The United Kingdom’s well being index in comparison to similar initiatives in other countries and its relevance.
Arghya Ghosh
Introduction
It was wisely been said that the search for happiness is one of the main sources of unhappiness in the world. Yet, most people, who have been asked, would claim that happiness is the goal of life, and many would also claim that it justifies whatever choices it brings about. (A.G Grayling, 2001) Philosophers, economists and political leaders have long emphasized human wellbeing as the purpose, the end, of development. Aristotle said that a life truly worth living is one that produces eudaimonia, the feeling of being ‘watched over by a good angel’- an image he uses figuratively, not in a literal religious sense. Most translations of this term render it in English as happiness, the contemporary meaning of which entirely subverts the strong, active connotation of eudaimonia as well doing and well being, as living flourishingly. These positive attributes of the god life come, said Aristotle. From using human being’s highest faculty, reason, to live wisely and justly. (A.G Grayling, 2001)
For the last 60 years, happiness of mankind has been judged in terms of progress that has often been assessed using economic measures such as growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The real income has been rising in the Western countries for a long time. Like most other industrialized nations, Britain is approximately twice as rich as it was as recently as 1960, as an almost three times richer than after the war. Has this real new income – an enormous improvement by the standards of the last few centuries- bought extra happiness? It is now recognised that a full picture of how a country is doing might not be understood by looking at a single measure such as GDP alone. (The Economic Journal, 1997)
Thus, there is a growing demand for wider measures of progress, or a more complete picture of ‘how society is doing’ and the impact of it on the environment and sustainability. In the UK, the 2010 Budget Report notes (p. 10 in HM Treasury 2010) that ‘there is widespread acknowledgement that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is not the ideal measure of wellbeing and that ‘the Government is committed to develop a broader indicators of wellbeing and sustainability’. (Jennifer Thomas,Joanne Evans.2010)
To take this new initiative ahead, the government of United Kingdom has poised to start measuring people's psychological and environmental wellbeing and bidding to be among the first European countries to officially monitor happiness. Prime Minister Mr. David
Cameron has asked the Office of National Statistics to devise a new way of measuring wellbeing in Britain. From April next year, government will start measuring the progress as a country, not only by how the economy is growing, but by how the lives are improving; not just by the standard of living, but by the quality of life (Conservative home, 2010). This report attempts to gauge The UK’s new initiatives of measuring well being in the light of the country’s other relevant initiatives of societal well being in comparison to other similar initiatives around the world.
The concept of well being/happiness.
The word 'happiness' can be used in various ways. In the widest sense it is an umbrella term for all that is good. In this meaning it is often used interchangeably with terms like 'wellbeing' or 'quality of life' and denotes both individual and social welfare. This use of words suggests that there is one ultimate good and disguises differences in interest between individuals and the society. (Rutt Veenhoven, World database of happiness, 2010)
According to Edip Yuksel, happiness is a feeling which is probably the balance (remainder) of pains and pleasures, fortunes and misfortunes, success and failures, love and hatred, hope and worries it seems to have two different concepts of happiness regarding its life-span. Temporal happiness and permanent happiness (or real happiness) and amongst them the former is our current response to a particular pleasing phenomenon. The later is a state of contentment regarding our overall aspects of life (Edipyuksel.org). Rutt Veenhoven thinks Happiness is defined as the degree to which an individual judges the overall quality of his/her life-as-a-whole favorably. Within this concept two 'components' of happiness are distinguished: hedonic level of affect (the degree to which pleasant affect dominates) and contentment (perceived realization of wants). These components represent respectively 'affective' and 'cognitive' appraisals of life and are seen to figure as subtotals in the overall evaluation of life, called 'overall' happiness (Rutt Veenhoven, World database of happiness, 2010).
Gross domestic product (GDP) versus National well being Index
Richard Easterlin (1974) was the Professor of Economics at the University of Southern California and was one of the foremost economists on the reported level of happiness. Easterlin’s paper’s (The Easterlin Paradox, 1974) main objective were to suggest that, individual happiness appears to be the same across poor countries and rich countries and to argue that economic growth does not rise well being.
In the similar essence, Mahbub ul Haq (founder of Human Development index, UNDP) believes that the development paradigm is much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people's choices and they often value achievements that do not show up immediately in income or in growth figures. Some of the instances of such kind of growths can be greater access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community activities etc (Human Development Report,2010).
In an overview published by the “GDP and beyond” initiative of European Union in 2009, the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the best known macro-economic measure of the performance of the market economy of a nation, though by design and purpose it is not a welfare measure and it has also come to be regarded as a proxy indicator for overall societal development and progress in general. GDP does not necessarily measure environmental sustainability or social inclusion and these limitations need to be taken into account to find adequate solutions to steer up a countries economy (About Beyond GDP,2007). Similarly, Stiglitz report was commissioned by President Nicholas Sarkozy In February 2008, which were called “The Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress” (CMEPSP). The Commission aims to identify the limits of GDP as an indicator of economic performance and social progress, including the problems with its measurements. It considers what additional information might be required for the production of more relevant indicators of social progress; to assess the feasibility of alternative measurement tools, and to discuss how to present the statistical information in an appropriate way (CMEPSP, Stiglitz, Sen, Fitoussi, 2009)
The concept of gross national happiness was developed to define an indicator that measures quality of life or social progress in more holistic terms than gross domestic product (GDP). The term was coined in 1972 by Bhutan's former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who has opened Bhutan to the age of modernization. He used the phrase to signal his commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan's unique culture based on Buddhist spiritual values (Journal of Bhutan Studies, Karma Ura, 2009)
Existing data and analysis relevant to measuring national well-being in the UK
Despite this renewed emphasis on National wellbeing, this is not a new concept in the UK. Jeremy Bentham (1789), an "English utilitarian philosopher and social reformer campaigned for social and political reforms on the theoretical basis in his theory of “utilitarianism”. In this theory, he formulated the principle of utility, which approves of an action that has an overall tendency to promote the greatest amount of happiness (Kahneman and Krueger 2006) Happiness is thus identified with pleasure and the absence of pain. To work out the overall tendency of an action, Bentham sketched a felicific ("happiness-making") calculus, which takes into account the intensity, duration, likelihood, extent, etc of pleasures and pains (http://www.utilitarianism.com/).
In 1970,Muriel Nissel wrote in Social Trends that "The growing realisation in Parliament, the Press and elsewhere that economic progress must be measured, in part at least, in terms of social benefits. It is more important that the available key figures about our society should be readily accessible. The emphasis would be on trends that underline the theme that is about people, rather than about governments or institutions (Muriel Nissel, 1970)
In the recent years, department for environment, food and rural affair’s (DEFRA) believes, “Over the last year there has been recession in the global economy, companies being severely affected and workers have lost their jobs. The challenges faced now and in the future are immense: soaring demand and environmental degradation are set to threaten the ability to produce food at the same time as the global population rises to nine billion by 2050. Sustainable development is the only way that can deal with this crisis of sustainability and build a UK that will flourish in the world of tomorrow. So today is more than ever that there is a need to think about balancing environmental, social and economic needs (National Wellbeing; The Debate, 2010)
Jennifer Thomas and Joanne Evans (Economic and Labour Market review, September, 2010) believes that there has been a long standing policy interest in alternative measures, for example HM Treasury has wellbeing listed in their Departmental Strategic Objectives and the UK 2005 sustainable development strategy ‘Securing the Future’ revealed concern that government policy was targeted too much on increasing GDP and neglected wider Quality of Life issues (Jennifer Thomas, Joanne Evans, 2010) Wellbeing has been one of ONS’s analytical priorities11 since 2007, when Allin (2007) summarised a number of pathways to measure wellbeing.
The UK has a wealth of relevant statistical data, analyses and outputs. There are annual analyses of the distribution of household incomes and a new report on wealth in Great Britain was published at the end of 2009. The ONS website holds guidance on how to define and measure social capital. There is an established set of Sustainable Development Indicators for the UK produced by Defra and established measures of personal wellbeing, which have been included since 2007. The UK is also breaking new ground in developing statistics to monitor equality in society, including through an Equality Measurement Framework, and to measure the outputs of government activity as well as the inputs. All of these contribute to the understanding of societal wellbeing. There are also developments outside the Government Statistical Service such as the Young Foundation is engaged with wellbeing initiatives at the local level, and has published guidance on local indicators. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has published a Happy Planet Index and the National Accounts of Wellbeing. There is also strong interest in happiness as an input to policy. This list illustrates that there are useful information already available to help measure societal wellbeing in the UK (Jennifer Thomas, Joanne Evans, September, 2010)
Towards a New Paradigm: Humanized Economics
According to Sander.G. Tideman, the key to the modern knowledge economy is what counts is not merely the material possession, but the knowhow and the creativity. Many of the new e commerce companies have found out, a company cannot "own" the knowledge that resides in the heads of the employees. Research has shown that most successful business strategies focus less on things and more on the process of managing them. Today it is commonly accepted that all technical and social innovation is based on 'intellectual capital'. And unlike ordinary capital, intellectual capital is not subject to physical limits. Clearly, the 19th century mechanistic ‘matter only’ worldview has been turned on its head. It quotes the traditional concept that we are simply competitive beings for chasing scarce material resources are incorrect and intangible values are equally important for our well-being. These intangibles are stored in the mind, free from physical constraints and therefore potentially of unlimited supply. Happiness is not merely determined by what we have, how much we consume, but by what we know, how we can manage and how we can be creative and ultimately by who we are - so not by having, but by being (Sander.G.Tideman, 2009)Nobel laureate economist Douglass North says: The theory based on the assumption of scarcity and competition is not up to the task and what has been missing in economic theory is an understanding of the nature of human coordination and cooperation. Similarly, the social and psychological research on Emotional Intelligence, pioneered by the Harvard psychologist Daniel Goleman, has shown that success in business is dependent on how well does one cooperate with others. Showing respect, sympathy and understanding towards others are needed for advancement in the career. Many corporations have started to test and train their staff according to Emotional Intelligence indicators, known as EQ (Anne Davis,2008)
Another Noble laureate in welfare economics, Amartya Sen, defines economic development in terms of freedom of basic necessities such as education and healthcare. He observes that as long as the contemporary world denies elementary freedoms to the majority of the world population, planning for economic development is going to be of no use. Sen writes in “Development as Freedom” Along with the working of markets, a variety of social institutions contribute to the process of development through their effects on enhancing and sustaining individual freedoms. Thus the formation of values and social ethics are essential part of development that needs attention(Amartya Sen, 1999)
In the last few years, particularly after the emergence of the corporate scandals of Enron and
WorldCom, values are making a revival in the business world, a movement called corporate social responsibility (CSR). Research shows that a company's performance is for at least 30% attributable to the corporate culture, the climate at the workplace, which is a significant share. The recognition that corporate culture matters has led to the emergence of enlightened forms of management, focussing on creating a happy work environment rather than only maintaining control structures. Some companies now publish information on the basis of triple bottom line reporting, i.e. reporting not just on financial performance but also on compliance with environmental and social standards. Research indicates that firms, who practice social responsibility, tend to outperform others at the stock market. The insight that focuses on values does not necessarily hurt investment returns and has started to impact on the financial markets. The amounts of money managed according to socially, ethically and environmentally responsible criteria are growing, both in absolute, as well as relative terms (SANDER G. TIDEMAN, 2009)
Measuring well being
Micheal Bond in his article “The pursuit of happiness” has questioned interpreting the data on the happiness can be a great problem. The word happiness has no precise equivalent in some languages. Ruut Veenhoven (Founder editor, Journal of happiness studies) has recorded fifteen different definition of happiness in English ( Micheal Bond, 2003)
Swiss economists Bruno Frey and Alois Stutzer, integrates insights from the emerging field of happiness psychology and economics, by measuring the degree to which unemployment and inflation nurture unhappiness. A similar approach is behind the US Misery Index, shows how unemployment and inflation strongly impacts well-being. This point to the fact that while happiness itself might be difficult to measure, it is possible to measure the conditions which make people (un)happy. Eunkook Mark Suh from the Yonsei University in Seoul believes the pressure to be happy could lead people to over report about how happy do they feel (Bruno Frey, Alois Stutzer, 2002)
In the UK, national statistician Jill Matheson believes ‘There is no shortage of numbers that could be used to construct measures of well-being, but they will only be successful if they are widely accepted and understood. We wish to develop measures that are based on what people tell us matters most.’ But what about all the things you can't put numbers on (Office of National Statistics, 2010)
Despite of these controversies, the new British house hold panel study gives mental well being scores from a form of psychiatric evolution known as the general health questionnaire. According to Argyle (1989) GHQ assessment is one of the most reliable indicators of psychological distress and disutility. This assessment weights the answer by the following questions (Dr. Paul S. Lambert, 2006)
Been able to concentrate in whatever you are doing?
Lost much sleep over worry?
Felt that you are playing a useful part in things?
Felt capable of making about things?
Felt constantly under strain?
Felt you couldn’t overcome your difficulties?
Been able to enjoy your normal day to day activities?
Been able to face up your problems?
Been feeling unhappy and depressed?
Been losing confidence in yourself?
Been thinking of yourself as worthless person?
Been thinking reasonably happy all things considered?
(Institute for Social and Economic Research questionnaire, 1991)
Similarly there are some aspects that have been suggested as affecting national well-being by the office of National statistics are respectively Income and wealth, Job satisfaction and economic security, ability to have a say on local and national issues, having good connections with friends and relatives, present and future conditions of the environment, crime, health, education and training, personal and cultural activities, including caring and volunteering (National Wellbeing; The Debate,2010)
Conclusion
While researching through various sources it is realised that there is already a host of useful information exists to help measure societal wellbeing in the UK. However, this is often presented or recognised as not something helping to evaluate various aspects of wellbeing. There might be a missing sense of coherence and missing linkages of how to add up various constituent parts that might add up to a more complete measures. To start with the office of National Statistics has already developed a ‘Wellbeing Knowledge Bank which is a repository of links, information and plans that will bring the understanding and clarity of this subject area. With activities at all different levels of government, more strategic co-ordination across government will bring efficiency which will save and reduce the burden on data providers, while recognising a particular decision making and resource allocation will be the responsibility of designated authorities (Jennifer Thomas,Joanne Evans.2010) The office of National Statistics is in the process of making an action plan, based on the
Stiglitz Commission’s recommendations, to identify the outputs where the recommendations are already, or could with relative ease, be met, though this will completely be subject to resources being available. The plan ahead for ONS to progress on this agenda of societal wellbeing will be working with others such as to exploit the wide range of existing outputs or planned developments (for example Social Trends) rather than developing extensive new outputs. ONS will also be working with related developments on which the Government Economic Service and Government Social Research are leading, including the inclusion of social impacts in policy formulation, option appraisal and evaluation. Working with policy areas will ensure that requirements for better measures of wellbeing are soundly based. Another important aim will be to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and interested parties beyond central government, and with international organisations and other national statistical offices. For example, ONS will continue its international collaboration with the OECD, UNECE, EU and Euro stat’s work programmes. Currently ONS is developing an engagement strategy that would look to exploit existing groups, networks and develop a programme of work by consultative events.
The concept of happiness is sometimes dramatised in the form of a question: ‘which would you rather be: an unhappy Socrates or a happy pig (Aristotle) One would rather be Socrates; but the point is that to have one’s autonomy of mind, to be aware of the world, and to make one’s own choices, is better than being passively happy at the expense of these things. That is why we object to easy routes to happiness.
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