Scotland's wellbeing economy: July 2025

6. Wellbeing Economy case studies

The wellbeing economy approach has been embedded in different ways in economic systems across the world. Some examples are given below.

Wellbeing Budget (New Zealand)

In 2019, New Zealand unveiled its first Wellbeing Budget. This approach was built around the New Zealand Treasury's Living Standards Framework (LSF), a national measurement framework used for considering the intergenerational wellbeing impacts of policies and proposals. In 2018, an online LSF Dashboard providing a range of quality of life indicators was released.

Five priorities for the Wellbeing Budget were selected by combining data from the LSF Dashboard with expert advice to identify outcomes where New Zealand could do better. Cabinet Committees worked together closely to develop packages of measures within each priority area. All budget proposals were assessed on the difference they would make across a range of economic, social, environmental, and cultural considerations.

Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 (Wales)

The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 is a landmark piece of legislation in Wales that aims to improve the social, economic, environmental, and cultural wellbeing of the nation for current and future generations. It legally binds public bodies to consider long-term impacts, collaborate effectively, and prioritise wellbeing in decision-making.

The Act established Public Service Boards, which are local partnerships of public bodies that work together to achieve the wellbeing goals in their local area. An independent Future Generations Commissioner for Wales was appointed to advise and support public bodies in implementing the Act.

The Future Generations Report 2025 is a comprehensive assessment of progress towards achieving the seven wellbeing goals outlined in the Act. A key milestone in Wales's journey towards a sustainable future and published by the Future Generations Commissioner, the report highlights both successes and challenges and serves as a tool for decision-makers to make informed choices and improve the wellbeing of current and future generations in Wales.

Early Intervention Investment Framework (Victoria, Australia)

The Victorian Government’s Early Intervention Investment Framework (EIIF) is helping guide early interventions to improve the lives of citizens and deliver better outcomes across the service system.

By linking government funding to quantifiable impacts both for people using the services as well as the service system, the EIIF guides investments to where timely assistance will improve outcomes for individuals and reduce pressure on acute services.

This has included Victoria State increasing its preventative spend from 1 per cent to 10 per cent over a 5 year period. To date, the Victorian Government has invested $2.7 billion through the EIIF, with more than $3 billion anticipated to be generated in economic and financial benefits.

Community Wealth Building (Preston, United Kingdom)

Preston Council in Lancashire has led a radical new approach to models of ownership, economic participation and procurement practice, across a partnership of local institutions. The original model was trialled in Cleveland, Ohio.

This has led to a shared commitment and strategic focus to develop a more generative local economy by addressing issues of wealth distribution and extraction across the local area. In 2018, Preston was identified by Demos and PwC as Britain’s most improved city, demonstrating the enormous positive impact this can create.

Gross National Happiness Index (Bhutan)

With its robust measure of wellbeing, the GNH Index plays a crucial role in informing decision-making at various government levels, from local to national. Policymakers can use disaggregated and indicator-specific findings to prioritize interventions aimed at enhancing wellbeing. The index also facilitates regional comparisons, providing insights into the distribution of wellbeing, identifying disparities and inequalities, and guiding resource allocation by governments and organizations.

National Action Plan for the Economy of Wellbeing (Finland)

The Action Plan seeks to ensure that information describing wellbeing will be used increasingly in decision-making along with information describing economic and environmental sustainability. The objective is to integrate the economy of wellbeing into national, regional and local decision-making.

Quality of Life Framework for Canada (Canada)

The Quality of Life Framework for Canada, released in 2021, brings together data across five domains (i.e., prosperity, health, society, environment and good governance) to measure progress on what matters most to Canadians and help drive evidence-based decision making towards improved well-being.

The Framework also includes two cross-cutting lenses, which are applied across all domains. The fairness and inclusion lens builds from disaggregated data to assess the distribution of outcomes for quality of life indicators for different regions and populations in Canada. The sustainability and resilience lens promotes long-term thinking about quality of life in Canada to ensure that today’s progress is not being achieved at the expense of future generations.

Prosperity Act (Iceland)

The Prosperity Act takes an integrative, early-intervention approach to enhancing children's wellbeing, with a dashboard that offers a detailed view of its implementation and outcomes. Early investment in children can reduce the occurrence of adverse childhood experiences and mitigate their impact. Furthermore, Economic Impact Assessment demonstrates that investing at this early stage is cost-effective and will deliver long-term returns.

Working with Business (Scotland)

The New Deal for Business was a time-limited programme put in place to improve how the Scottish Government works with business by implementing recommendations set out in an Implementation Plan published in October 2023. A wellbeing economy subgroup led on considering how business and government can better work together to achieve a shared understanding of the role and contribution of business in Scotland’s transition to a wellbeing economy.

The subgroup produced a description of What Wellbeing Economy means for Business setting out how private enterprises can contribute by being fairer and greener as they grow their business, recognising the importance of promoting the interests of employees, suppliers, communities, society, and the environment, as well as customers and investors. Building on the work of the Business Purpose Commission, it contains examples of practical actions that businesses can take, such as:

• transparency in finances, social and environmental impacts
• paying the real Living Wage and offering Living Hours
• attracting, supporting, and retaining under-represented groups
• supporting employees’ health and wellbeing
• using resources sustainably
• being actively involved in their communities

The description signposts to further resources and frameworks that businesses can use to measure their progress.

The Subgroup also led work to reflect the contribution businesses can make to improving people’s health in the Population Health Framework. A Business Community Summary identifies the role businesses can play as employers, as providers of products and services and as community anchors and sets out where business fits into the wider health system. This has supported Programme for Government commitments to improve access to health and work support for employers and people, which is part of a package of measures to address economic inactivity and contribute to achieving Scottish Government priorities to boost economic growth and eradicate child poverty.