Roundup: Italians still enjoy good work-life balance despite economic crisis: OECD index

Despite having experienced hardship and painful reforms brought on by a long economic crisis, Italians still seem to be able to enjoy a good work-life balance and good wealth.

Maybe even more surprising, they also still consider health, education, and life satisfaction as more important "ingredients" for happiness than job or earnings.

This picture emerged from the Better Life Index 2015 recently published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which compares people's perceived well-being across the 34 OECD countries plus Russia and Brazil.

Findings were mainly based on the responses of citizens from each country on 11 topics relevant to the quality of life, namely: housing, income, job, health, social relations, environment, education, civil engagement, work-life balance, safety, and life satisfaction.

Data showed Italy's performance was above the average of the 36 countries in work-life balance, wealth, and income, ranking 13th in the first topic and 14th in the second and third, respectively.

The index was first launched in 2011 in the form of an interactive tool on the OECD online platform, and a first version in the Italian language was unveiled on Monday to coincide with Expo Milano 2015.

Nearly 92,000 people worldwide have taken part in it so far, and Italians contributed with over 3,660 responses, the OECD stated.

Health and social relationships are other topics in which Italy performs quite well, with ranking of 17th place and 21st place among the 36 countries, according to the index.

Indeed, life expectancy for women in Italy is 84.9 years, compared with 80.2 years for men.

"Italian women enjoy among the longest life expectancy in the 34-country OECD, and over 60 percent of Italians report being satisfied with their health," OECD secretary-general Angel Gurria highlighted in a written comment to accompany the launch of the index in Italian.

Italians also seemed satisfied with their community's sphere, and 90 percent of those involved in the survey said they knew someone, either friends or relatives, they could rely on in case of need.

The OECD average is 88 percent.

The level of civic engagement in Italy seemed relatively good as well, although the country ranked only 23rd in the index.

Among the factors positively affecting this topic was a 75 percent participation in the most recent parliamentary elections, well above the OECD average of 68 percent, according to the OECD chief.

On the "dark site" of the picture, lies other dimensions of life in Italy, such as education, skills and jobs, environment, housing, and the perception citizens have of their own happiness.

In fact, the country showed low levels of education and skills, as well as employment rates.

"Less than 60 percent of the working-age population has a secondary degree compared with an average of 70 percent in the OECD countries. The learning skills of 15-year-old Italians are also below the OECD average," Gurria wrote.

"In terms of employment, a little more than one person in two is working in Italy against two in three in the OECD area, and the long-term unemployment rate is among the highest," he added.

Despite recent signs of economic recovery, Italy's unemployment rate indeed rose to 13 percent in March 2015, with a 0.2-percent increase compared to the previous month, the National Institute for Statistics stated.

The Better Life Index showed Italy ranking 29th and 31st in education and jobs respectively.

Finally, despite the good ranking in work-life balance, wealth, and health standards, Italians seemed on the whole less happy with the quality of their life than fellow Europeans.

They rated their life satisfaction as only 6.0 on a scale from zero to 10, whereas French and Spaniards both graded theirs with 6.5, Britons with 6.8, Germans with 7, and top ranking Swiss with 7.5.

However, the OECD index also showed Italians did not consider income and wealth as leading priorities in life.

When asked what mattered most to them for improving their happiness, Italians put health, education, life satisfaction, and environment at the top of their list, while job and income ranked only sixth and 10th, respectively, out of the 11 well-being indicators covered. Endit