call for government to 'make us happy'

alternative manifesto calls for government to focus policy on human well-being before economic growth

A new manifesto released by nef (the new economics foundation) today, Tuesday 28 September 2004, challenges the assumption that growing the economy is government’s most important function. The think tank which earlier this year showed that quality of life in the UK had not regained its 1976 peak is today releasing an alternative manifesto calling on Labour to help UK citizens be happier and more fulfilled – not richer and more depressed.

The manifesto report,  “A well-being manifesto for a flourishing society”, released on the day that the Prime Minister addresses the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, shows what the government’s manifesto might look like if policy was driven by improving well-being, rather than increasing income. One of the key aims of a democratic government is to promote a better life for its citizens. While many policies tend to focus on enhancing people’s incomes by expanding the economy, this has not tended to result in higher levels of well-being. In fact, while GDP has nearly doubled over the last 30 years, measures of well-being have remained static.

While government cannot directly make us happier or more engaged, it can shape the culture and society in which we live. Growing the economy has only a small effect on well-being and may be achieved at the expense of other factors that have a greater effect on well-being: work-life balance, the environment in which we live, and the vibrancy of local communities.

The report shows that while genes and upbringing influence about 50 per cent of the variation in our personal happiness, our circumstances – our income and living environment – only affects about 10 per cent. After basic needs are met, extra material wealth has little or no effect on life satisfaction or happiness. The remaining 40 per cent is accounted for by our outlook and activities: our relationships, friendships and jobs, our engagement in our community, and being involved in sport and hobbies – areas where government could have a real impact.  

Among the key proposals of the well-being manifesto are:

• Reclaim time: we systematically over-estimate the amount of happiness extra income will bring us and work too many hours to get it.  Government should reduce the working week to a maximum 35 hours.
• Ban advertising to children: young children can’t distinguish between facts and selling messages. The culture of materialism is not only bad for the environment, it also undermines our well-being –  we need stricter controls on ads
• Invest in our future: the under threes and parenting. Extend parental leave to cover at least the first two years, and provide high-quality childcare and active parental support. Investment in the ‘zero to threes’ repays itself many times over in health, education and social benefits.
• Teach well-being: promote well-being and curiosity in schools, not performance against targets, with more sports, arts, creativity, and other engaging activities. Young people should be given the tools to make their own good life choices.
• Create a Citizen’s Service’  - like a jury service for volunteering, citizen’s panels etc. - and more opportunities for young people to engage in the community and politics 
• Measure what really matters to people: create a set of national well-being accounts to assess levels of satisfaction, depression, meaning and stress to be able to track changes over time, integrate services and allocate funds more effectively and efficiently.
• Tax environmental “bads”, such as fossil fuels, not goods, such as high-quality work.  
• Introduce a universal Citizen’s Income: this would redistribute to the poorest - a pound in the pocket of the poor is worth more in well-being terms than a pound to a rich person - end the “benefits trap” and help people reclaim their time.

Nic Marks, co-author of the report and head of well-being research at nef, said: “It’s not the economy, stupid! The “economic miracle” of prolonged growth has only been economic. In every other respect it has singularly failed to produce a flourishing society of happy and fulfilled citizens. In Britain we work too many hours to try and buy our way out of the unhappiness that having no time to spend with our families and friends or do the things we love brings us. This is no miracle, it’s a grinding treadmill.”

Hetan Shah, Director of the New Economics programme at nef and co-author of the report, said:“What matters to people is their quality of life and that of their children. Government needs to learn that richer has not meant happier but busier, more stressed and weaker communities. The government’s policy focus should put the economy in its rightful place as a means to the end, not an end in itself.”

Click here to download the manifesto in full.

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	related
	at nef well-being programme at nef
	Publications A well-being manifesto for a flourishing society The power and potential of well-being indicators: Measuring young people's well-being in Nottingham Chasing Progress: Beyond measuring economic growth The Politics of Happiness

	contacts
	Nic Marks