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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent

Labour should make UK leader in wellbeing-informed policy, says peer

Richard Layard,
Richard Layard, a Labour peer, says departmental bids for funding should account for their wellbeing impact. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

A Labour government should make the UK the world’s first country to make policy based on its impact on wellbeing as well as the economy, one of the world’s leading experts on the economics of happiness has said.

With Keir Starmer in No 10, Downing Street should require Whitehall departments to appraise the potential impact on citizens’ wellbeing when they make funding bids, Richard Layard said. The next chancellor should announce measures of happiness and misery alongside GDP in their annual budget statements, he added.

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