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.

France - Wellbeing

 OECD Better Life Index

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France’s ranking - 18th out of 38 countries

What they scored highest in - Work/life balance (8.7/10)

What they scored lowest in - Income (4.4/10)

Figure 2.1 - OECD Better Life Index for France

(http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/france/) 

France ranks well in terms of having a good work-life balance, people feeling safe and a healthy population. 

However, their most alarming issue is their relatively low score of 4.4 for income, the average household disposable income per capita is USD 31,304 a year which is lower than the OECD average of USD 33,604. Interestingly though, this does not mean the whole population is poor, instead, France suffers from a poor distribution of income. The top 20% of the population earn around 4 times as much as the bottom 20%. A potential solution to this would be opting for more progressive taxes i.e) the percentage of income paid in tax increases as incomes increase. This would help the French government achieve one of its microeconomic objectives, a fairer redistribution of income. 

Happiness Index

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France’s ranking - 20th out of 150 countries

Score	GDP per capita	Social support	Healthy life expectancy	Freedom to make choices	Generosity	Perception of corruption
6.664/10	1.268	1.459	1.030	0.514	0.113	0.227

Figure 2.2 - France ranking in 2020 World Happiness Report https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Report#cite_note-47 

France scores lowest in terms of its generosity, this is not surprising considering in the OECD better life index, France suffers from low scores for income and also a poor distribution of income. Hence many may feel a lack of generosity typical of a capitalist society where the rich tend to get richer as the poor get poorer with little support. 

Happy Planet Index Ranking

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France ranking - 44th out of 140 countries, HPI score 30.4

What they scored highest in - Life expectancy (10th of 140 countries)

What they scored lowest in - Ecological footprint (111th of 140 countries)

Figure 2.2 - Happy Planet Index for France 

(http://happyplanetindex.org/countries/france)

France ranks highly for its lack of inequality, good wellbeing and high life expectancy so it was fairly surprising that it ranked 44th out of 140 countries contradictory of its high rankings in these variables. 

What hurts France the most is its poor ecological footprint, ranked 111th of 140, France joins many first world countries culprit of having alarmingly high ecological footprints. France consumes 5.1 global hectares per person, this high value is synonymous for many first world countries who due to their wealthy economies consume relatively more goods and services then poorer nations and so have a greater economic footprint per individual.  

That is to say, even if a poorer nation may have a larger population and so consume more goods and services overall, the amount of goods and services per capita divides total consumption by population to give a more accurate representation of a country's ecological footprint. The average person in a first world country will likely consume more than the average person in a third world country. 

This index would prove the reason why France should focus less on its GDP and more on its ecological footprint. GDP represents the real output of a country, if a country prioritises GDP growth a byproduct would be the negative externalities associated with both producing and in turn consuming these goods and services. The more goods and services produced, the more pollution produced, the more natural resources used, etc. Hence by prioritising GDP growth, France’s opportunity cost would be the worsened ecological footprint. 

The budget and national debt

France 2016-2020
Year	Government debt as a % of GDP	Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) as % of GDP
2016	94.9	-3.60
2017	95.6	-3.00
2018	98.0	-2.30
2019	97.6	-3.10
2020	115.7	-9.20

Figure 3.1 - France's government debt as a % of GDP and budget as % of GDP between 2016 and 2020

https://tradingeconomics.com/france/government-budget 

https://tradingeconomics.com/france/government-debt-to-gdp 

Between 2016 and 2020 France consistently maintained a budget deficit, however, between 2016 and 2019 this value was relatively stable, not fluctuating excessively. In 2020, the coronavirus changed this and France suffered a budget deficit 3x that of the previous year. This was due to France’s response to the global pandemic. In particular 26% of GDP was accumulated to be used for emergencies and recovery measures. (https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2021/01/15/na011921-five-charts-on-frances-policy-priorities-to-navigate-the-covid19-crisis) This is common by many governments, money is borrowed to respond to emergency situations whether that be natural disasters, financial crisis or military related situations. However, this means national debt increase as a result.

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.