Measuring National Well-being

A joint meeting of the Official Statistics and Social Statistics Sections will take place on

8th March 2012 at 5pm with tea/coffee from 4.30pm, at the RSS, 12 Errol Street EC1Y 8LX

Speakers

Paul Allin, Director: Measuring National Well-being (MNW) programme, Office for National Statistics

Charles Seaford, Head of the Centre for Well-being, New Economics Foundation, will respond as a discussant.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Measuring National Well-being (MNW) programme aims to develop and publish an accepted and trusted set of National Statistics to understand and monitor well-being.

The programme was launched in November 2010 with a national debate on ‘What matters to you?’ to improve understanding of what should be included in measures of the nation’s well-being. Further information on the programme is at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/well-being/index.html

ONS has been undertaking  a consultation seeking views on a proposed set of domains (aspects of national well-being) and headline indicators which were outlined in the discussion paper “Measuring National Well-being - Discussion paper on domains and measures” (31 October 2011). The domains and indicators were developed from responses to the national debate, research into well-being and international initiatives.

In addition, ONS have recently released initial experimental results looking at individuals assessments of their own well-being, collected via ONS’s Opinions survey.

Attendance is free and open to all, but pre-registration is recommended. You can register by email meetings@rss.org.uk or by phone (020) 7638 8998. 
For further information about the meeting contact Charles Lound or David Matz (charles.lound@ons.gsi.gov.uk or david.matz@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk)

Measuring National Well-being - what matters to you?

Tuesday 12 April 2011, 5.00 - 7.00pm
Alcuin Research Resource Centre (ARRC), University of York

The Office for National Statistics are developing new measures of national well-being and they want to know what matters to you. Experts from ONS, the University of York and the Equality and Human Rights Commission will be on hand to answer your questions, listen to your views and debate the issues around which facets of life are valuable to your sense of well-being and how we should try to measure them.


The panel will be:
Prof Kate Pickett - University of York, author of ‘The Spirit Level: Why more Equal Societies Almost Always do Better’
Aileen Simkins - Senior Responsible Owner of the Measuring National Well-being Programme, Office for National Statistics
Prof Jonathan Bradshaw - University of York, author of ‘Developing an Index of Children’s Subjective Well-being in England’
David Darton - Director of Foresight, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Prof Roy Sainsbury - University of York, Research Director, Welfare and Employment, Social Policy Research Unit

The debate is free and open to all, however registration is important as places are limited. Please book a place at: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1487839167

Background information from ONS is available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/well-being.

Debate on the validity of subjective measures of well-being

Are national statistics on subjective well-being valid and reliable?

Monday 4 April 2011, 5.00 - 6.30pm with drinks reception to follow 6.30-7.30pm

Venue: Alexander Theatre, Samuel Alexander Building, University of Manchester, Lime Grove (off Oxford Road), Manchester, M13 9PL (Building number 67 on the campus map)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and methods@manchester are holding a debate on “Are national statistics on subjective well-being valid and reliable?” at the University of Manchester. This supports the national debate on measuring national well-being.

The panel members will be asked questions from the chair and members of the audience. Please register in advance of the event and submit your questions on the registration form. Background material on the issues of well-being and related documents can be found on the ONS website.

Chair: Mark Easton

Panel members include:  
Richard Wilkinson (author of The Spirit Level)
Andrew Oswald (member of the advisory committee on well-being to the ONS)
Stephen Hicks (Assistant Deputy Director of Measuring National Well-being, ONS)
David Hulme (Executive Director of the Brooks World Poverty Institute)

This event is free and open to all, however registration is important as places are limited. Please book a place at www.methods.manchester.ac.uk/events/2011-04-04/

RSS Workshop on Measuring Wellbeing

Thursday 17th March: 11.00-17.00
Royal Statistical Society, 12 Errol Street, London EC1Y 8LX

The RSS is hosting a one-day workshop as part of tha national debate on measuring wellbeing.

Thanks to support from the Office for National Statistics there is no charge for attendance but places are strictly limited.

To book your place please email conference@rss.org.uk

Programme:

11:00 - 11:30 Registration
11:30 – 12:40 Session 1 – National Wellbeing Key note speakers and panel session
- Jil Matheson (National Statistician)
- Walter Radermacher (EuroStat)
- Adrian Allsop (ESRC)
12.40 – 13:00 Keynote speech: David Willetts MP
13:00 – 13:45 Lunch
13:45 – 15:00 Session 2 – Data gaps and availability
(series of short presentations followed by table discussion)
- Paul Allin (ONS)
- Andrew Rzepa (Gallup)
- David Caplan (Audit Commission)
15:00 – 15:30 Refreshments
15:30 – 16:30 Session 3 - National wellbeing measures – empowering the citizen
(series of presentations on disseminating the data to the wider audience)
- Juliet Michaelson (New Economics Foundation)
- Andrew Collinge (GLA)
- Andrew Walkingshaw (Timetric)
16:30 – 17:00 Next steps and close