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Healthier, safer and living longer – but are we happy?

News Release: 17.11.2010 / Contact: Andy Dunne, Communications Officer, 01823-447399

Health, Wealth and Happiness: Special Report
Prime Minister David Cameron this week charged the government’s Chief Statistician with coming up with ways to measure the happiness and ‘well-being’ of the UK population.  This will be used alongside measures of purely economic performance and the money value of the goods and services that we produce.  This is important, apparently, because it’s not just love that money can’t buy but also happiness – extensive research has shown that although income and wealth has expanded massively across developed nations such as the UK, beyond a certain point, this doesn’t make people happier or better off in terms of ‘well-being’.

A report just published by the Taunton-based South West Observatory (SWO) captures the thoughts of an impressive range of experts who came together at the Observatory’s Annual Conference in Bath, to debate just these issues, and is a very timely contribution to the debate*. 

Contributors included Jonathon Porritt CBE (Former Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission and Founder of Forum for the Future), Matthew Taylor (Chief Executive of the RSA) and Dame Suzi Leather (Chair of the Charity Commission) who set out their views on prosperity, wellbeing and happiness**.  Summarising, Professor Martin Boddy (University of the West of England, Bristol) who Chairs the SWO argued that:

‘How we measure progress is fundamental to how we define our policy goals. The measures we use, the performance indicators we set define and shape thinking on where we should be heading. Prosperity can be defined in terms of affluence, growth and wealth. But it can also encompass welfare, wellbeing and happiness – and these are not necessarily the same thing.’

So what about the South West? Evidence from the South West Observatory shows that people in the region are safer, healthier and live longer than in other regions. More people want to move into the region than elsewhere, to work as well as to retire.  And levels of ‘well-being’ according to the sorts of measure the Prime Minister is talking about are higher in the South West than any other region in the UK. And are we happier? That will have to wait for the new measures which the National Statistician will start to produce for us starting next year.

*‘ Health, Wealth and Happiness: What Makes a Prosperous Region?’– can be downloaded by clicking on this short link http://bit.ly/9RRofi.

** Other contributors included Dr Gabriel Scally (Regional Director of Public Health in the South West) who argued ‘the evidence presented shows that wellbeing is not dependent on any single issue. We must therefore move towards a far more holistic notion of health, wealth and happiness, because the factors that influence these … are many’.  Simon Mauger (Regional Programme Director at NIACE) who put the case for ‘a radical rethink on lifelong learning through which we understand how the ‘past leads to the present’ in helping individuals fully engage with their own futures’ and Professor Katie Williams (University of the West of England) who asked ‘how we can learn from other places, in particular in mainland Europe, to plan and build ‘sustainable communities where people can live prosperous and healthy lives’.  

The South West Observatory is a social enterprise that promotes evidence-based policy making. It is a data, research and intelligence network that covers themes including the economy, the environment, planning, public health, skills and learning, culture and society nationally, regionally and locally.  It aims to equip policy-makers with up-to-date information to help their decision-making. Another of SWO’s publications, the State of the South West 2010 report, draws together analysis from its network to present a detailed picture of the South West and local areas. The 2010 report points to statistics on wellbeing  that  suggest the South West in fact leads the field on wellbeing issues in the country, factoring in people’s satisfaction ratings, community engagement and environmental considerations. To access a full copy of the report online, see State of the South West 2010. (For headlines on wellbeing, see below).

Wellbeing Indicators in the State of the South West 2010 [To access the most recent version of the State of the South West 2010 online, please see www.swo.org.uk/sotsw2010]:

  • In its report, the South West Observatory highlights that although the region has a relatively low population, its population is growing at a faster rate than anywhere else in the country. The number of households in the South West is projected to show further significant increases, in particular among one-person households and households made up of people over 65.

  • The South West’s Index of Sustainable Economic Wellbeing (ISEW), which looks at a broader measure of performance than GVA/GDP, was higher than any other region.

  • Referred to as ‘the healthiest region in England’, the South West has a higher-than-average life expectancy (83 years for women; 79 years for men) and lower-than-average mortality rates from major causes.

  • The South West is one of the safest regions in the country in terms of crime and perceived levels of anti-social behaviour, although there is significant variation across and within the region.Similarly, in comparison to other regions, the South West has relatively low levels of deprivation, strong communities and high civic participation, although this masks pockets of severe deprivation in particular areas, as well as entrenched levels of unemployment and poor access to services – particularly in the most rural areas.
  • Outside of London and the South East, the South West is the most popular tourist destination. Culturally, the region benefits from thriving creative industries which have helped employment within the sector rise from 262,900 in 2003 to 274,000 in 2007.
  • The State of the South West is compiled from contributions from across the SWO network. The report has been given a light-touch review by academics in the region for the first time this year. It is supplemented with information from the South West Observatory Local Intelligence Networks – covering the Local Authorities in the region.