Spain - Wellbeing

 OECD Better Life Index

Spain ranking - 19th out of 38 countries

What they scored highest in - safety (9.2 / 10)

What they scored lowest in - Income (4.0 / 10)

Spain has a low income with a considerable gap between the richest and poorest and people have a sense of safety and security as Spain's homicide rate is 0.6, lower than the OECD average of 3.7

Something that was expected was the relatively low score for jobs at 4.7 of 10 due to the economic crisis back in 2012 and Spain's difficulty to recover. The percentage of the labour force that has been unemployed for a year or longer is currently at 7.7%, much higher than the OECD average of 1.8%. Spain suffers a high level of structural unemployment. Since the economic and financial crisis. One leading cause is an economy based mostly on tourism and building sectors, as well as lack of industry.

http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/spain/

World Happiness Index

Spain
Overall Rank	Score	GDP per capita	Social support	Healthy life expectancy	Freedom to make choices	Generosity	Perception of corruption
28	6.401	1.231	1.421	1.051	0.426	0.165	0.110

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report#cite_note-47 

 

There is a high social support in Spain, people believe that they know someone they could rely on in time of need or in crisis

Happy Planet Index Ranking

15th out of 140 countries

HPI score 36.0

What they scored highest in - Life expectancy (6th of 140 countries)

What they scored lowest in - inequality (22nd of 140 countries)

http://happyplanetindex.org/countries/spain

Spain is ranked fairly high on the Happy Planet Index. This could be due to the fact that this index does not take into account the economic wellbeing of its citizens but their happiness or due to the fact of a false consciousness.

Response to hamzah's question:

Spain’s economy has been recognized as one of the most paramount in the world due to its high exports of goods, however it has been bogged down by multiple crises over the past several years. Economical disasters left the Spanish economy with long-term obstacles that the Spanish government has struggled to overcome. The Spanish economy prospers from a low import and high export method which was initially implemented after the global financial crisis in order to help the country become more profitable. In the first quarter of 2020 Spain's GDP decreased by -0.5% but jumped to 5.9% in the next quarter as the country ramped up its exports further to the point that of Spain becoming one of the world’s top exporters. The exported goods bring in money, increasing its GDP and despite the economic slump due to the pandemic, Spain now seems to be recovering and forecasts are rather optimistic.

Japan – Well-being

 Japan performs well in some measures of the OECD Better Life Index Ranking. They rank top at personal security. The ranks for income and wealth, education and skills, jobs and earning, housing, personal security and environmental quality are above the OECD average, however, they are below the average in rankings in regards to civic engagement, subjective well-being, social connections, work-life balance and health status. Japan is in the 56th place for the Happiness Index Ranking, an improvement from their 2020 ranking of 62nd. 

In terms of eco-friendliness, Japan has a score of 28.3 in the Happy Planet Index, ranking 58th out of 140 countries. They are in the lower quartile in terms of scores. Although their life expectancy (83.2 years old) and well-being (6/10) is alright, their ecological footprint is high, at 5 global hectares per person. The inequality in Japan is quite low, at 9%.

Japan, financially as a country, does well. Japan has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, as they score high on traditional factors of life quality (income, wealth, education, jobs, earnings, housing and personal security – which all positively correlate with each other.) However, there seems to be a lack of connection between society with one another. They are lower in civic engagement, subjective well-being, social connections, work-life balance and health status. They could focus on this to improve overall life quality for citizens in Japan.