Canada ranks high on OECD's new "Better Life Index"

[pampango]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/05/24/oecd-better-life-index.html?ref=rss

Canadians make more, work less, are happier with their lives and better educated than most residents of the 34 countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a new index suggests.

The OECD launched the "better life index" Tuesday, which allows comparisons between the member countries that go beyond the traditional economic measures, such as gross domestic product.

Canada's rankings are based on assigning an equal weight to each of 11 topics. But using the OECD's interactive index, individuals can adjust the weight of the topics and create their own index. The 11 items are housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety and work-life balance.

The index "has extraordinary potential to help us deliver better policies for better lives,” said OECD secretary general Angel Gurría. It's part of an OECD plan to measure well-being and progress.

The organization includes many European countries, the U.S., Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.

The OECD's new Better Life Index is at: http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/#/11111111111

With equal weight given to each of the 11 categories, it looks like Australia, Canada, and Sweden come out on top. The rankings can be adjusted by changing the weights of the various categories to reflect your own priorities.

[KansDem]

1. Which Canada is this? The Canada that shares a border with the United States?

...or the Canada that Condoleeza Rice said was part of the "Coalition of the Willing?"

Can't be both...

[Romulox]

2. Canada didn't build its quality of life on cheap labor, outsourcing, and corporatism.

:hi:

[pampango]

3. True.

They rely on immigration, trade and an equitable distribution of income resulting from a progressive society that has national health care, strong unions, higher taxes and a strong social safety net.

They regulate their corporations much more effectively than the US. They have much more legal immigration than we do and much, much less illegal immigration.

[Romulox]

5. *Skilled* immigration. Canada has a "point" system, which requires specific skills (or wealth)

to immigrate.

"They have much more legal immigration than we do and much, much less illegal immigration."

Canada has virtually zero legal unskilled immigration.

[Shagbark Hickory]

4. You get what you pay for. nt