São Paulo School of Business Administration (FGV/EAESP) and MyFunCity - private social network created to discuss public interests in Brazil recently awarded by the UN (United Nations) - released yesterday the results of research conducted in São Paulo which will be included in the Well Being Brazil Index.  The survey measures the well-being of São Paulo residents in ten indicators related to private life and society.

The first phase of the study was conducted on November 10-30 last year with 786 people living in the city of São Paulo, who voluntarily responded to the questionnaire developed to measure the index in Brazil. Considering characteristics such as age, sex and socioeconomic status, respondents rated their satisfaction with the Environment, Transport and Mobility, Family, Social Networking, Professional and Financial Life, Education, Government, Health, Safety and Consumption.

It is important to stress that this study conducted in São Paulo is unprecedented. It is the first time that an academic survey measures the life satisfaction of the Brazilian population using a methodology developed entirely with extreme precision and dedicated exclusively to this country. The results of the state capital may indicate some trends in the national index, explains Professor Fábio Gallo Garcia, of EAESP, who coordinates the study.

The index differs from others, for example, aimed at macroeconomic issues - such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI), as well as indicators arising abroad to measure happiness, By adopting the WBB we hope to reflect the population's degree of well-being, build public policies, and provide conditions for prospecting business opportunities oriented at promoting well-being, continued Gallo, who also highlights that the plan is to know even more about people's satisfaction with the public administration, in relation to their life conditions.

Results

The research shows that São Paulo residents consider family their greatest indicator of well-being. In second place, citizens value their networks - Family and Social Networking bring more well-being to São Paulo residents than indicators such as Financial and Professional Life, or Consumption, for example.  The highest dissatisfaction lies in the Public Sector and within this indicator discontentment is higher regarding the Legislative and Judicial powers. The Transport and Mobility indicator comes second, especially for the item Time I spend in traffic, followed by the dissatisfaction with Safety, Health and Education.

Respondents complained about the quality of public transport and the daily time spent in traffic - 31% of participants claimed they waste two hours on the way to and from work and/or college. For the Education indicator, São Paulo residents are dissatisfied with the level of public schools and consider private universities better than public ones, and they also wish they could have more access to libraries. 

Regarding Security, high relevance and low satisfaction was detected with the level of violence in the city, the work of the police and border control in Brazil; however, the work of the Fire Department is admired. In Health, participants indicated low satisfaction (and high relevance) with Public Health Network and their Physical Activity Level: São Paulo residents want a better public health service, and to exercise more.

And among the ten well-being variables that make up the WBB, Government presented the worst performance in terms of satisfaction with high importance aspects placed on the well-being of people. In addition to low overall performance, the main negative feedback goes to the work of city councilors, congressmen, senators and the way Justice works.

Nevertheless, in relation to the overall result, 29.5% of respondents claimed extreme satisfaction with their current lives and 56.2% reported extreme satisfaction with their life expectancies.

Visit the site, in English, to learn more about the Well Being Brazil Index.