Personal well-being

Personal well-being among young people is determined on the basis of the Personal Well-being Index (PWI). This index is composed of 12 indicators which describe 8 dimensions. The dimensions with corresponding indicators are:
1) Material living standard: (a) satisfaction with financial situation.
2) Economic risks: (b) concerns about the financial future.
3) Education and work: (c) satisfaction with education opportunities, (d) satisfaction with work (in case of a full-time job of at least 12 hours a week) or everyday tasks (among those not in paid work or working less than 12 hours a week).
4) Health: (e) satisfaction with physical health, (f) satisfaction with mental health.
5) Social relationships: satisfaction with social life.
6) Social participation and trust: trust in parliament, trust in judiciary, trust in police force.
7) Safety: feelings of (un)safety.
8) Living environment: satisfaction with the residential neighbourhood.

The PWI offers a score of 1 to 10 in each of the above dimensions. Most dimensions have only one indicator with numeric responses from 1 to 10; the score in that dimension is thus equal to the score for that particular indicator. For dimensions with more than one indicator, the scores for the indicators are combined by taking the average score of these indicators. Subsequently, an average score is allocated to each dimension, and the eight resulting scores are combined into one overarching index value, constituting the Personal Well-being Index. Each dimension counts equally in the index, which runs from 1 to 10. An average score of 7 or higher in the PWI or in the separate dimensions means a high level of personal well-being (in that particular area). (Van Beuningen et al., 2015).