Transcript What is well-being? - Northern Ireland Assembly

Understandings of well-being: Implications for
public policy
Joanne Wilson & Lindsay Prior
School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work,
Queen’s University Belfast
[email protected] or [email protected]
[email protected]
QUB-Stormont exchange seminar Series,
5th July 2012
Overview
 Context
 What is well-being? The individual versus the common good
 Reporting well-being: Facts and figures
 Well-being in policy
 A well-being framework: Future directions
Context: Well-being requires work
Context: From antiquity and beyond
‘Somewhere between Plato and Prozac, happiness stopped being a lofty
achievement and became an entitlement’
(Schoch, 2007, p.1)
Context: A quick fix?
Context: Life satisfaction and GDP
Context: The call for subjective indicators
Report by the
CMEPSP
National accounts
of well-being
Well-being
matters
Context: Gross national happiness
‘The essence of the philosophy of
Gross National Happiness is the peace
and happiness of our people and the
security and sovereignty of the nation’
What is well-being?
Medicine = positive state of health; defined
in terms of physical functioning
Economics = position of wealth; defined in
terms of GDP, preference realisation, utility
Psychology = positive state of being; defined
in terms of cognitions, affectivity
What is well-being?
1) A state: a person’s current state of being e.g. healthy, happy
2) A process: an evaluation of either being well or being ill
3) An outcome: a product of how we feel at a given point in
time
What is well-being?
Figure 2: Conceptual map
of well-being
The individual good
Hedonic perspectives:
Bentham
Utilitarian
Greatest happiness and life satisfaction for majority
Eudaimonic perspectives:
Aristotle
Flourishing
Purpose and meaning
The individual good
‘… what is true for the individual is not true for the society as a whole’
(Easterlin, 1973)
The common good
Well-being can not be understood by reference to individuals
alone
Considers those processes and structures which impact on the
common good and measured using indices of inequality,
environmental degradation
Capabilities approach:
- role of public institutions
- importance of rights and values
What is well-being?
‘Well-being is a positive physical, social and mental state. It requires that
basic needs are met, that individuals have a sense of purpose, that they feel
able to live the lives they value and have reason to value’
(NESC, 2009)
Reporting well-being: Facts and figures
Demographics
Total population: 1.799.4 million
Population change since 1995: 139,800 (7.8%)
2009/10 lone parents increased from 11% to 28%
Fiscal circumstances
Total working age population:1.109.1 million (61.1%)
801,000 in employment; 6.7% unemployed
In 2011, both GVA in NI and UK annual GDP 0.8%
Reporting well-being: Facts and figures
Reporting well-being: Facts and figures
Relationships
 Marriages increased 5.1% since 1995
 Divorces increased 11.5% since 1995
Health
 Life expectancy 2006-08 males (76.4) and females (81.3)
 289 suicides in 2011
 18.3% increase in drug and alcohol related deaths (20012011)
Reporting well-being: Facts and figures
Environment: 76% households concerned
Internet
 67% households own a house and a computer
 Broadband access highest in the least deprived areas
Trust
 62% NICS 2010/11 believe crime increased
 Greater fear of crime than England and Wales
Reporting well-being: Facts and figures
Northern Ireland
 Life satisfaction
7.6/10
 Worthwhile 7.8/10
 Happy yesterday
7.5/10
 Anxious yesterday
3.2/10
Source: Annual population survey (APS) – ONS
Well-being in policy
Individual good
 Insight as to how people feel their lives are going
Avoids paternalism
 What individuals want and need to improve their well-being
‘faulty perceptions’
Well-being in policy
Individual bad
 Promotes individual good at expense of common good
 Ignores structures and processes
 Measurement issues (mood, timing, question order &
wording)
Well-being in policy
Common good
 Shows that there are common goods to be shared
 Emphasises structures and processes
 Emphasises interdependence between individual agency and
social structures
Well-being in policy
Common bad
 Some conceptualisations still individualistic
 Ideological, difficult to define, measure and monitor
 Need to consider the unit of the common good which
impacts differentially on individuals
A well-being framework: Future directions
Institutions
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
NESC (2009). Well-being matters. A
social report for Ireland
A well-being framework: Future directions
A well-being framework: Future directions
Individual good:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Adequate income
Meaningful activity
‘Nudge’ – choice architecture
Work-life balance
Affordable facilities for recreation
Support for independent living
A well-being framework: Future directions
Common good:
1. Sustainable development
2. Equal distribution of income
3. Participation rate
4. Viable education system
5. Affordable health care system
6. Occupancy rates
7. Cooperative economy
8. Trade unions
Thank you
Questions?