Measuring wellbeing

"Improving wellbeing and sustainability are central goals of government, but are they in conflict? This book reviews that question and its implications for public policy through a focus on indicators. It highlights tensions between various constructs of wellbeing and sustainable development, and between current individual and societal notions of wellbeing. Recommending a clearer conceptual framework for policy makers regarding different wellbeing constructs which would facilitate more transparent discussions; it argues against a win-win scenario of wellbeing and sustainability but advocates a power sensitive trade off approach based on debating values. Measuring Wellbeing is divided into two clear parts; the first part provides a critical review of the field, drawing widely on international research but contextualised within recent UK wellbeing policy discourses. The second part embeds the theory in a case study based on the author's own experience of trying to develop quality of life indicators within a local authority, against the backdrop of increasing national policy interest in "happiness".This book will help shape debates in newly developing wellbeing policy arenas. Through a