Quality of Life at the sub-national level : an operational example for the EU

The Quality of Life at the sub-national level report investigates two important dimensions of quality of life at the sub-national level: living standards and health. This report combines both 'objective' and 'subjective' data or in other words observable data and perception-based data. For the living standards dimensions, the report covers absolute poverty, relative poverty and earnings and income. The health dimension covers objective health and subjective health issues. Last but not least, the report proposes a way forward on how to assess inequalities within regions. This report is the first of its kind to address quality of life issues at the regional level across the entire EU and reveals significant differences in quality of life between regions within and between countries. The analysis also highlights that while in most regions with objective and subjective health indicators are in agreement, in some regions the subjective indicators are considerable better or worse than the objective indicators. The report combines information from a wide range of sources including SILC, the UK (USS) and German (SOEP) household survey and Eurobarometer, Eurostat and other.