How do Georgians spend their leisure time?

How much free time people have – and how they choose to spend it – is influenced by multiple factors, with some of the most important being work, family and a person’s stage of life (Roberts et al, 2009; Parker, 1975). CRRC-Georgia’s 2011 Media survey, funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, allows us to delve into how Georgians spend their leisure time. To find this out, an open question was asked: “Please tell me how you usually spend your free time in your day-to-day life?” The number of answers respondents could provide was not limited. This blog post looks at how answers differ by age, sex, income and settlement type.

The most popular activities named were watching TV (83%) and spending time with friends or family (49%). A small proportion of the population (5%) said they had no free time at all.

For some, but not all, activities, the survey showed clear differences in the responses of representatives of different age groups. For example, 58% of 18-30 year olds mentioned that they spend their free time with their families, compared to 33% of the over-60 group. The situation is reversed when it comes to gardening, however: just 7% of the youngest age group said they gardened in their spare time, whereas 26% of the oldest age groups (46-60 and over-60s) take care of their yard or garden. Stark differences are also seen in the use of the internet and listening to music. Not much difference is apparent, though, when it comes to reading books, hanging out, sleeping and shopping.

Differences can also be seen in how men and women report spending their spare time. The graph below shows leisure time activities with the biggest differences between men and women. Men are more likely than women to say they spend their free time hanging out (28% compared to 5%), sleeping (16% compared to 10%) or exercising (7% compared to 1%), while women are more likely to report reading books (23% versus 14%) and shopping (11% vs 6%).

The data also enables us to see whether there are any differences in the preferred way of spending free time by household income. As might be expected, the share of those who spend time with friends/family, use the internet and read books is higher when the household income is relatively high, while gardening, for example, is more common in cases of households with a lower income. A previous CRRC blog showed that employed people are more likely than the unemployed to participate in activities which involve socializing, meeting new people and helping others. Those, on the other hand, who said they had no household income are more likely to hang out than any other group.

Activities also differ widely between those living in and outside the capital, Tbilisi. When it comes to going to the cinema or theatre, this could be due to the lack of such an opportunity outside the capital, as theatres and cinemas can be less accessible. Internet access is also more common in the capital, helping explain the difference in use of the internet (34% in Tbilisi vs 14% in the rest of the country). People living outside the capital were less likely to read books than those living in Tbilisi, but more likely to watch TV and read newspapers.

This blog post has looked at the Georgian population’s involvement in particular leisure activities, and how this involvement varies by age, sex, income and settlement type. Further analysis could consider whether these demographic characteristics affect activities that people undertake in their free time that are not commonly categorized as leisure – such as helping neighbors, cleaning public space, or volunteering at church.

For more data, have a look at CRRC’s Online Data Analysis tool.

How's your internet?

A guest blog post by Dustin Gilbreath and Hans Gutbrod

If you are reading this, maybe your internet isn’t so bad. Maybe it took some time to load this page and while waiting for the page to load, you thought, “It’s bad.” The quality of internet service is a frequent topic of conversation in Tbilisi, where access to the Internet is the highest in Georgia, and satisfaction with the service varies widely. This has motivated a quick online poll – undertaken by Dr. Hans Gutbrod, in March 2015 – on assessments of internet service in Tbilisi. While not a proper random survey, such a poll (conducted with Google Forms) can still be informative, though it will primarily provide the views of people that have time and feel strongly enough to fill out the survey. The questionnaire was distributed on the Megobrebs listserv, newsgroup and via twitter, and was administered in English only. A total of 52 people based in Tbilisi filled out the survey.

What then are the findings?

Thirty four respondents reported experiencing problems with their home internet access, with 16 complaining about regular short interruptions in service; 9 about crawling internet, 10 about outages lasting longer than 5 minutes, and 13 having trouble connecting with multiple devices.

Overall, respondents’ satisfaction with internet service, measured by their willingness to recommend the service to a neighbor, was medium, with a mean of 2.92 points on a five-point scale, with code ‘5’ meaning not willing and code ‘1’ meaning willing to recommend. With all the caveats mentioned above, the numbers seem to suggest that Caucasus Online customers appear to be more satisfied than Silknet subscribers. The latter were slightly over half a point (0.63) less willing to recommend their internet service provider (ISP) to a neighbor willing to pay the same service fee, indicating a lower level of satisfaction. Caucasus Online subscribers also rated the customer service they had received in instances where they encountered a problem 0.74 point higher on average compared with Silknet subscribers.

Note: Respondents’ answers were recorded using five-point scales. For the first question on the chart above, code ‘5’ corresponded to very bad service and code ‘1’ – to very good service. For the second question, code ‘5’ corresponded to the answer ’not willing to recommend the [respective] service to a neighbor’ and code ‘1’ – to the answer ‘willing to recommend the service to the neighbor’.

Interestingly, satisfaction with customer service varies by language used by the respondent to communicate with the company. The 9 respondents who only spoke with their ISP in English rate the service almost a point higher than those who communicated with the ISP in Georgian (19 respondents). The 18 respondents reporting using a combination of languages (Georgian, Russian or English) fall in between the two. Hence, Georgian speakers appear to be the least satisfied with their ISP’s customer service.

ISPs should be wary of the problems. Analysis of the data suggests that those who are less satisfied with their internet service, measured either by satisfaction with customer service or by willingness to recommend the ISP to their neighbors, are also more likely to be considering switching their service provider (Correlation coefficients of r=.47 and r=0.42, respectively). This also indicates that those who experience poor customer service are slightly more likely to leave their service provider compared with those who would not recommend their internet service provider to a neighbor.

The rise of mobile internet provided by cell phone companies in the Caucasus adds yet another angle to the story and is likely to further drive competition in the internet market, which in theory should spur on service improvement. While mobile internet is not a fully substitutable good for land-line services for everyone, it will soon be for many. On the 2013 Caucasus Barometer (CB) survey, the activity Georgians most frequently report doing online was social network usage, something which can easily be done on even a very modest model of a smart phone. While CB 2013 indicated that only 12% of Georgian households had internet access on their mobile phone, the share has undoubtedly increased since, and will continue to increase, in line with the global trend in smart phone ownership in recent years and taking into consideration relatively low prices of mobile internet in Georgia.

It is important to remember the above presented provisional impressions from a quick poll that does not claim to be representative of internet users in Tbilisi. It would take a full-scale survey (at the price of a new car) to get representative and comprehensive findings. For now, the key take away message appears to be that customers who experience poor service – both in terms of quality of internet provision and customer service – are more likely to think about switching their provider. While service providers would be wise to improve their customer service, competition stemming from the rise of mobile internet will also likely lead to increasing quality of service as providers compete for subscribers. Improving customer service in Georgian language should be a priority for companies like Silknet and Caucasus Online, as Georgian speaking customers generally rate their service worse than those who receive service in English.

What has your experience with the internet in Tbilisi (and beyond, throughout the Caucasus) been? Join in the conversation on the CRRC-Georgia Facebook page.

The opinions expressed in this blog post reflect those of the authors alone, and do not necessarily represent the views of the organizations which Dustin and Hans work for.

What do children and young people in Georgia need to be well and happy?

Georgia ranks 134th out of 156 countries in the United Nations World Happiness Report 2013. The list is topped by some of the Northern and Central European countries – Denmark, Norway and Switzerland – whereas central African states such as Togo, Benin and Central African Republic appear in the bottom positions. Interestingly, all of Georgia’s neighbors score higher than Georgia, with Russia in 68th, Turkey in 77th, Azerbaijan in 116th, and Armenia in 128th place. This ranking takes into account GDP per capita, life expectancy, perceptions of corruption, freedom to make life choices, etc., but what do people and particularly children and young people, think they need for happiness and well-being? This blog post provides some insight into the subject based on a preliminary qualitative study on perceptions of children and young people on well-being conducted in Tbilisi by CRRC-Georgia for the MYWEB project. Twenty in-depth interviews and four focus groups were conducted in November of 2014. 

Taking into consideration their age (11-19 years old), the groups of children and young people who took part in the research largely fit into the ego identity and role confusion category of adolescence identified by prominent psychoanalyst Erik Erikson (1950, 1963). This period is important as children start becoming more independent and thinking about their future careers, relationships, families, and society. At this stage of development, children have to learn the roles they will occupy as adults, and it is interesting to see what the views of youth at this crucial stage of development are on well-being and happiness.

Happiness, well-being and life satisfaction are often discussed together in studies trying to measure human happiness. Unsurprisingly, respondents in the MYWEB study often used well-being and happiness as concepts which complemented each other. Young people identified parents/family, health, financial stability, success and freedom as major components needed for happiness and well-being.

Parents were noted as an important part of well-being and happiness for children of all ages in the study. However, while at 11 one needs to have parents around to feel well and happy, at 18, happiness is related to one’s independence from parents. 

My parents are the most important people for me. They are the ones who bring me up and take care of me [Interview_Girl_12]. 

[Happiness is] doing what you want without your mother and father [Interview_Girl_17].

Even though teenagers crave independence, their parents’ opinions remain highly valued to them. 

While at the onset of the ego identity and role confusion category, children indicate that closeness to and the health of their parents and family are central parts of happiness and well-being, as the years go by, more abstract and value-based concepts appear. 15-16 year old respondents were especially inclined to mention freedom as a major component of well-being and happiness. For example, a 15 year old girl stated, “I think everyone [young people] wants the same – to be free, to be themselves.” A few of them stressed the importance of freedom in general, while others thought of freedom as the ability to do what you want, to say what you want and to choose what you want starting from minor everyday things to choosing a career. In the later years of the ego identity and role confusion category, a set of rights and responsibilities emerges and becomes important for well-being and happiness including the right to vote, drive, have a bank account, and buy cigarettes and alcohol. 

I turned 18, and I gained some rights. I am getting a driver’s license, for example. I opened a bank account, not to mention alcohol and cigarettes [Focus-group_Boy_18].

Importantly, young people in their late teens are also thinking about responsibilities, which vary from study workload to taking more of a lead in their own lives and thinking more about how to live in practical terms.

Even though children and young people sometimes differ in their perceptions of what the most important components of happiness and well-being are when asked about the present, their views are largely similar when asked what will matter for their happiness and well-being as they grow to their parents’ age. All study participants saw themselves having families and children of their own, having jobs/careers and being healthy.

For more on the MYWEB project, see the project website here.

Can’t get no satisfaction. Who doesn’t want to join the EU?

On December 30, 2013 Davit Usupashivili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, declared that Georgia’s top priority for the year was the signing of an Association Agreement with the EU. If signed, the association agreement will enable closer ties between Georgia and the EU. This will likely be supported by the vast majority of Georgians as 83% of ethnic Georgians say they would vote to join the EU if a referendum were held tomorrow, according to a 2014 study commissioned by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation. Still, a minority of Georgians are against closer ties with the EU. This opinion appears to be related to satisfaction with life, the perceived political situation, and one’s perceived economic standing in society. This blog explores data on those who are less supportive or against EU integration in Georgia, as well as some possible reasons for the opposition.

Given the government’s focus on EU integration, it is not surprising that Georgians with a higher level of trust in the EU are more likely to think that the country is headed in the right direction. This difference is pronounced with 30% of Georgians who fully distrust the EU and think the country is going in the right direction, as opposed to 60% of those who fully trust the EU and think the country is going in the right direction.

Note: "Politics is definitely going in the wrong direction" and "politics is mainly going in the wrong direction" were combined into "politics is going in the wrong direction." “Politics is definitely going in the right direction” and “politics is mainly going in the wrong direction” were also combined in this graph.

In addition to political satisfaction, as measured by the previous graphic, personal satisfaction seems to be related to one’s trust in the EU. Georgians who trust the EU appear to be more satisfied with life overall. For Georgians who fully trust the EU, only 21% report being dissatisfied, whereas a full 46% of Georgians who do not trust the EU report being dissatisfied with life. This trend also holds for those who support Georgia joining the EU.

Note: Overall life satisfaction on the CB 2013 questionnaire had a ten point scale. This graph converted those numbers into a three point scale. 

In understanding satisfaction with life and political satisfaction, one factor that appears important is the perceived economic position of Georgians and their household. The following graph places perceived economic rung, how Georgians feel their household is doing compared to the rest of society, and trust in the EU against one another.  As the graph shows, families that feel more confident in their economic standing are more likely to trust the EU. This trend holds largely true for families that report standing on an economic rung of 3, 4, or 5. When a family perceives itself to be at a lower economic rung in society (1, 2), then they are more likely to distrust the EU than those who perceive that they are at a higher rung in society. This is evidenced by the fact that almost two thirds (64%) of those who responded with full distrust of the EU also ranked themselves as either on the first or second rung of the economic ladder. About half (52%) of those who slightly distrusted the EU also reported being either at the first or second rung of the economic ladder. Once again, this trend also is present in support for Georgia’s accession to the EU.

Besides being personally or politically dissatisfied, what other factors do you think might be related to disapproval of closer ties between Georgia and the EU?  The data set used for this post will be available online shortly, and you too can investigate the numbers here with our online data analysis tool.

Health in the South Caucasus

With the recently concluded Olympics in Sochi and the controversies surrounding them, one might be interested in understanding how populations in the South Caucasus think about health and sport. What factors are related to perceptions of health in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia? This blog explores perceptions of health, economic well-being, as well as whether a household limits its consumption of beef as one of many indicators related to a household’s economic situation.

South Caucasians who say they exercise for at least two hours a week are more likely to rate their health better than those who do not exercise at least two hours per week. The following graph depicts this trend in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, and consistently shows that those who believe they are in good health are much more likely to say they exercise for at least two hours a week compared to those who report poor health.

Note: In this and following charts, the original five-point scale for the question, “Overall, how would you rate your health,” has been collapsed to a three-point scale by merging “very poor” and “poor”, and “very good” and “good.”

Additionally, people who consider their households to be on a higher economic rung in society tend to rate their health more positively. Respondents were asked to imagine there is a 10-step ladder reflecting the economic standing of all households in their country, such that the first rung corresponds to the lowest possible economic position in society, while the highest rung refers to the highest possible position. The following graph demonstrates this trend in the South Caucasus. In Georgia, where the trend is most pronounced, only 27% and 34% of families who report being on either the first or second rung report being in good health, whereas 91% and 59% of families who reported being on the fifth or fourth rung respectively, reported being in good health. This trend can be seen throughout the South Caucasus and suggests that the higher economic rung a family perceives itself to be on, the more likely they are to report good health.

Note: The first rung corresponds to the lowest possible economic position in society, while the highest rung refers to the highest possible economic position in society. Results were collapsed from an original 10-point scale.

Whether a family owns or consumes a number of consumer goods is a common indicator of well-being. The following graph looks at whether a household limits its consumption of beef and perceptions of health. As the graph indicates, families that are less likely to limit the amount of beef they eat are also more likely to report being in good health. Furthermore, the trend also largely holds for the consumption of many other foods and consumer products, as well as whether a family owns certain durable goods such as a personal computer.

This blog shows that health and perceptions of one’s household economic situation are related. Higher perceived economic status is related to more positive feelings about one’s health in the South Caucasus. What other factors might be at work when looking at how healthy one feels and how often one exercises? We encourage you to explore our data to find out more about health and exercise in the South Caucasus with our online data analysis tool here.

Income Levels in Georgia from 2008 to 2013

Following the world financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the global recession of 2008-2009, GDP growth slowed and unemployment increased in many countries. From a peak of 12.34% GDP growth in 2007, Georgia’s GDP contracted by 3.78% in 2009, leveling out to an average of 6.4% GDP growth over 2010 to 2012. Official unemployment in Georgia also worsened over that period, starting at 13.3% in 2007, peaking at 16.9% in 2009 and falling down to 15% by 2012. However, over the same period of time, GDP per capita in Georgia increased from USD 2,920 in 2008 to USD 3,490 in 2012. Household monetary income and ownership of consumer goods, in particular, have noticeably increased since 2008 in Georgia.
Comparing data from CRRC’s Caucasus Barometer (CB) 2008 and 2013, the percentage of Georgian households earning under USD 100 per month has decreased by 10% since 2008, and 15% more households now earn over USD 100 per month. The greatest decrease occurred in the USD 51-100 bracket (down 6%) and the greatest increase occurred in the USD 101-250 bracket (up 10%) indicating that the greatest shift in income occurred from Georgian households crossing the USD 100 per month threshold. Household income is higher in urban than in rural areas in Georgia; 51% of urban households have monthly incomes of under USD 250, but 72% of rural households do.

Household spending is also up. In 2008, 30% of households spent under USD 100 per month and 54% over USD 100. In 2013, only 18% of households spent under USD 100 per month and 72% spent over USD 100 per month, including 37% that spent over USD 251 per month.

Supporting this income and spending data is the increase in household ownership of consumer goods from 2008 to 2013. The most dramatic increases from 2008 to 2013 have been in automatic washing machine ownership (27% to 51%) and cell phone ownership (65% to 89%). Aside from car ownership, urban household ownership of consumer goods is 10-30% higher than that of rural households, depending on the item in question.

Households have also had to limit their consumption of food, utilities and transportation due to budget difficulties less frequently. Electricity is the only item that appears to have remained constant with respect to households’ need to limit their consumption. There is no statistically significant difference between urban and rural households in their limiting of consumption in the mentioned areas.

Some indicators have not shifted significantly since 2008. The frequency of households borrowing money for food or utilities has not changed significantly, and the perceived relative economic condition of Georgians has notably decreased since 2008. Also, considerably more Georgians consider themselves poor or very poor relative to other Georgians than they did in 2008.

Only 19% of Georgians believe that up to USD 400 is the minimal monthly income for a normal life, yet 76% of Georgian households earn under USD 400 monthly. However, 61% of Georgians believe that their children will be financially better off at their age, against only 5% viewing their children as the same or worse off. Georgians consider education (28%), the country’s economic situation (16%), and the ability to work hard (15%) to be the three most important factors that will contribute to their children being better off. For more information on income levels in Georgia please view CRRC’s online data analysis tool.

Material deprivation and quality of life in the South Caucasus

Quality of life and life satisfaction has been a central topic in social science research, as well as an increasingly popular area of interest for many policy makers. Balanced development is especially important in developing societies where political and economic changes can impact social inequality, as well as material wealth and health. This post uses data from the Caucasus Barometer (CB) 2012, as well as the Life in Transition (LIT) 2010 survey (carried out jointly by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank) to explore issues detrimental to the general quality of life in the South Caucasus region. These issues include the material situation of households (as reflected in the consumption of goods and services), and its impact on health-related indicators and general life satisfaction across the region.

According to the 2010 LIT survey, the average amount of monthly savings was 1628 dram ($4) in Armenia, 7 manat ($9) in Azerbaijan and 10 lari ($6) in Georgia. However, the standard deviation from the mean was high for all 3 countries, which means there were substantial differences between the amounts of money saved by different individuals. This is also reflected in relatively high values of the GINI coefficient for income in these countries. The coefficient measures inequality in income distribution within a population. Across the region the values of the GINI index were 31.3 for Armenia (2010), 33.7 for Azerbaijan (2008) and 42.1 for Georgia (2012), as reported by the World Bank.

Unequal income distribution and material deprivation are also apparent in differences in food consumption across all households included in the CB 2012. The survey asked about which of the following products households limits due to financial reasons: bread and pasta, butter and milk, poultry, beef, pork, fish, fruit and vegetables, potatoes, sweets and chocolates. From this list, 80% of households in Armenia, 66% in Azerbaijan and 74% in Georgia cut down on the consumption of at least one type of food products due to financial constraints.

In terms of the purchases of goods and services such as electricity and gas, slightly more than half of Armenians (55% and 58%, respectively) and Georgians (52% and 55%, respectively) limit their consumption of these items due to financial reasons. Azerbaijanis seem slightly less likely to do so with 49% cutting down on electricity or gas use, yet the difference between the values reported for Azerbaijan and Georgia is within the margin of 3% error. 

Material deprivation, both in the case of limited food consumption or utilities (electricity, gas) is significantly higher in the rural areas. These differences are highest in Armenia and lowest in Azerbaijan, where the difference between material deprivation in the capital and other urban areas is non-significant. 

Living conditions, including material difficulties, can have a substantial impact on overall life satisfaction. An examination of the effect of food limitations on life satisfaction, while controlling for type of settlement (urban, rural and capital), gender, and age shows that across all three countries the necessity to cut down on food consumption has a significant negative impact on the general quality of life. Multivariate regression analysis shows that a cut in each additional food item results in a significant drop in the average life satisfaction level. No cutback on food is used as a reference category in the model, while the other options included 1 to 9 indicating the food items. Gender is not found to affect the level of life satisfaction in any of the countries. Settlement type has an impact in Armenia and Azerbaijan where people living in the capitals declare, on average, significantly higher levels of life satisfaction than in the countryside.

Life satisfaction is not the only variable strongly related to material conditions. Depending on the economic situation of the household (e.g. those that need to limit food consumption, or other expenditures), the subjective assessment of individual health varies. People from poor households are significantly more likely to consider themselves to be in very poor or poor health. Causality is not established here though as poor health might be both the result as well as the reason for material deprivation.

The relationship between health and material deprivation is not a surprise and it has been well-researched in the social science. However, it deserves strong emphasis, taking into account the high number of households that needs to restrict their food and utilities consumption in the South Caucasus.

Monitoring changes in the material situation of households is thus of major importance. Analysis of a LIT 2010 question “My household lives better nowadays than around 4 years ago” shows substantial regional differences in this respect. According to the subjective individual assessment, the quality of life in Armenia and Georgia seems to have deteriorated rather than improved compared to around 4 year ago, whereas in Azerbaijan the assessment of the change in the household situation was more positive. 

As the most recent LIT data come from 2010, the situation and standards of living in Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian households might currently be different. Yet, as the CB 2012 shows, most households still face material problems that force them to limit consumption of basic products such as food. Since there is a significant positive relationship between the financial situation of a household and individual health and wellbeing, all of these factors require special attention and long-term monitoring in the region.

For more information on the current social and economic situation in the South Caucasus see our online database.