The ONS in the UK produces a report called Personal Well-Being in the UK. This In the News looks at some of the highlights from the report published in 2018, for the period June 2017 to June 2018.
The ONS report showed that there was no change in average life satisfaction in the UK. Happiness and anxiety ratings did not change, but fewer people reported low happiness ratings and there were more people who said their anxiety rating was ‘low’, with much of this improvement being driven by ratings from England. When looking at the different regions of the UK, reports of personal well-being ratings in Wales were lower than in the rest of the UK, better in Northern Ireland and no change in Scotland.
Of the four high-level measures, satisfaction with life was 7.7, feeling that what one does in life is worthwhile at 7.9 and happiness yesterday, 7.5. The report on feelings of anxiety yesterday was 2.9. All these figures are out of 10.
The report showed that compared to the years ending June 2017 and June 2018, there were no significant changes in any of the key measures of personal well-being in the UK.
The report offered some tentative reasons for the findings. The improvement in the economy since the Financial Crisis 2007–9 may be one reason and in particular the improvement in the labour market where unemployment was at historically low levels.
There were geographical differences highlighted by the report. Annual gross disposable household income in Wales was some £3,600 lower than in England at £15,835. Needless to say, reports of being mostly or completely satisfied with their income was lower at 42.1 per cent compared to 45.6 per cent in England. The median full-time weekly wage for Wales was second to the North East of England.
Critical Thinking Questions
1 What do you think is the value of the Personal Well-Being report and why do you think the ONS produces it?
2 What do you think is a better measure of well-being, a self-report survey style measure such as the Personal Well-Being report or GDP?

3 Of the four high-level measures, would you expect that if the first three show increased reports of well-being that the fourth must always be falling? Explain.
4 Inflation rose faster than wages in the UK for several years between 2010 and 2017. How do you think this might affect reports in the four high-level measures?
5 How reliable do you think reports such as the Personal Well-Being report are as a measure of well-being in the economy?