Publication
Vision, Goals and Conceptual Framework
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
Discover how the Well-being framework will measure Ireland’s progress as a country
The overarching vision for the Well-being Framework is "enabling all our people to live fulfilled lives now and into the future" and is ingrained in well-being across person, place and society.
This vision is rooted in a desire to make people’s lives better by better understanding people's lived experiences, and therefore how policies can more effectively improve the various interrelated aspects of people’s lives now and into the future. It does this by considering and measuring our progress as a society in a unified manner, with an overarching focus on equality and sustainability.
The overarching goals of this framework are to:
• Enable people to have purposeful lives that support good physical and mental health, enabling the development of skills across the life cycle and providing a good standard of living;
• Ensure a sustainable sense of place, including an appropriate and safe place to live and protection of Ireland’s environment, climate and biodiversity;
• Preserve balance, inclusivity and equality of opportunities across society with open and effective government, empowering families, friends and communities to grow, connect and meaningfully engage.
Cross-cutting Issues
There are several cross-cutting issues that exist within the Framework. In the public survey – a central element of the second phase of consultation – two issues were raised as the most important purposes for a Well-being Framework for Ireland. These are equality and sustainability.
| Equality | Equality is a central pillar of the Well-being Framework. The Framework enables and encourages systematic examination of equality issues across all of the dimensions. The Well-being Information Hub disaggregates each indicator (based on research indicating the most relevant breakdown and data availability) to highlight where areas of inequality might exist. |
| Sustainability | Sustainability is at the heart of the Well-being Framework for Ireland. For this purpose, to be fully visible, dimensions, aspects and issues that are particularly important for sustainability have been labelled with "sustainable", as suggested by recent research. This will allow any analysis using the Framework to identify where dimensions are important for future well-being, as well as current well-being. |
Together the eleven dimensions capture or define overall well-being for Ireland. This framework supports the interconnectivity of well being, and through this the complex impact of policies on well-being. Good outcomes do not occur in isolation, dimensions combine to create a clear vision of a good quality of life for the people of Ireland now and into the future.
Ireland's Well-being Framework is illustrated below, followed by a more detailed description of each of the 11 dimensions.
Note: Sustainable = supports economic, environmental or social sustainability
An individual's personal perspective of their mental state, how their life is going and their outlook for the future.
| Overall Life | An overall life assessment highlights general feelings of life satisfaction across the life cycle – i.e. how satisfied a person is with their life overall. | |
| Emotional State | Emotional state covers the feelings the person has had recently – this could cover an average of the positive feelings, negative feelings, or the balance of the two. | |
| Purpose | The meaning or purpose a person feels their life has, or the sense that what one does is worthwhile. This aspect tends to be less studied and more difficult to measure. |
The capacity of an individual to be and feel well, with good mental and physical health, living a life unencumbered by illness. Collectively, the good mental and physical health of the population also contributes to future well-being.
| Physical Health sustainable | Physical health enables a person to live a healthier, long-lasting life. This encompasses longevity and healthy life years, alongside prevalence, intensity and chronicity of diseases or conditions that cause poor health, disability or death. It can also include the incidence of unhealthy (or healthy) living – for example, smoking or physical activity. Self-perceived health is included here. | |
| Mental Wellness sustainable | Mental wellness is an essential aspect of health and has strong linkages with subjective well-being. This aspect explores good mental health which allows individuals to cope with the normal stresses of life. It also includes the incidence of poor mental health such as the incidence of depressive symptoms, mental illnesses, addiction, or adverse outcomes based on mental health. Mental wellness also promotes resilience, which supports sustainability. | |
| Access to Services | Access to health services (both mental and physical) is important for maintaining a healthy life. For example, the time it takes to be treated for health interventions or the distance to health facilities from a household (including primary and community care centres) are important factors. Access is also related to affordability, for example, whether financial considerations prevent health intervention. |
The financial resources that shape the range of choices an individual or society has to meet their day-to-day needs and wants, and the ability to mitigate personal and broader economic and societal risks, both now and in the future.
| Income | Disposable income indicates what households have to spend after taxes and transfers. Disposable income is explicitly not connected to actual consumption and instead captures the freedom households have (or do not have) to spend. |
| Wealth sustainable | Wealth can provide a buffer for households to counter the impact of changing income or economic security, in particular over the longer term. It also includes the macroeconomic factors that allow society to mitigate risks now and in the future. This includes available assets and outstanding debt; and the appetite for risk, including the balance between investment/debt and savings. |
| Economic Security sustainable | Economic security refers to the ability to make ends meet, both in the present and into the future. This aspect brings in the cost of living, the burden of debt repayment, and the stability (or lack thereof) of maintaining an adequate standard of living (including common high-cost expenses over the life cycle such as housing and childcare). |
The cognitive and motor skills acquired and developed over the course of a person’s life that promotes agency and ability to self-actualise and progress in society.
| Skills sustainable | Skills for Life include those basic skills necessary for a person to function in society. This includes literacy, numeracy and digital skills that enable full participation in daily activities. Soft skills that are developed throughout life – for example, resilience or communication skills are also captured here. |
| Education | Formal education across the life cycle enables recognition and provides an easier transition into the desired area of productive work. It can also be a mechanism for smooth social mobility. This aspect includes, for example, the school readiness of children at the beginning of school. It also captures transitions across education institutions and into the labour force. It recognises the different choices made by people, including through different types of formal education (for example, apprenticeships) and through the ability of people to learn across the lifecycle (e.g. lifelong learning), responding to changes and new realities and opportunities. |
| Innovation sustainable | Innovation and creativity is the ability to discover, develop and invent new ideas including methods, products, processes and approaches. This ability can create efficiencies or advantages that produce personal, societal and economic benefits both now and into the future. This aspect includes Research and Development and intellectual property and is most concerned with the impact of innovation. |
| Access | Access to housing consists of the ability of a person to access and maintain secure housing. For example, a high prevalence of homelessness would indicate a lack of access. Access is also directly related to affordability, for example, the burden of housing costs (i.e. how much income is left over after housing is paid for). The availability of accommodation also arises, including the suitability of accommodation for given demographics, supply and demand. |
| Quality | Quality of housing relates to the availability of space in the home and the suitability of a house for healthy living. Having personal space allows for the functions that a home should provide for privacy and activities like cooking, studying, spending time with family or entertaining. The impact of housing quality on healthy living is also included here. For example, the presence (or not) of damp or leaks, or the quality of insulation. |
| Built Environment sustainable | The built environment in which a residence is located impacts access to services (e.g. education, transport infrastructure) and can therefore impact an individual’s opportunities. Services include utilities such as water and electricity. It also captures access to schools, internet connection, local healthcare, public transport and recreational facilities as well as physical accessibility issues. |
The environment that an individual lives in shapes their ability to interact with nature alongside access to basic needs such as clean water and air. The quality of this environment – both now and in the future – is shaped by human influence and actions.
| Environment | The environment as experienced by individuals relates to a person's perception and experience of the beauty and amenities that are available within their local environment - for example, the availability and quality of local green or blue spaces (including parks and woodlands, coastal areas or other natural amenities) or the presence of litter. |
| Environment Quality sustainable | Environmental quality of the local environment enables healthy living, reduces illness and includes air, water, and soil quality (measured at a local, regional or national level). The quality of air, water, and soil impact human health. Protecting the quality of the environment is an important aspect of current well-being, and essential for sustainable well-being. |
| Human Impact sustainable | Human impact measures the preservation of the natural environment, and the impact of humans on the environment, including through climate change. This aspect captures emissions, land use, waste and biodiversity. Reducing the human impact on the environment, climate and biodiversity is essential to protect sustainable well-being, and promote intergenerational equality. |
The factors that shape an individual’s ability to live life and engage in activities without fear of harm and to mitigate the risks and impacts associated with infrastructural, mechanical and natural hazards. Harm can come from crime, conflict, violence, terrorism, accidents or natural disasters, and can occur online as well as offline, and can be emotional as well as physical. It tends to be concerned with the risk of victimisation and perceptions of safety.
| Crime | The actual reported incidence of crime indicates the freedom from intentional harm from other people (within the home, community or more widely). There are a broad variety of crimes that can be included here, for example, crimes against property, assault, homicide, hate crime, domestic violence and coercive control, anti-social behaviour or cybercrime. |
| Safety | Threats to safety highlight freedom from accidental harm (including infrastructural, institutional, mechanical and natural hazards). This aspect includes, for example, the incidence of road or workplace accidents (including the severity of such accidents) and the prevalence and severity of extreme weather events. |
| Perception of Safety | Perception of safety and security is of key concern for well-being, as a high level of subjective safety enables people to exist and move through society more freely facilitating societal co-operation. It focuses on how safe a person feels in everyday activities (e.g. on public transport, walking home at night, etc). This aspect also includes trust in the rule of law. |
The productive activities (both paid and unpaid) that shape how an individual progresses through their life (i.e., develop their skills and abilities, fulfil their ambitions) as well as building and supporting their self-esteem and their sense of contributing to the economy and broader society.
| Quantity sustainable | Work Quantity includes the availability of jobs and the size of the labour force, indicating the availability and up-take of work. Some well-known examples of work quantity include levels of employment, underemployment or labour force participation. It also includes the risk of losing a job (be this income or other job-related benefits such as specific working arrangements), and the protections in place that might mitigate the risk. This aspect also covers the ability to start and grow a new business (entrepreneurship). |
| Quality | Work Quality includes the material and non-material aspects of work which enables a sense of progress and worth in one’s work. These include fair remuneration for employment and non-material aspects of the work environment. Non-material factors include working conditions, physical safety and work intensity. The availability of learning opportunities, type of contract and benefits, career development, and how well a job matches a person's skills are also included. Other institutional factors such as working times and location arrangements, autonomy, and support between co-workers also affect a person's well-being. |
| Satisfaction | Self-perceived work satisfaction captures some of the complex interconnections that the material and non-material aspects of work provide to a person’s well-being and the motivations that different people have for their work. |
The ability of an individual to manage the demands placed on their time, and their access to time for personal development, leisure or hobbies, subject to the constraint of a fixed quantity of time available in any single day. This includes work-life balance.
| Demands | Demands on time (time on) is concerned with the external demands on an individual’s time – for example job hours, caring, home duties, volunteering or commuting. |
| Ability | The ability of people to have personal time – that is time for their own personal development, hobbies or leisure. This includes the quantity of time available for leisure and recreation (e.g. free time). How a person uses that time – e.g. engaging in sports, culture and arts, individual creative pursuits, socialising etc. – is a personal choice. |
| Satisfaction | Satisfaction with time use is also important here, as people value what to do with their time differently. Many people find satisfaction in different aspects of caring duties (unpaid work), paid work or leisure activities which may not be illustrated by focusing exclusively on the amount of time spent on each. |
The ability and opportunities that an individual has to meet the basic needs of personal connection and engagement with family, friends and the wider community. In the modern era, this includes online social connections and interactions. This dimension also covers connection to the community, for example, through volunteering or other community activities.
| Quantity | Social Quantity of social connections covers the frequency and amount of time spent (both online and offline) with other people – including members of a person’s household, family, friends, colleagues and other known people. |
| Quality | Social Quality of social connections, by comparison, measures the satisfaction that individuals have with their social interactions, including perceived loneliness and feelings of support provided by connections. |
| Participation sustainable | Community and cultural participation measures the overall connectedness of individuals to their community and includes online activities. This can include volunteering, engaging with heritage, membership of community groups such as sporting clubs, artistic or creative groups, local development networks, etc. This includes cultural participation which tends to be a communal experience. |
The rights and opportunities an individual has to impact the political functioning of their society, the existence of institutional arrangements that foster cooperation and freedom of expression of identity and non-discrimination, and trust in those institutions and across broader society.
| Opportunity and Impact sustainable | Opportunity and impact covers the ability of individuals to access, and the utilisation of, opportunities to shape their locality and country through civic engagement. Opportunity covers the limits on access to public office or other forms of civic engagement such as voting or public consultation. This could include the frequency of opportunities, and how easy it is to engage (including measures that encourage or discourage engagement). It also includes the take-up of these opportunities, including voter turnout and active membership in political parties or other forms of activism. This should include the presence of grassroots movements that are not associated with political parties. It includes whether civic involvement makes a difference in practice, for example, if the impact of movements or activities results in a change. |
| Trust sustainable | Institutional Trust covers generalised trust (i.e. trust in others) and institutional trust (including political, judicial, media, police or other institutions) at local, national and European Union level. It refers to the formal political institutions and processes in place which shape the political, social, and economic environment of a country, as well as the informal institutions of social norms and shared values that underpin societal functioning. Good institutions and trust thereof support mutually beneficial cooperation and sustain a healthy and happy society into the future. |
| Identity and Non-discrimination | Cultural expression, Identity and Non-discrimination explores a person’s rights to express their identity, including participation in ethnic, spiritual/religious, language or personal expression. This includes activities relating to specific groups, for example, cultural practices and expression of migrant or ’new Irish’, alongside traditional Irish communities (including Gaeltacht communities). It also includes the ability to express one’s culture/identity or celebrate one’s native language. It places a particular emphasis on the Irish language. It also explores the prevalence of discrimination based on factors such as ethnicity (including membership of minority communities), gender identity, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion. |