The new report Society at a Glance, the bi-annual publication of OECD in which some relevant social indicators of the member countries are presented, has been available since the end of March 2019.
Interesting at the beginning of the report was the presentation of the construction of the social indicators used: perception of economic and social risk, social self-sufficiency, equity, good health and social cohesion.
The data on the perception of economic and social risk highlight the fears that animate our societies: in the immediate future, the fear of getting sick and that of not being able to "reach the end of the month". Greece, Italy and Mexico are the countries where this concern is most widespread. Mexico and Italy, this time together with Germany, are then the countries where the concern for crime and violence is most widespread, which together with the fear of losing their jobs are in third place in the OECD ranking on the perception of risk.
In the long run, the fear of poverty is the one that prevails, and it is declined primarily as the fear of getting an insufficient pension, and then as the impossibility to maintain the socio-economic status achieved for oneself and for one's offspring.
Next to these fears, the 59% of the citizens of the large swaths of the population of the OECD countries affirm that they are not getting what is just from the State. This percentage reaches the 75% in Chile, Greece, Israel and Mexico: this is a widespread feeling among large swaths of the population, and not only among those who were left behind.
Therefore, it is not a surprise that the citizens of OECD countries would want a more significant intervention of their governments. In general, people is asking for greater investments in health-care, pensions and, in the countries in which the inequalities are more evident, education. It is curious to notice that the social expenditure has increased in relation with the GDP precisely in relation with pensions and health-care, as well as it is interesting to notice that Luxembourg, the richest state, is also the one that invests the biggest share of expenditure in education. Read the report HERE. ITALIAN | SPANISH
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