Regional Formation and Development Studies

One of the most important aspects influencing the quality of life is education. The paper includes the research results from an analysis of how the level of education affects quality of life, and the development of different initiatives and values. An analysis of scientific literature is performed, with a more detailed analysis of data from Latvia, taking into account the level of household income and satisfaction with life. Research methods applied: analysis of scientific findings, analysis of time-series on several indicators of development related to different education indicators, and income indicators depending on educational level, with a calculation of income confidence interval with a probability of 0.95 for households with different educational levels. Data used in the research: data from databases of the Official Statistics Portal of the Republic of Latvia, Household Finance and Consumption Survey. The research results indicate that households in Latvia with a higher education have a significantly higher income than households with primary or no education.

In the article, the activities of presidents in the creation of welfare states are analysed. The main factors behind successful effectiveness in the creation of the welfare state are: public opinion towards the president, his/her individual philosophy, clear communication, and relations with political parties. The case of Gitanas Nausėda, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, with his vision of the creation of the welfare state as the main aim of governance and social rights, is presented in the article. The role of President Nausėda is significant because of the proposals and changes he has inititated. The president not only supports the welfare state, but also suggests concrete proposals for changes to the tax environment in the country, improving social security conditions and conditions for the disabled, enforcing equal opportunities, etc.

The study presents alternative measures for measuring the welfare of a country in the context of identifying relationships generated by the impact of changes in the income level, measured by gross domestic product (GDP), related to other welfare, measured by the Happy Planet Index (HPI). The analysis was conducted in Romania, during the period from 2012 to 2016. The research methodology involves simple linear regression and welfare descriptive variables such as GDP, GDP/capita, HPI and its subcomponents’ indicators, namely life satisfaction, life expectancy and ecological footprint. Identification of aspects that have an impact on the welfare of citizens allows to compare levels of wellbeing experienced worldwide and to identify the main areas at the national level on which improvements can be made. The results indicate that, although there is no correlation between GDP and HPI, GDP/capita has great influence on both life satisfaction and life expectancy. Also, GDP has influence on the ecological footprint. Given these considerations, the main conclusion of the research is that, although the level of welfare, quantified using GDP, changes positively, this change is due to the increased life expectancy, life satisfaction, reduced ecological footprint rather than to changes in income levels.