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Quality of Life
By Roger Harrabin
Environment Correspondent. |
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Quality of life in Britain is getting better, according to a new government report.
The annual Indicators of Sustainable Development survey brings together official statistics on the economy, social welfare and the environment. The aim is to resolve whether we're simply getting richer or actually improving the quality of life for people today and generations to come.
The indicators trace 15 subjects, which are awarded a tick, cross or an equal to show whether they are getting better, worse or staying the same.
The document presents a largely optimistic picture with growing prosperity, better qualifications and a cleaner environment. People are also living longer; though over the past decade (except for last year) their health has not kept pace with their longevity.
Tackling poverty and creating jobs still represents a major challenge, with many older men having withdrawn from the job market. But the report suggests that government initiatives in both areas are starting to pay off. Investment in industry and in public services is also beginning to recover, but this issue is still identified as a serious problem.
Other policy areas are proving more intractable. Violent crime is getting worse: eroding people's quality of life. Bird populations in the countryside remain depleted because of intensive farming, and there's a growing mountain of household waste that will cause a headache for policymakers looking to bury or burn it.
The Government is an international leader in its attempts to measure progress across the board in this way. But some critics have accused it of using the scorecard to fudge uncomfortable results. The report, for instance, projects an inexorable rise in traffic way into the future - but it doesn't identify this as detrimental to people's quality of life.
A similar criticism is levelled at the Government's record on greenhouse gas emissions. The report gives a tick on climate change because the UK is heading towards a cut of 20% in the gases that may be implicated in the greenhouse effect. Some experts, however, say this should be a negative mark as official scientists have said we should be heading for a 60% cut to stabilise the climate.
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