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Making tomorrow better than today
How can business leaders and policymakers improve our wellbeing?
Put safety nets in place to support people through the cost-of-living crisis
Only 32% of people feel like they have a good level of wellbeing, and 67% say that the rising cost of living is affecting their wellbeing.
“The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the rising cost of living is the availability of the safety nets in the countries where people live. So, does the country have universal health insurance? Does the country have unemployment insurance policy? Wherever these basic safety nets are absent, the impacts will be felt much more strongly than in the countries where there are some in place.”
Put safety nets in place to support people through the cost-of-living crisis
Only 32% of people feel like they have a good level of wellbeing, and 67% say that the rising cost of living is affecting their wellbeing.
“The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the rising cost of living is the availability of the safety nets in the countries where people live. So, does the country have universal health insurance? Does the country have unemployment insurance policy? Wherever these basic safety nets are absent, the impacts will be felt much more strongly than in the countries where there are some in place.”
Unlock employee potential with psychologically safe workplaces
Feeling valued at work and having a healthy work-life balance come before job security and progression opportunities in their impact on wellbeing. But less than two-thirds of people say they experience these things.
“What employers need to create are psychologically safe environments and give their employees enough work-life balance. This will mean that employees can do whatever it is that brings them the kind of pleasure and happiness we traditionally think about, while also allowing them to be calmer and more content at work.”
Unlock employee potential with psychologically safe workplaces
Feeling valued at work and having a healthy work-life balance come before job security and progression opportunities in their impact on wellbeing. But less than two-thirds of people say they experience these things.
“What employers need to create are psychologically safe environments and give their employees enough work-life balance. This will mean that employees can do whatever it is that brings them the kind of pleasure and happiness we traditionally think about, while also allowing them to be calmer and more content at work.”
Power possibilities through financial services and advice
Financial difficulties are the greatest barrier to achieving a good level of wellbeing. Banks and financial services providers can improve people’s wellbeing by increasing access to secure financial services.
“Financial institutions have a big role to play in order to try to improve basic financial services, to provide tailored finance to individuals and SMEs.”
“Teaching finance from the very beginning of school, as well as promoting financial inclusion, entrepreneurship and employability, is key.”
Power possibilities through financial services and advice
Financial difficulties are the greatest barrier to achieving a good level of wellbeing. Banks and financial services providers can improve people’s wellbeing by increasing access to secure financial services.
“Financial institutions have a big role to play in order to try to improve basic financial services, to provide tailored finance to individuals and SMEs.”
“Teaching finance from the very beginning of school, as well as promoting financial inclusion, entrepreneurship and employability, is key.”
Adopt a more nuanced view of wellbeing to progress
Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, says that acknowledging the nuances of wellbeing will enable governments and employers to help citizens and employees.
“During our work in Bhutan, if we only looked at health, education and living standards, it would have been a purely positive picture. But because we considered elements such as mental health in our peripheral vision and recognised that individuals have different ideas about what ‘wellbeing’ means to them, we could see a lot more nuances in how society was changing. If we could do this in other societies, it would help because you'll see the perceptual alongside the objective.
It would be a natural progression for countries to explore a more nuanced data set, to give them the whole picture of their citizens’ needs.”
Adopt a more nuanced view of wellbeing to progress
Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, says that acknowledging the nuances of wellbeing will enable governments and employers to help citizens and employees.
“During our work in Bhutan, if we only looked at health, education and living standards, it would have been a purely positive picture. But because we considered elements such as mental health in our peripheral vision and recognised that individuals have different ideas about what ‘wellbeing’ means to them, we could see a lot more nuances in how society was changing. If we could do this in other societies, it would help because you'll see the perceptual alongside the objective.
It would be a natural progression for countries to explore a more nuanced data set, to give them the whole picture of their citizens’ needs.”
Explore further
What are the components of a good quality of life? Do people around the world have a good quality of life?
What should communities provide to improve citizens' wellbeing? Are some parts of society held back from participating in community life?
We explore what employers can do to improve the wellbeing of their workers, and how access to education and personal development makes a difference.
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain. It has a meaningful presence in 10 core markets in the Europe, North America and South America regions, and is one of the largest banks in the world by market capitalization. Santander aims to be the best open financial services platform providing services to individuals, SMEs, corporates, financial institutions and governments. The bank’s purpose is to help people and businesses prosper in a simple, personal and fair way. Santander is building a more responsible bank and has made a number of commitments to support this objective, including raising €220 billion in green financing between 2019 and 2030. In the first half of 2023, Banco Santander had €1.25 trillion in total funds, 164 million customers, 9,000 branches and 212,000 employees. www.santander.com
The information presented throughout the site is the result of a survey of 17,000 people from 15 countries, carried out by FT Longitude. This site is hosted on the Foleon platform, and Foleon's cookie policy and privacy policy apply.