TORONTO — What do Canadians care about the most? According to the Better Life Index created by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it’s health.
The index is based on the responses of more than 80,000 people in 36 countries. Of those respondents, 5,000 were Canadians — 65 per cent of whom were between the ages of 15 and 44, and 57 per cent of whom were male.
These are the top five things they cared about:
- Health
- Life Satisfaction
- Education
- Safety
- Work-Life Balance
MoveHub.com created the following map based on the top priorities around the globe, as identified by the index.
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Interestingly enough, work-life balance ranked higher in European countries like France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the U.K. and even the U.S.
The index found that, on average, people spend one-tenth to one-fifth of their time on unpaid work. The findings state, “Turkey is by far the country with the highest proportion of people working very long hours, with more than 43 per cent, followed by Mexico with nearly 29 per cent and Israel with nearly a fifth of employees.”
Gender disparities still exist in countries to varying degrees. In Turkey and Mexico, for example, women spend roughly 4.3 hours more than men working on household chores. The difference is only a little over an hour in the Nordic countries.
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When it comes to health, Canada spends 11.2 per cent of its GDP on it — that’s nearly two percentage points higher than the OECD average of 9.4 per cent.
Canada also ranks above the OECD average in terms of total health spending per person, at US$4,522 in 2011, compared with an OECD average of US$3,322.
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Life expectancy in Canada sits at 81 years (83 years for women, 79 for men), according to the index, which is slightly above the OECD average of 80 years. It’s also higher than the 78.7 years in the U.S.
The Russian Federation is the ranked the worst (69 years) when it comes to life expectancy. That may have something to do with the fact that around 33.8 per cent of adults there smoke daily, compared with an OECD average of 20.9 per cent.
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In contrast, the rate of Canadian daily adult smokers has reportedly been cut by half since 1980 to 15.7 per cent today.
“Canada provides an example of a country that has achieved remarkable progress in reducing tobacco consumption,” the findings stated. “Much of this decline…can be attributed to policies aimed at reducing tobacco consumption through public awareness campaigns, advertising bans and increased taxation.”
You can find more information about how Canada ranks here.
The OECD’s interactive Better Life Index tool is “created to engage people in the debate on well-being and, through this process, learn what matters the most to them.”
People are invited to create their own index, and see how their priorities compare to countries around the world.
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