Integral index of the life quality in the region

In this article the author presents the evaluation of the life quality in the Vologda Oblast, considering separately the life quality of the population of major cities in the region - Vologda and Cherepovets - for 2013 according to the method developed by the Center for Socio-Conservative Politics in the Northwestern Federal District (Saint Petersburg). The method is based on the calculation of the index of life quality - the integral index, aggregating private living indicators that reflect the level of development and degree of satisfaction of the whole complex needs and interests of the population. This method allows us to calculate the integral index of life quality in the region as a whole and in the city (municipality) in particular. The indicators selected for the calculation are divided into five groups: “quality of the population”, “quality of the social sphere”, “well-being of the population”, “quality of working life”, “quality of life safety”. As a result, the integral index of quality life in the Vologda Oblast, Vologda and Cherepovets is calculated. It shows that the quality of life in the Vologda region is generally high, but, despite this, some indicators are not high enough. Moreover, if we consider the Vologda Oblast as a whole, there is a high level of life quality due to the major cities of Vologda and Cherepovets, which concentrate the main industrial and manufacturing enterprises. In the region, in general (in small towns, villages and municipalities), the life quality is not high enough. The author proposes a radar chart, characterizing the values of benefit indicators by five groups, which demonstrates the directions of better and worse. The assessment of the life quality in the region (the Vologda Oblast, in particular) is difficult due to a lack of standard indicators that can be considered as a reference.