Finance:Wellbeing economy

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Short description: Public policy framework

Wellbeing economy is a public policy framework in which the economy is designed to serve social, health, cultural, equity and nature outcomes.[1][2] The aim is to go beyond gross domestic product (GDP) as the main measure of national economic performance. Since the early 2000s there has been growing interest in wellbeing as a framework in research, measurement and policy.[3]

National and international adoption

A number of countries have introduced wellbeing metrics to guide public policy decision-making and inform budgetary processes with a focus on education and skills, health, gender and inclusion.[3] The approach has been adopted as national policy in a number of countries including Scotland,[4] New Zealand, Iceland, Wales,[5] Finland and Canada which established the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership (WEGo) in 2021.[6]

Intergovernmental organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) have also adopted wellbeing as a whole-of-government approach to meet complex social, environmental and public health challenges. This was first articulated in 2021 with the adoption of the Geneva Charter for Wellbeing.[7] and in May 2023 the WHO Assembly adopted A global framework for integrating well-being into public health utilizing a health promotion approach.[8]

The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) is the leading collaboration of organisations, alliances, movements and individuals working towards a Wellbeing Economy. WEAll was born in 2018 as a time-bound project to catalyse a transition towards a Wellbeing Economy by promoting radical connection and collaboration between different actors of the new economy ecosystem, so they can achieve impact larger than the sum of their parts.[9]

Ambassadors of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance include: Bayo Akomolafe, James Gustave Speth, Darrick Hamilton, Sophie Howe, Katherine Trebeck, Abdul El-Sayed, Ayabonga Cawe, Carolina Urrutia Vásquez, Christian Felber, David Korten, Giancarlo Pucci, Jason Hickel, Kate Pickett, Kate Raworth, Kristin Vala Ragnarsdottir, Lebohang Liepollo Pheko, Neva Goodwin, Pedro Tarak, Dirk Philipsen, Peter Blom, Rajiv Joshi, Richard Wilkinson, Robert Costanza, Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, Sharan Burrow, Tim Jackson, Bill McKibben, Victor Mochkofsky, and Michael Mezzatesta.[10]

Well-being washing

Well-being washing or WW (a compound word modeled on "whitewashing") is a form of advertising or marketing spin that deceptively uses public relations and platitudes to persuade the public that an entity cares about employee health and well-being.[11][12] In place of genuine support, superficial gestures like one-off yoga classes, talks, or perks are offered that don't address underlying issues like excess hours, lack of autonomy, and work-life balance.[13][14] Well-being washing may attempt to remediate the symtpoms of an organization without addressing the underlying root cause.[15]

Well-being washing coincides with the rise of green-washing and the emergence of the wellbeing economy.[13][16][17]

Notable examples

Australia

Bhutan

Canada

Finland

Germany

Iceland

Netherlands

New Zealand

New Zealand was a pioneer in this space. In May 2019, under Jacinda Ardern's Labour Government, New Zealand launched the country’s first Wellbeing Budget, which committed to putting people’s wellbeing and the environment at the heart of its policies. Rather than focus solely on GDP, they picked five priority areas: climate and environment, productive work, Māori and Pacific opportunities, child wellbeing, and mental and physical health.[18]

Prime Minister Ardern stated: “The purpose of government spending is to ensure citizens’ health and life satisfaction, and that — not wealth or economic growth — is the metric by which a country’s progress should be measured. GDP alone does not guarantee improvement to our living standards and does not take into account who benefits and who is left out.”[19]

The approach was scraped by the subsequent National-led coalition government in 2024.

New Zealand has an active hub of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, called Wellbeing Economy Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand (WEAll Aotearoa NZ). On their website WEAll Aotearoa describe themselves as "a non-partisan and independent ‘think and do’ tank working to redesign Aotearoa New Zealand’s economy around the wellbeing of our people and te taiao. We use an evidence-informed approach and focus upstream to develop practical, long-term solutions for the public good."[20]

United Kingdom

England

[21]

Scotland

Wales

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Public opinion

A survey made by Ipsos for the organization Earth4All in 17 of the G20 countries, found that 68% of the respondents support prioritizing wellbeing over profit.[22]

See also

OECD Better Life Initiative

International Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) group

References

  1. ↑ McCartney, Gerry; Hensher, Martin; Trebeck, Katherine (2023-07-05). "How to measure progress towards a wellbeing economy: distinguishing genuine advances from 'window dressing'". Public Health Research & Practice 33 (2). doi:10.17061/phrp3322309. PMID 37406651. 
  2. ↑ Fioramonti, Lorenzo; Coscieme, Luca; Costanza, Robert; Kubiszewski, Ida; Trebeck, Katherine; Wallis, Stewart; Roberts, Debra; Mortensen, Lars F. et al. (2022). "Wellbeing economy: An effective paradigm to mainstream post-growth policies?". Ecological Economics 192. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107261. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Nozal, Ana Llena; Martin, Neil; Martin, Fabrice. The Economy of Well-being: Creating Opportunities for People's Well-being and Economic Growth (Report). OECD. http://www.oecd.org/sdd/publicationsdocuments/workingpapers/. 
  4. ↑ "Building a New Scotland: A stronger economy with independence - summary". Scottish Government. https://www.gov.scot/publications/building-new-scotland-stronger-economy-independence-summary/. 
  5. ↑ "Wellbeing of Wales". September 28, 2023. https://www.gov.wales/wellbeing-wales. 
  6. ↑ "Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGO)" (in en). https://weall.org/wego. 
  7. ↑ The Geneva Charter for Well-being (Report). World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/the-geneva-charter-for-well-being. 
  8. ↑ Achieving well-being: a global framework for integrating well-being into public health utilizing a health promotion approach (Report). World Health Organisation. 30 May 2023. https://www.who.int/teams/health-promotion/enhanced-well-being. 
  9. ↑ "About WEAll". 21 July 2025. https://weall.org/about-weall. 
  10. ↑ "WEAll Ambassadors". 21 July 2025. https://weall.org/ambassadors. 
  11. ↑ Morel, David. "How To Avoid Wellbeing Washing: Ensuring Genuine Employee Support" (in en). Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmorel/2024/08/06/how-to-avoid-wellbeing-washing/. 
  12. ↑ Pritchard, Kate (6 December 2023). "What is 'wellbeing washing,' and is your org guilty of it?". HR Executive. https://hrexecutive.com/what-is-wellbeing-washing-and-is-your-org-guilty-of-it/. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Ryan, Éadaoin; Imbusch, Niamh; Kinahan, Mary; Guilfoyle, Róisín (December 2025). "Current understanding and theories of wellbeing washing in the context of workplace health and wellbeing: A scoping review protocol". MethodsX 15. doi:10.1016/j.mex.2025.103452. PMID 40657207. 
  14. ↑ Rössler, Wulf (20 February 2024). "Wellbeing washing" (in en). Insights in Public Mental Health: 2022. Frontiers Media SA. pp. 28. ISBN 978-2-8325-4490-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=9Vn2EAAAQBAJ&dq=Wellbeing+washing&pg=PA28. 
  15. ↑ Hodges, Julie (3 August 2025). "Ensuring positive mental health and wellbeing" (in en). Managing and Leading People through Organizational Change: The Theory and Practice of Sustaining Change through People. Kogan Page Publishers. pp. 255–256. ISBN 978-1-3986-2150-3. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Managing_and_Leading_People_through_Orga/iI13EQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22wellbeing+washing%22&pg=PA255&printsec=frontcover. 
  16. ↑ Hayden, Anders (January 2025). "Buzzword or breakthrough beyond growth? The mainstreaming of the Wellbeing Economy". Ecological Economics 227. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108375. 
  17. ↑ Jackson, Steven J.; Sam, Michael P.; Dawson, Marcelle C. (11 July 2024). "The Contested Terrain of Sport and Well-Being: Health and Wellness or Wellbeing Washing?". Social Sciences 13 (7): 366. doi:10.3390/socsci13070366. 
  18. ↑ Walters, Laura. "The Wellbeing Budget is dead". Newsroom. https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/03/22/the-wellbeing-budget-is-dead/. 
  19. ↑ "New Zealand implementing the wellbeing budget". https://weall.org/resource/new-zealand-implementing-the-wellbeing-budget. 
  20. ↑ "About Us". https://www.weall.org.nz/about. 
  21. ↑ "Thriving Places Index". Centre for Thriving Places. https://www.centreforthrivingplaces.org/thriving-places-index/. 
  22. ↑ Allgood, Beth. "Understanding the Global Call for Wellbeing: Insights from Earth4All's Latest Survey". https://onenatureinstitute.org/stories/understanding-the-global-call-for-wellbeing-insights-from-earth4alls-latest-survey/. 



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