We should measure wellbeing – David Cameron
As David Cameron announces that the nation’s wellbeing is to be measured, a leading charity tells Channel 4 News that government spending cuts could have a negative effect on families.
The Prime Minister said in a speech at the Treasury today: “From April next year, we will 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.
“We’ll continue to measure GDP (gross domestic product) as we’ve always done. But it is high time we admitted that, taken on its own, GDP is an incomplete way of measuring a country’s progress.
“The contention is that just as we can create the climate for business to thrive – by cutting taxes, slashing red tape and so on – so we can create a climate in this country that is more family-friendly and more conducive to the good life.”
Dr Katherine Rake, Chief Executive of the Family and Parenting Institute, told Channel 4 News: “The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have made clear their personal passion for family-friendly issues. But this passion must be turned into policies.
“Families are currently attempting to figure out how the painful economic cuts will affect their budgets. The overall package of cuts could have a significant negative effect upon UK family life.
“This passion must be turned into policies.” Dr Katherine Rake, chief executive of the Family and Parenting Institute.
“Evidence shows that financial pressures can increase conflict within couples, contributing to relationship breakdown. Parenting could also suffer. Increased stress, the threat of redundancy and stretched personal finances could affect the ability of mothers and fathers to be the good parents that they really want to be.”
C minus for Britain
In the summer, the FPI published its 2010 “family friendly report card” – giving Britain a C minus across a range of measures including the cost of raising a child, elderly care, work-life balance and affordable housing.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to devise measures of progress and will lead a public debate about what matters most to people.
These are likely to include health, levels of education, inequalities in income and the environment.
Jil Matheson, the head of the ONS, said: “There is no shortage of numbers that could be used to construct measures of wellbeing, but they will only be successful if they are widely accepted and understood. We want to develop measures based on what people tell us matters most.”
Robert Kennedy
Mr Cameron quoted former US Senator, Robert Kennedy, who said GDP “measures everything… except that which makes life worthwhile”.
He said the information gathered would give a “general picture of how life is improving”, adding: “This measure that we are setting out reaffirms the fact that our success as a country is about more than economic growth.
“It will open a national debate about how together we can build a better life. It will help bring about a reappraisal of what matters. And in time it will lead to government policy that is more focused not just on the bottom line, but on all those things that make life worthwhile.”
“Let me answer the charge that government can’t affect how people feel, or do very much to improve wellbeing. It’s the argument that the business of government is mechanistic and highly practical, that what happens in Whitehall cannot reach into people’s personal lives or feelings.
“Of course you can’t legislate for fulfilment or satisfaction, but I do believe government has the power to help improve wellbeing.”
Happiness index
Britain is following the example of countries like France in seeking to measure wellbeing. President Nicolas Sarkozy commissioned a report from renowned economists Joseph Stiglitz, Armartya Sen and Jean-Paul Fitoussi.
Among their conclusions, published in 2009, is a recommendation that national statistics offices should gather information on people's views of their own wellbeing. The ONS will be doing this in its large household surveys from April 2011.
It will not be the first time people have been asked subjective wellbeing questions. The British Social Attitudes Survey, by the National Centre for Social Research, and the British Crime Survey have asked similar questions.
Read more - Happiness index: a measure of well-being
Measuring a country by its GDP was too crude, said the Prime Minister. “It’s because of this fundamentally flawed approach that for decades Western societies have seen the line of GDP rising steadily upwards, but at the same time levels of contentment have remained static or even fallen.”
Mr Cameron was asked if feedback from the public could change the nature of politics. He said: “I think it will. Often what politicians do is they seek evidence to back up the view they already have.
“What I believe this will do is help to provide evidence to create a debate that may encourage us to change our minds about some things we are rather stubborn about.”