Changes in the Social Understanding of Quality of Life As a Result of the Economic Situation

This presentation aims at describing some selected trends of changes in the social understanding of quality of life. The trends were identified in a program for monitoring the quality of life in one of the Polish cities. The program “Indicators of the Quality of Life in Poznań” was initiated in 2001, as one of the projects aimed at streamlining the work of the Town Council, maintaining contact between the authorities and the residents of the city and building up the image of the city.

The program is based on an idea of measurement of the most important domains of life, such as life situation of residents, communal infrastructure, health condition of residents, social exclusion, standard of living, social security, public security and crime rates, natural environment, leisure, work and income, education and population processes. The essence of the project is the simultaneous investigation of the actual situation by means of objective statistical data as well as the level of satisfaction with particular aspects of life. 

The ten–year program allowed us to identify changes in the social understanding of quality of life. The most fundamental changes include:

1. changes in the significance of particular domains of quality of life for the general perception of quality of life
2. changes in the criteria of quality of life in particular domains of quality of life.

The presentation involves two major aims. It intends to show the changes in the perception of significance of particular domains of quality of life in opinions of respondents. It also aims at demonstrating the evolution of the significance criteria of particular domains, depending on the perception of changes in the economic situation, particularly with respect to the recent economic crisis.