Twelve The poverty of well-being
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Mike Tomlinson
Abstract
This chapter challenges the popular focus on well-being or happiness as the new over-arching policy goal of public and private sectors. It argues instead for a traditional social policy focus on income distribution and social justice as the means to achieve the greatest improvements in well-being. Using a variety of measures, data from the PSE-UK 2012 survey are analysed to demonstrate the material basis of well-being and low life satisfaction. The results show that average well-being scores for those living in poverty are well below the scores for the non-poor. Living with a limiting illness or disability was also found to have a substantial negative effect on well-being. Overall satisfaction with life falls more sharply as household incomes fall, indicating that there are particular gains to be had from focusing on the material needs of the most disadvantaged. Income redistribution is not therefore a zero-sum game. Rather, the results show that the lives of the poor and the long-term sick and disabled would be measurably improved by lifting them out of poverty and improving their material conditions. All in all, the results challenge the idea that well-being is ‘all in the mind’ and detached from material resources.
Abstract
This chapter challenges the popular focus on well-being or happiness as the new over-arching policy goal of public and private sectors. It argues instead for a traditional social policy focus on income distribution and social justice as the means to achieve the greatest improvements in well-being. Using a variety of measures, data from the PSE-UK 2012 survey are analysed to demonstrate the material basis of well-being and low life satisfaction. The results show that average well-being scores for those living in poverty are well below the scores for the non-poor. Living with a limiting illness or disability was also found to have a substantial negative effect on well-being. Overall satisfaction with life falls more sharply as household incomes fall, indicating that there are particular gains to be had from focusing on the material needs of the most disadvantaged. Income redistribution is not therefore a zero-sum game. Rather, the results show that the lives of the poor and the long-term sick and disabled would be measurably improved by lifting them out of poverty and improving their material conditions. All in all, the results challenge the idea that well-being is ‘all in the mind’ and detached from material resources.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures iv
- Glossary viii
- Notes on contributors xii
- Acknowledgements xv
- Introduction 1
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Resources
- Fifty years of poverty in the UK 27
- Living standards in the UK 57
- Severe poverty and destitution 91
- Poverty, local services and austerity 113
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Participation
- Social participation and social support 137
- Employment, poverty and social exclusion 159
- Poverty, social exclusion and civic engagement 179
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Quality of life
- Poverty and health: thirty years of progress? 203
- Housing and the living environment 225
- Poverty and social harm: challenging discourses of risk, resilience and choice 245
- Financial inclusion, financial stress and debt 267
- The poverty of well-being 289
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Bringing it together
- The multidimensional analysis of social exclusion 311
- Conclusions and emerging themes 343
- Index 363
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of tables and figures iv
- Glossary viii
- Notes on contributors xii
- Acknowledgements xv
- Introduction 1
-
Resources
- Fifty years of poverty in the UK 27
- Living standards in the UK 57
- Severe poverty and destitution 91
- Poverty, local services and austerity 113
-
Participation
- Social participation and social support 137
- Employment, poverty and social exclusion 159
- Poverty, social exclusion and civic engagement 179
-
Quality of life
- Poverty and health: thirty years of progress? 203
- Housing and the living environment 225
- Poverty and social harm: challenging discourses of risk, resilience and choice 245
- Financial inclusion, financial stress and debt 267
- The poverty of well-being 289
-
Bringing it together
- The multidimensional analysis of social exclusion 311
- Conclusions and emerging themes 343
- Index 363
