The O’Donnell report: Wellbeing and Policy
• Chaired by Lord Gus O’Donnell
• Commissioners:
• Professor Angus Deaton
• Professor Richard Layard
• Martine Durand
• David Halpern
• Announced 2012, report published March 20th
• Commissioned by the independent Legatum Institute, publishers of the Global Prosperity Index
Objective: to advance the debate on wellbeing beyond measurement and into policy.
• Download the report from http://www.li.com/programmes/the-commission-on-wellbeing-and-policy
Treat mental ill-health as professionally as physical ill-health
Greater spending on mental health, especially for children and young people
Support parents Expand parenting advice to cover emotional aspects of child development as well as physical
Build character and resilience in schools
Encourage schools to teach life skills and coping skills
Promote volunteering and giving
Make it easier for people to find opportunities and to use their resources for others
Address loneliness Treat loneliness and other problems around social relationships as serious public health issues
Create a built environment that is sociable and green
Make wellbeing an explicit requirement in planning systems and do not approve applications that do not foster meeting people and include green spaces
Promote economic growth Focus on stable growth rather than maximum growth
Reduce unemployment through active welfare
Focused support for jobseekers’ mental health, resilience, and confidence
More wellbeing at work As the jobs market recovers, promote transparency around staff wellbeing
Treat citizens with respect and empower them more
Devolution, local empowerment, and fiscal decentralisation
Measure wellbeing and make it a policy goal
Establish systematic national measurement of wellbeing and incorporate data in policy making
Give citizens the wellbeing data they need
Make wellbeing data open and accessible so government, civil society and business can use it to help people make decisions that will improve their wellbeing
What do the recommendations mean for governments?