Life is less sweet in Italy. To say it, comparing ourselves with all the other countries of the industrialized world, is the OECD. And so it turns out that we ended up well below the average: in 23rd place out of a total of 36 countries examined. In fact, the balance sheet is positive as regards work-life balance, income and health; but it is clearly on the downside when looking at education, employment, environment and personal satisfaction. These are the main results of the Better life Index than the OECD, in collaboration with Expo 2015 of which it is an official partner, is now also launching in Italian. The research, informs the OECD, is based on the answers of over 3.600 people and takes into consideration 11 well-being factors in 36 countries.
The 36 countries examined are those that are part of the OECD plus Brazil and Russia. Italy ranks 13th in work-life balance, 14th in income and 17th in health. So above average. In all the other items, however, the performance is below: in social relations we are in 21st position, in civil commitment in 23rd, in housing and safety in 24th, in personal satisfaction and in the environment in 27th. Rearguard positions also for employment (29) and education (21).
The research also provides information on disparities between the various regions in the various fields: the difference between the best (province of Bolzano which is in the top 15% of all OECD regions) and the worst (Campania, last) in terms of employment is particularly evident. Wide regional differences also exist in matters of safety (at opposite poles the provinces of Trento and Calabria), the environment (Sardinia is the best, Lombardy the worst) and income (again the provinces of Bolzano and Campania).
Overall, the health result was very positive, where 18 Italian regions achieve the best results in the OECD area. The Italian regions are also among the best in terms of security and civil engagement.
Only pains, finally, on the education chapter, where all Italian regions perform lower than the OECD average. Once the level of satisfaction of Italians in the various fields has been ascertained, the research also provides information on what matters most to them: health comes first, education second and personal satisfaction third. .
