Happily measuring happiness and well-being

1. Happily measuring happiness and well-being Measuring happiness: how to put well-being at the heart of the community Wellnet event, 27 March 2009 Nicola Steuer Head, Centre for Well-being nef (the new economics foundation)

2. “ happiness” “happiness and contentment” “satisfaction with life” “emotional health” “meeting basic needs” “state in which individuals feel competent to influence their lives & context” “safe & secure” What is happiness & well-being? “quality of life” “it’s about physical, economic and environmental factors” “good social and community relationships” “self-esteem” “confidence” Responses from a small group of service practitioners in the North West, April 2008

3. Measuring happiness and well-being… “quality of life” “it’s about physical, economic and environmental factors” “good social and community relationships” External/enabling conditions

4. Measuring happiness and well-being… External/enabling conditions

5. Measuring happiness and well-being… “self-esteem” “confidence” External/enabling conditions

6. Measuring happiness and well-being… External/enabling conditions Personal/ psychological resources

7. Measuring happiness and well-being… “meeting basic needs” “state in which individuals feel competent to influence their lives & context” “safe & secure” External/enabling conditions Personal/ psychological resources

8. Measuring happiness and well-being… Good functioning and satisfaction of needs External/enabling conditions Personal/ psychological resources

9. Measuring happiness and well-being… “ happiness” “happiness and contentment” “satisfaction with life” “emotional health” Good functioning and satisfaction of needs External/enabling conditions Personal/ psychological resources

10. Measuring happiness and well-being… Good feelings day-to-day and overall Good functioning and satisfaction of needs External/enabling conditions Personal/ psychological resources

11. Make best use of what already exists • saves time • saves money • can help ensure quality/robustness • can sometimes provide benchmarks/comparator data • National Indicator Set • CLG Place Survey Question Bank / Life Satisfaction • European Social Survey Well-being Module • National Well-being Indicator questions • Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale ‘Doing’ well-being measurement

12. National Indicator Set What existing indicators/tools capture Good feelings day-to-day and overall Good functioning and satisfaction of needs External/enabling conditions Personal/ psychological resources

13. CLG Question Bank Question on Life Satisfaction What existing indicators/tools capture Good feelings day-to-day and overall Good functioning and satisfaction of needs External/enabling conditions Personal/ psychological resources

14. European Social Survey Well-being Module/nef’s National Accounts of Well-being What existing indicators/tools capture Good feelings day-to-day and overall Good functioning and satisfaction of needs External/enabling conditions Personal/ psychological resources

15. Consider tracking change over time • necessary if you want to demonstrate outcomes & impact • shows distance travelled for your group or community • doesn’t have to be everyone, think about samples • build it in – not just one-off ‘research moments’ • Big Lottery Fund Well-being Programme National • Evaluation Tools ‘Doing’ well-being measurement

16. Be creative (whilst being robust) • encourages participation in the process of measuring • encourages engagement in the results from measuring • encourages people to act on the findings • online data collection formats • e.g. Big Lottery national evaluation tools • interesting data presentation formats • e.g. National Accounts of Well-being ‘Doing’ well-being measurement

17. Taking action

18. Contact details: t: 020 7820 6390 e: nicola.steuer@neweconomics.org Reports downloadable from: www.neweconomics.org Other websites: www.nationalaccountsofwellbeing.org www.happyplanetindex.org