The German Capability Index—An Operationalization of Sen’s …
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the ecological footprint (0.525). That is, for the utilization of the general ecological
resources the GCI values are lower for the average households than for the usage of
the local and global water resources.
The differences between the various households of the analysed social groups
become smaller when considering the total environmental impact of the households’
consumption patterns. The GCI of single households is very similar between women
and men (0.597, 0.585), whereas for the single parents (0.444), couples with (0.125)
and without (0.231) children, the index decreases, resulting in an overall average
household value of 0.525. In summary, these numbers show that the average impact
of the households on the environment is lower than on the global water system.
5 Conclusion—The Worldwide Reach of German
Households
We showed that functionings are constitutive of a person’s well-being [58]. Furthermore, we analysed the functionings of German household groups. The presented
analysis shows that people use their functionings differently to realize their capabilities and that they have distinct capability budgets. As expected, the budget of
households with children is more limited than that of single households and couples.
Family households focus their functionings more strongly. They have a clear priority
for education, i.e. on the future well-being of their children. We assume that families
restrict their capabilities in some areas, as for example mobility and health, and focus
more on education. The high values for health in the groups of single man and woman
households is also caused by the fact that a large percentage of these households are
retirees with necessarily higher health expenditures.
The analysis has also shown that the worldwide reach of the German households
can be measured and that the impacts on the local and global water and ecological
resources increase with growing income. The higher the income of the households
the higher is the utilization and exploitation of global resources.
Sen’s welfare concept expressed in his capability approach can be related to the
global quest for sustainable development [41]. The presented analysis has shown that
a capability-based sustainable development concept has to consider also the spatially
distributed external effects imposed on the current generation around the globe. These
effects influence the functionings of the people who provided the water and ecological
resources of the German household consumption patterns. The analysis confirms
the initially discussed assumption that society (analysed according to its household
groups) and its households have to increasingly sustain itself as the ecological and
water footprints become bigger and bigger with rising household income.
Hence in the sense of Kant and Rosa, our analysis reconfirms two important
normative restrictions:
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the ecological footprint (0.525). That is, for the utilization of the general ecological
resources the GCI values are lower for the average households than for the usage of
the local and global water resources.
The differences between the various households of the analysed social groups
become smaller when considering the total environmental impact of the households’
consumption patterns. The GCI of single households is very similar between women
and men (0.597, 0.585), whereas for the single parents (0.444), couples with (0.125)
and without (0.231) children, the index decreases, resulting in an overall average
household value of 0.525. In summary, these numbers show that the average impact
of the households on the environment is lower than on the global water system.
5 Conclusion—The Worldwide Reach of German
Households
We showed that functionings are constitutive of a person’s well-being [58]. Furthermore, we analysed the functionings of German household groups. The presented
analysis shows that people use their functionings differently to realize their capabilities and that they have distinct capability budgets. As expected, the budget of
households with children is more limited than that of single households and couples.
Family households focus their functionings more strongly. They have a clear priority
for education, i.e. on the future well-being of their children. We assume that families
restrict their capabilities in some areas, as for example mobility and health, and focus
more on education. The high values for health in the groups of single man and woman
households is also caused by the fact that a large percentage of these households are
retirees with necessarily higher health expenditures.
The analysis has also shown that the worldwide reach of the German households
can be measured and that the impacts on the local and global water and ecological
resources increase with growing income. The higher the income of the households
the higher is the utilization and exploitation of global resources.
Sen’s welfare concept expressed in his capability approach can be related to the
global quest for sustainable development [41]. The presented analysis has shown that
a capability-based sustainable development concept has to consider also the spatially
distributed external effects imposed on the current generation around the globe. These
effects influence the functionings of the people who provided the water and ecological
resources of the German household consumption patterns. The analysis confirms
the initially discussed assumption that society (analysed according to its household
groups) and its households have to increasingly sustain itself as the ecological and
water footprints become bigger and bigger with rising household income.
Hence in the sense of Kant and Rosa, our analysis reconfirms two important
normative restrictions: