graphically depicts conditions in the meat of reformers, the U.S. Meat Inspection Act
packing industry. Stimulated major reforms and of 1906 was established. The act
regulation of the meat industry and, subsequently, authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to
all commercial food manufacturing and producing order meat inspections and condemn any
activities found unfit for human consumption
1910–1911 First talking motion picture/first Various Introduction of earliest electronic systems
automotive electrical ignition system/first for cars and modern medicine
laparoscopy
Appendices
Year Transformational health innovations Innovator Significance of innovations
1911 Child labor: By 1911 approximately 2 Theodore Roosevelt In 1912 President Theodore Roosevelt’s
million American children under 16 were working first White House Conference urged
in hazardous and unhealthy conditions, often 12 h creation of the Children’s Bureau to
a day, 6 days a week. Reformers worked tirelessly combat exploitation of children. Still
Appendices

to address these dangerous child labor conditions much of the success would be in raising
with periodic successes awareness of the hazards and conditions
under which children were working. Legal
reform would not come until the 1930s
1916 Family planning. Margaret Sanger Margaret Sanger (1879–1966) Sanger was a tireless pioneer for birth
published What Every Girl Should Know. It not control via both children spacing and
only provided basic information about topics such biomedical means. She used her own
as menstruation but also acknowledged the reality inheritance to finance research that, in
of sexual feelings in adolescents. It was followed time, led to the development of “the pill”
in 1917 by What Every Mother Should Know. Sanger was also a tireless advocate on
That year, Sanger was sent to the workhouse for behalf of women and their right to control
“creating a public nuisance” their own reproductive choices. Her
reputation, though, was eventually
tarnished by her association with
eugenicists and for racist writings that she
published early in her career. Sanger
distanced herself from both movements as
successes in women’s rights to determine
their own reproductive choices increased
1930, 1934 Jet engine invented independently by two Sir Frank Whittle and Dr. Hans Von Ohain
inventors
(continued)
769
Year Transformational health innovations Innovator Significance of innovations
770

1920 > 1940 Basic Indicators for United States, 1920 This is only a partial listing of the
 Average years of life expectancy, White male, hundreds of social indicators for which
US: 56.3 data were regularly reported following the
establishment of the League of Nations
 Average years of infant deaths per 1,000 live
born, all races: NA
 Average maternal mortality death rate per
100,000 women: NA
 Number of cases of tuberculosis per 10,000
adults: NA
 Suicide rate, Males all ages, per 100,000: NA
1928 Penicillin. Scottish physician Alexander Alexander Fleming (1881–1955) This discovery would be one of the most
Fleming inadvertently discovered penicillin while important discoveries of the 20th century
studying molds. Fleming had served as a for its ability to kill bacteria and fight
physician during WWI and had seen the horrific infectious disease
effect of infection in military hospitals
1932 The Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The Public Public Health Service. Some believe it only ended In exchange for taking part in the study,
Health Service, working with the Tuskegee because an investigative reporter, James Jones, learned of the men received free medical exams, free
Institute, began a study in Macon County, the project and made it public meals, and burial insurance. Although
Alabama, to record the natural history of syphilis. originally projected to last 6 months, the
The study involved 600 African American study actually went on for 40 years
men—399 with syphilis and 201 who did not have Since then great efforts have been made to
the disease. Researchers told the men they were stop unethical treatment of human
being treated for “bad blood,” a local term used to subjects. Jones’s book is entitled Bad
describe several ailments, including syphilis, Blood
anemia, and fatigue. In truth, they did not receive
the proper treatment needed to cure their illness,
so that the progression of the disease could be
studied
Appendices
Year Transformational health innovations Innovator Significance of innovations
1940 > 1960 Basic indicators for United States , 1940 Again, this is just a partial listing of the
 Average years of life expectancy, white male, hundreds of time-series social indicators
US: 62.8 published by the United Nations Statistical
Office and selected international
Appendices

 Average years of infant deaths per 1,000 live

non-governmental organizations
born, all races: 51.9
 Average maternal mortality death rate per
100,000 women: NA
 Number of cases of tuberculosis per 10,000
adults:
 Suicide rate, Males all ages, per 100,000: 20.0
1948: The World Health Organization (WHO) United Nations The WHO inherited much of the mandate
was established by the United Nations on April 7, and resources of its predecessor, the
1948 Health Organization (HO), which had
been an agency of the much older League
of Nations
1948 Fluoridation of Water. Fluoridation is the Many North American and European
act of adding fluoride ions to water in order to municipalities fluoridate their water
reduce tooth decay in the general population supplies, citing effectiveness in reducing
tooth decay, safety of fluoridation, and the
low cost to do so
1954 The Polio Vaccine. The first effective polio Jonas Salk (1914–1995) Through mass immunization, the disease
vaccine was developed by Jonas Salk (1914– Albert Sabin (1906–1993) was wiped out in the Americas. Through
1995), although it was the vaccine developed by World Health Organization and UNDP
Albert Sabin (1906–1993) that was used for mass initiatives, the disease is rapidly
inoculation. The first inoculations of children disappearing worldwide
against polio began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on
February 23, 1954
1940s, 1950s Earliest beginnings of successful Organ transplantation emerges as an
organ transplants. In the late 1940s and early entirely new method for treating major
1950s, a team of doctors at Boston’s Peter Bent body organs. First heart transplant by an
Brigham Hospital carried out a series of human interdisciplinary team in South Africa, but
kidney grafts, some of which functioned for days patient died. Successful transplantation
or even months. In 1954 the surgeons transplanted occurred in the United States and set a
a kidney from 23-year-old Ronald Herrick into his new standard for dramatic care of the
twin brother Richard; since donor and recipient terminally ill
were genetically identical, the procedure
succeeded
771

(continued)
Year Transformational health innovations Innovator Significance of innovations
772

1960 > 1980 Basic indicators for New York, 1960 1942 > forward: This is the major period
 Average years of life expectancy, white males, post-WWII. The US central government
US: 67.6 moves into a position of ascendency and
state powers are reduced. Acting on behalf
 Average years of infant deaths per 1,000 live
of the nation as a whole, and due to the
born, all races: 26.0
size of its military and military police
 Average maternal mortality death rate per function, the United States emerges as the
100,000 women: NA world’s most powerful nation—replacing
 Number of cases of tuberculosis per 10,000 the roles previous held by the United
adults: NA Kingdom, France, Germany and other
great powers of Europe
 Suicide rate, males all ages, per 100,000: 19.9 Nuclearization of nations becomes an
increasing reality as larger numbers of
countries become members of the “nuclear
club”: the United Kingdom, France, Israel,
North Korea Russia People’s Republic of
China, South Africa, and so on
1960s The first successful lung, pancreas, and Palliative care emerges as a widely
liver transplants took place. In 1967, the world accepted approach for treating the
marveled when South African surgeon Christiaan terminally ill. The goal is not to reverse or
Barnard replaced the diseased heart of dentist treat the illness but to keep patients
Louis Washkansky with that of a young accident comfortable and pain-free during their last
victim. Although immunosuppressive drugs stages of terminal illness
prevented rejection, Washkansky died of
pneumonia 18 days later
1960 The Birth Control Pill. Searle receives Searle Pharmaceuticals Women given control over their
FDA approval to sell Enovid as a birth control reproductive cycles through biochemicals.
pill. The development of the first highly effective Has had a dramatic impact on birth rates
contraceptive transforms women’s lives around as well as rates of infant and child deaths.
the world and opens the door to the sexual The social status of women also has been
revolution. Searle was the first and only accelerated from childbearing to advanced
pharmaceutical company to sell an oral education, work, and professional careers
contraceptive, and it had a lucrative monopoly.
Other pharmaceutical companies quickly jumped
on the band wagon
Appendices
Year Transformational health innovations Innovator Significance of innovations
1962 Growth of Environmentalism In 1962, Rachel Carson (1907–1964) Raised public awareness of the dangers of
Rachel Carson (1907–1964)’s Silent Spring led to uncontrolled corporate development with
greater awareness of the dangers of chemical proper acknowledgment of these
Appendices

pesticides to humans. Silent Spring played in the developments on the environment and
history of environmentalism roughly the same role health of people and all living things
that Uncle Tom’s Cabin played in the abolitionist
movement. That same year the Migrant Health
Act was passed, providing support for clinics
serving agricultural workers
1964 Tobacco Declared a Hazard On January Luther L. Terry, M.D. (1911–1985) America’s first widely publicized official
11, 1964, Luther L. Terry, M.D. 1911–1985), organization to give recognition to the fact
Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health that cigarette smoking is a cause of cancer
Service, released the report of the Surgeon and other serious diseases
General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and
Health. That landmark document is now referred
to as the first Surgeon General’s Report on
Smoking and Health
1966 The Global Impact of Vaccines U.S. Public Health Service The agencies’ activities in research and
International Smallpox Eradication Program was clinical practice contributed to the
established in 1966. It was led by the U.S. Public worldwide eradication of smallpox in
Health Service. The worldwide eradication of 1977
smallpox was accomplished in 1977
1976 Legionnaires Disease In 1976, 221 U.S. Public Health Services The underlying causes and effective
attendees at a convention of the American Legion treatment of legionellosis were established
in Philadelphia fell sick and 34 died. The
mysterious disease was named Legionnaires
disease or legionellosis
1980 > 2000 Basic indicators for New York, 1980
 Average years of life expectancy, white males,
US: 70.8
 Average years of infant deaths per 1,000 live
born: 12.6
 Average maternal mortality death rate per
100,000 women: NA
 Number of cases of tuberculosis per 10,000
adults: NA
 Suicide rate, Males all ages, per 100,000: 20.3
773

(continued)
Year Transformational health innovations Innovator Significance of innovations
774

1981: A Deadly New Virus A mysterious U.S. Public Health Services The underlying causes and interim
epidemic was identified as acquired immune approaches to treatment of HIV/AIDS
deficiency syndrome (AIDS). It was found to be implemented
caused by the human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV). It is now a global pandemic. More than 23
million people with AIDS have died since 1981.
Millions more are living with HIV
1990 The Human Genome Project Begins In The U.S. National Institutes of Health 1980–1990 Increasing numbers of
1990, the Human Genome Project was formally terminally ill persons choose to die in the
established. The project endeavored to map the comfort of their own homes rather than in
human genome down to the nucleotide (or base hospital or nursing homes
pair) level and to identify all the genes present in 1990 Provided financial and technical
it. Once achieved, this information was to have assistance in mapping all aspects of the
major public health ramifications human genome
1998 The Tobacco Settlement In 1998 the U.S. Legal System Introduced financial costs for systematic
Master Settlement Agreement was signed with the spread of permanently disabling lung
tobacco industry; 46 states settled lawsuits in diseases associated with smoking and the
which they sought to recover tobacco-related use of tobacco by-products
health care costs and to hold the tobacco
companies accountable for decades of wrongdoing
2000 > 2015 Basic indicators for New York, 2000, 2014
 Average years of life expectancy, white males,
US: 74.8, 76.3
 Average years of infant deaths per 1,000 live
born: 6.9, 6.1
 Average maternal mortality death rate per
100,000 women: NA
 Number of cases of tuberculosis per 10,000
adults: NA
 Suicide rate, males all ages, per 100,000: 18.8,
19.8
Appendices
Year Transformational health innovations Innovator Significance of innovations
2010 Spanish doctors conducted the world’s first
full-face transplant on a man injured in a shooting
accident. A number of partial face transplants had
Appendices

already taken place around the world

2001 Bioterrorism 1 month after the September U.S. Centers for Disease Control Identified the sources and potential deadly
11th tragedy, anthrax-contaminated letters were uses of weaponized anthrax in civilian
mailed to the New York Post, NBC’s offices in populations and unknown targeted
New York and the U.S. Senate. Letters to Senator individuals
Tom Daschle and Senator Patrick Leahy carried a
more potent form of anthrax. The CDC confirmed
anthrax cases at American Media, in Florida, and
at the New York offices of CBS and ABC, also
indicating that the anthrax was transmitted by
mail. Twenty-three people contracted anthrax, five
of whom died. Many more people were exposed
2002 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome The last case in this outbreak occurred in
(SARS). An atypical form of pneumonia, first June 2003
appeared in China in 2002. SARS is now known
to be caused by the SARS coronavirus (SARS-
CoV), a novel highly contagious coronavirus.
After China suppressed news of the outbreak, the
disease spread rapidly, reaching neighboring
countries in late February 2003, and then to other
countries via international travelers. Toronto had a
serious SARS outbreak, which fully tested its
public health readiness
2003 Human Genome Project Completed In
2003, the Human Genome Project was completed
after 13 years of work. There were clear practical
results even before the work was complete. The
field of public health genomics appeared. This
emerging field assesses the impact of genes and
their interaction with behavior, diet, and the
environment on the population’s health
(continued)
775
776 Appendices

Core Domain: Selected Transformational Educational Innovations Since 1900

Transformational educational
Year innovations Innovator Significance of innovation
1900 > 1920 1900 The Association of American Multiple inventors Puts U.S. universities on an
Universities is founded to promote equal footing with their
higher standards European counterparts
First radio received wireless Introduction of ground-
transmission and reception by breaking communications
Marconi/first vacuum cleaner/first air systems that bring people
conditioner/Wright brothers fly located at great distances from
first-gas motored and manned one another together. Medical
airplane/electrocardiogram innovations immediately result
in the savings of tens of
thousands of lives
1905 The Carnegie Foundation for the Other important achievements
Advancement of Teaching is founded. of the foundation during the
It is charted by an act of Congress in first half of the 20th century
1906, the same year the foundation include the “landmark ‘Flexner
encouraged the adoption of a standard Report’ on medical education,
system for equating “seat time” (the the development of the
amount of time spent in a class) to Graduate Record Examination,
high school credits. Still in use today, the founding of the Educational
this system came to be called the Testing Service, and the
“Carnegie Unit” creation of the Teachers
Insurance Annuity Association
of America (TIAA-CREF).”
Carnegie Foundation’s home
page
1905 Alfred Binet’s article, “New Alfred Binet It describes his work with
Methods for the Diagnosis of the Theodore Simon in the
Intellectual Level of Subnormals,” is development of a measurement
published in France instrument that would identify
students with mental
retardation. The Binet-Simon
Scale, as it is called, is an
effective means of measuring
intelligence
1911 The first Montessori school in Maria Montessori Two years later (1913), Maria
the United States opens in Tarrytown, Montessori visits the United
New York States and Alexander Graham
Bell and his wife Mabel found
the Montessori Educational
Association at their
Washington, DC, home
1916 John Dewey’s Democracy and John Dewey An outgrowth of the
Education. An Introduction to the progressive political movement,
Philosophy of Education is published. progressive education seeks to
Dewey’s views help advance the ideas make schools more effective
of the “progressive education agents of democracy. His
movement” daughter, Evelyn Dewey,
coauthors Schools of To-
Morrow with her father and
goes on to write several books
on her own
(continued)
Appendices 777

Transformational educational
Year innovations Innovator Significance of innovation
1920 > 1940 1924 Max Wertheimer describes the Max Wertheimer Gestalt Theory, with its
principles of Gestalt Theory to the emphasis on learning through
Kant Society in Berlin insight and grasping the whole
concept, becomes important
later in the 20th century in the
development of cognitive views
of learning and teaching
1929 Jean Piaget’s The Child’s Jean Piaget His theory of cognitive
Conception of the World is published development becomes an
important influence in
American developmental
psychology and education
1939 The Wechsler Adult Intelligence David Wechsler Wechsler intelligence tests,
Scale (first called the Wechsler- particularly the Wechsler
Bellevue Intelligence Scale) is Intelligence Scale for Children,
developed by David Wechsler. It are still widely used in U.S.
introduces the concept of the schools to help identify
“deviation IQ,” which calculates IQ students needing special
scores based on how far subjects’ education
scores differ (or deviate) from the
average (mean) score of others who
are the same age, rather than
calculating them with the ratio (MA/
CA multiplied by 100) system
1940 > 1960 1944 The G.I. Bill of Rights, officially Franklin Roosevelt More than two million attend
known as the Servicemen’s colleges or universities, nearly
Readjustment Act of 1944, is signed doubling the college
by FDR on June 22. Some 7.8 million population. About 238,000
World War II veterans take advantage become teachers. Because the
of the GI Bill during the 7 years law provides the same
benefits are offered opportunity to every veteran,
regardless of background, the
long-standing tradition that a
college education was only for
the wealthy is broken
1945 The concept of a computerized Various Vannevar Bush Sophisticated knowledge made
encyclopedia to hold the world’s available to the masses, often
knowledge speculated by/Atomic without cos
bomb developed/frozen food WWII team of Invention of atom bomb
popularized German-American threatens the future of
physicists humanity. To date, used only by
the United States against Japan
during WWII
1953 Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) B.F. Skinner Learning principles applied to
Skinner’s Science and Human education are now universally
Behavior is published. His form of accepted
behaviorism (operant conditioning),
which emphasizes changes in behavior
due to reinforcement, becomes widely
accepted and influences many aspects
of American education
(continued)
778 Appendices

Transformational educational
Year innovations Innovator Significance of innovation
1954 On May 17th, the U.S. Supreme B.F. Skinner It is a historic first step in the
Court announces its decision in the long and still unfinished
case of Brown v. Board of Education journey toward equality in U.S.
of Topeka, ruling that “separate education
educational facilities are inherently
unequal,” thus overturning its previous
ruling in the 1896 case of Plessy v.
Ferguson. Brown v. Board of
Education is actually a combination of
five cases from different parts of the
country
1956 The Taxonomy of Educational Still widely used today,
Objectives: The Classification of Bloom’s Taxonomy divides the
Educational Goals; Handbook I: cognitive domain into six
Cognitive Domain is published. Often levels: knowledge,
referred to simply as “Bloom’s comprehension, application,
Taxonomy” because of its primary analysis, synthesis. Handbook
author, Benjamin S. Bloom, the II: Affective Domain, edited by
document actually has four coauthors Krathwohl, Bloom, and Masia,
(M.D. Engelhart, E.J. Furst, W.H. Hill, is published in 1964.
and David Krathwohl) Taxonomies for the
psychomotor domain have been
published by other writers
1958 At least partially because of Science and science education
Sputnik, science and science rise in prominence
education become important concerns
in the United States, resulting in the
passage of the National Defense
Education Act (NDEA), which
authorizes increased funding for
scientific research as well as science,
mathematics, and foreign language
education
1960 > 1980 1965 Project Head Start, a preschool Part of the “War on Poverty,”
education program for children from the program continues to this
low-income families, begins as an day as the longest-running
8-week summer program anti-poverty program in the
United States
1966 Jerome Bruner’s Toward a Jerome Bruner His views regarding learning
Theory of Instruction is published help to popularize the cognitive
learning theory as an alternative
to behaviorism
1970 Jean Piaget’s book, The Science Jean Piaget His learning cycle model helps
of Education, is published to popularize discovery-based
teaching approaches,
particularly in the sciences
1971 Michael Hart, founder of Project Michael Hart E-book are now universal and
Guttenberg, invents the e-Book widely accepted
1974 The Equal Educational The legislation has been
Opportunities Act is passed. It particularly important in
prohibits discrimination and requires protecting the rights of students
schools to take action to overcome with limited English
barriers that prevent equal protection proficiency
(continued)
Appendices 779

Transformational educational
Year innovations Innovator Significance of innovation
1975 The Education of All A major milestone for
Handicapped Children Act (PL handicapped children and their
94-142) becomes federal law. It formal schooling
requires that a free, appropriate public
education, suited to the student’s
individual needs, and offered in the
least restrictive setting, be provided
for all “handicapped” children. States
are given until 1978 (later extended to
1981) to fully implement the law
1980 > 2000 1981 John Holt’s book, Teach Your John Holt Adds momentum to the
Own: A Hopeful Path for Education homeschooling movement
1986 Christa McAuliffe is chosen by Christa McAuliffe First teacher to join the space
NASA from among more than 11,000 program
applicants to be the first teacher-
astronaut, but her mission ends
tragically as the Space Shuttle
Challenger explodes 73 s after its
launch, killing McAuliffe and the
other six members of the crew
1989 The University of Phoenix The university becomes the
establishes their “online campus,” the “largest private university in
first to offer online bachelor’s and North America”
master’s degrees
2000 > 2015 2001 The controversial No Child Left George W. Bush The law reauthorizes the ESEA
Behind Act (NCLB) is approved by of 1965 and replaces the
Congress and signed into law by Bilingual Education Act of
President George W. Bush on January 1968; mandates high-stakes
8, 2002 student testing, holds schools
accountable for student
achievement levels, and
provides penalties for schools
that do not make adequate
yearly progress toward meeting
the goals of NCLB

 ore Domain: Selected Transformational Innovations in Income and Wealth

C
Since 1900

Transformational innovation in
Year income and wealth Innovator Significance of innovation
1900 > 1920 1909 The United Kingdom sets Milestone in guaranteeing
a national minimum wage under minimum wage
the Trade Boards Act
1909 Governmentally Milestone in insuring savings,
guaranteed insures for personal mortgages, and student loans
savings, mortgages, student
loans, etc.
1916 The United States passes a Fundamentally changed the way
new tax law, which institutes government interacted with its
income tax, rates beginning at citizens
1 % and rising to 7 % for the
wealthy
(continued)
780 Appendices

Transformational innovation in
Year income and wealth Innovator Significance of innovation
1920 > 1940 1935 Emergence of Securities Imposes industry and
& Exchange Commissions in government oversight of trading
most economically advanced in stocks, bonds, commodities,
countries and other investment
instruments
1935 The United States The emergence of the welfare
institutes social security, as have state
most European nations at this
time to protect against
joblessness, injury, and other
conditions
1938 In the United States the Income protection for unskilled
introduction of minimum wage and semiskilled workers
standards for unskilled and
semiskilled workers
1938 The United States First attempt to prevent abuses
Congress passes the Fair Labor related to child labor
Standards Act. Puts age
restrictions on child labor
1940 > 1960 1950s In Europe and the United
States the demand for more
public services gives rise to new
taxes in order to pay for them.
As a result, taxes become a tool
for redistributing wealth and
evening out inequalities with
welfare
1960 > 1980 1971 United States President
Nixon eliminates gold and
silver standards to support
intrinsic value of paper
currency, which permits the
value of currency to float in the
open market
2000 > 2015 2000 The International Labor
Organization (ILO) comes into
effect. Over 160 countries came
together to agree on this act to
help eliminate mistreatment of
workers and improve equality

 econdary Domain: Selected Transformational Innovations in Technology

S
Since 1900

Transformational technological
Year innovations Innovator Significance of innovation
3000 BCE Abacus developed Chinese and other Antecedent to development of
East Asians computer
1823–1841 Automatic calculating machine Charles Babbage Foundation for electronic
computer development
(continued)
Appendices 781

Transformational technological
Year innovations Innovator Significance of innovation
1842 Chemical fertilizer industry is Various Increased agricultural yields
launched with factory owned by by many times
Lawes
1833 Morse code developed Samuel More Communications reduced to a
very few symbols that are
widely understood and
converted to both manual and
electric forms
1856 Mendel establishes the gene as unit of Gregor Mendal Lays the foundation for both
inheritance genetic inheritance and, in
time, DNA analysis
1871 Discovery of DNA Miescher Lays the foundation for
understanding the genetic
basis of disease
1881 Maize refined into agricultural crop Varied Makes available one of the
most steadily available
agricultural products as a
major source of food for tens
of millions of people
Hybridized corn produced Varied Protects corn against major
infectious diseases
1890s First gas powered tractor is built/ Multiple inventors Earliest beginnings of
combined harvester reduces man mechanized agriculture;
hours of labor on land/X-ray improved agricultural
production by more than 10
fold
1900 > 1920 1900 The Zeppelin invented Count Ferdinand von Inspires the possibility of air
Zeppelin travel, a form of travel not
previously thought possible
1903 The first gas-motored and
manned airplane invented by the
Wright Brothers opening the door for
all modern-day aviation.
1901 > 1905 First radio received Multiple Succeeds in bring widely
wireless transmission and reception dispersed people together by
by Marconi/first vacuum cleaner/first radio, airplane.
air conditioner /Wright brothers fly More critical advances in
first gas motored and manned using electricity to diagnose
airplane/electrocardiogram make life-taking illnesses and
diseases
1905 The Theory of Relativity Albert Einstein Unifying space and time into
published, revolutionizing physics at the space-time continuum, and
its most fundamental level explaining the concepts of
time dilation and the principle
of conservation of mass-
energy. Einstein was awarded
the 1921 Nobel Prize in
Physics for his work
1908 The first Model-T car sold to Henry Ford Automation and assembly line
the public by Henry Ford. This begins techniques introduced into
the age of personal motorized large-scale manufacturing and
transportation, which was affordable economic production
and available to all
(continued)
782 Appendices

Transformational technological
Year innovations Innovator Significance of innovation
1920 > 1940 1921 First robot built A major innovation in human
labor saving
1924 The first mechanical television John Logie Baird Analog computers use
built, which was the precursor to the changeable aspects of physical
modern television phenomena such as electrical
or mechanical quantities to
model the problem. Eventually
outdated by digital computers,
but widely used in their time
1930 The “differential analyzer” or Vannevar Bush
first analog computer invented at MIT
1937 The photocopier invented by
Chester Carlson
1937 The concept of a theoretical Alan Turing Turing is considered the father
computing machine developed, which of computer science as well as
can be adapted to simulate the logic artificial intelligence. The
of a computer program Turing machine and Turing
research made possible all
modern-day computer
technology
1940 > 1960 1945 The first atomic bombs dropped The United States became the
on Japan, August 6 first and only country to
deploy atomic weapons,
changing the rules of warfare
engagement forever
1947 Transistor invented by Gordon Bell/ Gordon Bell
Mobile phone first invented but not
sold commercially until 1983
First cardiac defibrillation/Shannon
establishes basic theory for digital
communication
1953 Watson & Crick discover DNA Watson and Crick The key to genetic codes
structure and its digital genetic code. opens the door to scientific
inquiry and application
1957–1958 All available known elementary Arthur Rosenfeld The basic building blocks of
particles assembled the universe identified and
Fortran, COBOL, and other early systematized
computer languages emerge
First pacemaker
First fetal ultrasound Furman Saves tens of millions of lives
All for early diagnosis and
treatment of infants requiring
fetal surgery and early
intervention
(continued)
Appendices 783

Transformational technological
Year innovations Innovator Significance of innovation
1960 > 1980 1966 “ARPANET” idea published by The ARPANET eventually
Lawrence Roberts. This was a plan grew into today’s Internet.
for the Internet, essentially packet Although greatly evolved from
switching between connected the original ARPANET,
computers Internet is still fundamentally
similar and would not be
possible without the advances
of ARPANET
1967 The first handheld calculator
invented
1968 The first computer mouse Home access to the Internet
invented revolutionized the scope of
computers and the uses for
Internet uses
1970 The floppy disk was invented
for external computer storage
1973 The Ethernet (local computer
network) was invented for home
computing with the Internet
1973 The first personal handheld
cellphone is unveiled by Motorola
Industries. Dr. Martin Cooper is the
first person credited with making a
call on a portable phone.
1971 Microprocessor invented/ Faggin, Mazor &
Hounsfield invents CT Scanner Hoff
1974 UPC codes are assigned to
every product
1977 Magnetic resonance imaging Raymond Damadian
(MRI) invented, greatly improving
diagnosing capabilities
1980 > 2000 1984 The first Apple Macintosh
computer is invented by Steve Jobs
1990 The World Wide Web and
Internet Protocol (HTTP) and WWW
language (HTML) created by Tims
Burners-Lee to expand the Internet
capabilities and possibilities
2000 > 2015 2003 Toyota releases its first hybrid
car model, due to growing
environmental concerns
2009 A robotic hand was successfully
connected to an amputee, allowing
him to feel sensations and control the
device with his thoughts
2014 Technological breakthrough in
developing a power source based on
nuclear fusion small enough to fit on
a truck and could be ready for use in
a decade
(continued)
Secondary Domain: Selected Transformational Social Innovations Since 1900
784

Transformational social
Year innovations Innovator Significance
1850 to present Rural to urban migration due to Created a variety of social and health problems in cities
the Industrial Revolution, making
cities the major centers of
employment and technological
innovation
1889 Introduced in Germany by Otto von Bismarck Social security has been the most successful system of income security
Bismarck in 1883, a new system protecting the largest number of people with the economic shocks associated
of income security, social with sickness and disability, maternity, old age, involuntary joblessness and, in
security, quickly spread from some countries, support for children and families
Germany to all of Europe and,
today, to more than 170 countries
worldwide
1889 The Hull House is founded in Jane Addams Considered the founder of social work in the United States
Chicago, the United States, and
was instrumental in
understanding social problems in
the area
1900 Emergence of cities as the major Multiple sites Process of urbanization began around 1860, continued through the Industrial
centers of employment, Revolution, and even today the process is ongoing such that 80 % of the
education, health care, and world’s total population now resides in metropolitan communities consisting
technological innovation of a major city, contiguous suburbs, and related townships, villages, and
boroughs
1906 The Jungle was published in the Upton Sinclair Spurred regulations in industry to stop mistreatment
United States, which exposed
labor exploitation in meat
packing
1935 The United States adopts a form At this point most European nations already have a form of social security in
of social security, the result of the place as well
worldwide Great Depression,
which had brought
unemployment to millions
Appendices
 Transformational social
Year innovations Innovator Significance
1948 Passage by the UN General Laid the foundation for extension of human rights and human rights protection
Assembly of the Universal to most historically disadvantaged population groups
Declaration of Human Rights
Appendices

Emergence of private voluntary

sector as major actors in
promoting broad-based social,
political, economic, and
technological development
1950 Emergence of urban Began with the earliest Unite Nations Population Division begins to closely monitor these trends and
agglomerations, i.e., populations migrations of rural dwellers makes annual reports to the UN General Assembly. Major publication is
of at least 10 million people. to urban cities, especially in UNPOP, World Urbanization Prospects: http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/
More than 100 of such economically developing Highlights/WUP2014-Highlights.pdf
agglomerations currently exist countries
and the number is expected to
increase
1950 > 1960 The ability of people to live This is one of the most important aspects of urbanization, even as migrants
“anonymously,” i.e., without maintain relationships with their extended kinship networks
direct control of their lives by
extended kinship systems, local
community requirements, and the
like
1960 > 1970 Reorganization of family from Though more economically and emotionally vulnerable, families can move
extended to nuclear and more easily in search of work and other economic opportunities
subnuclear
1900 > present Bismarck’s social insurance Emperor Otto von Bismarck Social security now includes five basic modal programs, at least three of
proves to be so successful that and the International Social which are directly related to employment and employer contributions to the
variations have been adopted by Security Association with its financing of the programs: (1) old age, invalidity, and disability; (2) work
more than 100 nations worldwide headquarters in Geneva, injury; (3) health care, especially for pregnancy; (4) involuntary employment;
Switzerland and (5) large family size
The concept underlying each of these programs is to provide financial security
to job-related workers and their families during periods when income revenues
are severely interrupted
(continued)
785
 Transformational social
786

Year innovations Innovator Significance

1967 > 1980 Launching of the War on Poverty John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Subsequently extended to rural communities in both economically advanced
directed at the poor living in B. Johnson—both Presidents and socially least developing countries. The United Nations Development
urban areas of the United States who Programme monitors and reports annually on social gains and losses
worked to extend similar experienced in attaining these goals, especially in the educational, health, and
programs to other income sectors
impoverished countries and
world regions
1995 Launching by the United Nations UN General Assembly and Attributed to be the most effective program of financial aid and technical
of the Millennium Development the UN Development assistance mounted by the United Nations in collaboration with other
Campaign (MDC) with its Programme in partnerships intergovernmental, governmental, and major nonstate development focused
specification eight Millennium with the International entities
Development Goals (MDGs) and Monetary Fund, the World Outcomes associated with the implementation of this international strategic
at least 21 fully operationalized Bank, the Organization for plan are reported annually in the theme-focused UNDP Human Development
indicators associated with these Economic Cooperation and Reports that have been cited extensively throughout this book
goals Development (OECD) along
with more than 100 formal
programs of development
assistance to socially
developing and least
developing countries
2000 forward An entirely new series of Various Examples include:
sector-specific technical reports Anderson, R. Human suffering index
have been introduced that
Freedom House: Freedom throughout the world indexes
monitor global progress in
international development Gallup Polls and Gallup-Heathway’s Polls: annually include international and
comparative questions on individual, familial, and collective well-being
International Institute for Economic and Peace: Terrorism Index, World Peace
Index, Peace Index
National Economic Foundation (NEF), Happy Planet Index
Regional Barometer Index focues on well-being in selected regions of the
world: Asia, Europe, and so on
Transparency International: Perceived Corruptions Index
Appendices
 Transformational social
Year innovations Innovator Significance
1950 forward United Nations creates and funds United Nations General Among the sectoral agencies created are:
Appendices

14 separate entities dealing with Assembly  International Labour Organization (ILO)

well-being associated with
 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
different aspects of sectoral
development  United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
 United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)
 World Health Organization (WHO)
 World Meteorological Organization (UNWMO)
1997 Dolly the sheep cloned Roslin Institute Opened the door for even more profound medical intervention
1997 Wireless Application Protocol Various A powerful and unique application essential to the laptop community
(WAP) developed
1998 Google is born Google labs Birth of one of Internet’s primary search mechanisms. Many other systems
follow, but Google remains dominant
2015 and forward Web 2.0 Multiple scientific work Major advances in quality of individual and collective life
Human Genome Project group and individual scholars
completed
Facebook
Wikipedia, etc.
First artificial knee and livers
created
2010–2015 Virtual object reality (Oculus Various Speed of technological innovation increases dramatically and across all major
Rift, Magic Leap, HoloLens) sectors of communal life
Car to car communication, brain
organoids
Internet of DNA supercharged
photosynthesis liquid biopsies
ubiquitous Internet access
nano-architecture
787
788 Appendices

References selected factors that threaten national, regional,

and global peace and development (Estes and
Bellis, M. (2015). 20th century timeline. [Web site: About Tiliouine 2014; Estes and Sirgy 2014).
Money]. http://inventors.about.com/od/timelines/a/%
20modern_2.htm. Accessed 3 Feb 2016.
The ISP/WISP consists of 41 social indicators
Growing a nation: The Story of American Agriculture. that have been subdivided into 10 subindexes
(n.d.). [Web site]. https://www.agclassroom.org/gan/ (Appendix Table D1): Education (N = 4); Health
timeline/farm_tech.htm. Accessed 4 Feb 2016. Status (N = 7); Women Status (N = 5); Defense
New York Times. (2012, October 10). [Health]. Milestones
in medical technology. http://www.nytimes.com/inter-
Effort (N = 1); Economic (N = 5); Demographic
active/2012/10/05/health/digital-doctor.html?_ (N = 3); Environmental (N = 3); Social Chaos (N
r=0#/#time15_325. Accessed 4 Feb 2016. = 5); Cultural Diversity (N = 3); and Welfare
Wolfram Alpha. (2010). [Web site]. Time of systematic Effort (N = 5). The 41 discrete indicators used in
data and the development of computable knowledge.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/docs/timeline/comput-
the construction of the WISP are identified in
able-knowledge-history-5.html. Accessed 3 Feb 2016. Appendix Table D1, and the system of statistical
World Bank. (2000). The World Development Report weights used in creating each of the indexes and
2000/2001: Attacking poverty. Oxford, UK: Oxford the index as a whole is identified in Appendix
University Press. http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~walker/
wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/wdr2001.pdf.
Table D2. Correlation coefficients for each of the
Accessed 4 Feb 2016. WSP’s 10 subindexes and the WISP as a whole
are reported in Appendix Table D3.

 ppendices D and E: Index

A Data Sources for the ISP/WISP
and Subindex Scores
on the Weighted Index of Social The majority of the data used to operationalize
Progress the ISP/WISP were obtained from the annual
reports supplied by individual countries to spe-
This appendix and the one that follows report cialized agencies of the United Nations (UN), the
index and subindex scores and score rankings on United Nations Development Programme
the Index and Weighed Index of Social Progress (UNDP), the World Bank (WB), the Organization
(ISP/WISP) for 162 countries for the period for Economic Cooperation and Development
1970–2010. The ISP and WISP were created in (OECD), the International Social Security
1973 by Richard J. Estes of the University of Association (ISSA), the International Labour
Pennsylvania in response to an invitation from Organization (ILO), and other major international
the Secretary-General of the International data collection and reporting organizations. Data
Council of Social Welfare, Kate Katzi, to develop for the Environmental subindex were obtained
an alternative approach to measuring social rather from the World Resources Institute (WRI), the
than purely economic development (Estes 2013, United Nations Commission on Sustainable
2015). The outcome of a 2-year effort to develop Development (UNCSD), and the World Bank.
such a comprehensive, more socially sensitive Data for the Social Chaos subindex were obtained
index of social development was the Index of from Amnesty International (AI), Freedom
Social Progress (Estes 1976, 1984, 1988, 2014a- House (FH), the International Federation of Red
c). Country performances on the ISP and WISP Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCRCS),
have been updated every 5 and 10 years; the index the Stockholm International Peace and Research
reports social performances of countries at the Institute (SIPRI), and Transparency International
national (Estes 1984, 1988, 1998a,1998b), (TI). Data for the Cultural Diversity subindex
regional (Estes 1995, 1996a, 1996b, 1998a, 2004, were gathered from the CIA World Factbook and
2007a, 2007b), and global levels (Estes 1984, the Encyclopedia Britannica and from the work
1988, 1998b, 2010, 2015). The ISP/WISP also of independent scholars in the fields of compara-
has been used to analyze the underlying causes of tive language, religion, and ethnology.
Appendices 789

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790 Appendices

Appendix Table D1  Indicators on the Weighted Index Subindex indicators

of Social Progress (WISP), by Subindex (N = 10
GINI index score, most recent year (−)
Subindexes, 40 Indicators)
Demography subindex (N = 3)
Subindex indicators Average annual population growth rate,
Education subindex (N = 3) 1990–1900 (−)
Primary School Completion Rate, 1992–2000 (+) Percent of population aged <15 years, 2000 (−)
Average years of schooling, 2000 (+) Percent of population aged &gt;64 years, 2000 (+)
Adult literacy rate, 2000 (+) Environmental subindex (N = 3)
Health status subindex (N = 7) Nationally protected areas (%), 1996 (+)
Physicians per 100,000 population, 1990–1999 (+) Per capita metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions,
Percent of children immunized against DPT at age 1, 1998 (−)
1999 (+) Average annual disaster-related deaths per million
Percent of population using improved water sources, population, 1990–2000 (−)
2000 (+) Social chaos subindex (N = 5)
Percent of population undernourished, 1996–1998 (−) Strength of political rights, 2000 (+)
Infant mortality rate, 2000 (−) Strength of civil liberties, 2000 (+)
Under-five child mortality rate, 2000 (−) Perceived corruption index, 2000 (−)
Life expectation at birth, 2000 (+) Total deaths in major armed conflicts since inception,
Women status subindex (N = 5) 2000 (−)
Female secondary school enrollment as percent of Number of externally displaced persons per 100,000
males, 1995–1997 (+) population, 1999 (−)
Seats in parliament held by women as percent of total, Cultural diversity subindex (N = 3)
1991–2000 (+) Largest percentage of population sharing the same or
Contraceptive prevalence among married women, similar racial/ethnic origins, 2000 (+)
1990–2000 (+) Largest percentage of population sharing the same or
Maternal mortality ratio, 1990–1998 (−) similar religious beliefs, 2000 (+)
Female adult literacy as percent of males, 2000 (+) Largest share of population sharing the same mother
Defense effort subindex (N = 1) tongue, 2000 (+)
Military expenditures as percent of gross domestic Welfare effort subindex (N = 5)
product, 2000 (−) Age first national law—old age, invalidity and death,
Economic subindex (N = 5) 1999 (+)
Per capita gross national income (PPP), 2000 (+) Age first national law—sickness and maternity,
1999 (+)
Percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP),
1999–2000 (+) Age first national law—work injury, 1999 (+)
Total external debt service as percent of exports of Age first national law—unemployment, 1999 (+)
goods and services, 2000 (−) Age first national law—family allowance, 1999 (+)
Unemployment rate, 1998–2000 (−)
(continued)

Appendix Table D2  Statistical Weights Used in Constructing the Weighted Index of Social Progressa

{
WISP 2000 = ( Factor 1) *.697) + ( Factor 2 ) *.163) + ( Factor 3) * .140  }
where:
 Factor 1 = [(Health * 0.92) + (Education * 0.91) + (Welfare * 0.72) + (Woman * 0.91) + (Social Chaos * 0.84) +
(Economic * 0.71) + (Diversity * 0.64) + (Demographic * 0.93)]
 Factor 2 = [(Defense Effort * 0.93)]
 Factor 3 = [(Environmental * 0.98)]
a
Derived from factor analysis using Varimax rotation. For purposes of comparability across the time series, the same
statistical weights were used in all four time periods: 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000
Appendix Table D3  Weighted Index of Social Progress Subindex Pearson Correlation Coefficients (N = 162)

Pearson correlation matrix

STNED10 STNHL10 STNWOM10 STNDEF10 STNEC10 STNDEM10 STNENV10 RSTNSC10 STNCUL10 STNWEL10 RISP10 FNL_WISP10
STNED10 1.000
STNHL10 0.870 1.000
STNWOM10 0.844 0.837 1.000
STNDEF10 0.023 0.075 0.116 1.000
STNEC10 0.380 0.455 0.301 0.066 1.000
STNDEM10 0.756 0.824 0.717 0.156 0.461 1.000
STNENV10 −0.151 −0.167 −0.089 0.149 −0.257 −0.145 1.000
RSTNSC10 0.504 0.566 0.513 0.220 0.265 0.550 −0.022 1.000
STNCUL10 0.439 0.522 0.514 0.064 0.185 0.436 −0.047 0.288 1.000
STNWEL10 0.497 0.651 0.482 0.279 0.345 0.705 0.022 0.543 0.348 1.000
RISP10 0.813 0.890 0.828 0.373 0.467 0.869 0.024 0.688 0.590 0.779 1.000
FNL_WISP10 0.871 0.938 0.864 0.214 0.491 0.901 −0.095 0.685 0.588 0.756 0.981 1.000
Appendix E: Alphabetical Listing of Country Subinex Rankings in 2010 (N = 162)

1SP10 Educ status Health Women Defense Econ Demographic Environmental Social chaos Cultural Welfare WISP10
Country rank rank status rank status rank effort rank status rank rank rank rank diversity rank effort rank rank
(N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162)
Afghanistana 160 158 162 161 115 5 162 119 158 105 143 162
Albania 51 73 55 90 42 42 49 71 69 34 75 53
Algeria 76 89 82 99 115 56 80 119 147 7 41 73
Angolaa 159 149 152 149 151 129 147 48 131 152 143 157
Argentina 35 60 37 8 23 94 52 71 51 13 31 39
Armenia 40 73 76 81 106 29 29 48 91 1 31 43
Australia 28 36 16 19 58 29 42 139 1 65 20 27
Austria 3 15 3 30 23 56 20 23 13 34 1 6
Azerbaijan 54 83 76 90 106 2 56 95 140 22 44 54
Bahamas 60 47 62 38 115 102 66 131 35 13 103 55
Bahrain 95 36 62 53 133 56 80 156 91 71 135 81
Bangladesha 99 131 116 105 23 42 103 119 110 13 95 107
Belarus 27 15 24 13 42 5 10 95 131 34 40 29
Belgium 23 15 3 8 23 94 15 139 13 105 1 11
Belize 102 73 62 81 156 94 106 3 42 122 129 100
Benina 121 149 127 156 42 102 147 9 51 96 81 134
Bhutana 121 103 121 133 115 94 115 7 100 137 143 120
Bolivia 85 36 102 90 58 129 106 13 69 122 49 94
Botswana 79 15 108 81 115 129 75 7 35 71 129 86
Brazil 47 47 46 38 58 120 66 23 51 65 27 50
Bulgaria 21 47 33 19 93 29 1 71 42 42 20 16
Burkina Fasoa 117 158 139 140 42 67 66 37 80 122 61 124
Burundia 149 139 159 135 153 120 150 57 131 82 95 147
Cambodiaa 106 123 127 124 58 29 106 9 121 13 143 112
Cameroon 138 139 139 138 42 94 115 48 121 157 75 141
Canada 39 36 16 19 23 14 35 153 1 137 31 33
 1SP10 Educ status Health Women Defense Econ Demographic Environmental Social chaos Cultural Welfare WISP10
Country rank rank status rank status rank effort rank status rank rank rank rank diversity rank effort rank rank
(N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162)
Cape Verdea 73 73 91 72 8 129 115 95 25 52 81 81
Cen African Repa 151 160 155 149 23 152 106 23 110 155 61 153
Chada 155 161 155 162 23 14 158 48 140 161 75 159
Chile 43 47 46 72 138 102 56 95 13 22 20 43
China 98 89 76 72 85 29 49 158 131 135 81 87
Colombia 60 73 42 38 133 129 80 1 159 71 41 73
Comorosa 126 144 133 124 115 129 130 9 80 82 143 131
Congo, DRa 153 149 159 144 93 102 147 57 151 137 91 154
Congo, Rep 128 123 139 138 42 129 150 23 121 137 54 136
Costa Rica 32 36 42 1 1 84 80 13 25 22 54 40
Cote D’Ivoire 148 144 139 149 58 141 115 23 153 161 81 151
Croatia 28 47 33 30 58 42 5 95 51 13 49 29
Cuba 47 2 1 4 138 84 35 95 131 82 75 41
Cyprus 44 9 42 81 42 56 45 119 25 71 61 45
Czech Rep 24 23 11 38 58 8 15 71 25 103 13 19
Denmark 1 3 11 4 58 42 25 37 1 1 1 1
Djiboutia 142 119 127 144 144 150 122 95 100 96 143 141
Dominican Rep 62 110 91 19 8 120 92 13 51 34 81 70
Ecuador 62 106 62 30 106 102 80 13 80 65 41 65
Egypt 88 89 91 114 115 67 95 71 110 32 61 89
El Salvador 72 110 62 53 8 120 95 71 51 22 95 73
Eritreaa 162 128 139 140 161 129 161 57 140 145 143 159
Estonia 37 15 55 30 58 8 5 71 42 137 31 33
Ethiopiaa 137 136 139 144 106 29 130 23 100 148 121 140
Fiji 99 23 76 90 42 141 75 95 110 137 129 101
Finland 7 9 24 3 42 14 20 131 1 22 36 7
France 15 9 3 38 106 67 25 145 13 13 5 8
Gabon 113 110 108 120 58 129 106 71 100 152 61 114
Gambiaa 128 144 133 144 8 129 130 71 100 71 121 137
Georgia 54 89 55 81 133 56 10 71 69 52 95 50
Germany 3 36 3 13 42 56 5 37 13 42 1 4
Ghana 110 117 116 128 8 67 115 23 42 148 114 116
(continued)
 1SP10 Educ status Health Women Defense Econ Demographic Environmental Social chaos Cultural Welfare WISP10
Country rank rank status rank status rank effort rank status rank rank rank rank diversity rank effort rank rank
(N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162)
Greece 28 36 16 72 138 14 10 131 35 1 31 23
Guatemala 106 123 102 114 4 120 130 13 91 122 103 112
Guinea-Bissaua 158 153 155 149 138 155 150 95 91 117 143 156
Guineaa 144 156 147 155 85 150 122 57 121 132 61 148
Guyana 70 1 91 81 58 141 56 95 62 132 81 63
Haitia 127 152 121 114 115 161 95 95 110 7 121 127
Honduras 65 106 82 13 8 102 122 13 69 13 103 81
Hong Kong 31 36 16 53 1 56 34 23 35 22 81 35
Hungary 10 23 24 53 58 14 10 71 25 34 13 11
Iceland 5 3 1 8 1 3 45 119 1 22 27 5
India 112 110 113 124 115 29 80 154 147 122 49 109
Indonesia 116 106 102 99 42 56 66 161 91 122 112 105
Iran 101 73 82 90 152 67 75 149 131 96 49 89
Iraq 146 116 102 110 115 141 138 119 161 88 143 143
Ireland 36 23 24 19 8 158 52 139 13 34 5 35
Israel 64 6 11 53 158 56 63 57 42 71 49 46
Italy 10 23 3 53 85 42 5 139 25 7 13 8
Jamaica 53 83 82 38 8 120 61 48 62 42 61 55
Japan 8 36 24 72 23 5 1 95 19 13 36 11
Jordan 91 47 46 90 149 67 122 57 80 42 135 89
Kazakhstan 79 47 62 90 23 14 45 145 121 112 121 67
Kenya 124 89 137 120 58 147 138 37 91 155 103 120
Korea, North 157 73 91 38 162 94 52 145 131 71 143 109
Korea, South 50 23 42 53 106 8 41 131 35 96 103 49
Kuwait 103 47 55 90 148 3 106 159 80 88 135 89
Kyrgyzstan 67 47 76 105 115 56 66 71 100 105 20 63
Lao, PDRa 114 123 113 114 85 42 106 23 140 112 141 117
Latvia 37 23 37 53 58 29 1 37 25 132 44 35
Lebanon 88 100 46 99 145 94 63 119 110 52 61 73
Lesothoa 95 36 116 13 93 158 66 71 62 42 143 98
 1SP10 Educ status Health Women Defense Econ Demographic Environmental Social chaos Cultural Welfare WISP10
Country rank rank status rank status rank effort rank status rank rank rank rank diversity rank effort rank rank
(N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162)
Liberiaa 161 136 149 148 155 162 130 23 160 137 121 161
Libya 90 89 55 90 85 94 95 139 140 1 103 89
Lithuania 18 23 24 38 42 14 10 57 25 42 36 19
Luxembourg 9 60 11 19 8 1 35 149 1 52 7 10
Macedonia 82 60 37 81 93 141 35 71 69 105 143 67
Madagascara 117 136 133 120 23 102 145 71 69 135 54 120
Malawia 110 119 113 128 8 67 138 13 80 112 135 117
Malaysia 83 47 62 72 93 67 95 13 70 148 81 87
Malia 133 153 149 156 93 67 150 57 51 82 61 137
Mauritaniaa 131 153 116 135 133 102 145 95 100 71 95 131
Mauritius 58 60 62 38 4 84 56 95 35 105 75 55
Mexico 54 60 62 38 4 84 66 95 62 71 61 55
Moldova 46 60 46 30 4 42 20 95 80 71 112 46
Mongolia 70 36 82 53 58 29 80 48 51 65 143 67
Morocco 91 110 91 124 145 84 75 95 91 22 54 98
Mozambiquea 140 156 152 120 23 129 130 57 80 122 143 145
Myanmara 136 119 121 105 58 67 66 160 153 88 143 117
Namibia 105 100 108 13 132 155 106 57 42 82 143 105
Nepala 131 128 108 128 85 102 115 23 153 145 121 134
Netherlands 15 23 16 4 58 84 29 37 1 88 13 19
New Zealand 12 9 24 8 23 29 42 37 1 88 24 19
Nicaragua 65 117 91 19 8 102 95 9 69 34 61 81
Nigera 142 161 139 159 42 102 159 57 131 112 81 148
Nigeria 147 131 147 140 8 67 138 71 69 160 114 152
Norway 6 3 3 4 58 8 29 149 1 7 11 3
Oman 134 89 62 110 160 67 95 149 100 117 139 108
Pakistan 134 144 121 128 133 42 122 156 121 96 95 124
Panama 54 83 55 53 23 120 80 23 42 42 61 59
Papua-NG 128 119 108 135 8 120 122 71 80 157 129 131
Paraguay 69 89 82 53 8 129 106 71 69 7 75 73
Peru 67 89 82 38 42 102 80 23 62 96 61 70
Philippines 85 100 91 30 23 84 103 71 100 88 103 94
(continued)
 1SP10 Educ status Health Women Defense Econ Demographic Environmental Social chaos Cultural Welfare WISP10
Country rank rank status rank status rank effort rank status rank rank rank rank diversity rank effort rank rank
(N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162)
Poland 25 15 37 53 85 56 25 37 35 1 36 27
Portugal 21 23 11 30 93 84 20 119 19 7 27 16
Qatar 152 83 55 105 159 29 150 162 91 105 143 114
Romania 32 73 46 72 85 29 5 95 51 13 27 31
Russia 51 47 37 72 138 42 15 131 151 117 11 46
Rwandaa 120 144 149 114 115 84 138 48 110 22 114 120
Saudi Arabia 103 60 62 110 156 29 122 13 121 52 114 101
Senegala 121 139 116 140 58 102 130 48 62 117 95 127
Sierra Leonea 154 131 161 158 23 147 150 57 80 117 129 155
Singapore 79 47 46 53 145 14 52 139 42 137 91 61
Slovak Republic 18 23 33 30 58 14 29 37 25 65 13 23
Slovenia 15 9 24 53 58 14 15 71 19 71 24 16
Somaliaa 156 131 158 160 115 154 150 119 153 65 143 157
South Africa 83 73 107 19 58 141 80 131 42 122 54 81
Spain 12 23 16 8 23 42 29 131 19 52 13 11
Sri Lanka 76 60 91 81 106 67 49 57 110 88 103 73
Sudana 149 123 127 128 93 42 115 71 162 122 121 150
Suriname 95 60 82 13 58 102 63 95 51 148 143 94
Swaziland 109 110 127 53 58 152 103 71 121 52 129 111
Sweden 2 6 3 2 58 14 15 71 1 32 7 1
Switzerland 18 23 3 19 23 102 25 13 1 96 24 23
Syria 108 83 62 99 149 67 122 119 140 82 121 104
Taiwan 41 60 16 53 115 14 35 119 25 52 61 41
Tajikistan 92 60 121 99 93 8 95 23 121 42 143 103
Tanzaniaa 114 139 139 114 23 42 138 3 69 147 114 127
Thailand 74 83 91 53 23 42 56 57 110 88 114 73
Togoa 140 139 127 149 58 155 138 37 121 122 81 145
Trinidad &Tobago 85 60 102 38 115 14 45 154 51 152 54 65
 1SP10 Educ status Health Women Defense Econ Demographic Environmental Social chaos Cultural Welfare WISP10
Country rank rank status rank status rank effort rank status rank rank rank rank diversity rank effort rank rank
(N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162) (N = 162)
Tunisia 49 47 62 53 58 84 61 95 100 1 44 52
Turkey 75 89 46 105 115 67 66 95 110 22 91 70
Turkmenistan 91 60 62 81 115 147 80 131 140 42 91 94
Ugandaa 139 128 133 110 93 67 159 6 157 157 114 143
Ukraine 26 9 46 72 93 8 1 119 62 52 13 26
United Kingdom 12 15 16 19 106 102 20 48 1 52 7 11
United States 42 15 24 38 138 14 42 145 19 52 44 35
Uruguay 32 73 33 38 42 102 35 95 19 52 7 31
Uzbekistan 59 6 91 53 8 42 80 95 147 52 54 61
Venezuela 45 89 76 19 42 102 92 2 91 34 44 59
Viet Nam 76 103 82 38 106 14 75 71 131 42 103 73
Yemena 145 103 121 149 154 67 150 95 110 105 139 137
Zambiaa 117 131 152 133 93 120 130 3 80 112 95 130
Zimbabwe 125 106 137 99 93 160 92 37 147 103 141 124
Median 81 73 79 81 58 67 80 71 80 77 81 81
Average 81 78 78 78 75 76 79 75 78 78 78 81
SD 47 48 47 48 49 47 47 47 47 48 45 47
a
Indicates countries officially classified by the United Nations as “Least Developing” (UNDP, 2009)
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 art 3: Popular Books on Quality

P  ppendix G: List of Chapter
A
of Life, Life Satisfaction, and Happiness Anonymous Reviewers
Anderson, R. E. (Ed.) (2015). World Suffering
and the Quality of Life. New York: Springer. Many people have contributed to this book by
Diamandis, P. H., & Kotler, S. (2014). Abundance: serving as anonymous reviewers of the volume’s
The future is better than you think. New York: many chapters. The editors express sincere appre-
Free Press. ciation to each of these persons for their essential,
Diamandis, P. H., & Kotler, S. (2015). Bold: How if less visible, contribution to the book’s
to go big, create wealth, and impact the world. completion.
New York: Simon & Shuster.
Gilbert, D. (2006). Stumbling on happiness. Ali-Dinar, Ali, Associate Director, African
New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Studies Program, University of Pennsylvania,
Glatzer, W. (2015). Worries and pain—the dark Philadelphia, PA; e-mail: [email protected].
side of quality of life. In W. Glatzer, upenn.edu
L. Camfield, V. Møller, & M. Rojas (Eds.), Arthur, Shawn, Assistant Professor, Department
Global handbook of quality of life: Exploration of Religion, Wake Forest University, Winston-
of well-being of nations and continents Salem, NC; e-mail: [email protected]
(International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life). Boelhouwer, Jeroen, Social and Cultural Planning
Dordrecht: Springer. Office, the Netherlands Institute for Social
Glatzer, W., Camfield, L., Møller, V., & Rojas, Research; specialist in well-being research;
M. (Eds.). (2015). Global handbook of quality e-mail: [email protected]
of life: Exploration of well-being of nations Carr, Tony, President, Halloran Philanthropies,
and continents. Dordrecht: Springer. West Conshohocken, PA
Helliwell, J., Layard, R., & Sachs, J. (Eds.). Clark, Andrew, Research Professor of Economics,
(2013). World happiness report, 2013. A study Paris School of Economics, Paris, France;
conducted by Columbia University’s Earth e-mail: [email protected]
Institute and published in cooperation with the Cummins, R., Emeritus Professor, Department of
United Nations Sustainment Development Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne,
Solutions Network. Retrieved October 19, Australia; e-mail: robert.cummins@deakin.
2014 from http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/ edu.au
uploads/2014/02/WorldHappinessReport Eckermann, Liz, Professor of Health Sociology,
2013_online.pdf Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia;
Kinney, C. (2011). Getting better: Why global e-mail: [email protected]
development is succeeding—And how we can Fernandez-Halloran, Brian, artist, curator, and
improve the world even more. New York: organizer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Basic Books. Fried, Pamela, Protext Editorial Services, Devon,
Layard, R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a PA; e-mail: [email protected]
new science. London: Penguin UK. García Vega, José de Jesús, Professor, Director of
Nettle, D. (2005). Happiness: The science beyond the Center for Well-Being Studies, Department
your smile. Oxford: Oxford University Press. of Economics, Universidad de Monterrey,
Newton, T. (2014). The little book of thinking Mexico; e-mail: [email protected]
big: Aim higher and go further than you ever Glatzer, Wolfgang, Professor Emeritus of
thought possible. Mankato: Capstone. Sociology, University of Frankfurt-am-Main,
808 Appendices

Frankfurt, Germany; e-mail: wolfgang. William and Mary College, Williamsburg,

[email protected] Virginia; e-mail: [email protected].
Gonzales, Daniel, Director, Regional Strategy edu
and Team for Migrations, Avina Foundation, Rojas, Mariano Professor of Economics,
Bogotá, Columbia; e-mail: Daniel.Gonzales@ Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de
avina.net Puebla (UPAEP), Pueblo, Mexico; e-mail:
Halloran, Harry, Founder and Chairman of the [email protected]
Board, Halloran Philanthropies; Chair of the Schmitthenner, Peter, Associate Professor,
Board, American Refining Group; Department of Religion and Culture and
Philadelphia, PA Department of History, Virginia Polytechnic
Halloran, Kevin, Professor of English, Université Institute and State University, Blacksburg,
Paris VIII, Paris, France VA; [email protected]
Halloran, Neil, Data visualization artist and film Selian, Audrey, Senior Adviser, Halloran
maker, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philanthropies, Geneva, Switzerland
Howell, Ryan T., Associate Professor of Shek, Daniel, Chair Professor, Department of
Psychology and Director of the Personality Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong
and Well-Being Lab, San Francisco State Polytechnic University, Hong Kong; e-mail:
University; co-founder of BeyondThePurchase. [email protected]
Org; e-mail: [email protected] Shrotryia, Vijay Kumar, Professor and Head of
Inoguchi, Takashi, Professor Emeritus of Political the Department of Commerce, School of
Science, University of Nigata Prefecture, Economics, Management, and Information
Japan; e-mail: [email protected] Sciences, North-Eastern Hill University,
Jackson, Pamela, Professor of Psychology, Meghalaya, India; e-mail: vkshro@gmail.
Radford University, Virginia; e-mail: office@ com
miqols.org Spooner, Brian, Professor of Anthropology,
Kagotho, Njeri, Assistant Professor, Adelphi University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA;
University, Garden City, NY; e-mail: e-mail: [email protected]
[email protected] Sreenivasan, Ramya, Associate Professor, Chair,
Land, Kenneth, Professor of Demography, Duke South Asia Studies and South Asia Language
University, Durham, North Carolina; e-mail: Coordinator, University of Pennsylvania,
[email protected] Philadelphia, PA; e-mail: rsreenivasan@sas.
Mangahas, Mahar, Executive Director Emeritus, upenn.edu
Social Weather Station (SWS), Manila, Tiliouine, Habib, Professor and Director of the
Philippines; e-mail: mahar.mangahas@sws. Educational Laboratory & Process Social
org.ph Context, University of Oran, Algeria; e-mail:
Mazumdar, Krishna, Professor, Indian Statistical [email protected]
Institute, Kolkata, India; e-mail: Veenhoven, Ruut, Emeritus Professor of
[email protected] Sociology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam,
Michalos, Alex, Professor Emeritus of Political Netherlands; e-mail: [email protected]
Science, University of Northern British Walker, David, Information Technology special-
Colombia, Brandon, British Columbia, ist, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
Canada; e-mail: [email protected] University, Blacksburg, VA; e-mail: dwalker@
Møller, Valerie: Professor Emeritus of Quality of vt.edu
Life Studies, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, Wills-Herrera, Eduardo, Organizational and
South Africa; e-mail: [email protected] well-being scholar, Universidad de los Andes,
Rahtz, Don, J. S. Mack Professor of Marketing, Bogotá, Colombia; e-mail: ewills@uniandes.
Raymond A. Mason School of Business, edu.co