measuring-progress-and-quality-of-life-in-the-uk:-february-2023

Measuring Progress And Quality Of Life In The UK: February 2023

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by What Works Centre for Wellbeing

We support the use of harmonised methods to understand national wellbeing as a Centre.

We will be looking at the most recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The Quality of Life Dashboard: Measures of National Well-being Discuss the quarterly publication and what it tells you about the UK’s wellbeing.

Human Wellbeing: Mission 8 Levelling Up

The ONS 10 February 2023 publication provides an update on 26 indicators across 10 domains that measure national wellbeing. It uses the most recent data as of 25 January 2023. These indicators indicate whether People across the UK live happy, fulfilling lives..

National wellbeing indicators are derived from a variety of data sources, with different geographic coverage and data collection periods. The following information is available: Data set.

This publication contains updated information from the four indicators that measure individual subjective well-being (the latest publication).ONS4) July-September 2022 (Quarter 3).

  • 30% of adult UK residents reported very high levels. Happiness. This is Reduced Comparable to 33.6% in Quarter 3 2020, and 35.24% Quarter 3 2017, this shows a short-term and long-term decline.
  • 35.4% of adult UK residents reported very low levels. Anxiety. This is Similar 37.17% for Quarter 3 2021, which is worse than Quarter 3 2017 (40.1%).
  • 24.2% of adult UK residents reported very high levels Life satisfaction. This is Reduced This is compared to 26.8% in Quarter 3 2020 and 29.69% Quarter 3 2017, which shows a short- and long-term decline.
  • 31.7% of adult UK residents reported very high levels. Feeling the things that they do in life are worth it is worthwhile. This is Similar However, this is a worse quarter than Quarter 3 2017, which was 35.9%.

These graphs are from the ONS's quarterly 'Measures Of National Well-being Dashboard' data released on February 23, 2019. They show how four of the most important personal wellbeing measures have changed between Q2 2011 and Q3 2022. These measures include life satisfaction, feeling that our lives are worth it; happiness; and anxiety.

Source: ONS, ‘Measures Of National Well-being Dashboard’ quarterly publication, 10 February 2023

Our website has more information on the ONS4. Rapid evidence assessment of impact assessments The personal subjective wellbeing measures are used by most people. This was the first such study and it is part of our ongoing work to summarise and systematically identify evidence from evaluations that use standardised measures and wellbeing frameworks.

See also  Measuring Wellbeing Inequalities And Progress In Reducing Them

Additional insights

As part of its wellbeing framework, the ONS uses subjective and objective measures to assess societal progress in the UK. This allows them to track future sustainability of national well-being.

Human Capital

  • Health Between January 2020 and December 2021, 44.7% of British adults were satisfied with their health. This is down from 51.3% in 2015-16.
  • Skills and education 10% of 16-24 year-olds weren’t in education, training or employment as of September 2022. 6.9% of them had no qualifications.

These graphs are from the ONS's latest quarterly 'Measures Of National Well-being Dashboard' data released on February 23, 2013. They show how the four main measures of health have changed in the past 10+ year. These measures include: healthy life expectancy, disability, health satisfaction, depression or anxiety

These graphs are from the ONS's latest quarterly 'Measures Of National Well-being Dashboard’ data release on February 23, 2009. They show how three important measures of education and skills have changed in time. These measures include human capital; NEETs and no qualifications

Source: ONS, ‘Measures Of National Well-being Dashboard’ quarterly publication, 10 February 2023

Social Capital

  • Social support January 2023 – 87.7% UK adults said they can count on others in their lives to help them with serious problems (January 2023).
  • Trust others 66.4% of adults in the UK said they trust most people (January 20,23).
  • Belonging January 2023 – 54% of adults in the UK agreed or strongly agreed they feel like they belong to their neighborhood (January 2023).

These graphs are from the ONS's latest quarterly 'Measures Of National Well-being Dashboard’ data release on February 23, 2013. They show how three important measures of personal relationships have changed over the years. These measures are:

Source: ONS, ‘Measures Of National Well-being Dashboard’ quarterly publication, 10 February 2023

Two of the six indicators that indicate high levels of wellbeing are trust and having someone to depend on.

To create the evidence base for community wellbeing social capital We gathered all the information we could about improving neighborhood belonging, social support, and community cohesion. Rapid evidence review. This review encourages the use harmonised measures of social capital to ensure that wellbeing evidence is more consistent, robust, and useful.

Economic Capital

  • The economy The December 2022 inflation rate was 9.2%.
  • Satisfaction with income 45.1% of UK adults strongly agreed that they are satisfied with their household income for 2020-21.
  • Personal finance – 6.61 percent of adults in the UK reported that it was difficult or impossible to manage their finances. Similar to 2015-16, and 2019-2020.

Civic Strength

  • Trust in the government 23.3% of adults in the UK said they trust the government. This is a new measure.
  • Autonomy 68.3% of adults strongly agreed or strongly agreed that they don’t have any control over what the government does. It is vital to your wellbeing that you have control over your own decisions.

The perceptions of governance are linked to subjective well-being disparities.

These graphs and statistics are from the ONS's latest quarterly 'Measures Of National Well-being Dashboard’ data release on February 23, 2013. They show three key indicators of governance. These measures include voter turnout, trust in government, and civic engagement

Source: ONS, ‘Measures Of National Well-being Dashboard’ quarterly publication, 10 February 2023

What we do

  • Employment The unemployment rate for September to November 2022 was 3.7%, which is the same as in 2021. Our Systematic review of unemployment We know that people are more likely to be unhappy if they’re out of work than those who are employed, regardless of their gender, education level, ethnicity, or where they live. The more time you are unemployed, the worse it is.
  • Satisfaction at work – Between January 2020 and December 2021 (59.7%), more than half of UK adults felt satisfied with their jobs (compared to 55.6% in 2015-16).
  • Volunteering 36.22% of adults in the UK reported that they had volunteered at least once during the last 12 months (January 2023). This is an increase from 29.5% between June and July 2022. 55.7% of those surveyed reported volunteering at minimum once per month. Our Review of evidence from volunteering Volunteering is linked to increased wellbeing. This includes improved life satisfaction, happiness, and a decrease in depression symptoms.

Use the quarterly data

We can examine the short- and long-term differences in subjective well-being by time and age using quarterly data. To get a better picture of the trends, we can compare quarters over a period of time and across years. It is possible to compare subjective wellbeing data with economic well-being estimates such as GDP which uses quarterly data.

This quarterly gathering reflects the interconnectedness of society, economy and environment. For example, we know that time spent in Nature Can be beneficial for our mental well-being and physical health. Housing is more attractive if it is near green spaces. To have a sustainable economy, we must also take care of our environment assets. Liz McKeown, Director, Public Policy Analysis, ONS

What you can do

Check out our work Maximize the local wellbeing For guidance and examples of how to use wellbeing data at the local government level, click here

Revision of the framework

ONS launched an evaluation of the Office for National Statistics’ Measures of National Well-being on 3 October 2022. These recommendations will be published in spring 2023.

Check out the Response summary: Review of Measures of National Well-being For more information, please visit

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