Equality and Economic Security Take a Hit: The Index of Economic Well-Being for Selected OECD Countries, 1980-2014

This report presents new estimates of the Index of Economic Well-Being and its four domains (consumption flows, stocks of wealth, economic equality, and economic security) for fourteen OECD countries for the 1980-2014 period. It finds that in 2014 Norway had the highest level of economic well-being and Spain the lowest. Canada ranked eleventh among the fourteen countries. Over the 1980-2014 period, Australia enjoyed the most rapid increase in economic well-being in absolute terms, and Italy the slowest. In all fourteen countries, over the 1980-2014 period, there was growth in the consumption flows index and the stocks of wealth index. Over this same period, the economic security index and the economic equality index were largely stagnant in most countries. Most importantly, in all fourteen countries except France, the IEWB grew slower than GDP per capita, a measure that is often used to provide indications into the state of well-being in a given country. According to our estimates, economic well-being, therefore, has not advanced as rapidly as GDP per capita. Furthermore, since 2008, growth in economic well-being has been slower than growth over the 1980-2008 period for nine of the fourteen countries considered, with two countries showing negative growth (Italy and Spain).