Abstract
This chapter provides an approach to measuring quality of life in Latin America from a territorial perspective by creating a Synthetic Quality of Life Indicator (SQLI) and adopting the social indicator approach. Amongst other objectives, the chapter seeks to obtain a robust synthetic measure of quality-of-life levels using the P2 distance method in addition to analysing inter-country disparities. The indicators employed have mainly been chosen depending on the availability of data for the group of countries and so as to ensure comparability at an international scale. The index comprises information on different social indicators from various life domains and enables a classification of Latin American countries, as well as a study of the impact of each individual indicator in order to determine disparities in quality-of-life levels. As a result, it is possible to draw conclusions concerning which aspects emerge as the most relevant when explaining spatial disparities in quality of life in Latin American countries.
The authors wish to express their sincerest gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their work. Their invaluable suggestions have no doubt contributed to improving the chapter enormously.
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- 1.
If no strict convergence is achieved, the results of the successive iterations must be analysed so that the semi-conforming vectors are identified. One of these or its arithmetic mean may be chosen as a solution, since the differences would be insignificant.
- 2.
Through software P2 distance: Well-being’s Synthetic Indicator. R package version 1.0.1 (Pérez-Luque et al. (2012)).
- 3.
As explained in the methodology, an iterative algorithm is used to solve this issue and to determine the weights of each variable.
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Appendices
Annex 2.1
1.1 Income
Satisfaction with standard of living: Percentage of respondents answering “satisfied” to the Gallup World Poll question, “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your standard of living, all the things you can buy and do?” Gallup (2013).
Gross National Income (GNI) per capita: Aggregate income of an economy generated by its production and its ownership of factors of production, less the incomes paid for the use of factors of production owned by the rest of the world, converted to international dollars using PPP rates, divided by midyear population. HDRO calculations based on data from World Bank (2014), IMF (2014), and UN Statistics Division (2014).
Quintile ratio: Ratio of the average income of the richest 20 % of the population to the average income of the poorest 20 % of the population. HDRO calculations based on data from World Bank (2014).
Gini coefficient: Measure of the deviation of the distribution of income amongst individuals or households within a country from a perfectly equal distribution. A value of 0 represents absolute equality, a value of 100 absolute inequality. HDRO calculations based on data from World Bank (2014).
1.2 Home
Internet users: People with access to the worldwide network, expressed per 100 people. World Bank (2014).
Percentage of goods and facilities in the home: Do you or any member of your family have any of the following goods? (House in which the parents have a separate bedroom from the children, Refrigerator/icebox/freezer, Own home, Computer, Washing machine, Fixed telephone, Mobile phone, Car, Running water, Hot running water, Sewage system, Bathroom with shower) Latin barometer (2011).
Satisfaction with availability of green areas and public spaces in your locality: Median of respondents to the question: Would you say you are very satisfied (1), fairly satisfied (2), not very satisfied (3), or not satisfied at all (4) with…? Latin barometer (2011).
Satisfaction with municipal services: Median of respondents to the question: Would you say you are very satisfied (1), fairly satisfied (2), not very satisfied (3), or not satisfied at all (4) with…? Latin barometer (2011).
Satisfaction with roads and paving: Median of respondents to the question: Would you say you are very satisfied (1), fairly satisfied (2), not very satisfied (3), or not satisfied at all (4) with…? Latin barometer (2011).
Satisfaction with public transport: Median of respondents to the question: Would you say you are very satisfied (1), fairly satisfied (2), not very satisfied (3), or not satisfied at all (4) with…? Latin barometer (2011).
1.3 Job
Satisfaction with job: Percentage of respondents answering “satisfied” to the Gallup World Poll question, “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your job?” Gallup (2013).
Employment to population ratio: Percentage of the population aged 25 years or older that is employed. ILO (2013).
Youth unemployment ratio: Percentage of the labour force population aged 15–24 that is not in paid employment or self-employed but is available for work and has taken steps to seek paid employment or self-employment. ILO (2014).
Child labour: Percentage of children aged 5–11 who, during the reference week, did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 h of household chores, or children ages 12–14 who, during the reference week, did at least 14 h of economic activity or at least 28 h of household chores. UNICEF (2014).
Satisfaction with local labour market: Percentage of respondents answering “good” to Gallup World Poll question, “Thinking about the job situation in the city or area where you live today, would you say that it is now a good time or a bad time to find a job?” Gallup (2013).
Labour force participation rate by sex: Proportion of a country’s working-age population (aged 15 and older) that engages in the labour market, either by working or actively looking for work, expressed as a percentage of the working-age population. ILO (2013).
1.4 Health
Adult mortality rate by sex: Probability that a 15-year-old will die before reaching age 60, expressed per 1,000 people. WHO (2013).
Life expectancy at age 60: Additional number of years that a 60-year-old could expect to live if prevailing patterns of age-specific mortality rates stay the same throughout the rest of his or her life. WHO (2013).
Health-adjusted life expectancy by sex: Average number of years that a person can expect to live in full health, taking into account years lived in less than full health due to disease and injury. WHO (2013).
Health expenditure, total: Current and capital spending on health from government (central and local) budgets, external borrowing and grants (including donations from international agencies and non-governmental organisations), and social (or compulsory) health insurance funds, expressed as a percentage of GDP WHO (2014).
Satisfaction with health care quality: Percentage of respondents who answered “satisfied” to the Gallup World Poll question, “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the availability of quality health care?” Gallup (2013).
Infant mortality rate: Probability of dying between birth and exactly age 1, expressed per 1,000 live births. Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (2013).
Maternal mortality ratio: Number of deaths due to pregnancy-related causes per 100,000 live births. UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Group (2013).
Depth of food deficit: Number of kilocalories needed to lift the undernourished from their status, holding all other factors constant. FAO (2013).
1.5 Physical Environment
Satisfaction with actions to preserve the environment: Percentage of respondents answering “satisfied” to Gallup World Poll question: “In this country, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the efforts to preserve the environment?” Gallup (2013).
Carbon dioxide emissions per capita: Human-originated carbon dioxide emissions stemming from the burning of fossil fuels, gas flaring, and the production of cement, divided by midyear population include carbon dioxide emitted by forest biomass through depletion of forest areas. World Bank (2014).
Deaths due to outdoor air pollution: Deaths of children under age 5 due to respiratory infections and diseases, lung cancer, and selected cardiovascular diseases attributable to outdoor air pollution. HDRO calculations based on World Bank (2014).
Deaths due to indoor air pollution: Deaths of children of age under 5 due to acute respiratory infections attributable to indoor smoke from solid fuels. HDRO calculations based on World Bank (2014).
Deaths due to unsafe water, unimproved sanitation, or poor hygiene: Deaths of children under age 5 due to diarrhoea attributable to poor water, sanitation, or hygiene. WHO (2013).
Population living on degraded land: Percentage of the population living on severely or very severely degraded land. Land degradation estimates consider biomass, soil health, water quantity, and biodiversity. FAO (2013).
Number of deaths due to natural disaster: Number of people confirmed as dead and missing and presumed dead as a result of a natural disaster, expressed per million people. Natural disasters are classified as climatological, hydrological, and meteorological disasters and include drought, extreme temperature, flood, mass movement, wet storm, and wildfire. CRED EM-DAT (2013) and UNDESA (2013).
Population affected by natural disasters: People requiring immediate assistance during a period of emergency as a result of a natural disaster, including displaced, evacuated, homeless and injured people, expressed per million people. CRED EM-DAT (2013) and UNDESA (2013).
1.6 Safety
Homeless people: People who lack a shelter for living quarters as a result of natural disasters, who carry their few possessions with them and who sleep in the streets, in doorways or on piers, or in any other space, on a more or less random basis, expressed as a percentage of the total population. United Nations Statistics Division (2014).
Prison population: Number of adult and juvenile prisoners (including pre-trial detainees, unless otherwise noted), expressed per 100,000 people. International Centre for Prison Studies (2013).
Homicide rate: Number of unlawful deaths purposefully inflicted on a person by another person, expressed per 100,000 people. FAO (2013).
Perception of safety: Percentage of respondents answering “yes” to the Gallup World Poll question, “Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?” Gallup (2013).
1.7 Education
Adult literacy rate: Percentage of the population ages 15 and older who can, with understanding, both read and write a short simple statement on their everyday life. UNESCO (2013).
Youth literacy rate: Percentage of the population ages 15–24 who can, with understanding, both read and write a short simple statement on their everyday life. UNESCO (2013).
Population with at least some secondary education: Percentage of the population ages 25 and older that reached at least a secondary level of education. UNESCO (2013).
Mean years of schooling: Average number of years of education received by people ages 25 and older, converted from education attainment levels using official durations of each level. UNESCO (2013).
Expected years of schooling: Number of years of schooling that a child of school entrance age can expect to receive if prevailing patterns of age-specific enrolment rates persist throughout the child’s life. UNESCO (2013).
Satisfaction with education quality: Percentage of respondents who answered “satisfied” to the Gallup World Poll question, “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the education system?” Gallup (2013).
Education expenditure: Total public expenditure (current and capital) on education, expressed as a percentage of GDP. World Bank (2014).
1.8 Community, Politics, and Institutions
Satisfaction with community: Percentage of respondents answering “yes” to the Gallup World Poll question, “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the city or area where you live?” Gallup (2013).
Trust in national government: Percentage of respondents answering “yes” to the Gallup World Poll question, “In this country, do you have confidence in the national government?” Gallup (2013).
Satisfaction with freedom of choice: Percentage of respondents answering “satisfied” to the Gallup World Poll question, “In this country, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?” Gallup (2013).
Trust in other people: Percentage of respondents answering “can be trusted” to the Gallup World Poll question, “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you have to be careful in dealing with people?” Gallup (2013).
Corruption Perception Index (CPI): scale of zero to 10, with zero indicating high levels of corruption and 10 indicating low levels. Transparency International (2014).
1.9 Happiness or Subjective Welfare
Overall life satisfaction index: Average response to the Gallup World Poll question: “Please imagine a ladder, with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to ten at the top. Suppose we say that the top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you, and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time, assuming that the higher the step the better you feel about your life, and the lower the step the worse you feel about it? Which step comes closest to the way you feel?” Gallup (2013).
Annex 2.2
2.1 Structure of the Components (Table 2.9, 2.10 , 2.11 , 2.12 , 2.13 , 2.14 , 2.15 , and 2.16 )
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Somarriba Arechavala, N., Zarzosa Espina, P. (2016). Quality of Life in Latin America: A Proposal for a Synthetic Indicator. In: Tonon, G. (eds) Indicators of Quality of Life in Latin America. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 62. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28842-0_2
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