The Development of the Village Will not Turn It into a City

- Obviously there are as many opinions about the quality of life in Armenia as the citizens living in the country. However, there are scientific parameters (indexes) to assess the quality of life of the whole society. Do these indices differ from those standards by which people feel the progress or regression in their living conditions in the country? – What is the purpose of such studies, when was the latest conducted in Armenia, and what is the conclusion drawn from the main outcomes on Armenia?

- In order to understand how the residents of Armenia evaluate the quality of their lives, we should first of all determine what the quality of their lives means to them. It should be taken into consideration that we are a consumer type society. With such a large diversity of goods and services available there is a rich choice and the quality of life here does not depend on whether one can satisfy his/her basic needs, but on how one does it.  Think of a situation when one cannot afford to buy an item of clothing that he/she likes, even though in fact one has some things to wear. This person will have a feeling of dissatisfaction with his/her life, and this circumstance will impact on his/her perception of his/her quality of life. In a consumer society the meaning of the concept “quality of life” changes. It has not only an objective, but also a subjective interpretation. 

There are various scientific approaches to the evaluation of the quality of life. The most primitive method is the consideration of the average duration of life in the given country and the GDP, and on this basis to calculate the level of the material security. More complicated approaches require the account of such factors as environmental pollution, the level of safety, education, the political situation, the existence of green areas, the cost of the Internet, the level of crime, accessibility and affordability of medical services and many other factors. The most important index in another approach to assess the quality of life is the air pollution level. The authors of this approach explain that if the environment is polluted, all the other factors become secondary.

I have observed that the scientific criteria to assess the quality of life in Armenia differ from the assessment criteria the residents of the country use to assess it themselves. With us the quality of life is measured by material security, and since this is quite a popular approach, people do not ascribe due significance to other major factors. For example, I have had to frequently hear a stereotypical statement that it is better to die with a full stomach in a polluted environment, than to be hungry in pure air. When money and goods are the top value for the society, other important conditions for normal life are receded into the background. This is the situation one may observed in Armenia at the moment. 

The data collected by the National Statistical Service of the RA may somehow contribute to the assessment of the quality of life in Armenia. But international organizations are the entities that jointly with local partners conduct assessments of the quality of life in all countries once a year. What is the use of such surveys? In the conditions of globalization the governments of countries need to have comparable data to make decisions.

Such surveys allow for the determination of their own positions and a comparison of their own positions with those of other countries.

The annual surveys of The Economist are well known. The results of this survey are uploaded onto their website (www.economist.com). The quality of life is measured by a ten-point scale. Switzerland, Germany, the USA occupy the highest positions (with a bit more than 8 points). Armenia and Azerbaijan occupy similar positions – they come the fifth which testifies to the average level of quality of life in both countries.

- What is the correlation between the incomes and costs incurred by the citizens of Armenia today: how much is the average salary or pension? What benefits are paid (for example, for children)? How much are the basket of goods, utility costs and so on?

- The minimal salary in Armenia is 35 thousand AMD (approximately 87 USD). The average salary is about 300 USD. But this quite an approximated indicator, since there is also the shadow economy. Since 2012 the size of base pensions came up to 13.000 (approximately 33 USD) instead of the previously fixed 10.500 USD (approximately 26 USD). The size of the average employment pension was raised from 28.700 AMD to 31.300 AMD (approximately 77 USD). There is the welfare system that pays benefits for unemployment, disability, pregnancy and birth, old age, and benefits paid in connection with the loss of the breadwinner.

The utility costs are about 1/3 of the average salary in Armenia.

It is common knowledge that many live at the expense of transfers. Certainly, the income of the population does not comply with expenses. The majority of the people in Armenia spend the money earned abroad. By the way, not taking into account that they themselves do not earn that much. And this circumstance also contributed to the spread of consumer mentality.  

-  Is the quality of life and the living standard in the capital different from that in the regions of the country? What does this difference consist in? Where are more people involved in state budget organizations or in the private sector? Who lives better – employees at state budget structures or in the private sector?

- Most public services are centralized in the capital and large cities which in its turn impacts on the perceptions of the quality life in Armenia. In general the indicative criterion of the quality of life is migration, including internal migration. People yearn for moving into capital from the regions, because there is a possibility to find a job here, there is a choice of education and recreation. This means that the residents of the regions are not satisfied with the quality of their life in their original places of residence.

The problem also consists in the fact that the perceptions of the city and rural areas are distorted. People normally think that when a village develops, it turns into a city. Meanwhile, the village gets improved, with well-provided households, where life may be very comfortable and profitable. We do not yet have a formed idea of a well-off village, which is why the residents in rural areas have a perception of deprivation and dissatisfaction. Certainly, one of the reasons for such a perception is social insecurity. The factor of labor migration is added here, when the residents of villages do not want to lead a rural life and to do the relevant jobs.

 - How will the increase in the prices of gas, electricity and so on affect the quality of people’s lives?

- It is obvious that the increase in the prices will significantly impact on the quality of life, since as a result, everything will become more expensive, not only the utilities. This will lead to the increase of poverty in the society. At that, first of all the segment of the population that was considered poor will be the one most affected. This will make the so-called middle class vulnerable which is especially dangerous, because the middle class in all societies plays the role of the buffer and retrains abrupt changes. It is for this very reason that on the way to reinforce stability in all societies they try to enlarge the middle class. If the middle class with us becomes poor, the social polarization of the society as a generally valid problem will become more topical, and this may have unpredictably negative consequences for the development of the society at large.