La vague de décembre de notre tableau de bord du bien-être des Français est dominé par les inquiétudes économiques. Le terme inquiétudes est ici central : les anticipations concernant sa propre position financière, la situation économique du pays et l’avenir personnel sont au plus bas, mais dans le même temps, la satisfaction à l’égard de la situation matérielle présente – qu’il s’agisse de la position financière ou du niveau de vie ressenti – restent stables, à des niveaux comparables à avant la pandémie.
Nous poursuivons également notre exploration des représentations et pratiques environnementales des Français, avec cette fois-ci une comparaison à l’échelle européenne. Très conscients de l’urgence environnementale, les Français sont en avance sur certaines pratiques, comme le tri, mais en retard sur d’autres, comme les transports. Cette enquête met également en évidence d’importants contrastes sociaux, de genre et de bien-être.
Parmi les articles qui ont retenu notre attention ce mois-ci, nous remarquons que les données riches, issues d’enquêtes régulières, commencent à jeter plus de lumière sur l’impact de la pandémie et des confinements, et devraient permettre d’y voir plus clair dans les nombreux phénomènes mis en relief par les enquêtes ad hoc.
Observatoire
Le Bien-être des Français – Décembre 2022
Le bien-être des Français en décembre 2022 reste dominé par les inquiétudes économiques. L’appréciation des perspectives individuelles continue de se dégrader sous le poids d’une vision négative des perspectives économiques du pays et d’inquiétudes quant aux situations financières individuelles. Dans le même temps, les indicateurs de bien-être émotionnel, qui avaient jusqu’ici bien résisté, se dégradent aussi.
Mathieu Perona, « Le Bien-être des Français – Décembre 2022 », Notes de l’Observatoire du bien-être (Paris: CEPREMAP, 9 janvier 2023), https://www.cepremap.fr/2023/01/note-de-lobservatoire-du-bien-etre-n2023-02-le-bien-etre-des-francais-decembre-2022/.
Plus écologiques et plus heureux – la transition environnementale inégale des Français
À l’aide de l’édition 2021 de l’Eurobaromètre, Corin poursuit son exploration des attitudes et pratiques environnementales des Français. Dans cette Note, il met en évidence l’écart entre le haut degré de conscience du problème en France et des pratiques plus proches de la moyenne européenne, en particulier dans le domaine des transports. Les pratiques environnementales sont assez fortement stratifiées selon les catégories sociales, le genre et le niveau de bien-être.
Corin Blanc, « Plus écologiques et plus heureux – la transition environnementale inégale des Français », Notes de l’Observatoire du bien-être (Paris: CEPREMAP, 30 janvier 2023), https://www.cepremap.fr/2023/01/note-de-lobservatoire-du-bien-etre-n2023-03-plus-ecologiques-et-plus-heureux-la-transition-environnementale-inegale-des-francais/.
Lu sur le web
Solitudes 2022 – Regards sur les fragilités relationnelles – Rapport
Résumé : Depuis 2010, la Fondation de France et l’Observatoire de la philanthropie explorent le phénomène d’isolement social et relationnel par la réalisation d’études quantitatives et qualitatives annuelles menées d’abord par l’institut TMO et depuis 2016 par le Crédoc. Ces études qui interrogent l’isolement de manière générique ou auprès d’une population ou d’un angle spécifique révèlent toute l’ampleur du phénomène et son impact sur notre société et en particulier chez les plus précaires. Soucieuse de mettre en lumière un des grands maux de notre époque, remis au centre du débat public par la crise sanitaire, la Fondation de France souhaite non seulement accroître les prises de conscience collectives mais aussi encourager des actions en faveur du renforcement et du maintien du lien social. Après plus de dix années d’analyse et de réflexion sur le sujet, la Fondation de France a souhaité mobiliser une équipe de recherche – sociologues et anthropologues – pour réaliser une enquête ethnographique et compléter l’approche du Crédoc. Il s’agit d’une part, de faire le point sur le matériau collecté au fil des années et d’autre part de réinterroger le phénomène sous un angle neuf. Cette enquête croise les points de vue des acteurs associatifs mobilisés pour le maintien du lien social et celui des personnes en situation d’isolement qu’elles soient ou non prises en charge par une association. Cette approche transverse propose de réinterroger la définition même de la solitude en donnant la parole à celles et ceux qui la vivent et la combattent. Elle met l’accent sur les mécanismes qui la déterminent, l’encouragent ou au contraire la freinent.
Hadrian Riffaut et al., « Solitudes 2022 – Regards sur les fragilités relationnelles », Sourcing Crédoc (Crédoc, 1 janvier 2023), https://www.credoc.fr/publications/solitudes-2022-regards-sur-les-fragilites-relationnelles-rapport.
The rise in telework: Impact on working conditions and regulations
Summary: This report presents Eurofound’s research on telework during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. It explores changes in the incidence of telework, working conditions experienced by employees working from home and changes to regulations addressing issues related to this working arrangement. The findings reveal a rapid escalation of telework triggered by the pandemic: in 2021, 2 out of 10 European employees were teleworking – a figure that most likely would not have been reached before 2027 had the pandemic not occurred. The health crisis unleashed the social and technological potential for flexibility in terms of working time and place. The impacts of telework on working conditions were initially difficult to determine because it was difficult to disentangle them from pandemic-induced factors, such as lockdowns and school closures. However, both the positive impacts, such as the contribution of telework to improving work–life balance, and the negative impacts, such as reduced social interaction and an increase in overtime worked, have become more evident. The rise in telework and an awareness of its implications for working conditions have prompted a renewed focus on regulatory frameworks, with new telework regulations passed in several EU Member States.
Oscar Vargas Llave et al., « The Rise in Telework: Impact on Working Conditions and Regulations », 8 décembre 2022, https://policycommons.net/artifacts/3357101/the-rise-in-telework/4155997/.
Social Positions and Fairness Views on Inequality
Abstract: We link survey data on Danish people’s perceived income positions and fairness views on inequality within various reference groups to administrative records on their reference groups, income histories, and life events. People are, on average, well-informed about the income levels of their reference groups. Yet, lower-ranked respondents in all groups tend to overestimate their own position among others because they believe others’ incomes are lower than they actually are, whereas the opposite holds true for higher-ranked respondents. Misperceptions of positions in reference groups relate to proximity to other individuals, transparency norms, and visible signals of income. People view inequalities within their co-workers and education groups as significantly more unfair than overall inequality, yet underestimate inequality the most exactly within these groups. Views on the fairness of inequalities are strongly correlated with an individual’s current position, move with shocks like unemployment or promotions, and change when experimentally informing people about their actual positions. However, the higher perceived unfairness of income differences within co-workers and education groups stays unchanged. The theoretical framework shows that this can have important implications for redistribution policy.
Kristoffer B. Hvidberg, Claus Kreiner, et Stefanie Stantcheva, « Social Positions and Fairness Views on Inequality », NBER Working Papers, NBER Working Papers, novembre 2020, https://ideas.repec.org//p/nbr/nberwo/28099.html.
Wellbeing Rankings
Abstract: Combining data on around four million respondents from the Gallup World Poll and the US Daily Tracker Poll we rank 164 countries, the 50 states of the United States and the District of Colombia on eight wellbeing measures. These are four positive affect measures – life satisfaction, enjoyment, smiling and being well-rested – and four negative affect variables – pain, sadness, anger and worry. Pooling the data for 2008-2017 we find country and state rankings differ markedly depending on whether they are ranked using positive or negative affect measures. The United States ranks lower on negative than positive affect, that is, its country wellbeing ranking looks worse using negative affect than it does when using positive affect. Combining rankings on all eight measures into a summary ranking index for 215 geographical locations we find that nine of the top ten and 16 of the top 20 ranked are US states. Only one US state ranks outside the top 100 – West Virginia (101). Iraq ranks lowest – just below South Sudan. Country-level rankings on the summary wellbeing index differ sharply from those reported in the World Happiness Index and are more comparable to those obtained with the Human Development Index.
David G. Blanchflower et Alex Bryson, « Wellbeing Rankings », Working Paper, Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research, décembre 2022), https://doi.org/10.3386/w30759.
Subjective social class has a bad name, but predicts life chances well
Abstract: Over the last decades, the study of subjective class has been eclipsed by research on objective class. The recurrent mismatch between subjective and objective class has led to the common wisdom that self-reported class is a poor measure of people’s life chances. This article questions this common wisdom. Based on ISSP 2009 and 2019, it shows for 55 country surveys that a pre-coded question on subjective class accounts for more variance in life chances – income and wealth – than various measures of objective class. Subjective class predicts individual income equally well as does objective class, but is a much better predictor of household income and wealth. It takes the two measures of respondents’ and partners’ objective class to match the variance explained in household income by a single measure of subjective class. In contexts of limited survey space and interview time, subjective class is an excellent indicator of people’s material situation.
Daniel Oesch et Nathalie Vigna, « Subjective Social Class Has a Bad Name, but Predicts Life Chances Well », Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 83 (1 février 2023): 100759, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2023.100759.
Subjective well-being and school outcomes among children of immigrants and natives in Italy
Abstract: Children of immigrants are generally disadvantaged in terms of educational outcomes in most European countries and this remains true even after controlling for their socioeconomic status. Factors affecting the long-term educational careers among children of immigrants and natives have been broadly investigated in the literature, although limited attention has been paid so far to the role of subjective well-being in this context. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by analyzing how subjective well-being in the school and family context is related to objective school outcomes of immigrant and native children residing in Italy, after controlling for several relevant socio-demographic factors. We use rich and unique data from the ‘Integration of the Second Generation’ survey carried out by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) in 2015, that has not been used to analyse this relationship so far. The national representative sample includes 68,127 students interviewed in both lower and upper secondary schools. Around 47% of them are immigrant children without Italian citizenship. Our results show that subjective well-being is positively correlated with school performance, but well-being at school is much more important for immigrant students’ achievements, as compared to their native peers, especially in the lower secondary school. The same result does not hold for well-being in the family domain.
Elena Ambrosetti et al., « Subjective Well-Being and School Outcomes among Children of Immigrants and Natives in Italy », Population, Space and Place, 21 décembre 2022, https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2639.
How Immigration affects the Health and Subjective Well-being: Evidence from Destination Countries
Abstract: This research finds the effect of immigration on health and subjective well-being and how immigrants combined effects on health, life satisfaction, and happiness in Destination Countries from 2000 to 2018. We employ two models for health and well-being. The data of variables have been taken from WHO and OECD datasets. We examined the panel and cross-section analysis to estimate the association among immigration, health, and subjective well-being and confirmed that immigration has positively and significantly related to health, life satisfaction, and happiness. This study suggested that policies for better employment opportunities should be provided. Employment opportunities would increase peoples’ earnings as well as their happiness, life satisfaction, and health conditions.
Anum Javaid, Shabib Haider Syed, et Khurrum Shahzad, « How Immigration Affects the Health and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Destination Countries », Journal of Applied Economics and Business Studies 6, no 4 (30 décembre 2022): 17‑38, https://doi.org/10.34260/jaebs.642.
Exploring how worthwhile the things that you do in life are during COVID-19 and links to well-being and working from home
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the way we work and live, with working from home becoming more than the occasional desire but a regular feature of work and life. While an increasing number of research studies have promoted the virtues of what is often described as the positive unintended consequences of the pandemic, there are also downsides, especially during periods of imposed restrictions on the ability to get out and about, that have broadly been described as impacting mental health and life’s worth. In this paper we use data collected in New South Wales during September 2020 and June 2021, seven and 16 months after the pandemic began, to obtain an understanding of the extent to which the pandemic has impacted on how worthwhile things done in life are for workers. We investigate whether there is a systematic behavioural link with working from home, reduced commuting linked to distance to work, and various socio-economic characteristics. The evidence suggests that the opportunity to have reduced commuting activity linked to working from home and increased perceived work-related productivity have contributed in a positive way to improving the worth status of life, offsetting some of the negative consequences of the pandemic.
David A. Hensher et Matthew J. Beck, « Exploring How Worthwhile the Things That You Do in Life Are during COVID-19 and Links to Well-Being and Working from Home », Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 168 (1 février 2023): 103579, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2022.103579.
Experienced versus Decision Utility: Large-Scale Comparison for Income-Leisure Preferences
Abstract: Subjective well-being (SWB) data is increasingly used to perform welfare analysis. Interpreted as ‘experienced utility’, it has recently been compared to ‘decision utility’ using smallscale experiments most often based on stated preferences. We transpose this comparison to the framework of non-experimental and large-scale data commonly used for policy analysis, focusing on the income-leisure domain where redistributive policies operate. Using the British Household Panel Survey, we suggest a ‘deviation’ measure, which is simply the difference between actual working hours and SWB-maximizing hours. We show that about three-quarters of individuals make decisions that are not inconsistent with maximizing their SWB. We discuss the potential channels that explain the lack of optimization when deviations are significantly large. We find proxies for a number of individual and external constraints, and show that constraints alone can explain at least half of the deviations. In our context, deviations partly reflect the inability of the revealed preference approach to account for labor market rigidities, so the actual and SWBmaximizing hours should be used in a complementary manner. The suggested approach based on our deviation metric could help identify labor market frictions.
Alpaslan Akay, Olivier Bargain, et H. X. Jara, « Experienced versus Decision Utility: Large-Scale Comparison for Income-Leisure Preferences », Working Paper (HAL, 9 décembre 2022), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/halwpaper/hal-03891710.htm.
Stable marital histories predict happiness and health across educational groups
Abstract: Couple relations are a key determinant of mental and physical well-being in old age. However, we do not know how the advantages and disadvantages associated with partnership histories vary between socioeconomic groups. We create relationship history typologies for the cohorts 1945-1957 using the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe, and examine, for the first time, how relationship histories relate to multiple indicators of well-being by educational attainment. Results show that stable marriages co-occur with higher well-being, compared to single and less stable partnership histories. All educational groups experience clear and similar benefits from stable unions. The adverse outcomes of union dissolution are more pronounced for those with lower education. The larger drawbacks on well-being among the less educated, especially among men, suggest that those with fewer resources suffer more from losing a partner. The findings underscore that current and past romantic relations predict well-being in old age and help policymakers in identifying vulnerable subgroups among the aging population.
Miika Mäki et al., « Stable marital histories predict happiness and health across educational groups », MPIDR Working Paper (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, 2022), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/demwpaper/wp-2022-035.htm.
Social Restrictions and Well-Being: Disentangling the Mechanisms
Abstract: Using a nationally representative 24-hour diary survey covering the first two years of the pandemic, we explore the mechanisms underlying the changes in wellbeing for men and women. We exploit the variation in the stringency of social restrictions implemented by the UK government during this period and use an event-study methodology to net out the impact of social restrictions from other pandemic effects. We find that well-being dropped by 47% (men) and 70% (women) of a standard deviation during the strictest lockdown, and this effect survives after accounting for financial conditions and changes in local infection and death rates. Our data on time allocation and individual preferences over the activities undertaken throughout the day reveal that the drop in well-being is primarily driven by a drastic reduction in time spent in leisure with non-household members or outside the home.
Francesca Foliano, Valentina Tonei, et Almudena Sevilla, « Social Restrictions and Well-Being: Disentangling the Mechanisms », IZA Discussion Paper (Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), novembre 2022), https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/izaizadps/dp15734.htm.
Paradoxical Impacts of Social Relationship on Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract: Social interaction is an important source of psychological and physical well-being during normal times. However, following the COVID-19 outbreak, which spreads rapidly from person to person, social interaction poses a fatal threat to one’s health and life. Therefore, several countries including South Korea implemented an intense social distancing mandate to prevent the spread of the virus. During these unique times of pandemic, the current research investigated whether and how an individual’s well-being varies as a function of their interaction with various relationship partners using experience sampling data (Study 1) and online longitudinal data (Study 2). The results indicated that being alone was more detrimental to well-being during the pandemic than before it. Specifically, interaction with close relationship partners (e.g., romantic partner, spouse, or friend) was positively related to well-being, whereas interaction with formal relationship partners (e.g., coworker, boss) was negatively linked to momentary well-being during the pandemic. Furthermore, our study showed that the association between social supports from close relationships and well-being was temporally strengthened during COVID-19 pandemic. In sum, the benefits of close relationships on well-being were stronger during the COVID-19 pandemic than before it.
Seojin Stacey Lee et al., « Paradoxical Impacts of Social Relationship on Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic », Journal of Happiness Studies, 11 janvier 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00614-2.
Assessing the Income and Subjective Wellbeing Relationship Across Sub-national Developmental Contexts
Abstract: Previous studies investigating the effect of income on subjective wellbeing (SWB) have seldom accounted for the role of sub-national regional developmental context in determining the absolute and relative income effect on individual SWB. Given the varying levels of socio-economic development across regions within a country, a priori expectations point to the income and SWB relationship being contingent on the regional context. This study was conducted in the South African context using the National Income Dynamics Study datasets and municipal panel data with multilevel regression models to account for both municipal and individual level characteristics. The study finds that both absolute and relative income are significant predictors of SWB in both the developed and underdeveloped contexts. The absolute income effect is muted in low socioeconomically developed context in comparison to their more developed counterparts, explained by a non-monetized system of production and consumption in the less developed contexts. However, the relative income gradient on individual SWB, was found to be stronger in less developed municipalities and is explained by much narrower but stronger reference group formation in less developed municipalities than in more developed ones.
Umakrishnan Kollamparambil et Mlungisi Ndlovu, « Assessing the Income and Subjective Wellbeing Relationship Across Sub-National Developmental Contexts », Journal of Happiness Studies, 13 janvier 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-023-00623-9.
Small Acts With Big Impacts: Does Garbage Classification Improve Subjective Well-Being in Rural China?
Abstract: Solid waste has surged in rural China, home to more than 540 million people. To preserve the environment, the Chinese government has piloted garbage classification programs. However, little is known about whether and to what extent classifying garbage affects people’s subjective well-being—should its effects be positive, people would be more amenable to classifying garbage, making it easier to entrench garbage classification practices and programs and ultimately improve the environment. Accordingly, we analyze the impact of garbage classification on subjective well-being using the 2020 China Land Economic Survey data. An endogenous treatment regression model is utilized to address self-selection into garbage classification programs. We find that this simple and somewhat mundane practice can significantly improve people’s happiness and life satisfaction. These results reaffirm the compound benefits of allocating more public resources to accelerate the adoption of garbage classification in rural areas.
Junpeng Li, Puneet Vatsa, et Wanglin Ma, « Small Acts With Big Impacts: Does Garbage Classification Improve Subjective Well-Being in Rural China? », Applied Research in Quality of Life, 17 janvier 2023, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-022-10142-z .
Easing mid-life misery
First lines: The middle part of our lives — between the ages of roughly 35 and 55 — seems to be the least happy, most miserable bit. I suspect it comes as a surprise to most of us. We often spend the early parts of our lives striving to put in place a career, a home, a partner, a family that we can enjoy through our imagined mid-life peak. But while mid-life is typically our most productive period as workers and as fully grown adults, it seems to come at a cost. The burden of responsibility — of caring for children and ageing parents, of leading the way at work — seems to outweigh the benefits of being in charge.
Andrew Sissons, « Easing Mid-Life Misery », Medium (blog), 27 janvier 2023, https://acjsissons.medium.com/easing-mid-life-misery-c13580719b4a.