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VOL. 4, ISSUE 1 (2022)
Measuring well-being: An overview
Authors
R Nagabhushan
Abstract
Using monetary measure like GDP per capita as a proxy for well-being of
the people was accepted in many countries. However, in recent years, concerns
have emerged that indicators such as GDP don’t provide a sufficiently detailed
picture of the living conditions that ordinary people experience. They have
failed to give a true account of people’s current and future living conditions.
Data on GDP provide only a partial perspective on the broad range of factors
that matter to people’s lives. Of course, GDP per capita can measure a
country’s capacity to deal with the material needs of its residents. However,
as more and more developed societies have been moving away from a situation of
scarcity to a situation of plenty, use of GDP per capita as a good proxy
measure of well-being is no more the obvious choice for economists. The need to
go ‘beyond GDP’ is now fully recognized at international level. It is felt that
the time is ripe to shift emphasis from measuring economic production to
measuring people’s well-being. In recent years, there has been an increased
interest in defining and measuring well-being. Well-being is multidimensional
in nature. It takes into account the material living standards such as income,
consumption and wealth; health; education; personal activities including work;
political voice and governance; social connections and relationships;
environment; and economic and physical insecurity. All these dimensions shape
people’s well-being. Conventional income measures fail to capture many of these
dimensions. This paper attempts to look at some of the approaches to measuring
well-being. The paper is based on the literature available on the subject.
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Pages:73-78
How to cite this article:
R Nagabhushan "Measuring well-being: An overview". International Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Vol 4, Issue 1, 2022, Pages 73-78
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