The Wellbeing Economy is within reach—let’s grasp it for better health

Abstract

It is well understood that ensuring the health and wellbeing of the population and the planet requires action on a wide range of social, economic, cultural and environmental determinants. Current economic policies typically pay insufficient heed to these determinants compromising the future health of the planet and inadequately considering the impact of intergenerational transfer of wealth and resources. We now have a critical opportunity to pivot economic policy towards a wellbeing economy. As far back as Confucius, philosophers and leaders across political spectra have identified the benefits of societal wellbeing, though often using different terminology. Over the 20th century, however, economic policy is typically focussed on income, outputs, spending and economic prosperity as key measures of progress with less attention being paid to wellbeing measures such as equity, health, environment and culture. The notion of the ‘wellbeing economy’ is gaining traction as an approach to building sustainable and resilient ecosystems and wellbeing in the community. A wellbeing economy is one that is both prosperous and delivers equitable distribution of wealth, health and wellbeing, while protecting the planet’s resources for future generations and other species. It positions the economy as an enabler of societal outcomes, shifting the drivers of government decision-making away from economic growth for its own sake to an economy that is equitable, restorative and regenerative by design (Hough-Stewart et al., 2019).