The use of well-being metrics in national parliaments:an exploratory study of Scotland and Italy

At its deepest level, moving “beyond GDP” does not just involve measuring well-being differently, but putting well-being at the heart of policymaking. While previous research has found low levels of use and impact of well-being metrics for policy purposes, no research has ever been undertaken to investigate the extent to which well-being metrics have been deployed as part of parliamentary activity, and more specifically during parliamentary debates. This article fills this gap by examining the parliamentary referencing of a set of well-being metrics in Scotland and Italy, both pioneering countries in the measurement of well-being. Data were collected using, for Scotland, TheyWorkForYou.com, and, for Italy, the official reports of the Chamber and the Senate, the two houses of the Italian Parliament. Findings show that the use of well-being metrics in both parliaments has been low overall. The two countries’ official well-being frameworks were essentially the only metrics parliamentarians ever referred to, especially when key moments related to the frameworks’ refresh or institutionalization occurred. Findings also show that economic crises, often referenced in the literature as stimulating change, played a deterrent role, while composite indices do not seem to have particular communicative strengths.