The OECD Framework for Measuring Well-being and Progress (http://www.oecd.org/statistics/measuring-well-being-and-progress.htm) is intended to challenge how policy makers and society as a whole think about progress. It recognises 11 dimensions of well-being that are key for a better life. Impacts of the digital transformation on these dimensions are ambiguous; both risks and opportunities exist in areas such as work-life balance, social connections, and governance and civic engagement.
Increasingly, computer-based jobs, combined with improved connectivity, allow workers to be more mobile. In many jobs, it is no longer necessary to be physically in the workplace all of the time. Instead, “teleworking”, can allow workers to manage their time more flexibly and make it easier to fulfil non-work responsibilities. Teleworking has the potential to contribute job satisfaction and work-life balance, as well as to improving the gender balance in many households (Billari et al., 2017). However, such connectivity may be associated with employer expectations of constant-connectedness and increased working outside regular hours. It should also be noted that access to and use of teleworking facilities is skewed toward high-skill workers and that the burden of combining work and family life thanks to teleworking may often fall on women more than on men (Dettling, 2016).
Work is strongly linked to people’s self regard and well-being. The Internet can be useful in finding work opportunities. On average, 21% of Internet users in the OECD reported looking for a job or sending a job application online in 2017 and 33% of those aged 16-24 did so. Online job search is especially common in Chile, Finland and Mexico, at around 30-40% of Internet users. Strikingly, in Finland over 60% of 16-24 year old Internet users looked online for jobs in 2017 – a time when the youth unemployment rate was relatively high at 20%. By contrast, in other OECD countries with even higher youth employment at the time, such as France and Spain, young people have not turned as strongly to the Internet as a potential solution. Indeed the second-highest rate of online job-search among Internet users aged 16-24 was seen in Iceland, where youth unemployment was among the lowest in the OECD in 2017, at 7.7%.
The Internet also provides people with a new arena for engaging in civic and political debates. This aspect of the digital transformation is sometimes seen as a risk, because online political participation is thought to exacerbate ideological divides. However, recent studies have found only limited evidence that political polarisation can be attributed to the use of online media. (Dubois and Blank, 2018). Political expression online is not inherently bad, if it comes from a place of conviction and is not corrupted by false information or targeted manipulation. At the core, it provides people with a new avenue for exchanging ideas and can give an opportunity to voice frustration and derive meaning.
