Govt to ‘measure happiness’ as austerity strikes
By politics.co.uk staff
The nation’s happiness will be measured officially for the first time, just as the impact of spending cuts begin to bite.
David Cameron is reportedly fulfilling a pledge he made in opposition to begin measuring the British people’s “general wellbeing”.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) will be asked to devise a series of questions looking at happiness and how well people are achieving their ‘life goals’.
The timing for the new surveys, reportedly beginning as soon as next year, is particularly inauspicious for the government however.
The measures set out in the comprehensive spending review will be beginning to take effect.
Mr Cameron’s pledge stemmed from statements made shortly after he became leader of the opposition. He said that the country’s progress had been measured solely by economic indicators such as GDP for too long.
The ONS survey will measure happiness over time, with the aim of helping politicians put a figure on the impact their policies are having.
The coalition hopes that economic recovery will have overshadowed the impact of the cuts by the time of the next general election.
Mr Cameron will certainly wish to be able to point to an improvement in the general wellbeing statistics in May 2015.
