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Statistics show general well-being in Britain on the rise

Xinhua, September 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

A barometer of life in Britain compiled by the country's Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed Thursday that more than half of well-being indicators had improved over three years.

ONS set up its Measuring National Well-being (MNW) program in 2010, aimed at monitoring and reporting "how the UK as a whole is doing these days." It reaches its conclusions by producing accepted and trusted measures of the well-being of the nation.

The program assesses a set of headline indicators based on health, natural environment, personal finances, and crime.

The annual returns over time assess whether national well-being is improving or deteriorating.

Commenting on the latest figures for 2016, ONS said: "Areas of life which are getting better have been dominated by the improving economic picture; more people are in work, real median household income and net national disposable income have both risen and fewer report finding it difficult to get by financially."

Emissions of greenhouse gases continue to fall and more energy is being consumed from renewable sources, it added.

On the downside, ONS commented: "Despite continued improvements to the number of years we can expect to live in good health, the indicators for satisfaction with health, and the proportions reporting some evidence of anxiety or depression, have both deteriorated," said ONS.

It also found that although voter turnout increased in the 2015 general election, there had been a fall in those reporting trust in their national government, and fewer people felt they "belonged to their neighborhood."

In other areas which have improved in the last year, ONS said they included a fall in the number of crimes against the person and an increase in human capital -- the value of individuals' skills, knowledge and competences in the labor market -- which surpassed its pre-economic downturn peak for the first time.

Improvements have also been seen across environmental measures. Both greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumed from renewable sources are improving as they move towards their respective international targets, added ONS. Endit