A think-tank report examined the sources of contemporary social and economic weakness, and the social roots of economic prosperity. It said that a theory of 'human flourishing' could be used to develop a far richer conception of human character and well-being, and to guide public policy.
Source: Jesse Norman, Compassionate Economics: The social foundations of economic prosperity – A personal view, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Dec
A paper examined individuals' perceptions of what mattered for quality-of-life change after significant life-course events, such as the birth of a child or entering retirement. Perceptions of quality of life changed significantly over the life-course: but these changes had only small or possibly no effects on how people rated their overall life satisfaction.
Source: Anke Plagnol and Jacqueline Scott, Individual perceptions of quality of life over the life course: implications for the comparability of subjective well-being measures, Working Paper 33, Gender Equality Network, c/o Faculty of Social and Political Sciences/University of Cambridge (01223 334520)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Dec
A paper said that apparently minor variations in the design of survey questions about personal satisfaction caused a very large change in the pattern of answers, particularly for women.
Source: Gabriella Conti and Stephen Pudney, If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands! Survey design and the analysis of satisfaction, Working Paper 2008-39, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2008-Dec
A paper said that until it was possible to tackle the problems of excessive individualism, consumerism, and greed at the heart of contemporary society, life opportunities would continue to be lost, limited, and wasted.
Source: Chris Creegan, Opportunity and Aspiration: Two Sides of the Same Coin?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Dec
A report examined local authorities' take-up and use of the well-being power (introduced in 2000 to increase their capability to act on behalf of their areas), and the factors which had affected it. Use of the power remained limited over the life of the evaluation, as local authorities had a tendency to use more specific powers to achieve their goals. Early uses tended to emphasize economic and environmental goals. Social uses emerged later. There was no evidence of local authorities balancing the economic, social, and environmental impacts and outcomes of a decision to use of the well-being power in line with sustainable development principles.
Source: INLOGOV/Birmingham University and Cities Research Unit/University of West of England, Practical Use of the Well-being Power, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | Summary | DCLG press release | UWE press release
Date: 2008-Nov
Researchers examined what was known about the relationship between innovation and well-being and, in particular, the causal relationship from innovation to well-being; and considered whether data in the British Household Panel Survey could be used to shed light on this relationship. No direct evidence was found in the literature on the impact that innovation had on subjective well-being.
Source: Paul Dolan, Rob Metcalfe, Nick Powdthavee, Andy Beale and David Pritchard, Innovation and Well-being, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (020 7438 2500)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Nov
A paper said that there was societal and personal mistrust between individuals and their wider community, which affected how and why we started to exclude those who looked and sounded different. In particular there was growing mistrust between adults and young people, caused by not giving young people 'clear boundaries'. Teaching young people manners and an appreciation of other people's feelings would improve social well-being.
Source: Shaun Bailey, What and Who Is It We Don't Trust?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Paper | JRF press release
Date: 2008-Oct
A paper said that the cause of growing fear and distrust in society was visible physical inequality and segregation in the environment, combined with a commercially driven media with a vested interest in promoting fear.
Source: Anna Minton, Why Are Fear and Distrust Spiralling in Twenty-first Century Britain?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Paper | JRF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Oct
A discussion paper said that modern social 'ills' were products of the withdrawal of the traditional conception of society, and were rooted in the way of life of an individualized society of consumers – they arose mostly from the absence of society, rather than from its pressures.
Source: Zygmunt Bauman, The Absence of Society, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Date: 2008-Oct
A think-tank report examined approaches to measuring well-being from the perspective of their utility for policy-making. It focused on subjective indicators, and considered a number of issues, including: philosophical debate around the role of government in promoting well-being; using well-being indicators as leading or lagging indicators; different approaches to well-being across the life course; and technical limitations of subjective indicators.
Source: Sam Thompson and Nic Marks, Measuring Well-being in Policy: Issues and applications, New Economics Foundation (020 7820 6300)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Oct
The final report was published of a project that used the best available scientific and other evidence to examine the opportunities and challenges facing society over the next 20 years and beyond, and the implications for people's 'mental capital' and 'mental well-being'. Mental capital and mental well-being were intimately linked: measures to address one would often affect the other. Although it was important for government to address problems that affected the mental development of specific groups, such as learning difficulties and mental disorders, policies and choices also needed to nurture the mental capital and well-being in the wider population, so that everyone could flourish throughout their lives.
Source: Mental Capital and Wellbeing: Making the most of ourselves in the 21st century, Government Office for Science/Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (020 7215 5555)
Links: Report | Summary | NEF press release | MHF press release | Mind press release | Alzheimers Society press release | BBC report | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | Personnel Today report | People Management report
Date: 2008-Oct
A new book examined the causes of paranoia, identifying the social and cultural factors that seemed to be affecting the way people thought about issues such as abduction of children, terrorism, and juvenile delinquency. It explained why paranoia might be on the rise, and what we could did to tackle it.
Source: Daniel Freeman and Jason Freeman, Paranoia: The 21st-century fear, Oxford University Press (01536 741727)
Links: Summary | Wellcome Trust press release
Date: 2008-Oct
A paper said that society had became more self-obsessed, and more narrowly focused, as the public domain seemed increasingly dangerous. It was harder to help others than it used to be, and doing so in any structured way had became fraught with bureaucracy and barriers, so that where altruism still existed it was harder to express. But society could be changed for the better by deliberately rebuilding trust, opening up social institutions, and stopping the 'blame culture' from preventing simple acts of kindness and altruism.
Source: Julia Neuberger, Unkind, Risk Averse and Untrusting – If This Is Today's Society, Can We Change It?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Date: 2008-Sep
A report recommended a three-tiered approach for local authorities trying to measure well-being at the local level: 'universal' – an overall, cross-cutting measure of people's experience of life; 'domain' – measures of different dimensions of people's well-being, like health or community safety; and 'targeted' – measures of some of the underlying factors affecting people's well-being, such as self-esteem.
Source: Nicola Steuer and Nic Marks, Local Wellbeing: Can We Measure It?, Young Foundation (020 8980 6263) and New Economics Foundation
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Sep
A new book presented an analysis of well-being in terms of its social value, and outlined ways in which this could be incorporated into public policy decisions. The attempt to maximize welfare and regulate social relations through contract, in line with the economic theory of information and incentives, was counterproductive for well-being. Instead, both the quality of personal experience and the restraints necessary for a convivial collective life would be better served by a focus on cultures and institutions.
Source: Bill Jordan, Welfare and Well-being: Social value in public policy, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary | Policy Press press release
Date: 2008-Sep
A paper said that there had been an 'unprecedented and unsettling' decline in values in society. The principal causes were: multiculturalism tempered with moral relativism, causing a clash of values; the decline of the family; and the decline of individual responsibility. In addition, technology had promoted individualism, eroding conversation and shared experiences.
Source: Anthony Browne, Has there Been a Decline in Values in British Society?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Date: 2008-Sep
A paper said that every generation thought that the past was a better place, and that its own time was one of crisis. Yet contemporary Western liberal democratic societies offered greatly better lives for the majority than fifty or a hundred years previously. Lament over the demise of traditional forms of community overlooked the new forms of community, especially among the young, made possible by the internet. There was a wider range of shared experience and knowledge in the nation as a whole.
Source: Anthony Grayling, Social Evils and Social Good, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Date: 2008-Sep
A report examined subjective well-being in Scotland, and explored how happy and satisfied people in Scotland were with their lives in general and how satisfied they were with certain domains in particular. Levels of subjective well-being were relatively high. Life satisfaction was significantly lower among unemployed people than those in paid employment. Job satisfaction was lower among those who lived in a household with children than it was for those with none.
Source: Lisa Given and Catriona Webster, Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2007: Core Module – Report 2: Subjective Perceptions of Well Being in Scotland, Scottish Government (web publication only)
Date: 2008-Aug
A think-tank report examined how neighbourhood and community empowerment could improve well-being, by: providing greater opportunities for residents to influence decisions affecting their neighbourhoods; facilitating regular contact between neighbours; and helping residents gain the confidence to exercise control.
Source: Mandeep Hothi with Nicola Bacon, Marcia Brophy and Geoff Mulgan, Neighbourliness + Empowerment = well-being: Is there a formula for happy communities?, Young Foundation (020 8980 6263), Improvement and Development Agency and Centre for Economic Performance/London School of Economics
Links: Report | IDeA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jun
A report examined whether it might be possible to develop a practical index of wellbeing indicators that would provide an alternative means of measuring social progress in Scotland.
Source: A Wellbeing Framework for Scotland: A better way of measuring society's progress in the 21st century, Scottish Council Foundation (0131 225 4709) and Forward Scotland
Links: Report
Date: 2008-May
A survey found that individualism, greed, a decline of community, and a decline of common values, were among the social evils that worried people the most. A linked report examined the views of groups whose voice was less often heard (people with learning disabilities; ex-offenders; carers; unemployed people; vulnerable young people; care leavers; and people with experience of homelessness).
Source: Beth Watts, What Are Today's Social Evils? The results of a web consultation, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | Summary | Report (Unheard groups) | JRF press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Apr
A new book examined what made people happy, using an approach that directly addressed the circumstances under which high subjective well-being was experienced. High levels of well-being were more likely to be associated with social relationships and health status than with income or personal status. Affluence was no guarantee to high subjective well-being, and indeed might have negative consequences.
Source: Beverley Searle, Well-being: In search of a good life?, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Jan
An article examined the issue of the dynamics of perception, as expressed in responses to survey questions on subjective well-being.
Source: Stephen Pudney, 'The dynamics of perception: modelling subjective wellbeing in a short panel', Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A, Volume 171 Issue 1
Links: Article
Date: 2008-Jan
A new book said that climate change presented a once-in-a-century chance to address a wide range of problems with energy and imagination. There was an opportunity to not only avoid environmental apocalypse but also in the process create a more satisfying way of life for everyone.
Source: Andrew Simms and Joe Smith (eds.), Do Good Lives Have to Cost the Earth?, Constable & Robinson (020 8741 3663)
Links: Summary | Green Party press release
Date: 2008-Jan