Life satisfaction measures how people evaluate their life as a whole rather than their current feelings. When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, British people on average gave it a 6.8 grade , higher than the OECD average of 6.5.

Happiness or subjective well-being can be measured in terms of life satisfaction, the presence of positive experiences and feelings, and the absence of negative experiences and feelings. Such measures, while subjective, are a useful complement to objective data to compare the quality of life across countries.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Considering life satisfaction in policy

The Green Book is the formal guidance from the Treasury of the United Kingdom to other UK government agencies on how to appraise and evaluate policy proposals. Since 2011 it has included a clause on how subjective well-being – particularly life satisfaction – can be used alongside more traditional approaches to evaluate policy proposals.

While the amendment to The Green Book stops short of fully endorsing the use of life satisfaction measures for use in formally evaluating government programmes, the decision to add the clause in itself signals strongly the importance that UK central agencies attach to obtaining improved measures of the value of well-being outcomes.

Targeting services and programmes based on need

Well-being measures are useful tools to identify what kind of support is needed in different vulnerable neighbourhoods. The United Kingdom produces Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) to measure the levels of deprivation in employment; income; health; crime; education; living environment and barriers to services. These indices use 40 indicators at both district ward and smaller scale levels (around 1 500 persons). The results have been useful in guiding the location of social services (e.g. Sure Start Children's Centres) and targeting regeneration programmes (e.g. the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and the Single Regeneration Budget).

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