By Gabriel Princewill
Economists and politicians can make happiness of people the main objective of government policy. That’s the verdict of renowned academic professor Layard, whose book on well being was published on January 30.
Layard insists that there is already ample evidence to evaluate public spending on the criteria of how much happiness each policy yields per pound of expenditure.” The outstanding former Researcher at LSE on the Robbins Committee on Higher Education Report believes happiness can be measured.His work on mental health, including publishing The Depression Report in 2006, led to the establishment of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme in England.
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Speaking to the press from his office at the Centre for Economic performance, the prominent academic was confident about the practicality of measuring happiness.“It’s just as easy to measure how happy a child is as it is to measure how well they’re doing in a particular subject at school, he said.
“There is no reason why we couldn’t restore balance to our education system by measuring the progress of a child’s happiness within the school system.” He elevates happiness above material success. Professor Layard says: “We assume things you can touch are more important than what people feel. But subjective experiences are the things that really matter to us in our lives; what we really want is for ourselves and those we love is that they should feel good about their life.”
ADMIRABLE
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Professor Layard’s work is particularly admirable because it focusing on how better mental health could improve our social and economic life. His work on mental health, including publishing The Depression Report in 2006, led to the establishment of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme in England. The Eton and Cambridge educated author is also co-editor of the World’s Happiness Report with John F. Hellwell and Jeffrey Sachs
Professor Layard says: “We assume things you can touch are more important than what people feel. But subjective experiences are the things that really matter to us in our lives; what we really want is for ourselves and those we love is that they should feel good about their life.”
“Mental health is being taken much more seriously, there is also much more public interest in spending public money on things which really matter to how people feel, as opposed to things you can touch and see, like bridges and railways.”
“Happiness is something that really matters to people. Mental health problems, family problems and problems of loneliness, these are the things which people worry about.
HAPPY SOCIETY
A happier society is key to a prosperous one, in the same way a happy child is important to a successful one. His book on happiness will be read and analysed by a number of academics at the LSE and The Eye Of Media.Com team and a number of academics to see how much a model it can be for inspiring school pupils and also adults in general.
“I think we need a happier society. And if people read this book, they will see we already have all the evidence and tools we need to make ourselves happier,” he said as his book is discussed on its LSE website and to be appraised .
“But at the level of society this becomes a zero-sum, with a loser for every winner. This is unpleasant for the people that lose, but also no good for the winners as it generates a lot of stress.”
In the book, Professor Layard collates information from varied sources which he says are relevant to different professions and integral to the contribution of societal well being. He posits the view that a philosophy and science which encompasses a much fuller range of human need and experience is imperative to the maximisation of the human well being
EDUCATION
On education, professor Layard says both individual teachers and the culture of the school are vital to children’s day-to-day and future happiness. “Primary school teachers have a long-lasting effect on the children they teach right up to the age of 20. We need a well being code which can be used by all schools, to teach pupils proper life skills that can be used within the child’s time at the school and beyond.”
The workplace, where adults spend much of their lives is a key factor in determining an individual’s happiness. Professor Layard laments the fact many adults report not enjoying their work place. “This is a terrible indictment of management culture. We need a greater contribution from employees to worker boards, and change how we pay employees through the bonus culture. Enforced rankings in this way actually causes much more unhappiness and demotivation.”
“Mental health is being taken much more seriously, there is also much more public interest in spending public money on things which really matter to how people feel, as opposed to things you can touch and see, like bridges and railways.” “Happiness is something that really matters to people. Mental health problems, family problems and problems of loneliness, these are the things which people worry about.
PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPIES
Layard’s mental health work is also credited with resulting in the development of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), an initiative to improve access to psychological therapies in the United Kingdom.
In 2014, he published the book Thrive with clinical psychologist David M. Clark: The Power of Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies. The two authors demonstrated the potential value of the wider availability of modern talking therapies, dedicating a chapter to preventative measures of mental illness.
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