Speakers: Ed Pyle & Sunny Sidhu (Office for National Statistics)

GDP is without question one of our most important economic indicators. It tells us about the size and shape of the economy. It helps the Government and the Bank of England manage the economy, for example informing us about the likely development of the public finances. GDP is, however, incomplete. It is often, and incorrectly, used as an all-encompassing proxy for people’s living standards, something it was never designed for and which it doesn’t fully capture.
 
This leads onto the GDP and beyond agenda, developing more inclusive measures to capture the environment and social aspects of progress. Indeed, such is the complexity of well-being, covering current economic, social and environmental welfare, arguably no single measure can hope to capture it in its entirety. Instead, what is needed is a series of indicators, covering both overall levels and inequalities in these different areas to give a more complete picture of how we’re all doing.
 
As part of this agenda, one of the most fundamental questions that the ONS wellbeing team tries to address is ‘how are we doing’?’, as individuals, as communities and as a country. In this presentation, we will discuss how we measure personal and economic wellbeing, and the factors that may have an impact on our wellbeing.