This chapter covers four educational measures which may potentially have a huge bearing on young people and their futures: life skills, apprenticeshipshigher education and class size reduction. The best predictor of an adult’s life satisfaction is their emotional health at 16 – not their qualifications. Which school they go to is a key factor in this – schools affect emotional health as much (in terms of explained variance) as they affect academic performance. Teaching life skills in an evidence-based way can have a positive impact on pupils’ emotional health. ‘Healthy Minds’ is a weekly curriculum for ages 11–15. In an RCT, this raised life satisfaction by 0.36 points (out of 10) with a BCR of 27:1.

After school, a key issue is what training a young person gets. For those not wanting full-time university education, earning while learning via apprenticeship is the obvious route. In Britain, such apprenticeships are in short supply – only one in three applicants finds a place. However, in our evaluation we found apprenticeships to be so effective in raising income and employment that they repay the state’s expenditure within seventeen years (including discounting). The comparable period for higher education is twenty-nine years.

Finally, we look at class size – a policy with an extremely low BCR. Marginal reduction in class size is both costly and has negligible positive impact on children’s wellbeing and attainment.

This chapter is an overview of the whole book and its findings. First, we note the shortcomings of traditional cost benefit analysis (CBA) – that it has no way to value things that just happen to us, like losing a job, being sick or being robbed. We then show how non-monetary outcomes can be valued using the new science of wellbeing.

Wellbeing is measured by life satisfaction (0–10), which is shown to be a reliable and valid measure (with good ability to predict mortality). So, to measure the benefits of a policy, we measure its non-pecuniary effects in terms of life satisfaction. We then convert the change in life satisfaction into the equivalent amount of money (that would produce that change in life satisfaction). For each policy, we then compute the ratio of benefits to net cost. This is the method now used by the UK Treasury.

This chapter defends the approach outlined in the introduction, arguing that it is the only rational basis for decision-making.

We aim to maximise the wellbeing of the people, given the size of the budget. The rational approach is therefore to calculate the BCR of all possible policies and select those with the highest BCR. Benefits are to be measured by life satisfaction. These are then monetised by dividing them by the marginal utility of income (of the person with average income). In calculating total Wellbeing-Years (WELLBYs), we discount future changes at 1.5 per cent per annum, while for costs, we discount at the discount rate for money of 3.5 per cent per annum.

We encourage policymakers to take into account the initial wellbeing of those whose wellbeing is affected. This is done by showing the average wellbeing of the gainers from the policy (and their number) as well as the losers. New policies should also be sought in particular to help those who are suffering. In the UK, the causes of misery (in terms of share of variance explained) are in order: mental illness, physical illness, loneliness, bad work, unemployment and poverty.

Civility is a hot topic within all aspects of healthcare, in this chapter we explore the importance within maternity care. Civility, as a multi-professional team, is key for safety of the women and babies that we care for but also the wellbeing of the team. The chapter highlights existing resources and the underpinning human factors to consider the importance of civility and the wider reaching impacts when team members are incivil. Key learning points: Incivility is a recurring theme in NHS surveys. Incivility directly impacts the quality of healthcare that teams provide by reducing the performance of the victim, bystanders and the wider team. National reports into maternity services have highlighted the negative impact of poor workplace culture on maternity care. The promotion of psychological safety and compassionate leadership is fundamental to develop a positive working environment. The RCOG, RCM and NHS England have developed resources to tackle incivility and to support positive workplace behaviours. Small steps, such as calling out incivility and negative behaviours in the workplace, can lead to positive changes in the wider culture.

This chapter explores the rationale behind, and the importance of understanding, the unique profiles of each child being cared for, across early childhood settings. The purpose of this is to frame ways in which all children can be supported to achieve the best developmental, educational and wellbeing outcomes possible, now and in the future. Drawing on the principles and frameworks discussed in Chapter 1, this chapter will support further understanding of the importance of individualised care and education for every child.

This concluding chapter invites educators to pause and reflect deeply on the interconnections between critical reflection, effective teaching, and personal wellbeing. It challenges teachers to view classroom leadership as a practice built on self-awareness, relational responsiveness, and thoughtful decision-making. Central to this interconnectedness is the ability to manage workload, set clear priorities, and self-regulate. These elements form a foundation for teaching that is effective and sustainable over time. Through this lens, wellbeing is not treated as separate from pedagogy or professionalism; rather, it directly shapes how teachers lead with empathy, uphold integrity, and make purposeful choices. By exploring how wellbeing, emotional regulation, and reflection shape the capacity to lead and connect, this chapter encourages teachers to consider how personal and professional growth are closely linked.

Entering a teaching position for the first time is a professionally significant milestone; one that requires attentive preparation, strategic planning, and active engagement. With this in mind, a diverse range of strategies in this chapter are explored with the aim of supporting early career teachers in effectively transitioning into a new educational setting. Understanding the teaching role expectations, actively engaging in orientation and/or induction, and undertaking initial classroom setup, are all necessary requirements that early career teachers must tend to in order to be best placed for a successful start.

This chapter examines the intersections between Indigeneity, Indigenization and CRT as paths to uncover structural racism and inequities, to resist and neutralize decolonizing ways. Indigeneity and Indigenization are grounded in radical remembering and reconceptualizing social work’s ethical and moral fortitude. They represent Indigenous identities, lifeways and values calling on us to examine all aspects of racism, power distribution, and wellbeing with the intent of strengthening communities. The dualism of CRT, white vs. black and other people of color, neglects Indigenous world views and perpetuates colonial dynamics by excluding ways of being and thinking beyond race. In this way, CRT detracts energy from restoration, securing of ancestral lands, revitalizing Indigenous languages and cultural practices, and impedes intergenerational healing. Indigenously defined social work practice holds the promise of universal wellbeing and opportunities to diversify a socially just agenda.

This chapter addresses the book’s central themes by presenting practical strategies to strengthen quality of life in Indigenous communities. Drawing on psychology, community health, Indigenous governance, and urban planning, it emphasises the importance of strong connections to Country in supporting wellbeing and healing from historical dislocation and intergenerational trauma. Using the Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundation Ltd. (NYFL) Strategic Plan as a case study, the chapter demonstrates how Indigenous leadership and decision-making are vital to community-driven change. It shows how NYFL can apply culturally grounded approaches from this book to enhance local liveability. Innovative data-sovereignty partnerships and ‘two-way’ knowledge frameworks illustrate the potential of integrating Indigenous and Western perspectives. Together, these strategies support communities to reclaim place, culture, and Country. The chapter ultimately provides actionable pathways for fostering resilience and sustainable wellbeing, reinforcing the book’s overarching purpose of bridging worldviews to create more liveable and inclusive futures.

Between 2010 and 2012, a catastrophic earthquake sequence devastated Christchurch, a colonial city built on Ngāi Tahu ancestral land in Canterbury, New Zealand. This chapter explores how government agencies, including public health services, collaborated with mana whenua (Ngāi Tahu, the local Māori tribe) to rebuild Ōtautahi Christchurch in ways that respect its colonial past while looking to a climate-challenged future. The rebuild sought to integrate natural environmental features and symbolic markers significant to mana whenua, while also promoting health, wellbeing, and a renewed sense of place for all residents. Writing as three Tangata Tiriti (settler-colonial) women, we draw on our professional roles in public health, urban design, landscape architecture, and strategic planning. We reflect on our involvement in planning and policy implementation, considering what worked well, what fell short, and our hopes for a future city that fosters resilience, inclusivity, and belonging.

The Introduction summarises my book’s contents and highlights its key themes. I will argue that there is a human nature, from which flow a raft of ‘pre-moral’ (or ‘ultimate intrinsic’) goods. My Aristotelian (teleological and essentialist) theory of ‘natural perfectionism’ is, I will argue, compatible with Darwinism and subsequent evolutionary biology. It is not an account of normativity across the board, however. Specifically, it does not tackle the manifold quandaries that arise in the domain of practical reason; it does not treat supernatural goods (supposing these to exist); and it does not examine natural perfections in plants or the lower (non-human) animals. Two cautionary notes: first, my book treats perfectionism in the philosophical, not the colloquial, psychological, sense; more specifically, it elaborates a perfectionism of powers or faculties. Second, by focusing on powers or faculties, it avoids the pseudo-essentialisms of class, race, nation, sex etc. Last, I tackle three values that are absent from my book: namely, autonomy, pleasure and wellbeing. These cannot be natural perfections, I argue, because they fall short of being ultimate intrinsic goods.