Social Welfare 2025

The Social Welfare Index 2025 shows how long a person with an average salary needs to work to buy a set of 40 goods and services. That is, the less one needs to work, the more free time remains for other areas of activity. Time is an accurate and easily measurable indicator of well-being. Each person can calculate his or her own value of the Index and compare it not only with the average for Ukraine but also with other countries of the world. That is. The index can be a tool for assessing personal progress, success in achieving tangible and intangible goals.

This tool is useful for government officials, local government representatives, and civil society organizations because it allows them to calculate any consumer basket at the national level, as well as at the level of a city, region, or village, adapting it to the specific needs of community residents., However, the problems identified in this way can only be slightly corrected — it is impossible to fundamentally solve the issue of improving the welfare of people at the grassroots level without changing the basic economic strategy of the government.

How much the average worker earns per hour of work time.

It's one thing to earn $2.6 per hour as an average Ukrainian, after taxes, and another to earn $9.1 per hour as a Polish citizen, who will get $9.1 for an hour's work. At the same time, a Czech earns $9.2 per hour, a German $18.3, and an American $24.6. Of course, if you invest in your skills and abilities, in the development of your human capital, you can earn much more than the national average per hour of work, but this will be an exception to the general rule rather than a characterization of the development level of a particular country according to a particular economic model. However, no matter how talented, hardworking, and responsible an employee is, his or her labor productivity directly depends on the amount of capital invested, the technologies used, and the volume of sales, including in foreign markets.

When all of this is in place for a long time, we get labor productivity, the level of "net" wages at the level of, for example, Germany — $18.3 per hour, Sweden — $17.6, or the United States — $24.6. The level of social welfare is higher, material comfort is better, and there is more free time when all of this exists in a country, not just for a year or five, but for decades — this is the most important source of human well-being.

An important indicator is the level of prices and their stability. Here, open competition is the most important element, as it guarantees the lowest prices and the widest choice of goods and services. Economic history teaches that prices for consumers are optimal when they are market-based, when the government does not interfere in production, trade, or finance.

**More about Social Welfare Index

The full text of the Index is available below in the PDF format.**