In welcoming the Prime Minister’s commitment today to develop a national measure of wellbeing, the Relationships Foundation is calling for robust mechanisms to consider how policy in all areas fosters and protects the relationships and social connections that are widely recognised as the most significant determinants of wellbeing
In his speech today David Cameron acknowledged that
Every day, Ministers, officials, people working throughout the public sector make decisions that affect people’s lives. This is about helping to make sure those government decisions on policy and spending are made in a balanced way, taking account of what really matters. I’ve said before that I want every decision we take to be judged on whether it makes our country more or less family-friendly – and this new focus on well-being will be part of achieving that. (1)
We are much-heartened that this picks up on many of the recommendations of our pre-election report, A Relationships State of the Nation. (2)
We have been encouraged by David Cameron’s recognition of the importance of relationships for wellbeing since his address to the Google Zeitgeist conference four years ago:
Well-being can’t be measured by money or traded in markets. It can’t be required by law or delivered by government. It’s about the beauty of our surroundings, the quality of our culture, and above all the strength of our relationships… What makes us happy, above all, is a sense of belonging – strong relationships with friends, family and the immediate world around us. (3)
This is backed up by strong academic support. Professor Robert Helliwell, who was at the launch today, has written with Robert Putnam that:
Social connections, including marriage, of course, but not limited to that, are among the most robust correlates of subjective well-being. People who have close friends and confidants, friendly neighbours and supportive co-workers are less likely to experience sadness, loneliness, low self-esteem and problems with eating and sleeping. Indeed a common finding from research on the correlates of life satisfaction is that subjective well-being is best predicted by the breadth and depth of one’s social connections. (4)
A Relationships State of the Nation, a flagship pre-election report we published in March, brings together a number of themes from the Relationships Foundation’s work on wellbeing and relationships over the past year. It makes the case that as we look ahead to the next five or ten years we will want to see more than just economic growth. The state of public finances means that continuing progress cannot simply be bought through government spending. New methods and new measures are needed.
Over the last year we have set out how policy in many areas influences the motivation, opportunities and support for the relationships that are important for wellbeing (5, 6).
Since the election we have been critical of the coalition government’s failure to give a strong voice to the family at the heart of government. Michael Trend, Executive Director of the Foundation has commented that:
While there is much merit in refocusing the Department of Children, Families and Schools on its original role as the Department for Education, losing Family from any Cabinet minister’s primary responsibility is surely a problem for a Government so committed to families. Without a champion at the heart of government, the family-friendly agenda is unlikely to succeed. There needs to be top-level leadership on the family and family policy should have a central role in government.
We hope that today’s commitment to measure wellbeing signals that the government will give the serious attention to the impact of policy on relationships that we have advocated so strongly.
Getting relationships right is arguably the most important agenda in public policy, public services, business, communities and in our personal lives. We know what is needed. Our understanding of how to do it is improving. Let’s make sure debate is informed by an illuminating picture of what’s going on. In such a way we, as a country, can learn to have a better understanding of the advantages of trust, commitment and neighbourliness, and the life-destroying qualities of loneliness, distrust and social breakdown.
1. The Prime Minister’s Speech on wellbeing: http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/speeches-and-transcripts/2010/11/pm-speech-on-well-being-57569
2. A Relationships State of the Nation, Relationships Foundation, 2010. Available here.
3. David Cameron speech at Google Zeitgeist Europe conference 2006http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5003314.stm
4. John Helliwell & Robert D. Putnam. The social context of well-being.http://www.cambridgewellbeing.org/science_wellbeing_book.html
5. The Penumbra Effect – Family-centred Public Policy. Relationships Foundation, 2009. Available here.
6. Progressive Families, Progressive Britain: Why Britain Needs Family Proofing of Policy. Relationships Foundation, 2009. Available here.