This paper focuses on three main subjects: (1) monitoring quality of life (QoL) in old age; (2) international and interdisciplinary collaboration for QoL research; and (3) computer-based technology and infrastructure assisting (1) and (2). This type of computer-supported cooperative work in the social sciences has been termed eHumanities or…

World social development has arrived at a critical turning point. Economically advanced nations have made significant progress toward meeting the basic needs of their populations; however, the majority of developing countries have not. Problems of rapid population growth, failing economies, famine, environmental devastation, majority-minority…

The Human Development Index (HDI) implicitly defines "human development" and ranks countries accordingly. To elucidate the HDI's meaning of "human development," the paper examines the sensitivity of the HDI to changes in its components, namely social indicators of education, longevity and standard of living. The HDI is next compared with two…

Presented is a list of social indicators which OECD has adopted as an international inventory to measure individual well-being. Variables included are health, education, employment, time and leisure, goods and services, physical environment, social environment, and personal safety. (DC)

This report provides a comprehensive look at the challenges facing mothers and children during and after armed conflict. The examination is divided into the sections "Mothers in War,""Mothers Rebuilding," and "Call to Action." Key findings include the following: (1) the nature of war has changed dramatically in recent…

Statistics representing social and economic conditions in 125 developed and developing countries with populations of more than one million are presented. The booklet presents a series of maps, charts, graphs and tables representing separate sections on life expectancy, adult literacy rate, population growth rate, gross national product per capita,…

Recently, there has been growing criticism of the usefulness of the conventional measures of gross national product (GNP) to reflect the growth of economic welfare. It is argued that GNP fails to allow for certain measures of economic welfare. The object of this study is to examine how much difference would be made to the relative growth rates of…

Noting that the well-being of children and that of mothers cannot be separated, this report provides information on the well-being of mothers worldwide. The report compares the status of mothers in 20 industrialized nations and in 86 developing countries, and creates a Mothers' Index measuring the overall status of mothers. The Mothers' Index is a…

Noting that the well-being of children and that of mothers cannot be separated, this report uses the Mothers' Index to compare the well-being of mothers and children in 17 developed countries and 77 developing countries. The Mothers' Index is a composite of elements contributing to a woman's well-being, including health status, educational status,…

In commemoration of Mother's Day, Save the Children has published its fourth annual report focusing on the tens of millions of mothers and children whose lives have been disrupted by war and armed conflict and suggesting actions required to support women who are raising the children under horrific conditions and to shield children from the most…

This document is a report of the Manpower and Social Affairs Committee of the OECD on the development of a set of social objectives with the general goals of: identifying the social demands, aspirations and problems which are or will likely be major concerns of socio-economic planning processes; measuring and reporting change relative to these…

This data book presents satistics on countries with populations of more than one million. The statistics relate to economic development and the changes it is bringing about in the world. These statistics are measures of social and economic conditions in developing and industrial countries. Five indicators of economic development are presented,…

Emphasizing a problem-solving perspective, the document investigates the world food scene. Simply defined, the world food problem is the apparent inability of the world's people to feed themselves adequately and consistently. Intended for use by college level geography instructors as they develop courses on human uses of the environment, the…

The cost benefits of lifelong learning in the United Kingdom were estimated, based on quantitative evidence. Between 1975-1996, 43 police force areas in England and Wales were studied to determine the effect of wages on crime. It was found that a 10 percent rise in the average pay of those on low pay reduces the overall area property crime rate by…