Abstract

This study proposes a concept of overall well-being, one rooted in Scripture. It combines indicators of well-being in the three major domains of life - personal well-being, community or altruistic well-being, and religious or spiritual well-being. Rough measures of each, plus their component indices and an overall well-being index, are developed for young adults aged 15 to 34 in the year 2000, using the best available micro-data from Statistics Canada.

The overall indices for subpopulations appear in Table 16; all other results lead up to these. Some of the findings are as follows...

• The well-being index is 41 for Canada's young adults (lower than the 50 for seniors), 43 for women and 39 for men. The index ranges from 46 in Newfoundland, and 45 in Prince Edward Island, Manitoba and Alberta, to 36 in Quebec and 37 in British Columbia. It is high for volunteers, 56, especially volunteers in religious organizations, 70, and religious and secular organizations, 74, and a relatively low 36 for non-volunteers.
• Of all the subgroups of young adults examined, the index is lowest for young adults without ever having a religious affiliation, 31, those without an affiliation at the time of the survey, 37, and those not donating to charity, 32.
• Among the larger faith communities, the index is highest for Pentecostals, 65, followed by Baptists, 58, and other conservative faiths, 57. For all Christians it is 46, the same as for those affiliated with non-Christian faiths.
• The index of most groups of young women exceeds that of young men, especially among the unemployed, where the index is 19% higher, non-Christians, 34% higher, Presbyterians, 20% higher, and in all provinces except New Brunswick where the gender difference is insignificant.
• The index of young men is notably higher than that of women in only two categories, those without a religious affiliation at present, 20% higher, and those in households with under $20,000 of annual income, 9% higher.
• For Canada, the personal well-being index comprises 52% of the overall well-being index, while the altruism index comprises 19% and the spiritual index 29% -- these shares of the total reflect the weights assigned to the components of each of the index, as well as the choice and definition of the component indicators.
• Detailed tables supplemented by summary charts are presented showing the component indicators, personal, altruistic and spiritual well-being indices, and the overall well-being index, for many subpopulations of young women and men. Regression results for each of the six component indicators, for women and men separately, are presented in appendices.