Type of indicators
Qualitative
Relative dimension and aggregated criteria
Social sustainability: Sustainability of social life: Physiological and security needs
Description
This indicator relates to the quality of life of farmers and their families in terms of meeting their physiological needs (e.g., bodily requirements like sleep, food, and water) and security needs (e.g., health and financial security) outside of farming. Among others, this is measured through perceptions of leisure time, income security, and access to public good and services.
Indicator calculation
Where:
𝑆𝑖 = Farmer response to statement 𝑖
𝑛 = Total amount of statements taken into account for this indicator
Responses to statements are measured on a 5-point Like scale, ranging from strongly disagree, disagree, neither agree or disagree, agree, and strongly agree. For all statements, the value 1 indicates the highest level of social sustainability, and 5 represents the lowest level. Hence, the order of the 5-point scale depends on the direction of the statements (e.g., negative or positive expected effect on social sustainability).
Statements
|
Expected effect on social sustainability
|
𝑆1: I feel that I have both the time and the opportunities to take care of my physiological health in my spare time. | + |
S2:
Our household finances (farm income and non-farm income for all household members) are of a level to make us feel financially secure. |
+ |
S3:
I feel that my family and I have satisfactory access to everyday commodities and public services such as grocery, post, bank, education, healthcare, etc. |
+ |
Unit
Quantitative score, taking values from 1 to 5.
Indicator interpretation
Higher values indicate lower fulfillment of physiological and security needs related to social life.
Scale definition
Statements taken into account in this indicator and their expected effect on social sustainability are the following:
Scale | DEXi interpretation | Reference |
[1; 1.5 ]
|
High | Based on expert opinion
|
[1.5; 3.5 ]
|
Medium | |
[3.5; 5]
|
Low |