Publication type
Report
Authors
Publication date
November 15, 2024
Summary:
How is the UK doing? It is a question that is hard to answer. On the one hand, the UK remains one of the richest countries in the world and has enjoyed a prolonged period of peace and prosperity. On the other hand, household incomes have stagnated over the last 15 years and many already-creaking public services are groaning under the weight of an ageing and sickening population.
And yet, commentators and politicians regularly purport to set out the definitive condition of Britain – especially so during an election year such as 2024. Different measures are proffered as indicators of success – or lack of it – with GDP growth, NHS waiting times, crime statistics, and school exam results being among the most cited. Illuminating though such measures tend to be, the ultimate answer to the question will almost certainly depend on who is responding.
In fact, the simplest way to understand how the country is doing is to ask its people how they are doing. And happily, that is something that has been happening for more than a decade. Since 2011, the Office for National Statistics has systematically been asking the nation’s citizens to report on how they are feeling and functioning, incorporating simple standardised questions into a wide range of its key national surveys. As a result, there is now a rich suite of data that allows the mood of the nation to be tracked over time.
At the headline level then, the answer to the question “how is the UK doing?” is “about 7.5 out of 10”. It is a response which is a little underwhelming – and perhaps goes some way to explaining why it is a figure that was conspicuously absent from the General Election debate (along with the suspicion with which statistics described as measuring ‘wellbeing’ are sometimes treated by those who cannot help but picture mindfulness exercises and yoga retreats). And it is more underwhelming still when set against the historical trend: 7.5 when the series started in 2012, rising to a high of 7.7 in 2019 before falling back to a low of 7.5 when the pandemic struck. The truth is the population average does not move all that much.
But lift the bonnet, and the wellbeing data does carry significant power. For policymakers, and indeed anyone who cares about the state of the nation, it has two particularly important applications.
First, it provides a picture of who in the country is facing the most significant challenges in their lives, and how that is changing over time. Simply put, looking at the distribution of life satisfaction scores reveals who is living below the wellbeing ‘poverty line’. Other measures such as household income and spending provide their own important insights, but the wellbeing data spotlights those people who are enduring a life below a minimum wellbeing threshold irrespective of what complex combination of factors may have pushed them there.
Second, the detailed wellbeing data allows an exploration of what triggers and drives wellbeing improvements and deteriorations. What effect does a change in income have for different parts of the population? How great a role does family and community connection have in supporting an individual’s resilience? How does the impact of a policy change play out across different demographic groups?
It is with these two applications in mind that Pro Bono Economics (PBE) is releasing its first Low wellbeing in the UK annual report.
Subjects
Link
https://pbe.co.uk/publications/mind-body-and-connection-low-wellbeing-in-the-uk-2024/
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