For most of the last century, economic measures such as gross national product and gross national income were considered to measure economic and social and human progress.
However, societal leaders have raised concerns over the sufficiency of these economic measures for social improvement and human capability development.
Consequently, indices that attempt to measure social progress and human development were developed by different institutions like the United Nations over the past few decades.
The United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development measures the performance of different countries around 17 goals covering a range of interconnected policy areas.
It is intended as a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future”.
A report by the National Statistics Office on Malta’s scoring on the different goals from 2019 and 2015 shows evidence of some progress, some regression and significant social change.
One of the more significant outcomes relates to nine poverty-reduction targets. Malta demonstrated improvement in four.
While the number of people in the ‘severely materially deprived’ category declined, the ‘at-risk-of-poverty’ increased marginally.
This could be a clear indication that, as in some other western societies, the gap between the haves and the have-nots in our community is getting wider.
In the area of economic well-being, some significant progress has been registered. Unemployment rates fell while the participation of women in the labour market increased.
The gender pay gap narrowed over the period and digital literacy improved.
Still, not surprisingly, Malta scored poorly on criteria relating to sustainable urban environments. Destruction and degradation of the environment is a symptom of collective regression.
Another related clue of social regression is taking place, even if the UN 2030 agenda may not capture it. Our society generally has difficulty distinguishing between that which is beautiful from that which is ugly.
The destruction of historically significant buildings to make way for blocks of apartments with no character is an irreversible mistake that is repeatedly being made with the blessing of our planning policymakers.
It was expected that Malta would perform particularly poorly on targets linked to the use of the roads network.
While the use of public transport has increased, the upward trend of car licences keeps growing.
Road fatalities increased, contrary to the declining trend in road fatalities in the EU. The laissez-faire attitude of law enforcement officers is evident to most road users.
Again unsurprisingly, the worst score in the latest NSO analysis was registered in the scale of property development that is increasingly encroaching on the islands’ limited countryside.
This is another regrettable and irremediable mistake that penalises the well-being of present and future generations.
We are living in challenging, chaotic times.
There are moments when many who consider themselves optimists fear that society is regressing. They often ask themselves: “Are we really moving backwards?”
The judgement on that is still out. For instance, corruption is one of the most striking symptoms of nations that have dysfunctional institutions. Every country has a little bit of corruption but degree is everything.
Compared to a decade ago, we have reduced extreme poverty, increased access to education and promoted civil rights.
Still, in other areas, the latest statistics show clearly that much more needs to be done to claim progress in our social well-being.