Well-being metric fits better than GDP

Societies would be better served by a policy focus on factors that have been shown to be critical to life satisfaction: relationships, community, security, and physical and mental health. For example, while mental health is a key determinant of how people feel about their lives, it remains a low priority in most countries. In the US, there were more suicides than road deaths last year, and there are three times more suicides than road deaths in Germany and the UK. In the UK, the vast majority of people diagnosed with mental illness go untreated, at a huge cost not only in well-being, but also in disability benefits and lost earning power. Targeted policies aimed at raising awareness of mental-health issues and improving access to treatment would help to kick-start a recovery in well-being.

Of course, specific priorities vary by country. For example, in aging societies, loneliness and long-term health become particularly important.

The fourth key insight is that indicators of well-being interact. Volunteering does not only enhance the lives of those who are served; it also boosts the life satisfaction of the volunteers. Likewise, given that unemployment diminishes both well-being and national income, effective back-to-work policies score two goals, as do policies aimed at augmenting citizens' life skills through improved parenting and education.

This has positive implications for funding well-being enhancing programs. After all, the goal is not to inflate budgets, but to reallocate resources in ways that will ultimately boost citizens' satisfaction and prosperity.

Finally, reliable data will be critical to guiding efforts and evaluating progress. Fortunately, most developed countries - and an increasing number of developing countries - recognize the importance of collecting data on well-being. Add to that the parameters for measurement set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and international comparisons of well-being become possible.

The world is ready for a new, comprehensive metric for national and global progress and prosperity, one that tells us whether people really are better off - and how to ensure that they are.

The author is a member of the British House of Lords, was Cabinet Secretary from 2005 to 2011. Project Syndicate

(China Daily 03/29/2014 page5)