Yellow flowers against a blue sky

Well-being

nef's award-winning Centre for Well-being researches policies, measurement tools and every day actions that help us increase well-being.

Well-being is one of most important aspect of our lives, as individuals and as societies. But despite unprecedented economic prosperity in the last 35 years we do not necessarily feel better individually or as communities.

Data shows that whilst economic output in the UK has nearly doubled since 1973, levels of happiness have remained flat. Beyond a certain level of income and material stability, more money has a negligible and even negative impact on the quality of our lives.

The centre for well-being at nef seeks to understand, measure and influence well-being. In particular we ask the question 'what would policymaking and the economy look like if their main aim were to promote well-being?'

Key facts

  1. 1
    Since 1970, the UK's GDP has doubled, but people's satisfaction with life has hardly changed.
  2. 2
    81% of Britons believe that the Government should prioritise creating the greatest happiness, not the greatest wealth.

Projects

  • Two roadside mirrors along a mountain path, suggesting two different paths.

    The Happy Planet Index

    Does living a good life have to cost the Earth? The Happy Planet Index shows that it's possible for a nation to have high well-being with a low ecological footprint.

  • A pile of cherries

    National Accounts of Well-being

    The first comprehensive international analysis of well-being provides an alternative measure of national progress to GDP.

  • Five water lillies in the rain | by Pandiyan

    Five Ways to Well-being

    Based on the latest scientific evidence, nef has created a set of five simple actions which can improve well-being in everyday life.

  • Jumping children against a sunset

    Children and young people's well-being

    By investing now in the well-being of children and young people, the UK would save billions in public spending on future social problems.

  • The High Line in New York, a disused railway line which is now a public park

    The Great Transition

    Finding ways to survive and thrive through financial crises, climate change and the peak and decline of global oil production.

Publications