How do we monitor inclusive and sustainable well-being in the Caribbean Netherlands?
Material prosperity is not the only thing that matters in people’s lives. A secure income is a good start, of course, but there are many other things that make life worthwhile, such as good health, relationships and a pleasant living environment. We refer to this concept as ‘inclusive and sustainable well-being’. In order to measure and understand well-being in the Caribbean Netherlands, the Monitor of Well-Being and Sustainable Development Goals (MBWB & SDGs) for the Caribbean Netherlands has been published annually since 2022.
While gross domestic product (GDP) measures the material wealth of a society, the Monitor of Well-being also takes account of all the other factors that are important for quality of life. The Monitor of Well-being for the Caribbean Netherlands examines well-being on each of the three islands – Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius – as well as the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These internationally agreed goals touch on all ecological, social and economic aspects of well-being.
The monitor tracks how well-being changes over time, with a focus on the medium term. Based on trends over the past eight years, it shows whether the well-being is rising or falling.
Well-being ‘here and now’ in eight themes
The Monitor of Well-being for the Caribbean Netherlands focuses on the dimension of ‘here and now’. A combination of eight themes provides a picture of the quality of life and the living environment of residents of the Caribbean Netherlands today. The theme of subjective well-being involves life satisfaction and fulfilment. Material well-being is about the resources that people have to meet their basic needs and shape their own lives. Health encompasses both objective and perceived physical and mental health.
A fourth aspect of well-being ‘here and now’ is work and leisure, which looks at paid work, how people spend their free time, and their skills. There are also themes focusing on housing and people’s living environment. Well-being ‘here and now’ also considers society, social cohesion and the trust that people have in each other and in institutions.
The last two themes are safety (recorded crimes and victimisation) and the state of the environment.
High subjective well-being, low material well-being
The monitor shows that in the Caribbean Netherlands there are differences between the results on the objective indicators and people’s subjective perceptions. For example, the Caribbean Netherlands has relatively low material well-being, with relatively low disposable household income and a high level of poverty compared to the European Netherlands. However, this is accompanied by relatively high levels of subjective well-being. This aspect of well-being is closely intertwined with perceived quality of life. Life satisfaction is high on all three islands, and also significantly higher than in the European Netherlands. These differences underline the importance of considering all aspects of well-being.
The dimensions of ‘later’ and ‘elsewhere’ remain under development
The monitor for the Caribbean Netherlands is still under development and will be expanded every year to provide an increasingly comprehensive picture of well-being on the islands.
In addition to the ‘here and now’ dimension, the concept of well-being also includes the dimensions of ‘later’ and ‘elsewhere’. This raises the following questions: will future generations be able to achieve the same level of broad well-being as we have? And do our choices and lifestyle have a direct impact on the broad well-being of people elsewhere in the world?
Work is currently underway on the ‘later’ dimension. This will first involve examining which social, economic and natural resources are available to shape the broad well-being dimension of ‘later’. The first step will be to decide on what needs to be monitored. This will result in a monitor that tracks all three dimensions of inclusive and sustainable well-being in the Caribbean Netherlands.
Sources
More on inclusive and sustainable well-being in the Caribbean Netherlands and the latest numbers
More on the Monitor of Well-being and the Sustainable Development Goals