Why this book?

Abstract

The results described in this book were obtained by means of a large-scale survey across the whole of Belgium. This survey was funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) and was entitled MEQIN, an acronym that stands for “Measuring Equivalent Incomes”. When you read this book, it will become clear why we chose this strange name for the study. In the MEQIN project, we wanted to gather information not only about the different dimensions of life that are important for individual well-being, but also about the importance that Belgians attach to these dimensions. As we already stated at the end of the previous chapter, we wish to take into account the fact that people can have different views on what is important in their own lives.