Wellbeing: Meaning And Measurement

Abstract

This chapter discusses the most influential approaches to the meaning and measurement of wellbeing in current social policy debate. The use of subjective wellbeing metrics is advocated as part of a pluralist approach to normative social policy debate, adding to an evidence base that is primarily based on current material deprivation and future life chances. The conceptual and normative limitations of subjective wellbeing as a social metric are accepted and compared with richer accounts of human flourishing, notably the capabilities approach, and are to be used with some caution. But the use subjective wellbeing metrics is defended against the claim that it is an expression of a neoliberal ideology. It is further argued that subjective wellbeing has particular normative and empirical value in the housing debate, revealing important trends that underline the positive value of social housing.