Quality of Life
The term Quality of Life is used by politicians and economists to measure broader social effects of policies, such as the effect that reducing graffiti or vandalism might have on the wellbeing of local residents.
Two widely known measures of a country's liveability are the Economist Intelligence Unit's quality of life index and the Mercer Quality of Living Survey. Both measures calculate the liveability of countries around the world through a combination of subjective life-satisfaction surveys and objective determinants of quality of life such as divorce rates, safety, and infrastructure. Such measures relate more broadly to the population of a city, state, or country, not to the individual level.
According to Costanza: "Quality of Life (QOL) has long been an explicit or implicit policy goal, adequate definition and measurement have been elusive. Diverse objective and subjective indicators across a range of disciplines and scales, and recent work on subjective well-being (SWB) surveys the psychology of happiness have spurred renewed interest" [1].
Quality of Life Crimes
Some crimes against property and some "victimless crimes" have been referred to as "quality-of-life crimes." American sociologist James Q. Wilson encapsulated this argument as the Broken Window Theory, which asserts that relatively minor problems left unattended (such as public urination by homeless individuals, open alcohol containers and public alcohol consumption) send a subliminal message that disorder in general is being tolerated, and as a result, more serious crimes will end up being committed (the analogy being that a broken window left unrepaired shows an image of general dilapidation). Wilson's theories have been expounded by many prominent American mayors, most notably Oscar Goodman in Las Vegas, Richard Riordan in Los Angeles, Rudolph Giuliani in New York City and Gavin Newsom in San Francisco. Their cities have instituted so-called zero tolerance policies, i.e., that do not tolerate even minor crimes, in order to improve the quality of life of local residents.
The Popsicle Index
The Popsicle Index is a quality of life measurement coined by Catherine Austin Fitts as the percentage of people in a community who believe that a child in their community can safely leave their home, walk to the nearest possible location to buy a popsicle, and walk home.[2][3][4]
Quote
At first life was a struggle for existence; now, for a standard of living; next it will be for quality of thinking, the coming earthly goal of human existence.[1]
See also
- Standard of living
- Bhutan - a country that uses "Gross National Happiness" as a primary measure of success
External links
- The Role of Well-being in a Great Transition, in GTI Paper Series, provides an overview of theories of Well-being and examines how a focus on quality of life could change the trajectory of global development
- The First European Quality of Life Survey 2003 [2]
- Quality of Life in a Changing Europe, A research project on the quality of lives and work of European citizens
- Ensuring quality of life in Europe's cities and towns [3], European Environment Agency 2009.
- Quality of Life Assessment Instrument - Monash University Australia AQoL Instrument
- Social Indicators Research, An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement
- Applied Research in Quality of Life, The Official Journal of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies
- Child Indicators Research, The official Journal of the International Society for Child Indicators
- Journal of Happiness Studies, An Interdisciplinary Forum on Subjective Well-Being
- Journal of Business Ethics
- Quality of Life Research, An International Journal of Q
References
- Costanza, R. et. al. (2008) “An Integrative Approach to Quality of Life Measurement, Research, and Policy”. S.A.P.I.EN.S. 1 (1)
- Fitts, Catherine Austin. "Understanding the Popsicle Index". SolariF. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- "To lick crime, pass the Popsicle test". The Virginian-Pilot. July 9, 2005. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- Darling, John (January 2006). "Money in a Popsicle-Friendly World". Sentient Times. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
