New money,and old man/lady and ‘Two's company’: Subjective Welfare in the NORC General Social Surveys, 1972–1982

The nine surveys, dozens of variables, and more than ten thousand cases in the NORC General Social Surveys, 1972–1982, allow one to test a variety of cross-sectional and over-time hypotheses about Subjective Welfare (Happiness). I used discrete multivariate analyses to test five hypotheses: (1) the Economist's prediction that Happiness is a function of income; the Sociologist's hypotheses that Happiness is a function of (2) rank on various evaluated dimensions and (3) number of social ties; and the Psychologist's hypotheses that Happiness is affected by (4) social comparisons and (5) adaptation. None of the five is supported impressively, but three variables emerge as good cross-sectional predictors — Race (Blacks are less Happy, but not necessarily because of discrimination), Marital Status (all categories of nonmarried are less happy) and Financial Change (those whose finances are improving are happier, those who finances have turned for the worse are less happy). When Marital Status and Recent Financial Change are used in a year-to-year social indicator model, fluctuations in the predictors produce significant but small changes in Happiness.     

Urbanization and de-urbanization of the black population before the civil war

Pre-Civil War black urbanization is examined using data from federal census records, 1790 to 1860. The black population is found to be as urban as the white population initially, but its urbanization underwent relative decline in the last two decades before the Civil War. Foreshadowing current patterns, the northern black population was heavily concentrated in the largest cities, and the free black population was the most urban of all groups. The timing of black urban decline in the North, as well as regional and size of place differences in that decline, suggest that both competition with immigrants in major eastern seaboard cities and the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850 contributed to black de-urbanization. For the South, the explanations of black urban decline proposed by Wade, Conrad and Meyer, Goldin, and Bonacich are evaluated, and Bonacich’s split labor market theory is judged to be most consistent with the demographic trends.     

Disparities in levels of regional development in Ghana

The paper highlights the need for the use of indicators other than Gross-Domestic Productive and its derivatives to measure development. It reviews some of the techniques for analysing socio-economic indicators and selects the Wroclow Taxonomic Analysis for more detailed analysis. The main attributes of this technique are presented and the model is then applied to measure the levels of development of the regions in Ghana. Applying the Wroclow Taxonomic Technique to 10 socio-economic variables the paper finds that the Greater Accra Region, which is the seat of the Central Government, is far more developed than any other region. It categorizes the regions into four groups: More Developed Region, Developed Regions, Developing Regions and Less Developed Regions. It thus provides a basis for regional development in Ghana as well as a pattern for equitable distribution of the ten social amenities on a regional basis.     

Social indicators, 1976: A critique

Social Indicators 1976 is reviewed from the point of view of its conceptual framework, data presentation, analysis and interpretation, data quality, variable disaggregation and quality of life measures.     

Nowcasting Indicators of Poverty Risk in the European Union: A Microsimulation Approach

The at-risk-of-poverty rate is one of the three indicators used for monitoring progress towards the Europe 2020 poverty and social exclusion reduction target. Timeliness of this indicator is critical for monitoring the effectiveness of policies. However, due to complicated nature of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) poverty risk estimates are published with a 2–3 years delay. This paper presents a method that can be used to estimate (“nowcast”) the current at-risk-of-poverty rate for the European Union (EU) countries based on EU-SILC microdata from a previous period. The EU tax-benefit microsimulation model EUROMOD is used for this purpose in combination with up to date macro-level statistics. The method is validated by using EU-SILC data for 2007 incomes to estimate at-risk-of-poverty rates for 2008–2012 and to compare the predictions with actual EU-SILC and other external statistics. The method is tested on eight EU countries which are among those experiencing the most volatile economic conditions within the period: Estonia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania.     

An evaluation of brass mortality estimates under conditions of declining mortality

An evaluation of the Brass childhood mortality estimates under conditions of declining mortality shows them to overestimate current mortality. Error increases as the rate of mortality decline increases, as the childhood age up to which cumulative mortality is being estimated increases, and as age at onset of childbearing decreases. We use the results to develop a method for correcting the Brass estimates for the effects of quasistability. The method requires an estimate of the rate of mortality decline within the population in addition to information on the pattern of childbearing in the population.     

Quality of Life Predictors and Normative Data

This study identifies predictors and normative data for quality of life (QOL) in a sample of Portuguese adults from general population. A cross-sectional correlational study was undertaken with two hundred and fifty-five (N = 255) individuals from Portuguese general population (mean age 43 years, range 25–84 years; 148 females, 107 males). Participants completed the European Portuguese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life short-form instrument and the European Portuguese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Demographic information was also collected. Portuguese adults reported their QOL as good. The physical, psychological and environmental domains predicted 44 % of the variance of QOL. The strongest predictor was the physical domain and the weakest was social relationships. Age, educational level, socioeconomic status and emotional status were significantly correlated with QOL and explained 25 % of the variance of QOL. The strongest predictor of QOL was emotional status followed by education and age. QOL was significantly different according to: marital status; living place (mainland or islands); type of cohabitants; occupation; health. The sample of adults from general Portuguese population reported high levels of QOL. The life domain that better explained QOL was the physical domain. Among other variables, emotional status best predicted QOL. Further variables influenced overall QOL. These findings inform our understanding on adults from Portuguese general population QOL and can be helpful for researchers and practitioners using this assessment tool to compare their results with normative data.     

Rethinking national social reports

Social reporting and social indicators are examined from the point of view of two specific cases, Social Indicators 1976 and Perspective Canada II.     

Long-term dynamics of household size and their environmental implications

Little is known about the environmental implications of long-term historical trends in household size. This paper presents the first historical assessment of global shifts in average household size based on a variety of datasets covering the period 1600–2000. Findings reveal that developed nations reached a threshold in 1893 when average household size began to drop rapidly from approximately 5.0 to 2.5. A similar threshold was reached in developing nations in 1987. With the notable exceptions of Ireland, and England and Wales in the early 1800s, and India and the Seychelles in the late 1900s, the number of households grew faster than population size in every country and every time period. These findings suggest accommodating housing may continue to pose one of the greatest environmental challenges of the twenty-first century because the impacts of increased housing present a threat to sustainability even when population growth slows. Future research addressing environmental impacts of declining household size could use an adapted IPAT model, I = PHoG: where environmental impact (I) = population × personal goods (P) + households × household goods (HoG).     

Social indicators and spatial disparities in Papua New Guinea

This study attempts to identify and classify the 87 districts of Papua New Guinea by their levels of development. With the aid of factor analysis applied to 30 elementary indicators, six major dimensions or features associated with development are uncovered. The factor scores of the more important features (education status, urbanization, nutrition status) are mapped. Various measures are used to compute the overall status of a district. Next cluster analysis is used to classify districts on the basis of their similarity on certain combinations of attributes. Comments are made on the agricultural and urban sectors in the context of Papua New Guinea's first 5-year National Development Plan. A set of possible planning regions comprising the less developed districts is suggested.     

Malthus to modernity: wealth,status, and fertility in England, 1500–1879

A key challenge to theories of long-run economic growth has been linking the onset of modern growth with the move to modern fertility limitation. A notable puzzle for these theories is that modern growth in England began around 1780, 100 years before there was seemingly any movement to limit fertility. Here we show that the aggregate data on fertility in England before 1880 conceals significant declines in the fertility of the middle and upper classes earlier. These declines coincide with the Industrial Revolution and are of the character predicted by some recent theories of long-run growth.     

Health-Related Quality of Life of Chinese Earthquake Survivors: A Case Study of Five Hard-Hit Disaster Counties in Sichuan

As one of the most destructive natural disasters, earthquakes affect the health of survivors. The devastating earthquakes that hit Sichuan, China have aroused the concern of domestic and international scholars. The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of survivors also requires substantial research. Studies on impact factors, such as gender, age, monthly income, and education, have become controversial. The subjects in this study are the people of five hard-hit disaster counties in Sichuan Province, namely, Wenchuan, Qingchuan, Mianzhu, Lushan, and Dujiangyan. A preliminary survey was conducted in May and June 2013 in areas badly hit by the earthquake in Sichuan, China. A total of 2000 questionnaires were distributed, and 1672 of which were received, yielding a recovery rate of 83.6 %. To further complement and corroborate the conclusions, a follow-up survey was conducted in October and November 2013, where 1526 effective questionnaires were received. The analysis in this paper is mainly based on the first survey, and the collected data from the follow-up survey were used to perform a supplementary analysis. By analyzing data from five hard-hit areas in Sichuan and by establishing models, we drew the following conclusions: The results of analysis of variance and Tukey’s honestly significant difference tests revealed the following results. First, the results of two investigations indicate the HRQOL of earthquake survivors is relatively poor, especially in terms of general health (GH), mental health (MH), social functioning (SF), etc. However, results of the second survey indicate that the scores of all domains (except GH) have increased significantly, with the SF having the most significant increase. Second, the HRQOL scores of men are higher than those of women. Individuals with higher education or monthly income have higher HRQOL scores than those with lower education or income. Moreover, younger survivors have higher HRQOL scores than older survivors. Third, a positive correlation exists among the HRQOL domains of all survivors. Among all domains, the PF, RP, GH, MH, and VT of survivors have a very strong correlation. In addition, SF, BP, MH, and VT have a strong correlation. Other variables have a relatively weak correlation.     

Reliability and Validity of an Adapted Version of the Cantril Ladder for Use with Adolescent Samples

There are a number of measures of life satisfaction for use with adolescent samples. The adapted Cantril Ladder is one such measure. This has been collected by the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in HBSC member countries across Europe and North America for several survey cycles, dating back to 2002. Although this measure has been piloted in the HBSC member countries, and analysed and reported in several international scientific journals and reports, it has never been formally validated. This study aims to be a first step in validating the adapted Cantril Ladder to establish if it is fit for purpose in the measurement of global life satisfaction among adolescents in Scotland. The study found that across samples of 11–15 year old pupils, the Cantril Ladder showed good reliability, and among 11 year olds, better than that of the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale, an often used measure in adolescent samples. The Cantril Ladder also showed good convergent validity with other emotional well-being measures, perceived health and subjective health. Gender differences were noted in the convergent analysis suggesting gender differences in factors influencing or influenced by life satisfaction measured using this instrument.     

Psychometric Evaluation of a Serbian Version of the Subjective Happiness Scale

The main aim of this research was to examine the psychometric properties of the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS; Lyubomirsky and Lepper in Soc Indic Res 46:137–155, 1999) in a sample of young adults in Serbia (N = 605, mean age = 21.99). The SHS demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability and homogeneity. Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analyses supported the unidimensional structure of the SHS. The results provided support for the convergent validity of the SHS, by significant correlations with measures of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, emotional distress), positive expectations (optimism and self-efficacy), meaning in life and personality traits (extraversion and neuroticism). As compared to the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the SHS showed significantly higher correlations with measures of emotional states and personality traits. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the SHS had incremental validity over and above subjective well-being and personality traits in predicting emotional distress and meaning in life.     

Well-being and ill-being: Different dimensions?

This paper presents evidence for regarding well-being and ill-being as distinct, although not orthogonal dimensions. It is suggested that well-being and ill-being may be like measures of quantitative and verbal ability in intelligence tests. For some purposes (e.g. for admitting students to particular courses of study) it may be sensible to use only one of the measures. For other purposes a combined measure-I.Q.-is appropriate. In this study we employ Indices of Well-Being and Ill-Being and a combined measure, Balance of Well-Being and Ill-Being. Using data from the first wave (1981) of an Australian panel study (N=942), four measures of well-being and three measures of ill-being were factor analysed, confirming the existence of distinct dimensions. The value of the distinctions was underlined by findings indicating that well-being and ill-being have different correlates and causes. Wellbeing depends more than ill-being on the personality traits of extraversion and optimism, and also on the existence of supportive social networks. Ill-being is more strongly related to SES, poor health and low scoring on the trait “personal competence”,. Overall, however, it was found that more variance can be accounted for in the Balance of Well-Being and Ill-Being Index than in the separate indices of Well-Being and Ill-Being.     

Work ethic and orientations to work of the young generations: The impact of educational level

The present study challenges the view that a new work ethic is widespread among the new generations of young people. A survey among 663 Flemish army recruits covering their attitudes to more traditional work motives and facets of the new work ethic, indicated that a “split” of the orientations to work according to educational level could be discerned. These results were interpreted as a social-psychological correlate of unemployment and discussed in the light of the ongoing social transformations of the so-called Third Industrial Revolution.     

A review of research on the happiness measures: A sixty second index of happiness and mental health

Eighteen years of research using the Happiness Measures (HM) is reviewed in relation to the general progress of well-being measurement efforts. The accumulated findings on this remarkably quick instrument, show good reliability, exceptional stability, and a record of convergent, construct, and discriminative validity unparalleled in the field. Because of this, the HM is offered as a potential touchstone of measurement consistency in a field which generally lacks it.     

Mediating Effects of Affect and Loneliness on the Relationship Between Core Self-evaluation and Life Satisfaction Among Two Groups of Chinese Adolescents

This study examined the mediating effects of affect (positive and negative affect) and loneliness on the relationship between core self-evaluations (CSE) and life satisfaction among two groups of Chinese adolescents. Three hundred adolescents (169 males and 131 females) from Shenzhen and Xi’an in China completed the Core Self-evaluations Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Scale, UCLA Loneliness and Satisfaction with Life Scale. Research revealed that positive and negative affect, and loneliness fully mediated the relationship between CSE and life satisfaction. The relationship between CSE and loneliness was partially mediated by positive and negative affect. Loneliness partially mediated the relation between positive and negative affect and life satisfaction. The final model also indicated two significant paths from CSE through positive and negative affect and loneliness to life satisfaction. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis found that the paths did not differ across gender. Limitations of the study are considered and implications of the results for enhancing adolescents’ life satisfaction are discussed.     

Religious Affiliation and Fertility in a Sub-Saharan Context: Dynamic and Lifetime Perspectives

We use uniquely detailed data from a predominantly Christian high-fertility area in Mozambique to examine denominational differentials in fertility from two complementary perspectives—dynamic and cumulative. First, we use event-history analysis to predict yearly risks of birth from denominational affiliation. Then, we employ Poisson regression to model the association between the number of children ever born and share of reproductive life spent in particular denominations or outside organized religion. Both approaches detect a significant increase in fertility associated with membership in a particular type of African-initiated churches which is characterized by strong organizational identity, rigid hierarchy, and insular corporate culture. Membership in the Catholic Church is also associated with elevated completed fertility. We relate these results to extant theoretical perspectives on the relationship between religion and fertility by stressing the interplay between ideological, social, and organizational characteristics of different types of churches and situate our findings within the context of fertility transition and religious demographics in Mozambique and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Perspective Canada as a social report

This paper reviews the first attempt at social reporting in Canada, Perspective Canada, contrasting it with social reports from other nations, in particular the United States' publication, Social Indicators, 1973. Some future directions and structure for Perspective Canada are suggested, and the paper concludes with a discussion of the importance of the bold use of model building in the analysis of social indicators data, and the innovative use of graphical methods for social reporting.