The worlds best to live is right here in Australia --------------------------------- A report from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) has identified Australia as the best country in the world to live. And, believe it or not, out of the 34 countries measured on nine major components of well-being, Canberra has been ranked as the best city in the world to live. The report was released by the OECD to allow others to easily compare differences in living standards that can be used by policymakers when considering changes for the future. It focused on nine measures to help define more clearly how life is lived at regional and local levels across 362 regions from around the world. Those nine measures were: access to services, civic engagement, education, environment, health, housing, income, jobs, and safety. Out of the 34 countries measured on nine major components of well-being, Canberra has been ranked as the best city in the world to live. Photo: Getty Images The ACT clearly trumped Australias states and territories in the index, scoring 9.6 out of 10 for access to services and jobs, and 9.5 for environment. It also scored a perfect 10 out of 10 for its income component, with the national capitals average income ranking first among the other developed nation regions in the OECD report. The report found the average ACT household had a disposable income of $43,670. Incomes in Canberra are roughly 56 per cent higher than the rest of the country, according to Ben Phillips, a researcher from the University of Canberras National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling. However, Australias national ranking is hindered somewhat by a poor standing in the education, health and safety indexes of the report. Australia is 13 percentage points lower than the OECD average when it comes to education, after a fall in the share of the workforce with at least a secondary degree. The nation was also identified as having the fourth largest regional disparity in health and the fifth largest disparity in safety. In June, the OECD released an earlier version of the report but it has since been updated to include more components to measure well-being. ====================
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 18:23:47 +0000