Life satisfaction and the WELLBY; Frijters et al. 2024
I discuss "The WELLBY: a new measure of social value and progress" by Frijters et al., which proposes valuing policies by how much they improve life satisfaction: one point on a 0-10 scale for one year. Remarkably, HM Treasury has actually adopted this. The paper boldly applies it to everything from therapy to the Olympics, claiming marriage is worth two months of your life (one WELLBY) whilst unemployment costs half a WELLBY. I explore whether this is pragmatic brilliance or whether we've collectively lost the plot, and share insights from my conversation with lead author Paul Frijters about the "bitter enemies" fighting over this territory and why there are Nobel prizes to be won in wellbeing research.
[https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1G0Ey-8yr7t1q_ijkbCZ6v3GHI7Bax4PsmdTQ6Dfejgo/edit?usp=share_link](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1G0Ey-8yr7t1q_ijkbCZ6v3GHI7Bax4PsmdTQ6Dfejgo/preview?usp=share_link)
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications; June 8, 2024
By Paul Frijters, Cristian Krekel, Raúl Sanchis, Ziggi Ivan Santini
The WELLBY: a new measure of social value and progress
In this conversation, Professor Paul Frijters walks us through the evolution of the WELLBY, from rejecting "war machines" as society's measure of success to convincing the Treasury to adopt life satisfaction as policy currency. He explains why marriage is worth exactly two months of your life, reveals the "bitter enemies" sabotaging wellbeing economics (health economists fighting over dollar signs), and issues a provocative challenge: should government increase stamp duty to force people to stay put and build stronger communities? Frijters argues the field is far too micro-focused ("everyone's a client, everyone's a kid") when the real action is in macro-level systemic thinking. His message to health economists: stop fiddling with individual interventions and start thinking about free speech, independent media, and the equilibrium conditions that produce wellbeing… "There are Nobel prizes to be won there.”
Subjective wellbeing, health, and ageing
The scientific value of numerical measures of human feelings | PNAS
Happiness and Productivity | Journal of Labor Economics: Vol 33, No 4
Theory and Validity of Life Satisfaction Scales
Income and emotional well-being: A conflict resolved | PNAS
A happy choice: wellbeing as the goal of government | Behavioural Public Policy | Cambridge Core
What Do You Think Would Make You Happier? What Do You Think You Would Choose?
Housing Stability Among Homeless Adults With Mental Illness