Social Sustainability

Wellbeing Economy

Meaning statusEstablishedSource recordDirect document linkedWhy these are different

Definition

A wellbeing economy is an economic approach in which prosperity is defined and measured by the wellbeing of people and the planet — health, equality, social connection and environmental sustainability — rather than output alone. It reframes policy goals, budgets and indicators around wellbeing outcomes.

References

OECDHow's Life? Well-being frameworks

This reference provides supporting context for how “Wellbeing Economy” is defined and used.

weall.orgBulk import source

Source imported for editorial provenance.

Overview

How it is used

Governments publish wellbeing budgets and dashboards; statisticians develop beyond-GDP measures; the OECD How's Life framework and the UN beyond-GDP agenda provide measurement infrastructure; businesses reference the concept in purpose and stakeholder-capitalism strategies.

Why it matters

It provides a coherent alternative to GDP-centred policymaking, linking economic policy directly to social and environmental outcomes and informing post-growth and doughnut economics debates.