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Creating sustainable communities and a fairer world

68. Wellbeing

The 2005 Sustainable Development Strategy Securing the Future set out a commitment forGovernment to explore the concept of wellbeing.

Wellbeing is a broad concept with many varying definitions. Here, it is understood to be a positivephysical, social and mental state; it is not just the absence of pain, discomfort and incapacity. Itrequires that basic needs are met, that individuals have a sense of purpose, that they feel able toachieve important personal goals and participate in society. It is enhanced by conditions that

include supportive personal relationships, strong and inclusive communities, good health, financialand personal security, rewarding employment, and a healthy and attractive environment.

The Strategy highlighted the possible extension of existing sustainable development indicators toinclude issues such as mental health; access to sport, culture and green space; andneighbourliness and in due course to develop a more comprehensive set of wellbeing indicators.

A cross-departmental group was set up in September 2005 to oversee research and work onwellbeing. Four projects were commissioned to review existing research and evidence andconsider their implications for policy. They reviewed wellbeing measures and the strength of theevidence on what promotes wellbeing; the relationship between sustainable development andwellbeing; and overseas experiences of taking a wellbeing focus.

A second cross-departmental group was set up in December 2006, consisting of analysts andacademic experts. The group has used the research results on what influences wellbeing as aframework for developing the indicators.

Wellbeing is also a UK Framework indicator, shared by the UK Government and the DevolvedAdministrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The provisional set of measurespresented here only relate to the UK Government Strategy; furthermore much of the datacurrently available relate to England only. In due course, in discussion with the DevolvedAdministrations, measures will be developed to integrate wellbeing into the UK FrameworkIndicators.

A new performance framework for local government is being developed, including a set of nationalindicators covering a wide range of local government responsibilities and against which all local

authorities will report. It is not intended that local authorities will be required to report on or adoptthe national wellbeing measures presented here. However these measures may influence anyadditional indicators local authorities choose to adopt. At the local level, separate but related workis being undertaken by the Audit Commission and the Young Foundation to explore howwellbeing might be assessed by local authorities.

Wellbeing cannot be fully measured by any single indicator. There are numerous factors thatinfluence an individuals wellbeing. It is only possible to identify and measure some of them.

Wellbeing is already integral to sustainable development and so there are a number of existingindicators, presented earlier in this booklet, that have been identified as being particularly relevantto understanding wellbeing. These existing indicators have been selected based on evidence foran influence on wellbeing, and wherever possible, are those that indicate the number and / ortypes of people affected rather than general conditions such as air quality.

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The wellbeing measures that have been identified include the following:

Selected existing sustainable development indicators. Some related measures now included earlier in this booklet to support the relevant existingsustainable development indicator. New survey results on life satisfaction, which in due course may be developed into measures ofwellbeing, and are presented later in this section Measures of participation in sport and culture, and a measure of positive mental wellbeing also

presented in this section.

The full provisional set of wellbeing measures is listed below. Whilst the measures are not beingformally consulted upon at this stage, comments are invited via the contacts section of thewebsite.

Measures of wellbeing of specific groups within society are already being used by Government ina number of policy areas. It is important that the measures presented here also encompass theperspectives of important groups in society. For example, it is intended to extend these to includemeasures of wellbeing and satisfaction for children and young people, which will be developedfrom work undertaken by both the Department for Children, Schools and Families and theDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport.

Life SatisfactionSurvey questions about overall life satisfaction and satisfaction with different aspects of liferesonate well as a means of measuring wellbeing. In some ways they are an overall 'outcome'measure reflecting economic wellbeing, health, education, access to services etc. Such measureslike these are widely used around the world.

It is acknowledged that they have some limitations. In particular the measures are numericallyconstrained (typically as a score between 0 and 10) so that comparisons over longer periods oftime and between countries are difficult. However, the independent research commissioned byDefra concluded that life satisfaction measures should provide reliable information about wellbeingin a policy context. As a result, some specific survey questions have been developed andincluded as a module in Defras 2007 Survey of behaviours and attitudes in relation to theenvironment, with the intention that they may be repeated in due course.

It is too early to determine whether the results from the survey are suitable for formal adoption asindicators of wellbeing, not least as they may not be sensitive to change over time. However, theyare presented here on the linked pages on a provisional basis and as a starting point for possiblefurther development.

It should be also noted that in isolation the survey should not be regarded as the primary sourceof data on any of the issues covered. Other data sources may have been specifically designed togather information on particular aspects of life including those covered by the survey. Thepurpose of the survey was to be able to bring these aspects together within the overall context oflife satisfaction. For various reasons, relating to sample size, context, questionnaire design etc.results from the survey for a given factor may in some cases differ from the results of other surveysdesigned specifically to explore that factor.

Provisional wellbeing measures

Those measures that are numbered are the existing sustainable development indicators includedelsewhere on this website. New measures are highlighted with an asterisk.

39. Fear of crimePerceptions of anti-social behaviour*

41. Workless households43. Childhood poverty45. Pensioner poverty

47. Education

50. Healthy life expectancy

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Self-reported general health *Self-reported long-standing illness *51. Mortality rates (suicide)Mortality rates for those with severe mental illness *

57. Accessibility59. Social justice60. Environmental equality

62. Housing conditions66. Satisfaction with local areaTrust in people in neighbourhood *Influencing decisions in the local area *

68. WellbeingOverall life satisfaction*Overall life satisfaction by social grade*Satisfaction with aspects of life*Satisfaction with aspects of life, by social grade*Satisfaction with aspects of life, by age*Frequency of positive and negative feelings*Frequency of positive and negative feelings, by social grade*Frequency of feelings or activities which may have a positive or negative impact on wellbeing*Level of participation in sport*Access to green space*Level of participation in other activities*Positive mental health*

PREVIOUS INDICATOR

Updated: 27 July 2007

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