Happiness in the steppe: exploring the connection between security and wellbeing in Kazakhstan


Kudebayeva A. Sharipova D.
2025Routledge

Post-Communist Economies
2025#37Issue 7715 - 735 pp.

This article focuses on the relationship between perceived security and subjective wellbeing (SWB) in Kazakhstan. It examines 1) how wellbeing changed in Kazakhstan from 2018 to 2021, 2) how perceptions of security (security from violence, from fraud, assault, and theft) were associated with change in citizen’s subjective wellbeing. In addition, we investigated the difference in subjective wellbeing between regions of Kazakhstan that experienced riots in 2022 and those that did not. Based on the Kazakhstan household budget survey (N = 12,000) we found that subjective wellbeing increased from 2018 to 2021 in Kazakhstan. Second, if people feel satisfied from perceived security, it is positively associated with SWB. Understanding the differences in SWB, can help policy makers to take measures in order to improve people’s wellbeing and prevent negative outcomes.

fraud , Kazakhstan , perceptions of security , Subjective wellbeing , theft , violence

Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи

Department of Economics, KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

Department of Economics
Graduate School of Public Policy

10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель

Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026