OECD launches updated version of Your Better Life Index

The OECD released a new version of its pioneering Your Better Life Index  – an online, interactive index that allows people to measure and compare their lives in a way that goes beyond traditional GDP numbers – on 22 May 2012.

Launched last year, Your Better Life Index (watch video in English) enables people to compare well-being based on 11 topics - housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety and work-life balance. The updated version, launched today as part of the 2012 OECD’s annual Forum and Ministerial Meeting, integrates data on gender and inequality and strengthens existing topics. Visitors to Your Better Life Index will now be able to compare their well-being priorities to those of other users by country, age and gender, and share their results. The updated Index also includes two new countries, Russia and Brazil. The Index is available in French and is embeddable for web sites and blogs.

“Your Better Life Index is an innovative approach toward measuring progress and comparing lives in a way that goes beyond traditional GDP measures,” said OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría. “This updated version helps strengthen the robustness of the Index by including data on gender and inequality and by extending it to new countries. We look forward to continue updating Your Better Life Index in the years to come and consolidating it as a reference tool in the promotion of better policies for better lives.”

Some of the key takeaways from the new version of the Index include:

• No matter which countries people live in, they value the most some combination of health, education and life satisfaction.
• Men and women who have used the Index value basically the same things.
• The wealthier you are, the more likely you are to make your voice heard in elections, but not by a huge margin.
• Men work more in the labour market and make more money than women, but women are better in other areas, they live longer, are better educated and in most places they are also happier.
• Inequality isn’t just about money, it affects other topics in Your Better Life Index.

For more information on the Your Better Life Index:

• Create your Better Life Index: www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org
• OECD Better Life Initiative
• How’s Life? report
• OECD Week 2012
• Country specific information from Your Better Life Index
• OECD Week media schedule

---