Many poverty measures are estimated by using sample data collected from social surveys. Two examples are the poverty gap and the poverty severity indices. A novel method for the estimation of these poverty indicators is described. Social surveys usually contain different variables, some of which can be used to improve the estimation of poverty…

Using individual data from PIAAC and aggregate data on GDP and unemployment for the US, Europe, and Spain, we test how macroeconomic conditions experienced at age eighteen affect the following decisions in post-secondary and tertiary education: (1) enrollment; (2) dropping-out; (3) type of degree completed; (4) area of specialization; and (5)…

This study starts from the premise that we are sexual beings, and therefore, sexuality is part of our lives and defines us as human beings. This is also true with regard to intellectually disabled people. Within the framework of broader qualitative research carried out in Spain, some partial results of an ongoing study aimed at finding out what a…

This paper interrogates the case for improved and broadened public sustainability reporting by universities, and explores whether and how global performance measures capture the institutional attitudes and activities pertinent to universities' contributions to sustainability. The analysis explores all stand-alone, English language reports produced…

The aim of this paper is measure social welfare in Spanish provinces. To achieve this, we use the distance method P[subscript 2] to compose a synthetic indicator of welfare for 2007, the last year for which data are available. The index comprises information on different social indicators from various life domains and enables a classification of…

In this paper, we evaluate income distributions in four European countries (Austria, Italy, Spain and Hungary) using two complementary approaches: a standard approach based on reported incomes in survey data, and a microsimulation approach, where taxes and benefits are simulated. These two approaches may be expected to generate slightly different…

The study presented here is an attempt to calculate a comparative multidimensional index of economic well-being for the Spanish Autonomous Communities. Based on the dimensions of adjusted consumption, real wealth, equity and economic security per inhabitant, we obtain one relative index using a system of uniform weightings, a second resulting from…

In this paper, I examine whether generalized trust and education, as well as social security policies of welfare state institutions matter for cross-national differences in subjective well-being (SWB), because knowledge on this issue is still lacking. For this purpose I integrated the insights of two sociological theories: Social Function…

This paper explores the relationship between air pollution, climate and reported subjective well-being (or happiness) in Spanish regions. The results show that, after controlling for most of the socio-economic variables affecting happiness, there are still significant regional differences in subjective well-being. Evidence also suggests that…

The authors seek to establish the need for better education to develop procedures useful to evaluate the sustainability of a building. The analysis emphasises the need for education in the social dimension of sustainability assessment in the context of the life cycle of a building and how such education of building agents could increase…

In this paper we study the impact of education on happiness in Spain using individual-level data from the European Social Survey, by means of estimating Ordinal Logit Models. We find both direct and indirect effects of education on happiness. First, we find an indirect effect of education on happiness through income and labour status. That is, we…

Non-monetary indicators of deprivation are now widely used in studying poverty in Europe. While measuring financial resources remains central, having reliable information about material deprivation adds to the ability to capture poverty and social exclusion. Non-monetary indicators can help improve the identification of those experiencing poverty…

This paper uses data for Spain from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (release 2.3.1) to model the determinants of the quality of life of the elderly, paying special attention to their intergenerational relations. The aim is to study CASP-12 (a social functional index) and explore the effect of interdependency in terms of the…

The goal of this article consists of describing the calibration of an instrument to assess quality of life-related personal outcomes using Rasch analysis. The sample was composed of 3.029 recipients of social services from Catalonia (Spain) and was selected using a probabilistic polietapic sample design. Results related to unidimensionality, item…

To analyze the influence of different health status dimensions and quality of life (QoL) domains on older adults' subjective health, and to assess the role that residential satisfaction plays in these relationships. A QoL survey was conducted on a representative sample of the community-dwelling older adult population in Madrid province (Spain).…