Measuring well-being in Europe

In 2007, nef, in collaboration with the Belgian think tank IDEA Consult and other partners, were commissioned by the European Statistics Agency (Eurostat) to carry out a Feasibility Study to explore how well-being could be measured across Europe. The original intention was to incorporate these indicators into their Sustainable Development Indicator set, but the project soon became part of the European Commission’s broader GDP and Beyond programme of work on how to measure progress. The Feasibility Study concluded in 2010, with a critical review, lead by nef.

Since the Study, Eurostat have introduced a Well-Being module into their main social survey, the Survey of Individual Living Conditions (SILC) in 2013.  Under the direction of the Directors General of the European national statistics offices, they have also set up a Sponsorship Group for measuring progress, well-being and sustainable development. 

This year, 2011, nef and IDEA Consult have been commissioned to continue this work, looking at how to implement the recommendations for measuring well-being and update them in the light of these initiatives. The work will involve investigating the impacts of cultural biases on responses to well-being survey questions, identifying the key drivers of well-being within Europe through micro-analysis, and exploring the inequalities in well-being within countries.