Abstract:
Growing disparities in wealth, well-being, and access to services in Kazakhstan
have raised serious concerns among policymakers, especially since the January 2022
protests. This paper evaluates these regional inequalities and presents the findings
from Kazakhstan’s inaugural well-being survey. The survey, based on global best
practices, involves 4,032 face-to-face interviews with a diverse sample across all 20
regions, ensuring representation. The resulting indices—the Subjective Well-Being
Index and the Regional Well-Being Index—highlight both within-region and
between-region disparities. Notably, the indices reveal significant variations in
well-being, with certain regions reporting notably lower satisfaction levels across
dimensions like trust in institutions, satisfaction with financial and housing
conditions, health care and education quality, and personal security perceptions.
