Policies for a wellbeing economy are systemic, inclusive, and forward-looking. This is reflected in the five overarching considerations below that can guide policy impact assessments from a wellbeing economy lens. Even though this module focuses on prospective impact assessment, the five overarching considerations can also be used to guide retrospective impact assessment.

When assessing the impacts of policies, it is important to consider:

Impacts on root causes

Too often, policy interventions focus on the symptoms of societal challenges, attempting to fix the damage done to nature and people rather than preventing these harms from happening in the first place. In contrast, a wellbeing economy approach shifts the focus to preventative measures that stop harm from happening and actively shape the conditions that promote wellbeing.

Impacts on current wellbeing

When designing policies, it is important to assess impacts on current wellbeing outcomes in a holistic way. This includes dimensions of current wellbeing that may fall outside the policy’s direct area of focus. For example, a housing policy may have impacts on health, social connectedness, or environmental outcomes, which need to be considered alongside housing-related outcomes.

Impacts on wellbeing inequalities

Wellbeing inequalities are the extent to which wellbeing outcomes vary, either between different groups in society (e.g., differences in health outcomes between groups based on gender, age or ethnicity) or between different geographical areas (e.g., regional differences in air quality). Assessing the impacts of policies on wellbeing inequalities is important to be able to support those most in need and because more equitable societies work better for everyone [1].

Impacts on future wellbeing

Assessing impacts on future wellbeing is fundamental to make sure that policy interventions to improve wellbeing now do not compromise the ability of young and future generations to also meet their fundamental wellbeing needs going forward.

Impacts on wellbeing elsewhere

In a globally interconnected world, policies in one place often have an impact on the wellbeing of people in other places, whether within the same country or in other countries. Wellbeing policy impact assessments should therefore encourage policymakers to think not only about wellbeing impacts locally but also about potential impacts on wellbeing elsewhere.

Some of the above considerations, such as impacts on current wellbeing and wellbeing inequalities, already feature in the impact assessment procedures of many governments. Other considerations, such as impacts on root causes, future wellbeing, and on wellbeing elsewhere, require further attention.

References:

[1] The book The Spirit Level by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson shows that for eleven health and social outcomes (physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and child wellbeing) outcomes are significantly worse in more unequal rich countries. See: Pickett, K. & Wilkinson, R. (2011). The Spirit Level: Why greater equality makes societies stronger. Penguin.

9.3 Five overarching considerations for policy impact assessments