The Liberal Democrats have launched a consultation on how we can improve people’s quality of life. The Chair of the working group, Jeremy Hargreaves writes:
The financial and economic challenges of the last few months are surely the best possible reminder that the pursuit of ‘economic growth’ is not the only thing that matters.
In recent years, a new strand of thinking has focussed on whether what we do – both through government and in the private sector – for all its impressive performance against targets, actually improves our quality of life. We might on average earn more now than our forebears, but are we actually any happier than they were? For all of our modern “growth” and “progress”, are we actually living worse lives than those who came before us? This question should surely interest Liberal Democrats most of all, with our interest in what improves the lives of every citizen.
So the Federal Policy Committee has now set up a working group to look at issues around our Quality of Life: what this new area (sometimes called “wellbeing economics”) means; how it relates to Liberal Democrat values; and how it should influence the making of public policy. Please send us your contributions on these and other relevant issues, including personal experiences and professional expertise, or interesting articles to: articles@libdems.org.uk
The initial consultation paper can be found here.
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