The March 2005 issue of Prospect magazine features a cover article by economist Richard Layard calling for government to base its policies on happiness rather than growth. The editor's forward to that article mentions the "Well-Being Manifesto" issued last fall by the New Economics Foundation, which is worth having a look at. That manfesto "challenges the assumption that growing the economy is government’s most important function."
Among the key proposals of the well-being manifesto are:
* Reclaim time: we systematically over-estimate the amount of happiness extra income will bring us and work too many hours to get it. Government should reduce the working week to a maximum 35 hours.
* Ban advertising to children: young children can’t distinguish between facts and selling messages. The culture of materialism is not only bad for the environment, it also undermines our well-being – we need stricter controls on ads
* Invest in our future: the under threes and parenting. Extend parental leave to cover at least the first two years, and provide high-quality childcare and active parental support. Investment in the ‘zero to threes’ repays itself many times over in health, education and social benefits.
* Teach well-being: promote well-being and curiosity in schools, not performance against targets, with more sports, arts, creativity, and other engaging activities. Young people should be given the tools to make their own good life choices.
* Create a Citizen’s Service’ - like a jury service for volunteering, citizen’s panels etc. - and more opportunities for young people to engage in the community and politics
* Measure what really matters to people: create a set of national well-being accounts to assess levels of satisfaction, depression, meaning and stress to be able to track changes over time, integrate services and allocate funds more effectively and efficiently.
* Tax environmental “bads”, such as fossil fuels, not goods, such as high-quality work.
* Introduce a universal Citizen’s Income: this would redistribute to the poorest - a pound in the pocket of the poor is worth more in well-being terms than a pound to a rich person - end the “benefits trap” and help people reclaim their time.