Transcript Measuring wellbeing: great idea, but what`s the use?

Measuring wellbeing: great idea, but
what’s the use?
PSA Conference 2015 Panel
PAUL ALLIN, CStat, FRSA
Visiting Professor, Department of Mathematics,
Imperial College London
Overview
• Many initiatives to measure wellbeing and progress by more
than just economic statistics
• New politics (or economics)? eg ‘responsible’ or ‘inclusive’
capitalism and replacements for MDGs
• Current wave (stimulated by 2010 Stiglitz et al Report) is not
new idea (eg Robert Kennedy)
• Work in progress on new measures (eg one or several
headline measures?)
• Good measurement necessary but not sufficient - measures
need to be used in policy, business and in public debate
• Runners and riders - national and local government ministers
and officials, businesses, NGOs, the media, individuals and
households.
The issue
• Requirement for measures of national wellbeing and
progress wider than GDP, including as prompt for
different policy path (eg Beinhocker & Hanauer,
2014)
• Debate about the aims of economic policy morphs
into one about indicators (eg Anderson, 1991)
• New requirement for measures of personal
wellbeing to reformulate policy choices, decisions
and evaluations (eg O’Donnell et al, 2014)
No shortage of existing official statistics
According to UN Fundamental Principles for Official Statistics
(1. Relevance, impartiality and equal access):
Official statistics provide an indispensable element in the
information system of a democratic society, serving the
government, the economy and the public with data about
the economic, demographic, social and environmental
situation. To this end, official statistics that meet the test of
practical utility are to be compiled and made available on an
impartial basis by official statistical agencies to honour citizens'
entitlement to public information.
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/statorg/FP-English.htm
Countless initiatives around the world
“Mismeasuring our Lives” (Stiglitz et al, 2010)
“GDP and Beyond” (European Commission, 2009)
OECD Better Life Index
Allin and Hand (2014) list around 200 examples - from the African
Child Policy Forum reports on wellbeing through to the Yarra
Ranges community indicators.
Including the UK Measuring National Well-being Programme
“Government has the power to help improve well-being”
“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. …”
David Cameron 25.11.10
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-wellbeing
How to measure national well-being?
ONS household questions on personal wellbeing
Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your
life are worthwhile?
Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?
Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?
All asked using a 0 – 10 scale, where 0 is ‘not at all’ and 10 is
‘completely’
Wellbeing measurement and policy
• Prime Minister announced UK government policy to
measure wellbeing and progress (and what this
would cover)
• Measurement is useless (and costly) unless fit for
purpose
• Wellbeing measures to be applied throughout the
policy cycle
• Individuals, families, households and businesses
also responsible for wellbeing
What will/could measures be used for?
Policy
Backdrop and framework for policy
development
Public interest
Compare how different groups and
areas are doing
Policy evaluation to take account of
impact on personal well-being
Monitor performance of
government
Public value decisions in
procurement
Compare UK with other countries
International obligations eg
Sustainable Development Goals
Less clear?
Business decisions, corporate social
responsibility, different business
models
Personal and household life-style
and life choice decisions
Moves to bring wellbeing into policy
• Updating Treasury ‘Green Book’
• Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012
• Developments in devolved administrations, eg
Scotland Performs and Well-being of Future
Generations (Wales) Bill
• Legatum Institute report ‘Wellbeing and Policy’
(2014)
• Wellbeing policy infrastructure and support across
Whitehall
• EU support eg BRAINPOoL
• But still early days
Potential user base for wider measures of wellbeing
Health and care professionals
Local government and local communities
Individuals
Households and families
Social networks, clubs
Schools and colleges
Research institutes and academia
Government ministers and officials
Think Tanks
Businesses and business associations
Environmental agencies and NGOs
Role of media
News media and social media report and
comment directly on the measures when they
are released.
Reports from think-tanks and research
institutes based on the statistics can follow
and be featured in the media.
Although people can ‘follow’ official statistics
producers, it is invariably through other
media that we become aware of official
statistics.
Discussion
Will it work (this time – not a new idea)? Role of:
• Politics
• Policy
• International organisations
• Public and business opinion (shaped/reported by the media)
• Champions (eg church leaders?)
General Election looming: The ‘Crosby test’ for electoral strategy:
• Do voters/member states/opinion formers think it matters a lot?
• Is it an area where political party X/international organisation Y
are judged to be strong?
Or is more research needed to refine the measures and their use?
• Many statistical developments under way eg social capital,
natural capital, and more ‘Stiglitz Commission’ work
Getting it?
• “Enough of the politics of dry numbers. We need to discuss
values and vision” (Will Hutton, The Observer, 22.03.2015)
• “... in the last decade Chinatown has steadily improved ... It
would be a crying shame if all this real progress was stopped in
its tracks by heavy-handed landlords seemingly with their eyes
only on the bottom line” (Jay Rayner, The Observer,
29.03.2015)
• “Today, Japan is more about quality of life than quantities of
stuff, In its combination of restraint, frugality and civility, the
country may serve as one of our best societal models of
sustenance for the future” (Roland Kelts, New Statesman, 2026 March 2015)
Conclusions?
Early days in a long-term development
Still waiting for the paradigm shift – for governments, businesses
and individuals to switch to thinking about wellbeing and
progress more broadly than just the financial bottom line, GDP
and monetary return on investment
Some specific suggestions
• More joining up of GDP and wellbeing measures by NSOs.
• More companies reporting using triple bottom line
• More examination of VFM in wellbeing terms
• Evolve System of National Accounts to Process of National
Wellbeing Accounting
Conclusion
If we do not come up with better
measures for how countries are
doing, it is difficult to see how we
can understand what progress we
are making, and what sort of world
we are handing on to future
generations.
“A great book that adds much needed well-reasoned
argument and weight to the global debate on how we
better measure what is getting better and what is not.”
Daniel Dorling, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford
•
What is national wellbeing and what is progress?
•
Why measure these definitions?
•
Why are measures beyond economic performance
needed and how will they be used?
•
How do we measure national wellbeing & turn the
definitions into observable quantities?
•
Where are we now and where to next?
These questions are asked and answered in this
much needed, timely book by Paul Allin and David J.
Hand.