Did you know that 1 out of 7 Thai adolescents are suffering from mental illness? According to UNICEF, a variety of risk factors such as experience with violence and the pandemic contribute to the prevalence of exacerbated mental health among youth. Despite policy interventions from the public health sector, essential psycho-social support is still beyond the reach of many. “If we don’t take care of our children and adolescents’ mental well-being properly, we are putting the whole society in jeopardy,” declared the UNICEF Representative for Thailand.
In the mainstream of public policy scholarship, economic growth and how much we sell or buy things from other countries are measurements of how well we are doing as a country. But a country is made up of people, and people’s lives — as well as the societal context in which they live — are simply not reflected in monetary value. The GDP cannot tell of the stigma around mental health that puts a distance between youth in need and the very system designed to help them. It does not show the human cost that accrues from leaving youth to struggle on their own, in silence. The GDP does not know what a person needs, or will need in order to survive the future.
Diverging from the public policy convention is a grand challenge for all, but luckily it is not a road yet taken. Some countries have already departed from the same, old metrics of GDP. For example, governments across the world have come together to form the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership (WEGo), an international group of experts that share knowledge and best practices about the economy centred on wellbeing and quality of life. Scotland, one of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, has taken a critical stance against the GDP growth, arguing that it “is closely linked to increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other,” “does not distinguish between production that directly serves a human need and production that is needed to defend against avoidable damage,” and “is no longer a good predictor for health.”
In this article, we will take you on a journey to see how other countries experimented with new definitions of a ‘good’ society.
New Zealand — taking care of each other’s heart with the Wellbeing Budget
In the past, the public health sector in New Zealand strictly prioritised people with severe mental health issues. In order to make healthcare more inclusive and responsive to all New Zealanders, the Government of New Zealand adopted “the Wellbeing approach,” or public policy oriented towards the quality of life of all people, mediated by collaboration between the government and local communities. The Wellbeing approach specifically allocated budgets for 5 areas of national wellbeing, including just transition; physical and mental wellbeing, particularly that of youth; future of work; empowerment of Māori and Pacific peoples; and child wellbeing. As for mental health, the government has expanded its frontline services, a primary preventive mechanism that responds to calls for help with urgency, and culturally sensitive approaches to mental health for indigenous peoples.
The US — arts for the society
The National Endowment for the Arts Research Labs (NEA Research Labs) believes that data and arts wield the power to uplift subjective wellbeing of the people, and the “the Arts Impact Measurement System” (AIMS) is the proof and measurement of their faith. Developed as an application for researchers who work on the social impact of performing arts, the AIMS uses data to trace the causal link between performing arts and subjective wellbeing, such as opera’s ability in increasing positive attitudes toward veterans with posttraumatic stress and housing instability issues.
Singapore — thinking ahead of the water scarcity game
Singapore is known for its strong free-market economy and high per capita GDP. But the country is in dire need of one thing: water. For Singapore, a country with a territory of mere 720 square kilometres, creating a massive catchment for storing water is technically impossible. At the same time, demand for water in Singapore keeps growing and growing in each passing year, and policymakers estimate that 2026 might be the year the consumption of water in Singapore doubles from the present amount, which is 430 million gallons per day.
But the Government of Singapore has been up for the challenge. Back in 1972 it created the Water Master Plan, or a water management strategy that also considered future needs of water. One of the selected water sources was recycled waste, and in 2003 the government initiated a waste-recycling project called “NEWater.” This project subjected used water through the purification process, then merged disinfected with rainwater before treating it for household consumption. In 2017 NEWater accounted for more than 40% of water supply in Singapore, and it is expected to supply up to 55% of water in 2060.
Kenya — community empowerment through decentralised policymaking
Grass roots are where Kenyan public policy originates, and the beating heart of the country’s 2010 constitution, in which accountability, transparency, and participation were enshrined. The Government of Kenya has promoted decentralisation as a way to empower local communities from the bottom up. Measures taken to devolve power include extending budget decision-making power to the local level, providing support to local governments in realising their policy goals (e.g. food security and housing stability), and enhancing civic participation in policy design by reaching out to the targeted demographic for feedback. These policy tools are instrumental in making public policy that reflects the needs of people from the centre to the margins, across all administrative levels.
What do you think about the examples above? As each country has different issues and different socio-economic context, their understanding of wellbeing is also captured by different political and policy imagination. Perhaps we can start by not following their footsteps methodologically, but by returning to the very first and fundamental question: what is wellbeing? As Jacquie McGlade, a professor of sustainability and resilience at University College London, said:
The first thing we have to do is get out there. Take the policy writing out of the capital and ask communities ‘what does wellbeing look like? What does it mean to you? This process generates solidarity and ensures a connection to context and what people really want. It’s important to recognise that when you do this in different locations, you will get different answers.
Sources:
[Singapore Handbook of Public Policy] Water policy in Singapore. (2017, May 16). Global-Is-Asian (GIA).
Is New Zealand’s Wellbeing Budget worth all the hype? – from contributor Michael Mintrom. (n.d.). Centre for Public Impact (CPI).
Iyengar, S. (2023, March 2). Arts and Well-Being Data for a New Policy Era. The National Endowment for the Arts.
Jaquiery, A. (2022, January 26). New Zealand: Changing the Conversation on Well-Being. IMF.
Kenya – Decentralising Policy Implementation : Wellbeing Economy Alliance. (n.d.). Wellbeing Economy Alliance 2022 . Retrieved October 20, 2023.
PUB. (2019). Singapore Water Story. PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency; PUB.
The Wellbeing Approach – Budget 2023 – 18 May 2023. (n.d.). NZ 2023 Budget.
Wellbeing economy policy design guide. (2021, March). The C40 Knowledge Hub.
What is a Wellbeing Economy : Wellbeing Economy Alliance. (n.d.). Weall.org.