New Zealand, continuing to cement its reputation as a symbol of hope for progressives, announced a new budget that ditches the focus on traditional measures of economic success and instead makes the well-being of citizens a priority. When Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stood before the United Nations last year calling for more kindness in politics, she made a pledge that her country would be one where “success is measured not only by the nation’s GDP but by better lives lived by its people.” Now, the people of New Zealand have had their first real look at what that lofty idea means in real life with the national budget ― the first under Ardern’s center-left government ― that focuses on well-being. The “Well-Being Budget” moves away from traditional fare like tariffs and tax cuts and instead focuses on people, with spending dictated by considerations of what is best for the lives of the 4.8 million people who live in New Zealand. Other countries have made inroads into well-being economics. Bhutan has been at the forefront. As far back as 1971 it rejected using Gross Domestic Product as the main economic metric in favor of Gross National Happiness. The U.K. also has introduced some elements. But New Zealand is being hailed as the first Western country to to make well-being core to its entire budget and the key objective for all its government ministries.

Phil Walter via Getty Images Jacinda Ardern visits a community health center in Auckland on May 31, 2019. Budget 2019 was released on May 30, known as the Well-Being Budget, it has a heavy focus public welfare alongside economic growth.

“What Jacinda Ardern is doing is groundbreaking,” said Jason Hickel, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics. “Ardern’s government is setting an example that the rest of the world can and should follow.” New Zealand’s economy is doing pretty well by traditional measures, with around 3% annual growth. Still, the country has problems with inequality, homelessness, mental health and domestic violence. It’s these issues the government says it wants to tackle through the new budget. All new spending must now focus on one of five cornerstones identified by the government: supporting mental health with a focus on young people, reducing child poverty, lifting the incomes and opportunities of indigenous Maori and Pacific Islands people, moving to a low-emission and sustainable economy and supporting a thriving nation in a digital age. Close to $1.25 billion will be spent on mental health, $210 million to combat domestic and sexual violence, and around $656 million toward improving the lives of children. “Success is making New Zealand both a great place to make a living, and a great place to make a life,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson told parliament. “It is sobering that this is the first time we have had a national budget that explicitly focuses on well-being,” said Anna Matheson, senior lecturer in health policy, Victoria University of Wellington. “The challenges facing humanity globally – increasing inequality, rising populism and rapid environmental degradation, including the crisis with our climate – show governments worldwide are missing the crucial and pivotal role they play in stewardship, and in creating and maintaining collective well-being,” Matheson added. The people-centric budget is needed, said public policy researcher Jess Berentson-Shaw, because countries, including New Zealand, have become “servants to economic growth.” “Beyond a certain point we find that growth erodes the quality of people’s lives because it starts to extract too much from the people and the environment,” said Berentson-Shaw. “People in the New Zealand government are making an attempt to measure what matters most to most citizens and are designing policies and funding them with that knowledge in mind,” Berentson-Shaw said.

Hagen Hopkins via Getty Images Finance minister Grant Robertson and prime minister Jacinda Ardern walk to the house during the 2019 budget presentation at Parliament on May 30, 2019, in Wellington, New Zealand.

Not everyone is on board, however. “I think this Well-Being Budget is nothing else than a public relations operation,” said Dennis Wesselbaum, director of foreign policy at Otago University. “This budget means the government does not care about economic growth and this is a worrying and dangerous development.” Simon Bridges, leader of the center-right opposition National Party, slammed the budget as “botched.” “Our economy is sharply declining and this Govt is asleep at the wheel.#Budget2019 has no plan to grow the economy,”he wrote on Twitter.

Our economy is sharply declining and this Govt is asleep at the wheel. #Budget2019 has no plan to grow the economy. Only a strong and growing economy delivers the funding for the services NZers rely on like health and education. pic.twitter.com/emnIdEl8sI — Simon Bridges (@simonjbridges) May 30, 2019