How happy is the United Kingdom? Gauging UKs well being index What - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

How happy is the United Kingdom?

Gauging UK’s well being index

What is Happiness?

Happiness is defjned as the degree to which an individual judges the overall quality of his/her life-as-a- whole favorably.

Rutu Veenhoven (Director, World Database of Happiness and founding editor of Journal of Happiness studies)

Philosophers, economists and politjcal leaders have long emphasized human wellbeing as the purpose, the end, of development.

Aristotle said in ancient Greece, “Wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking, for it is merely useful for the sake of something else.”

CONCEPT OF HAPPINESS

The word ‘happiness’ is used in various ways. In the widest sense it is an umbrella term for all that is good. In this meaning it is ofuen used interchangeably with terms like ‘wellbeing’ or ‘quality of life’ and denotes both individual and social welfare.

Rutu Veenhoven (Director, World Database of Happiness and founding editor

• f Journal of Happiness studies)

Happiness, well being and the United Kingdom

Today the Government is asking the Offjce of Natjonal Statjstjcs to devise a new way of measuring wellbeing in Britain. And so from April next year, we’ll start measuring our progress as a country, not just by how our economy is growing, but by how our lives are improving; not just by our standard of living, but by our quality of life.

David Cameron’s speech on 25th November,2010...published in www.number10.gov.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/video/2010/nov/25/david-cameron-wellbeing-index

Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree

Britjsh sociological researcher, social reformer

Aneurin Bevan

Responsible for establishing Natjonal Health Service in 1948.

William Henry Beveridge

Author of Beveridge report

• n social insurence and

allied service.

Professor Richard LAYARD

Programme Director,well being,London School of Economics. This is a wonderful day for the cause of happiness. For the fjrst tjme in Britjsh history, well-being is accepted as a proper objectjve of government policy, and therefore worth measuring as accurately as possible.

Layard’s speech on Wellbeing Conference, 25 November 2010.

ONS (offjce of Natjonal Statjstjcs) is developing new measures of Natjonal well-being, to meet a wide range of uses. The new measures are intended to cover the quality of life of people in the UK, the environment and sustainability, as well as the economic performance of the country.

Some of the aspects that have been suggested as afgectjng natjonal well-being

Income and wealth Job satjsfactjon and economic security Ability to have a say on local and natjonal issues Having good connectjons with friends and relatjves Present and future conditjons of the environment Crime Health Educatjon and training Personal and cultural actjvitjes, including caring and volunteering

The Natjonal Statjstjcian also has launched a debate on natjonal well-being. It has started on 25 November 2010 and will end on Friday 15 April 2011. As part of the Natjonal debate, the Natjonal Statjstjcian will be convening an advisory Forum. The forum’s role will be to discuss the main themes that emerge from the natjonal debate and help design the new measures.

Why measure natjonal well-being?

For the last 60 years, progress has ofuen been assessed using economic measures such as growth in Gross Domestjc Product (GDP). It is now recognised that a full picture of how a country is doing – natjonal well-being cannot be understood by looking at a single measure such as GDP alone. There is growing demand for wider measures

• f progress, or a more complete picture of

‘how society is doing’. The Natjonal Statjstjcian’s new measures

• f natjonal well-being in the UK includes

measures of economic performance and social progress and the impact on the environment.

Internatjonal interest in new measures of well-being.

The European Eunion’s “GDP and Beyond”

Global challenges such as climate change, global poverty, pressure on resources and their potentjal impact on societjes are not addressed in GDP. Gross Domestjc Product (GDP) is the best known macro-economic measure of the performance of the market economy of a natjon. By design and purpose it is not a welfare measure. GDP does not measure environmental sustainability or social inclusion. These limitatjons need to be taken into account to fjnd adequate solutjons to steer economies.

The Stjglitz Report

In February 2008, President Nicholas Sarkozy, asked Joseph Stjglitz, Amartya Sen and Jean Paul Fitoussi to create a Commission, called “The Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress” (CMEPSP).

The Commission aims to

identjfy the limits of GDP as an indicator of economic performance and social progress. Considers additjonal informatjon required for the productjon

• f more relevant indicators.

Assess the feasibility of alternatjve measurement tools.

Organisatjon for Economic Co-operatjon and Development (OECD)

The OECD provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutjons to common problems. It looks at issues directly afgectjng the lives of ordinary people, taxes and social security, and how much leisure tjme should they can take. OECD set out to make life harder for the terrorists, tax dodgers, crooked businessmen and others whose actjons undermine a fair and open society. The common thread of OECD’s work is a shared commitment to market economies backed by democratjc instjtutjons and focused

• n the wellbeing of all citjzens.

Human Development report

The objectjve of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creatjve lives.” ...

Mahbub ul Haq, Founder of the Human Development Report

Mahbub ul Haq, Founder of the Human Development Report

People ofuen value achievements that do not show up at all, or not immediately, in income or growth fjgures: greater access to knowledge, betuer nutritjon and health services, more secure livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satjsfying leisure hours, politjcal and cultural freedoms and sense of partjcipatjon in community actjvitjes.

United Natjon’s the millennium development goals (MDGs)

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight internatjonal development goals that all 192 United Natjons member states have agreed to achieve by the year 2015.

Life Situatjon Index – Well-being in the Netherlands Measures of Australia’s Progress(MAP) Canadian Index of Wellbeing Quality Council of India

Bhutan’s Gross Natjonal Happiness

The concept of gross natjonal happiness (GNH) was developed to defjne an indicator that measures quality of life or social progress in more holistjc and psychological terms than gross domestjc product (GDP). The term was coined in 1972 by Bhutan’s former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who has opened Bhutan to the age of modernizatjon. He used the phrase to signal his commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan’s unique culture based on Buddhist spiritual values.

Existjng data and analysis relevant to measuring natjonal well-being in the UK

Social Trends

Social Trends draws together social and economic data from a wide range of government departments and other organisatjons to provide a comprehensive guide to UK society today, and how it has been changing. It generally covers the aspects of health, educatjon, populatjon, lifestyle and social partjcipatjon.

Sustainable Development indicators (SDI) by Department for Environment, Food and Rural afgairs (Delfra)

Sustainable development is the only way that we can deal with the crisis of sustainability and build a UK that will fmourish in the world of tomorrow. Now more than ever we need to be thinking about balancing environmental, social and economic needs. Instead of settjng it aside as a ‘luxury’ for betuer tjmes, we must recognise that it is the key to solving our problems. The challenges we face now and in the future are immense: soaring demand and environmental degradatjon are set to threaten our ability to produce food at the same tjme as the global populatjon rises to nine billion by 2050.

Wealth in Great Britain survey

The Wealth and Assets Survey collects informatjon about the economic well-being of households and individuals in Great Britain. The survey asks people about their assets and liabilitjes in order to estjmate household and personal wealth. This survey includes informatjon on; property, fjnancial, physical and private pension wealth; savings, debt, borrowing and arrears. The survey asks people about their attjtudes to debt, saving and retjrement.

Wellbeing Knowledge Bank

Measuring Subjectjve Wellbeing in the UK Measures of subjectjve wellbeing aim to capture people’s self-reported thoughts and feelings about various aspects of life (e.g. life satjsfactjon, happiness, work, relatjonships, psychological wellbeing).

Measuring Societal Wellbeing in the UK

“Wellbeing is a positjve, social and mental state; it is not just the absence of pain, discomfort and incapacity. Well Being arises from a host of collectjve goods and relatjonships with

• ther people.

It requires that basic needs are met, that individuals have a sense of purpose, and that they feel able to achieve important personal goals and partjcipate in society. Well Being is enhanced by conditjons that include supportjve personal relatjonships, involvement in empowered Communitjes, good health, fjnancial security, rewarding employment and a healthy and aturactjve environment.”

Children’s well being

A recent UNICEF report (2007) ’An Overview of Child Well-being in Rich Countries’ placed the UK at the botuom of the league table for child wellbeing across 21 Industrialised countries. Material wellbeing – poverty, employment and deprivatjon Health and safety – infant survival and health, preventatjve services and safety. Educatjonal wellbeing – achievement, partjcipatjon in further educatjon, transitjon to employment. Family and peer relatjonships – family structure, family relatjonships and peer relatjonships. Behaviours and risks – healthy lifestyle, risk behaviours and experiences of violence. Subjectjve wellbeing – self ascribed health, school life and life satjsfactjon.

Local Well being project by the Young Foundatjon

The Local Wellbeing Project was a unique initjatjve set up in 2006 that aimed to test out practjcal ways

• f increasing individual and community wellbeing in three very difgerent areas of the UK.

The Project aimed at Exploring how local government interventjon in key areas could contribute to greater wellbeing. Understand the value to local government of prioritjsing wellbeing in service delivery and strategic planning To develop replicable practjse to maximise wellbeing in the delivery of services under fjve themes. To establish robust and cost efgectjve ways of measuring wellbeing and resilience at local level.

Local Government improvement and Development

LG Improvement and Development (formerly the IDeA) supports improvement and innovatjon in local government, focusing

• n the issues that are

important to councils and using tried and tested ways

• f working.

LG helps to develop councillors in key positjons through their leadership

• programmes. Regional

Associates work closely with councils in their areas and support the regional improvement and effjciency partnerships (RIEPs).

What is big society?

The big society is a society with higher levels

• f personal, professional, civic and corporate

responsibility; It’s a society where people come together to solve problems and improve life for themselves and their communitjes; a society where the leading force for progress is social responsibility, not state control. To strengthen and support social enterprises to help deliver public service reforms. To stjmulate the creatjon and development of neighbourhood Groups in every area. To encourage mass engagement in neighbourhood groups and social actjon projects.

Aims

Measuring happiness is

• superfjcial. We need to

address why we are twice as likely to be mentally ill as our European neighbours…

Oliver James …Gurdian

“Unless the costs and benefjts are made clear, talk of maximising happiness could simply turn out to be warm rhetoric with litule practjcal meaning.”... The Chartered Instjtute of Personnel

and Development

Critjque

The government’s spending cuts and especially the unrest caused by the proposed increase in university tuitjon fees will likely be expressed in such a survey...

Suite 101.

‘which would you rather be: an unhappy Socrates or a happy pig?’

Aristotle

Bibliography and references

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