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Where is the “wellbeing dividend”? Nature, structure and consumption inequalities

2008; Routledge; Volume: 13; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13549830802475625

1469-6711

Tim Jackson,

Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

Abstract Recent interest in wellbeing has important ramifications for sustainable development. This paper describes the so-called wellbeing paradox: the existence of stationary or declining levels of subjective wellbeing, despite growing income and consumption levels. This paradox suggests the existence of a "wellbeing dividend" that could flow from more sustainable societies: the potential to reduce or redistribute consumption, without compromising levels of wellbeing. Numerical analysis to support this view is presented using data on consumer expenditure and reported life satisfaction across 27 European countries. The results indicate that certain categories of consumer expenditure may already deliver negative returns to scale in terms of life satisfaction. The paper offers two different kinds of "explanation" for continued consumption growth (one based in human nature and the other in social structure) and illustrates how these "lock us in" to more unequal, less sustainable societies. Finally, the author explores some potential "solution spaces" in the search for sustainability. Keywords: consumptionsustainable consumptioninequalitywellbeing life satisfaction Acknowledgements I am grateful to a number of people for inputs and constructive comments at various stages of writing. Particular thanks go to: Saamah Abdallah, Nic Marks, Jouni Paavola, Eleni Papathanasopoulou, Gill Seyfang and Sam Thompson. I am also grateful to the participants in an ESRC seminar on Sustainable Consumption and Inequality held at the University of East Anglia in July 2006 and the responses from two anonymous referees. The work described in this paper was supported in part by the Economic and Social Research Council (Award No: RES-152-25-1004). Notes John F. Kennedy in a speech given on 3 October 1963 at Heber Springs, Arkansas, at the Dedication of Greers Ferry Dam. Available from: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=9455. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 4th Assessment report (IPCC 2008) suggested that an 80% reduction in emissions (over 1990 levels) would be required to stabilise atmospheric concentrations at 450 ppm. To achieve this would imply global emissions in 2050 of only 4.5 GtCO2. With a population of 9 billion, the average emissions per capita would be 0.5tCO2. Available from: http://www2.eur.nl/fsw/research/happiness. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/4771908.stm; full survey results are at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/29_03_06_happiness_gfkpoll.pdf. Data on life satisfaction for 27 EU nations were taken from the 2004 European Social Survey (for 15 nations) supplemented by values from the 2000 World Values Survey for the remaining countries. Data on mean consumption by COICOP category were taken from Eurostat data and reported in PPS – an artificial currency unit that "reflects differences in national price levels that are not taken into account by exchange rates". The PPS allows meaningful volume comparisons of economic indicators between countries. It is to be noted that "housing" (COICOP category 4) also includes utility expenditures on water, electricity and domestic fuels. The term the "iron cage" was first applied to capitalism by Weber Citation(1958). It was picked up and applied to consumerism more explicitly in Ritzer Citation(2004).