‘It's official: Money can't buy happiness’. So begins Beverley A. Searle's new book on Well-Being: In Search of a Good Life? This book provides an excellent introduction to debates on ‘well-being’. Based on Searle's doctoral research, the book includes valuable data and extensive references covering the multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted nature of the concept.

The introductory chapter provides an important qualification to the opening supposition that money cannot buy happiness by recognising that this can only be claimed where the basic needs of humanity have been met. Thus, the focus of the text is unashamedly on those developed countries, such as our own, that have seen unprecedented levels of growth since the mid-twentieth century without any apparent increase in happiness.

This modern paradox is particularly topical – as evidenced by the debate that was sparked when Tom Harris MP recently asked in his blog ‘why is everyone so bloody miserable?’

Chapter 2 provides an assessment of the rise of well-being as an economic, political, social and psychological phenomenon. Searle's critique of economics in this chapter would benefit from inclusion of heterodox economics and an assessment of economic methodology. However, this is where the scope of the well-being concept may be in conflict with the scale of the task at hand. This limitation should not detract from the extensive range of sources that are consulted. The chapter continues with a thorough account of the rise of the consumer society and of ‘positive psychology’. Having noted the growing desire by supra-national governmental bodies, such as the OECD and United Nations, to measure well-being Searle attempts to contribute to this field by developing a new model of well-being.

Chapter 3 presents secondary analysis of the British Household Panel Survey. The complexity of measuring well-being, as highlighted in the literature review, is again acknowledged. Nonetheless, Searle perseveres by adapting measures from the General Health Questionnaire. This provides further analysis of the difficulties in statistically measuring well-being. Factors that enhance well-being, such as health, wealth and social support, are presented. Yet further research is required to explore why, and in what ways, these factors are significant.

Chapter 4 presents a similar analysis but considered over time to assess temporal perspectives of well-being. In summary, it is concluded that:

The last of these conclusions is illustrative of statements towards economic theory throughout the text. A more thorough analysis of economics and why certain economic theories may be lacking would be helpful. Particularly given the rather economic methodology adopted for the analysis.

How well-being may be enhanced is the subject of the remaining two chapters. Chapter 5 provides a useful reflection on the nature and measurement of well-being. Whilst Chapter 6 considers appropriate policy interventions under home ownership, education, employment, leisure, retirement and the gender divide. The section on housing is timely for its warnings of the potentially damaging impact of a housing crash on the well-being of owners. For some of these sections, such as leisure and retirement, there is already a well-developed literature which would warrant further exploration. Nonetheless, these sections provide some thought-provoking links between social policy and well-being. The argument that social policy could be directed towards enhancing national well-being provides an interesting conclusion that runs counter to many contemporary policy developments – for example in leisure policy the move away from ‘sport for all’ to large sporting events as economic regeneration.

Clearly, well-being is a highly complex concept. Searle responds effectively to this challenge in outlining the development of the well-being concept from economic, sociological and policy perspectives. However, the problem remains in how to measure well-being. Searle acknowledges that:

The statistical analysis of well-being is also comprehensive – covering over 80 variables for over nine thousand individuals over a nine-year period. But it is concluded that a measure of well-being may take years to develop and that the conceptualisation of well-being is limited by methodological and data constraints. Despite these limitations, it is suggested that well-being should form a central part of public policy. But it remains to be seen how, given the very individual, subjective and temporal nature of well-being, this could ever be achieved. Moreover, it has yet to be seen how a reliable measure for well-being could be developed to measure the success of that policy.

As such, this book provides an excellent introduction to the well-being concept and also raises important questions for further research.