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Happier together : Social cohesion and subjective well- being

Happier together : Social cohesion and subjective well- being. Jan Delhey Jacobs University Bremen. Bertelsmann Cohesion Radar project www.social-cohesion.net. GLADS. Good Lives and Decent Societies i ndividual well-being societal well-being

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Happier together : Social cohesion and subjective well- being

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  1. Happiertogether:Social cohesion and subjective well-being Jan Delhey Jacobs University Bremen Bertelsmann Cohesion Radar project www.social-cohesion.net

  2. GLADS Good Lives and Decent Societies individual well-being societal well-being (“quality of life”) (“quality of society”) e.g. social cohesion

  3. Concernsaboutcohesion: • cohesion refers to a specific aspect of a society’s collective quality of life: the solidarity exhibited by the people of that society. In other words, cohesion describes the sense of community and the degree of brotherhood that exist. • Collective property, not an individual. • Social cohesion is believed to be challenged: growing ethno-cultural diversity; a widening gap between rich and poor; technological changes; welfare state retrenchments; Euro-crisis.... • A gap in the social reporting landscape (LegatumProsperity Index  8 dimensions, social capital; Index of Social Progress  10 dimensions, social chaos)

  4. Scope of thestudy • 34 countries • over 20 years (collapsedinto four time periods)

  5. Ourconcept of socialcohesion Overlapwithotherstudies, e.g. Chan (2006)

  6. Data sources: Survey data, expert ratings and processdata

  7. The international cohesionranking

  8. …in moredetail

  9. Cohesion:quitestableover time

  10. Cohesion strong in richsocieties

  11. Determinants of socialcohesion • National income (GDP p.c.) • Knowledge economy • Income inequality • (Unemployment rate) • Importance of religion • Postmaterialist value climate What’s not influencing cohesion: Ethnic fractionalization; migration (excpetion: migration from Eastern European) Masculine/feminine culture (Hofstede)

  12. The effect on SWB Normativeperspective vs. happinessperspective • The more – thebetter? Ormixedblessing (cf. darksides of socialcohesion) • Equallyimportantforrich and poorsocieties? • Equallyimportantformore/less vulnerable groups?

  13. LifeSathigherin cohesivesocieties

  14. Whichcomponentsof SWB areenhancedbycohesion? EU countries only; EQLS

  15. Cohesionmoreimportant in rich countries EU countries only; EQLS

  16. Cohesionisgoodfor all:less vs. more vulnerable groups EU countries only; EQLS

  17. In summary • Social cohesion is focusing on one important aspect of a “decent society”. • Social cohesion mainly depends on economic conditions, equality, and the value climate. • Citizens have higher SWB in more cohesive societies (Western Europe in particular). • Cohesion is good for all. • More important than GDP (GDP works through cohesion). We are happier together!

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