new characteristics of inequalities in the information society and ...

ISSN: 2247-6172;
ISSN-L: 2247-6172
Review of Applied Socio- Economic Research
(Volume 5, Issue 1/ 2013 ), pp. 92
URL: http://www.reaser.eu
e-mail: editors@reaser.eu
Indicators of quality of work as predictors of quality of life
Alina Mariuca Ionescu 1
1 Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi
Abstract. The paper aims to analyze the extent to which the indicators of the quality of work can be seen
as good predictors of the quality of life. To describe the various aspects of the quality of work and
employment, data on answers to 12 questions covering 7 dimensions of quality of work were extracted from
the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) database available on Eurofound website. Four wellknown
composite indicators were considered for the assessment of the quality of life: Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU) Quality of Life Index, Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), OECD Life Satisfaction indicator and
Human Development Index (HDI). A series of multiple linear regressions were run in order to select the most
relevant predictors of quality of life indicators. Results show that the percentage of those who are “very
satisfied or satisfied with working conditions in their main paid job” is the main predictor both of EIU
Quality of Life Index (R square = 0.429), of HDI 2005 (R square = 0.619) and of SWLS (R square = 0.61).
Percentage of those who agree that their “job offers them good prospects for career advancement” explains
68.4% of the total variance in OECD Life Satisfaction indicator, while together with “working hours -
family/ social commitments outside work fit” and proportion of those “usually working less than 30 hours
per week in their main paid job” account for 79.5% of the total variance in the predicted variable. HDI 2010
values are the best predicted by the percentage of those who “agree that they might lose their job in the next
6 months” (R square = 0.624).
Keywords: quality of work, quality of life, quality of life indicators, quality of life predictors.
JEL Codes: I31, I32, J81
1. Introduction
The paper relies on the idea that one component of the quality of life is individuals’ quality of work.
Practically, work represents an important part of people’s life.
The issue of the quality of work and employment has been officially put on the agenda of European
policies since the European Council in March 2000 when the so-called Lisbon Strategy was launched. As the
Social Policy Agenda states, “quality of work includes better jobs and more balanced ways of combining
working life with personal life” (Commission of the European Communities, 2001, pp. 3-4).
Although work is often experienced as having a negative impact on life, (Terkel, 1972, p. xiii; Pocock,
2003, p 153, cited in Eikhof et al., 2007, p.326) which rules and ruins people’s lives (Bunting, 2004, cited in
Eikhof et al., 2007, p. 326), there are research studies that find also positive consequences of work on life,
such as: work is a place of intellectual expression and personal fulfilment (Behr, 2007), can represent escape
and self-expression, may be experienced as a means of escaping family stress (Cowling, 2005, p. 30;
Hochschild, 1997; Trinca & Fox, 2004), or can be a source of satisfaction and self-fulfilment (Isles, 2004, p.
23, Eikhof et al., 2007, p. 327). Moreover, the long working hours are not always an obstacle in achieving
work-life balance since it might be the worker’s choice to work more so as to earn more money (Cowling,
2005, p. 35) or to assert herself / himself.