1. Institute for Policy Research Symposium Lost Youth in the 21st Century
Can policy influence the subjective well-being of young people? Jonathan Bradshaw
Institute for Policy Research Symposium
Lost Youth in the 21st Century
University of Bath
17 September 2014

2. Outline of argument
New interest in subjective well-being both nationally and internationally
Some of it focussed on children and youth
There is evidence that subjective well-being varies
Between countries
Within countries over time
Also associated with objective well-being at an international level.
But in micro analysis difficult to explain variation.
Therefore policy responses not easy to determine

3. Objective versus subjective well-being
Well-being multi-dimensional
Objective= material, health, education, (employment), safety, housing and environment, participation/inclusion.
Subjective= feelings.
Hedonic
Affective: positive (joy) and negative feelings (anxiety)
Cognitive: Life satisfaction
Eudaimonic: purpose in life, flourishing….
Subjective can be objectively measured
In practice mainly cognitive

4. Why is there new interest in SWB
The outcomes of social policy often evaluated using money metrics
Poverty
Inequality
Spending per capita
Income not reliable
Lots of good things left out of GDP
Personal love and care
Quality of the environment/Absence of pollution
Freedom, Justice
Increasing GDP (after a certain level) does not lead to increased happiness. Easterlin paradox

5. Life satisfaction (Cantril’s ladder) by GDP per capita OECD (2011)

6. Beyond Money Richard Layard (2005) Happiness
Critique of mainstream economics
Prosperity Paradox
Strive to increase income
Much richer than in the past
We are not happier

7. Stiglitz/Sen/Fitoussi Commission (2009)on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress
Well-being:
Material living standards
Health
Personal activities/work
Political voice/governance
Social connections/relationships
Environment present/future
Insecurity
Elements of quality of life/subjective well-being:
Happiness
Life satisfaction
Positive affect (joy/pride)
Negative affect (pain/worry)

8. OECD (2011) : How’s Life. Life satisfaction 2010

9. Beyond Money
It's time we admitted that there's more to life than money, and it's time we focused not just on GDP but on GWB - General Wellbeing. It's about the beauty of our surroundings, the quality of our culture and above all the strength of our relationships. There is a deep satisfaction which comes from belonging to someone and to some place.
David Cameron, May 2006

10. Why well-being matters
Promoting well-being is a reasonable goal for any society
Studying well-being can enable us to understand what matters in people’s lives
In the UK ONS has established two programmes to measure national subjective well-being of
Adults
Children

11. Understanding national well-being - ONS
Personal well-being
Life satisfaction
Life worthwhile
Happiness yesterday
Happiness with appearance
Relationships
Health
What we do
Where we live
Personal finance
Education skills
Economy
Governance
Natural environment
guidance/well-being/index.html

13. Comparative indices of child well-being
State of the World’s Children (UNICEF)
Innocenti Report Cards (UNICEF)
Doing Better for Children (OECD)
Child poverty and derivation (EU)
Child well-being (EU Tarki)
African Report on Child Well-being (ACPF)
Multi-dimensional child poverty (Bristol)
Many, many national reports

14. Our research on child well-being
The well-being of children in the UK – three reviews latest Bradshaw, J. (ed) (2011) The Well-being of Children in the United Kingdom, Bristol: Policy Press
International comparative studies of child well- being – EU, OECD/UNICEF, CEECIS, Pacific Rim
The well-being of children - at small area level in England using indicators Bradshaw J, Noble M, Bloor K, Huby M, McLennan D, Rhodes D, Sinclair I, Wilkinson K. (2009) A Child Well-Being Index at Small Area Level in England, J. Child Indicators Research 2, 2,
The subjective well-being of children – Children’s Society survey od_report_2014_-_final.pdf
Trends in the subjective wellbeing of children

15. UNICEF (2007) Report on Child Well Being

16. UNICEF 2013 child well-being

17. OECD Index of child well-being

18. Pacific Rim Material situation Health Education Subjective well- being
Living environment
Risk and safety
Japan
Hong Kong
Singapore
China
Korea
Vietnam
Philippines
Thailand
Australia
Taiwan
Indonesia
New Zealand
Malaysia

19. CEECIS index Average rank Material Housing Health Education Personal
Family
Risk
Croatia
3.4 1 4 7 9
Bosnia Herzegovina
4.8 3 13 - 2
FYR Macedonia
6.3 8 10 6
Serbia
6.6 5 11
Uzbekistan
7.5 14
Turkmenistan
7.6 15
Belarus
8.3 16
Montenegro
8.6 12
Bulgaria
10.6 18
Ukraine 19
Kazakhstan
11.1 17
Russia
11.3 20
Kyrgyzstan
11.7
Romania
12.0
Armenia
12.1
Georgia
13.6
Turkey
14.0
Azerbaijan
14.1
Albania
14.4
Tajikistan 21
Moldova
16.1

20. Child well-being by GDP Euros per capita: EU only

21. WELL-BEING BY CHILD POVERTY RATE: EU only

22. Child well-being and inequality: EU only

23. WELL-BEING BY FAMILY BREAKDOWN

24. Why subjective well-being might not be a cause for social policy
Measures not very good
Lost in translation – life satisfaction
Adaptive preferences
Homeostatic adaptation
Difficult to explain variations
Personality a factor
Most important factor relationships and choice - ?social policies
But

25. Demographic variables only
Multiple regression of subjective well-being: England (The Children’s Society)
Variable
Demographic variables only
+ deprivation scale
+ family type
Year group (6 as reference) 8
-1.16**
-1.39**
-1.33** 10
-2.82**
-2.86**
-2.80**
Ethnicity (white as reference)
Mixed
-0.83 NS
-0.82 NS
-0.91 NS
Indian
-1.06 NS
-0.36 NS
-0.65 NS
Pakistani/ Bangladeshi
-0.59 NS
-0.52 NS
Black
-0.18 NS
0.23 NS
0.33 NS
Other
0.59 NS
0.56 NS
0.42 NS
Number of siblings (none as reference) 1
0.30 NS
0.20 NS
0.07 NS 2
0.09 NS
-0.03 NS
-0.21 NS 3+
0.01 NS
0.02 NS
Sex (boy as reference)
-0.66 *
-0.73*
Learning difficulties (no as reference)
-0.60 NS
-0.31 NS
-0.32 NS
Physical disability (no as reference)
-1.39 NS
-1.07 NS
-1.18 NS
Deprivation score
-0.68**
-0.64**
Family type (both parents as reference)
Lone parent
-1.26**
Step family
-0.90*
-4.68* r²
0.09
0.17
0.19

27. Overall subjective well-being HBSC

28. Mean life satisfaction among 12-year-olds in 11 countries: Children’s Worlds Pilot

29. Correlations with subjective well-being

30. Objective and subjective child well-being: UNICEF 2013

31. Social spending and subjective well-being

32. Child happiness has increased in the UK
Mean happiness of year olds (BHPS/US ). With 95% confidence intervals)

33. Why? Reduction in child poverty? Big increase in spending on children?
Institutional transformation?
Is it schools – social and emotional education and anti bullying?
Is it social networking - friends and girls?
Is it getting worse now?

34. We have much to learn How to measure well-being
How to affect it with public policy
How to organise to influence it
It varies over time
It varies between countries
It varies between individuals
What effects your well-being?
What can be done to improve it?

35. Thank you for listening