Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Social Progress of Nations Revisited

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Social progress and well-being throughout the world has arrived at a critical turning point. Following decades of social losses among the world’s poorest developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, the majority of these and other nations now are experiencing significant social gains. Using the Weighted Index of Social Progress (WISP18), the author traces the net social gains and social losses experienced by most the world’s nations over a 50-year time, ranging from 1970 to the present. The data reported draw on the author’s extensive data base of historical and contemporary social indicators and links the current study to his and other reports of social progress and well-being that have been published this period. Data are reported at four levels of analysis, i.e., that of the world-as-a-whole, regional (continental) data, subregional data using the preceding and, finally, for selected countries for which the changes have been most remarkable. The net social gains on the WISP18 and earlier version of the WISP portray very positive outcomes for the 162 countries included in the study (representing 95% of the world’s total population) for both the near- and long-term.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. "Adequacy of social provision" refers to the changing capacity of governments to provide for the basic social, material, and other needs of the people living within their borders, e.g., for food, clothing, shelter, and access to at least basic health, education, and social services (Estes 1988: pp. 199–209; Estes and Morgan 1976).

  2. Nations characterized by higher level of cultural homogeneity can attain higher levels of social development and quality of life more rapidly than are nations characterized by higher levels of cultural heterogeneity (Binns and Dixon 2012; CIA 2018; Estes 1990; Rowntree and Lewis 2017). This driver of the pace of change in national well-being over time, however, should not be viewed negatively given the enormous richness that cultural diversity adds to the distinctiveness and social richness of countries.

  3. Because of their length of an already long paper, I, with my colleagues at the Management Institute of Quality of Life Studies (MIQOLS), are creating a richly embellished website that focuses just on the content of this paper. The website addresses all the methodological issues identified above and does so in considerable detail. The site also reports 50-year data trends at the national, regional, and international levels of analysis that can be disaggregated reaggregated using the reader’s own system of statistical weights. Many calculators appear on the website to make the task easy for readers. The author believes other content related to these issues also will be easily identifiable on the website. I think you will be very pleased by the design and inclusiveness of the many measurement tools that make up the many analytical tools that make up the website. See the following working page on the website as illustrative of the overall richness of the larger website. The page reports composite and subindex scores for all 162 countries included in the analysis for each 10-year period studied. We have used color coding to distinguish between different clusters of nations. The website will provide lengthy discussions of the methodology used to identify the four factors as well as each of the WISP’s 10 subindexes. The first of the many detailed tables that will part of this site can be found at: http://www.miqols.org/toolbox2/isp/table-3.html. The major site, however, will be located as part of the TOOLBOX tab of MIQOLS opening website: http://www.miqols.org/toolbox/.

  4. Unfortunately, the United States is not among the group of most socially developed countries. This unfortunate reality results from the country’s wide spread poverty (1:5 children are officially classified as poor), the country’s very high crime and violence rates—especially that associated with gun violence, the high rates of legal incarceration and, (USDOJ 2018) and, using the WISP’s rich bank of social indicators, lower year of average life expectancy combined with high rates of infant, child, and maternal mortality relative to other socially advanced nations (USDHHS 2018). The country’s social safety net has very large holes in it including high levels of income insecurity among the nation’s aged (USNIA 2018). As a nation, these realities sadden the study’s author who has spent many years in attempting to close these gaps that place the US at nearly the bottom of economically advanced nations where the wealth gap is extraordinary great and obvious to anyone who is willing to see it (USIRS 2018).

  5. (*) indicate countries officially designated by the United Nations as “least developed countries” (LDCs), many of which are either landlocked or ocean-locked nations with a very limited array of products for sale on international markets (UN 2017). Rounding of decimals to whole numbers account for some countries being assigned a whole number score on the WISP18.

  6. The 20 members of the G-20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and the multi-state European Union.

References

  • Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. (2013). Why nations fail: The origins of power, prosperity, and poverty. New York: Crown Business, A Division of Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amnesty International (AI). (2018). Homepage: Research. Retrieved July 10, 2018 from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/?contentType=2564&issue=1253&sort=date.

  • Binns, T., & Dixon, A. (2012). Africa: Diversity and development. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Brandt North-South Commission. (1980). The North-South Divide. Berlin: North South Commissions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). (2018). World Factbook, 2018. Washington: U.S. Department of State.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, G., & Hagan, S. (2018). Quick take: What’s intellectual property and does china steal it? Bloomberg, March 22. Retrieved July 1, 2018 from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-22/what-s-intellectual-property-and-does-china-steal-it-quicktake.

  • Estes, R. J. (1984). World social vulnerability: 1968-1978. Social Development Issues, 8(1–2), 8–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (1987). Social development trends in the Pacific: Implications for the future. Social Development Issues, 11(2), 3–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (1988). Trends in World Social Development: The social progress of nations, 1970–1987. New York: Praeger.

  • Estes, R. J. (1990). Social development under different political and economic systems. Social Development Issues, 13(1), 5–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (1995). Social development trends in Africa: The need for a new development paradigm. Social Development Issues, 17(1), 18–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (1996a). Social development trends in Asia, 1970–1994: The challenges of a new century. Social Indicators Research, 37(2), 119–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (1996b). Social development trends in Latin America, 1970–1994: In the shadows of the 21st century. Social Development Issues, 18(1), 25–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (1997). Trends in European social development, 1970–1994. Social Indicators Research, 42(1), 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (1998a). Trends in world social development, 1970–95: Development prospects for a new century. Journal of Developing Societies, 14(1), 11–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (1998b). Social development trends in the successor states to the former Soviet Union: The search for a new paradigm. In Hope, K. R. (Eds.), Challenges of transformation and transition from centrally planned to market economies. UNCRD Research Report Series No. 26 (pp. 13–30). Nagoya: United Nations Centre for Regional Development.

  • Estes, R. J. (1999). Social development trends in the Middle East, 1970–1997: The search for modernity. Social Indicators Research, 50(1), 51–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2004). Development challenges of the ‘New’ Europe”. Social Indicators Research, 69(2), 123–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2007a). Asia and the new century: Challenges and opportunities. Social Indicators Research, 82(3), 375–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2007b). Development challenges and opportunities confronting economies in transition. Social Indicators Research, 83(3), 375–411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2010a). The world social situation: Development challenges at the outset of a new century. Social Indicators Research, 98, 363–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2010b). Toward sustainable development: From theory to praxis. Social Development Issues, 15(3), 1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2012a). Economies in transition: Continuing challenges to quality of life. In K. Land, A. C. Michalos, & M. J. Sirgy (Eds.), Handbook of quality of life research (pp. 433–457). Dordrecht, NL: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2012b). Failed and failing states: Is quality of life possible? In K. Land, A. C. Michalos, & M. J. Sirgy (Eds.), Handbook of quality of life research (pp. 555–580). Dordrecht, NL: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2014). Disadvantaged populations. In A. C. Michalos (Ed.), Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research (pp. 1654–1658). Dordrecht, NL: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2015a). Development trends among the world’s socially least developed countries: Reasons for cautious optimism. In B. Spooner (Ed.), Globalization in progress: Understanding and working with world urbanization. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2015b). Global change and quality of life indicators. In F. Maggino (Ed.), A life devoted to quality of life festschrift in honor of Alex C. Michalos (pp. 173–194). Dordrecht NL: Springer International Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2015c). Trends in world social development: The search for global well-being. In W. Glatzer (Ed.), The global handbook of well-being: From the wealth of nations to the human well-being of nations. Dordrecht NL: Springer International Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J. (2018). Disparities and wealth. In: G. Brule & C. Suter (Eds.), Wealth and subjective well-being, Chapter 21. Dordrecht, NL: Springer.

  • Estes, R. J. (2019). The social progress of nations revisited, 1970–2018: A half century of promise and progress. Social Indicators Research (in press).

  • Estes, R. J., & Sirgy, M. J. (2014). Radical Islamic militancy and acts of terrorism: A quality-of-life analysis. Social Indicators Research, 117(2), 615–652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J., & Sirgy, M. J. (2017). Is quality of life related to radical Islamic militancy and acts of terrorism? In H. Tiliouine & R. J. Estes (Eds.), Social progress in Islamic societies: Social, political, economic, and ideological challenges. Chapter 29. Dordrecht, NL: Springer International Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J., & Sirgy, M. J. (2018a). Advances in human well-being. London: Rowman & Littlefield Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J., & Sirgy, M. J. (2018b). Advances in well-being in the MENA region: Accentuating the positive. In L. Lambert & N. Pasha-Zaidi (Eds.), Advances in well-being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region: Historical background and contemporary challenges. Dordrecht, NL: Springer. (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J., & Morgan, J. S. (1976). World social welfare analysis: A theoretical model. International Social Work, 19(2), 29–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J., & Tiliouine, H. (2014). Islamic development trends: From collective wishes to concerted actions. Social Indicators Research, 116(1), 67–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J., & Zhou, H. (2015). A conceptual approach to the creation of public–private partnerships in social welfare. International Journal of Social Welfare, 24(4), 348–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J., Chua, H.-W., Fung, J., & Wong, A. (2002). Toward a social development index for Hong Kong: The process of community engagement. Social Indicators Research, 58(1–3), 313–347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. J., Land, K., Michalos, A., Phillips, R., & Sirgy, M. J. (2017). The history of well-being in North America. In: R. J. Estes & M. J. Sirgy (Eds.) The pursuit of well-being: The untold global history. Chapter 9. Dordrecht, NL: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • European Commission (EC). (2018). Annual Statistices of the European Commission. Brussels: EC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freedom House. (2018). Freedom throughout the world, 2018. New York: Freedom House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fund for Peace. (2017a). Fragile States Index. Washington, DC: Fund for Peace. http://fundforpeace.org/fsi/data/.

  • Fund for Peace. (2017b). Why foreign aid and development spending is Good for America. Washington, DC: Fund for Peace. http://library.fundforpeace.org/blog-20170322-usaid.

  • Fund for Peace. (2017c). Human rights and business roundtable. Washington, DC: Fund for Peace.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, K. T., Puplampu, K. P., & Shaw, T. M. (Eds.). (2017). From millennium development goals to sustainable development goals. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helliwell, J., Layard, R., & Sachs, J. (2017). World happiness report, 2017. New York: Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inoguchi, T., & Estes, R. J. (2017). The history of human well-being in East Asia. In R. J. Estes & M. J. Sirgy (Eds.), The pursuit of well-being: The untold global history. Dordrecht, NL: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Labour Organization (ILO). (2018). Statistics and databases. Retrieved July 10, 2018 from http://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/lang–en/index.htm.

  • International Monetary Fund (IMF). (2018a). IMF data. Retrieved July 8, 2018 from http://www.imf.org/en/Data.

  • International Monetary Fund (IMF). (2018b). World economic outlook, 2018. April. Retrieved July 8, 2018 from https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2018/03/20/world-economic-outlook-april-2018.

  • International Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC). (2018). Annual report, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2018 from https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc-pages/.

  • International Social Security Association (ISSA). (2018). Social security programs throughout the world. Geneva: ISSA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ki-Moon, B. (2013). Secretary-General’s remarks at a G20 working dinner on “Sustainable Development for All,” St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, Meeting of the G-20. Retrieved June 15, 2018 from https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2013-09-05/secretary-generals-remarks-g20-working-dinner-sustainable.

  • Koob, A., Toma, A. I., & La Forgia, R. (2018). Peace and security funding index: An analysis of global foundation grantmaking (2018th ed.). Washington: Council on Foundations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (1995). Annual Statistics. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2018). OECD. Stat. Retrieved July 10, 2018 from https://stats.oecd.org/.

  • Rawlinson, G. (1881/2018). The origin of nations: In two parts. New York: J. Fitzgerald.

  • Rhatz, D., & Estes, R. J. (2019). The universal soldier: The dynamics of gang formation among Jihadist terrorists (in preparation).

  • Rojas-Herrera, M. (Ed.). (2016). Handbook of happiness research in Latin America. Dordrecht, NL: Springer International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, S. (2008). Gender politics in the expanding European Union: Mobilization, Inclusion, Exclusion. New York: Berghahn Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowntree, L., & Lewis, M. (2017). Diversity amid globalization: World regions, environment development (7th ed.). London: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaikin, D., & Estes, R. J. (2018). Advancing development in Kazakhstan: The contribution of R&D. Social Development Issues, 40(2), 36–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sirgy, M. J., & Estes, R. J. (2018a). Understanding Jihadist terrorism in the MENA and Gulf States Region: Quality-of-Life implications for counterterrorism. In L. Lambert (Ed.), Positive psychology in the middle east and North Africa: Research, policy, and practice. Dordrecht, NL: Springer International Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sirgy, M. J., Estes, R. J., & Rahtz, D. R. (2018b). Combatting jihadist terrorism: A quality-of-life perspective. Journal of Applied Research in Quality of Life (online). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-017-9574-z.

  • Sirgy, M. J., Joshanloo, M., Estes, R. J., & Rahtz, D. W. (2018c). The global challenge of Jihadist terrorism: A quality-of-life model. Social Indicators Research, (SOCI-D-17-00970R1) (in press).

  • STATISCA. (2017). Countries with the largest number of prisoners per 100,000 of the national population, as of July 2017. The Data Portal. Retrieved June 15, 2018 from https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-the-most-prisoners-per-100-000-inhabitants/.

  • Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). (2018). SIPRI yearbook 2018: Armaments, disarmament and international security. Stockholm: SIPRI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiliouine, H., & Estes, R. J. (2016). Social progress in Islamic societies: Social, political, economic, and ideological challenges. Dordrecht, NL: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tonon, Graciela (Ed.). (2016). Indicators of quality life in Latin America. Dordrecht, NL: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trading Economics. (2018). European Union gross household saving rates, 1999–2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018 from https://tradingeconomics.com/european-union/personal-savings.

  • Transparency International (I). (2018). Corruptions Perception Index. Berlin: Transparency International.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO. (2018). Annual statistics. Paris: UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Commission on Social Development (UNCSD). (2018). Knowledge platform. Retrieved July 10, 2018 from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/frameworks.

  • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (2016). Ending poverty: The MDGs and beyond 2015. New York: UNDP. Retrieved July 9, 2018 from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.

  • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP. (2018). Human development report: Statistical update, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2018 from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2018_human_development_statistical_update.pdf.

  • United Nations. (2014). “Sea-locked countries” face up to climate change. UN News, September 2. Retrieved from https://news.un.org/en/audio/2014/09/591762/.

  • United Nations. (2017). UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS). Retrieved July 1, 2018 from http://unohrlls.org/event/enhancing-participation-landlocked-states-implementation-sustainable-development-goal-sdg-14/.

  • United Nations. (2018). List of least developed countries. New York: UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs (DESA). Retrieved July 1, 2018 from https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category/ldcs-at-a-glance.html.

  • United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). (2018). HHS releases notice concerning 2017 federal poverty guidelines. Washington: Administration for the Administration of Children and Families. Retrieved October 5, 2018 from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/resource/liheap-information-memorandas.

  • United States Department of Justice (USDOJ). (2018). Annual statistics. Washington: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved October 5, 2018 from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/resource/liheap-information-memorandas.

  • United States Internal Revenue Service (USIRS). (2018). SOI tax stats—Individual statistical tables by size of adjusted gross income. Washington: Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved October 5, 2018 from https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-individual-statistical-tables-by-size-of-adjusted-gross-income.

  • United States National Institute on Aging (USNIA). (2018). Annual statistics: Income of aged American. Washington: National Institute on Aging. Retrieved October 5, 2018 from https://www.nia.nih.gov/.

  • World Bank (WB). (2018). World Development Report, 2018. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • World Resources Institute (WRI). (2018). Maps and data. Retrieved July 10, 2018 from https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc-pages/.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA

    Richard J. Estes

Authors
  1. Richard J. Estes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard J. Estes.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Estes, R.J. The Social Progress of Nations Revisited. Soc Indic Res 144, 539–574 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-02058-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-02058-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation