Articles and reports from ONS's Measuring National Well-being programme and other related ONS outputs. Publications are listed in date order with the most recent at the top.
2013
The Economy - International Comparisons
- Published 14 May 2013
This article focuses on the economy and describes how the UK has fared relative to other countries over time.
Differences in well-being by ethnicity
- Published 30 April 2013
Looks at people’s assessment of their own well-being by different ethnic groups using the April 2011 to March 2012 Annual Population Survey.
Human Capital consultation response
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- Published 30 April 2012
Includes responses to the ONS public consultation on the measures of human capital and to recommendations from a joint conference on the measurement of human capital and its use in policy making held by ONS and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Measuring National Well-being - Older people and loneliness, 2013 - Published on 11 April 2013
This article explores the reported feelings of loneliness by people aged 52 and over using 2009–10 data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
Measuring National Well-being - Older people's leisure time and volunteering - Published on 11 April 2013
This article explores the well-being of people aged over 50 based on data from Understanding Society, the UK Longitudinal 2010–11 study.
Measuring National Well-being - Older People’s Neighbourhoods, 2013
- Published 14 March 2013
The first in a series of short articles examining the well-being of older people aged 50 and over using measures related to the Measuring National Well-being Programme.
Household Satellite Accounts, Valuing Informal Childcare in the UK
- Published 15 February 2013
This article reports on the measurement and valuation of the output of the household production of childcare and includes all care given by parents, family members and friends. It is the first in a series of articles to update the full household satellite accounts for the UK.
Review of available sources and measures for children and young people's well-being
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- Published 9 January 2013
This paper discusses the domains and measures for children's and young people's well-being and presents an overview of available sources and measures.
2012
Individual responses to the consultation on accounting for the value of the nature in the UK (8.47 Mb ZIP) - Individuals responses to the consultation on accounting for the value of nature in the UK. A summary of the responses with ONS views are also published alongside these individual responses.
Responses to the consultation on accounting for the value of the nature in the UK (663 Kb Pdf) - On 31 July 2012, the Office for National Statistics launched a public consultation on fully including the value of natural capital into the UK Environmental Accounts by 2020. The aim of the consultation was to set out the rationale for the ecosystem accounts, provide an outline timetable of development work, and seek views on the scope of the accounts and relative priorities for their development. This paper summarises the responses to the consultation and provides ONS views on the points made in the responses. From these responses and a subsequent stakeholder workshop, the ONS is today publishing a roadmap for the development of natural capital within the UK Environmental Accounts alongside this paper.
Roadmap on Natural Capital accounting (618.4 Kb Pdf) - On 31 July 2012, the Office for National Statistics launched a public consultation on fully including the value of natural capital into the UK Environmental Accounts by 2020. From the responses to the consultation and a subsequent stakeholder workshop, the ONS is today publishing a roadmap for the development of natural capital within the UK Environmental Accounts.The roadmap sets out the work plan for developing each of the natural capital accounts by 2020. The Roadmap focuses on the work to be undertaken in 2013 to 2015, and inevitably has less detail about the work needed after that point. The plans will be kept under continuous review, but it is intended that there will be a major review in two years time to establish the work needed for the longer term.
Measuring National Well-being - Life in the UK 2012 - Published 20 November 2012
This article provides a unique overview of well-being in the UK today in terms of the economy, people and the environment
National Well-being Interactive wheel of measures - Published 20 November 2012
Play with the measures of national well-being and compare data from recent time series
National Well-being wheel of measures poster version
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- Published 20 November 2012
The latest measures of national well-being on one page.
National Well-being interactive graphs
- Published 20 November 2012
Selected national well-being measures by country and region
Measuring National Well-being - The Natural Environment
- Published 7 November 2012
This article explores aspects of the natural environment considered important for understanding national well-being, including information on the environmental assets available to us, how they are used and what impact that has on the natural environment.
Measuring National Well-being - Governance, 2012
- Published 31 October 2012
This article explores aspects of governance considered important for understanding national well-being, considering information on involvement in democracy and trust in how the UK is run.
Measuring National Well-being - Children's well-being, 2012
- Published 26 October 2012
This article discusses the well-being of children aged 0 to 15 including infant mortality, birth weight, satisfaction with relationships and access to and use of technology.
Measuring National Well-being - The Economy
- Published 23 October 2012
The article describes how economic well-being has evolved over the last decade and focuses on the period beginning with the 2008 recession.
Measuring National Well-being - Measuring young people's well-being, 2012
- Published 10 October 2012
This article examines aspects of well-being for young people aged 16 to 24.
Measuring National Well-being - Personal finance
- Published 20 September 2012
The article examines different aspects of household income, expenditure and wealth, including financial poverty as well looking at peoples own views about their own financial situation.
Measuring National Well-being - the Contribution of Longitudinal Studies
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- Published 25 July 2012
This report by Longview presents the findings of a scoping study exploring how UK longitudinal data can be used for the study of individual well-being. It also provides reccomendations for how ongitudinal data could be used in future to inform the Measuring National Wellbeing Programme at ONS.
Measuring National Well-being - summary of proposed domains and measures
- Published 24 July 2012
This article shows the next iteration of the experimental domains and measures for the Measuring National Well-being Programme and includes data for the headline measures.
Measuring National Well-being - health
- Published 24 July 2012
The article explores the relationship between health and well-being including an exploration of the proposed ONS headline measures of health (life expectancy, self reported health and a measure of mental well-being) and wider contextual measures such as mortality, ill health, social care and lifestyles.
Measuring National Well-being - where we live
- Published 24 July 2012
This article explores how where we live can have a significant impact on our sense of well-being. Homes which meet our individual needs and provide us with shelter and security are made all the better by having easy access to local shops and services and green spaces to walk or play in, which in turn can help people to live healthier and happier lives.
First Annual ONS Experimental Subjective Well-being Results
- Published 24 July 2012
This article will present estimates of subjective well-being from the first annual experimental Annual Population Survey (APS) Subjective Well-being dataset for April 2011 to March 2012.
Subjective Well-being Survey User Guide (12 month dataset)
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- Published 24 July 2012
User guidance for ONS's subjective well-being experimental dataset released July 2012, based on Annual Population Survey information April 2011 to March 2012.
Report on the Consultation on Proposed Domains and Measures
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- Published 24 July 2012
This report gives a more detailed analysis of responses to the consultation on proposed domains and measures of national well-being, explaining how the feedback given during the consultation period and a further analysis of gaps in the measures has resulted in changes to the measures.
Measuring National Well-being - Interactive Tool - Published 24 July 2012
Interactive tool for comparing the subjective well-being of residents in specific areas in the UK. These include regions and countries within the UK and information about local authority areas within English regions, Scotland and Wales.
Measuring National Well-being - Interactive Map - Published 24 July 2012
Map which compares information about local authority areas in England, Wales and Scotland.
Measuring National Well-being - Education and Skills
- Published 5 July 2012
This article focuses on education and life-long learning including the stock of human capital in the labour market with some information about levels of educational achievement and skills.
UK Environmental Accounts 2012
- Published 27 June 2012
The UK Environmental Accounts are satellite accounts to the main UK National Accounts and facilitate environmental-economic analyses, providing statistics on the environmental impact of UK economic activity. They include natural asset accounts (for example, oil and gas reserves, forestry, land), physical flow accounts (for example, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollutants, energy consumption, consumption of raw materials) and monetary accounts (for example, environmental taxes, environmental protection expenditure).
The effects of taxes and benefits on household income 2010/11
- Published 26 June 2012
Examines how taxes and benefits redistribute income between various groups of households in the UK. The study shows where different types of households and individuals are in the income distribution and looks at the changing levels of income inequality over time.
Consultation on proposed domains and measures of national well-being: responses received
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- Published 15 June 2012
This document provides detailed responses to the consultation on proposed domains and measures of national well-being, which closed on 23 January 2012.
Comparisons of UK and EU at risk Poverty Rates 2005-2010
- Published 7 June 2012
This article examines the at-risk-of-poverty rate for the UK in comparison to other countries in the European Union and how this rate has changed over time.
World Environment Day 2012
- Published 31 May 2012
Ahead of the United Nations World Environment Day, a short article of UK Environmental Accounts to show how the economy impacts on the environment.
Measuring national well-being - Households and families, 2012
- Published 26 April 2012
This article is the third in a series which explores the different domains important for the measurement of National Well-being. It focuses on family and household formation and individual aspects of these such as marriage and divorce.
Quarterly Household Release, Q4 2011
- Published 16 April 2012
New quarterly release on the household sector compiling the latest statistics on the household economic situation, including key National Accounts aggregates.
Measuring National Well-being - what we do, 2012
- Published 29 March 2012
This article describes what we do in work and leisure activities and looks at the balance between them.
Initial findings from the consultation on proposed domains and measures of national well-being
- Published 28 February 2012
This report outlines initial findings from ONS's consultation on a first draft of domains and measures of National Well-being, which ran from 31 October 2011 to 23 January 2012.
Analysis of experimental subjective well-being data from the Annual Population Survey, April - September 2011
- Published 28 February 2012
This report presents initial estimates of subjective well-being from six months of the Annual Population Survey (APS) carried out between April and September 2011.
Subjective well-being survey user guide
- Published 28 February 2012
User guidance for ONS's subjective well-being experimental dataset released February 2012, based on Annual Population Survey information April to September 2011.
Measuring National Well-being - Our relationships
- Published 28 February 2012
This article focuses on the form and quality of close family relationships. As these relationships do not operate in isolation, friendships and other relationships in the wider community and workplace are also analysed.
Is there more to life than GDP and happiness?
- Published February 2012
An article for RSS News by the Director of the ONS Measuring National Well-being Programme.
Measuring National Well-being - Population
- Published 17 January 2012
This article examines the composition of growth in the population of the UK in recent years and the projected changes.
Developments in Environmental Protection Expenditure Accounts
- Published 10 January 2012
Experimental estimates of environmental protection expenditure by the UK public sector in the years 1996 to 2009.
New approaches to the measurement of Quality of Life
This paper outlines the Office for National Statistics (ONS) approach to measuring quality of life in the United Kingdom as part of the Measuring National Well-being programme. It highlights some new approaches to measuring quality of life through household and social statistics and in particular focuses on the work that ONS has undertaken on the inclusion of subjective well-being measures in ONS surveys and engagement with citizens about what matters to them.
2011
Human Capital estimates - 2010
- Published 20 December 2011
Experimental estimates of the UK’s human capital stock in the years 2001 to 2010, using the lifetime labour income approach and Labour Force Survey data.
Initial investigation into Subjective Well-being data from the ONS Opinions Survey
- Published 1 December 2011
The analysis in this report provides an initial investigation into some of the differences between four overall monitoring questions introduced into selected ONS household surveys from April 2011.
Measuring National Well-being - Discussion paper on domains and measures
- Published 31 October 2011
This paper discusses proposals for domains and headline measures of national well-being resulting from the responses to the national debate on measuring national well-being, research into well-being and related international initiatives.
Time-Use Surveys and the Measurement of National Well-Being
- Published 12 September 2011
An article by Jonathan Gershuny from the Centre for Time-use Research, University of Oxford.
Measuring what Matters: National Statistician's Reflections on the National Debate on Measuring National Well-being
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- Published 25 July 2011
This article summarises the key findings from the national well-being debate and outlines the next steps in measuring national well-being.
Findings from the National well-being debate
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- Published 25 July 2011
This is a supplementary paper to the National Statistician's Reflections on the National Debate on Measuring National Well-being.
Measuring subjective well-being
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Published 25 July 2011
This is a supplementary paper to the National Statistician's Reflections on the National Debate on Measuring National Well-being.
Developing a framework for understanding and measuring national well-being
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- Published 25 July 2011
This is a supplementary paper to the National Statistician's Reflections on the National Debate on Measuring National Well-being.
Measuring children's and young people's well-being
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- Published 25 July 2011
This is a supplementary paper to the National Statistician's Reflections on the National Debate on Measuring National Well-being.
Measuring economic well-being
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- Published 25 July 2011
This is a supplementary paper to the National Statistician's Reflections on the National Debate on Measuring National Well-being.
