A recent survey of the OECD’s (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) 34 countries suggests that Israelis are enjoying a Scandinavian-level quality of life, with Israel ranking sixth in ‘life satisfaction.’
The site Daily Finance analyzed data compiled by the OECD, examining variables like ‘self-reported good health,’ ‘life expectancy,’ ’employment rate,’ ’employees working long hours,’ and ‘educational attainment.’
Israelis are among the healthiest in the developed world, with a low obesity rate (13.8%) and life expectancy of nearly 82 years old. By comparison, the obesity rate in the U.S. – which ranked 11th overall in the survey – is 20% higher than Israel, and has an average life expectancy of 79 years.
In spite of the seemingly-ubiquitous security concerns, 70% of Israelis surveyed reported feeling safe walking home at night, while the homicide rate in Israel is comparable to the OECD average (2.1 murders/100,000 people).
Still, the survey found that Israel ranked 24th in employment rate (with 60% of eligible workforce employed), while of those Israelis that are employed, nearly 20% of work long hours (defined in the survey as working at least 50 hours a week).
Denmark was rated as having the most satisfied citizens in the developed world, followed by Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Austria. After Israel, Finland, Australia, Canada, and Sweden rounded out the top 10.
JTA Contributed to this report