in this article , we draw on national social survey data to identify and report on the social determinants of wellbeing in the uk and we consider some of the challenges the findings present for social policy . in the first section , we review some of the latest developments in subjective wellbeing ( swb ) research , and we consider how swb is now being measured by the office for national statistics ( ons ) in the uk . in our empirical section ,
we develop bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models , as well as testing for interaction effects , in order to assess the socio - economic and demographic characteristics that help to predict wellbeing in the national population . we do so using four global measures of swb . finally ,
in the last section , we consider some of the potential social policy implications raised by the findings . before
describing the study methods and results , and discussing their implications , we review the uk 's new  measuring national wellbeing ( mnw ) programme.
it is now widely accepted that traditional economic measures are necessary , but not sufficient , to reflect national wellbeing ( stiglitz et al . , 2010 ) . in recent years ,
measures of swb have been refined to help monitor social progress and policy ( taylor , 2011 ) .
governments around the world  including the british government  are increasingly concerned about the quality of life and the environment in which we live , as well as the traditional measures of gdp and economic growth that help to define living standards in society ( stratton , 2010 ) .
the measurement of swb has advanced rapidly over the last two decades ( diener , 2009a ) .
researchers usually draw a basic distinction between self - reported wellbeing , i.e. swb , and the more objective non - self - reported assessments and measures ( diener , 2009b ) . in this article , we are only interested in subjective measures . broadly speaking , as dolan and metcalfe ( 2012 ) maintain , there are three main theoretical strands underpinning the measurement of swb which are relevant to this study : 
 the 
evaluative approach to swb asks individuals to reflect on their life and make a cognitive assessment of how their life is going overall , or on certain aspects of their life . 
life satisfaction , as used here , is dependent on a global appraisal of life.the 
hedonic approach seeks to measure people 's feelings and emotions as diener ( 2009a ) observes .
general states of  happiness and  anxiety are used in this study , which form part of the more global cognitive appraisal of wellbeing.the 
eudemonic approach , sometimes referred to as the psychological functioning or flourishing approach , draws on self - determination theory and taps into our sense of purpose and meaning in life , with notions of the  worthwhile life employed here .
evaluative approach to swb asks individuals to reflect on their life and make a cognitive assessment of how their life is going overall , or on certain aspects of their life .
 life satisfaction , as used here , is dependent on a global appraisal of life .
the  hedonic approach seeks to measure people 's feelings and emotions as diener ( 2009a ) observes .
general states of  happiness and  anxiety are used in this study , which form part of the more global cognitive appraisal of wellbeing .
eudemonic approach , sometimes referred to as the psychological functioning or flourishing approach , draws on self - determination theory and taps into our sense of purpose and meaning in life , with notions of the  worthwhile life employed here . in the classical philosophical tradition ,
interpretations of eudaimonia and human flourishing were defined by aristotle as the highest human good and included such things as spiritual fulfilment and civic virtue ( bok , 2010 ) .
eudemonic wellbeing but there are of course other more objective measures of human wellbeing , of equality and human rights , and capability , being developed and refined for the development of social policy ( dean , 2010 ) .
interest in the idea of national accounts for monitoring population wellbeing is growing ( diener et al .
, 2009a ) and swb measures and findings are increasingly being used to inform and appraise social policy ( dolan and metcalfe , 2012 ) . in the uk ,
the mnw programme was launched by the ons in 2010 , as a response to the growing domestic as well as international policy imperative ( table 1 ) .
the programme is designed to provide new statistical measures of swb , urgently needed to help monitor social progress and shape the direction of social policy . following the recommendations of dolan and metcalfe ( 2012 ) , and those of stiglitz et al .
( 2010 ) , ons now attempts to capture the three different components of swb in household surveys ( ons , 2011a , 2011b , 2011c , 2012 ) . 
 table 1.key developments in measuring wellbeing1994 united nations publishes first human development index.2000 first issue of the journal of happiness studies is published.2002 uk cabinet office strategy unit report , life satisfaction : the state of knowledge and implication for government.2007 european commission initiates the  beyond gdp project.2008 president sarkozy establishes the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress.2009 oecd starts better life initiative and work programme on measuring wellbeing and progress.2010 the us government establishes a commission on key national indicators , allocating $ 70 million to the project.2010 the uk office for national statistics begins a programme to develop statistics to measure national wellbeing.2011 the us national research council , the national institute on aging and the uk economic and social research council jointly support an expert panel on subjective wellbeing and public policy.2011 un general assembly resolution on happiness 65/309.2012 un high - level meeting on happiness and wellbeing .
release of the un world happiness report.source : parliamentary office of science and technology ( post ) ( 2012 : 2 ) .
key developments in measuring wellbeing source : parliamentary office of science and technology ( post ) ( 2012 : 2 ) .
the ons have discussed their emerging survey findings on swb in various publications ( e.g. , ons , 2011a , 2011b ) .
although their investigations are informative , the ons has , however , deliberately stopped short of any sophisticated analysis of data , including the sort of multivariate modelling that is required to shed greater light on the complexity of swb in the social world ( byrne , 2011 ) . to - date ,
ons reports have largely been descriptive , showing basic cross - tabulations and average estimates of swb for different sections of the population ( as shown in table 2 , for example ) .
their findings do not reveal with any degree of certainty which sections of the british population are particularly vulnerable to experiencing low levels of swb .
yet we know from the international research literature that a range of socio - demographics ( e.g. , age , gender , income , household composition , unemployment and disability ) can help to explain wellbeing ( e.g. , clark and oswald , 1994 ; stack and eshleman , 1998 ; layard , 2005 ; clark , 2006 ; blanchflower and oswald , 2008 ; dolan et al . , 2008 ; oswald and powdthavee , 2008 ; diener et al . , 2009b ) .
there is , therefore , a pressing need to analyse the new social survey data with multivariate regression and modelling techniques ( where all the different socio - demographic characteristics are taken together and controlled for ) in order to shed more light on the correlates of swb in the uk .
although officials have not undertaken this work themselves , they are actively encouraging the research community to do so . 

table 2.average ( mean ) ratings for the four overall subjective  monitoring questions by personal characteristics ( sex , age , self - reported health and long standing illness or disability : great britain , adults aged 16 and over)life satisfactionworthwhilehappyanxioussexmen7.37.57.33.3women7.57.87.53.6age16197.87.87.83.720247.47.77.33.325297.17.47.23.630347.47.57.43.335397.07.57.13.740447.37.67.23.745497.27.57.23.350547.47.77.23.555647.47.77.43.665747.97.97.83.075 or over7.77.47.63.1healthvery good7.98.17.93.1good7.47.67.43.4fair6.87.06.74.0bad5.56.05.55.1very bad4.24.64.85.0illness / disabilityyes7.07.27.03.8no7.67.87.63.3source : reference tables for investigation into subjective well - being data from the ons opinions survey ( ons , n.d . ) .
average ( mean ) ratings for the four overall subjective  monitoring questions by personal characteristics ( sex , age , self - reported health and long standing illness or disability : great britain , adults aged 16 and over ) source : reference tables for investigation into subjective well - being data from the ons opinions survey ( ons , n.d . ) .
logistic regression , in spss ( version 19.0 ) , was used to identify the social determinants of swb in the national population .
we use the four global measures of swb discussed above ( with the relevant ons variable codes shown in table 3 ) , and we draw on the range of socio - demographic factors captured by the ons survey ( table 4 ) to examine the risk and relative odds of low swb in the british population ( ons survey described in the appendix below ) . 

table 3.overall measures of subjective wellbeingvariablevariable labelmonitoring questionmcz_1life satisfactionoverall , how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?mcz_2worthwhileoverall , to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?mcz_3happyoverall , how happy did you feel yesterday?mcz_4anxiousoverall , how anxious did you feel yesterday?source : ons ( 2011c , 2012 ) . 

table 4.dependant variables in the modelvariabledescriptionspecification in the studyagexageage may help to explain wellbeing in the british population . here
age is recoded into six groups.rsexsex/gendersex/gender may help to explain wellbeing in the british population ( male / female).ethnicityto which of these groups do you belong?ethnicity may help to explain wellbeing .
responses to this question are recoded into two groups :  white and  black and minority ethnic ( bme).dvilo4adv for ilo in employment ( four categories)being in work may help to explain wellbeing , here we have four categories : 
   in employment ( exc .
unpaid family workers) 
   unpaid family workers 
   unemployed ( ilo definition ) 
   economically inactive.sumgrossgross annual incomeincome may help to explain wellbeing .
responses to this question are recoded into income quintiles.ten1housing tenurethree groups : 
   home - owner ( including those with a mortgage) 
   private renter 
   social housing ( including housing association accommodation or local authority housing).defact1de facto marital status ( grouped)household composition may help to explain wellbeing .
responses to this question are recoded into two groups : 
   couple ( includes married , cohabiting , civil partner ) 
   single ( living alone , inc .
divorced , separated , widowed).qhealthhow is your health in general?self - reported health may help to explain wellbeing .
bad and  very bad.lsillhave any long - standing illness , disability or infirmity?long - standing illness and disability may help to explain levels of wellbeing in the british population .
 no.highed4what is the highest level of qualification?education  measured by educational attainment  may help to explain wellbeing in the british population .
there are three categories :  degree or equivalent ,  below degree level , 
none ( no qualifications).nsecac3national statistics socio - economic classification ( ns - sec)social class and socio - economic position may help to explain patterns of wellbeing ( we use the standard ns - sec 8 classification).goragovernment office regionwellbeing in britain may vary by geography and region of residence.source : ons ( 2011c , 2012 ) .
dependant variables in the model source : ons ( 2011c , 2012 ) . logistic regression is a statistical technique that belongs to the theoretical framework of the general linear models ( glm ) , described by dobson ( 2001 ) , and is ideally suited to situations where a continuous response variable , such as swb , has been categorised as a dichotomy using binary coding ( hosmer and lemeshow , 2000 ) . for the analysis
therefore , we have created new binary variables on each measure of wellbeing : for  unhappiness , 
respondents who did not answer the survey questions on wellbeing are not included in this study .
first , our bivariate logit models establish the relative odds of wellbeing , along the different dimensions , by the range of individual and household characteristics , but without taking account of any of the other variables ( the results are shown in table 5 ) .
a bivariate model is a fairly simple one that shows the relationship between two variables , although many predictive factors are likely to be interrelated  there are often clear links between age , health and income for instance .
importantly , the relative odds of reporting or predicting high or low levels of swb independent of other variables can be calculated using a multivariate model ( independent here means after taking account of all of the other demographic and socio - economic variables in the model ) .
much of the discussion below focuses on the findings from the multivariate analysis shown in table 6 , with cross - referencing to the bivariate findings in order to help understand some of the complexity surrounding the social determinants of swb .
finally , we examine for covariance and interactions between variables in the main effects multivariate model ( results are shown in tables 6 and 7 ) . 

table 5.the relative odds of wellbeing ( bivariate model)unhappydissatisfiedunfulfilledanxious(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)sex / gendermale1.001.001.001.00female1.091.34 * 1.45**0.82**ethnicitywhite1.001.001.001.00bme1.59**1.66**1.53 * 1.51***age16241.001.001.001.0025441.181.441.061.1945541.271.541.011.0355640.971.220.821.2265740.820.890.860.9075 + 0.881.281.75 * 0.76healthvery good1.001.001.001.00good1.62***1.90***2.53***1.19*fair2.97***3.82***6.50***1.79***poor8.14***13.1***19.7***2.74***very poor11.2***25.1***33.9***2.66**disabilityno rated disability1.001.001.001.00reported disability1.95***2.29***2.96***1.44***educationdegree1.001.001.001.00below degree1.54**1.251.61 * 1.03no formal qualifications1.92***1.74**2.53***1.08labour force statusin employment1.001.001.001.00unemployed2.13***3.93***3.58***1.30economically inactive1.201.56***2.40***1.11socio - economic positionmanagerial / professional1.001.001.001.00intermediate0.981.341.020.91manual workers1.46***2.03***2.14***0.99income quintiletop1.001.001.001.00second0.921.441.280.83middle1.052.17**2.22**1.03fourth1.43 * 2.84***3.70***1.31*bottom1.42 * 3.30***3.17***1.28*household compositioncouple1.001.001.001.00single person1.76***2.72***3.33***1.06housing tenurehome owner1.001.001.001.00private rental1.91***1.81***2.26***1.15social housing2.35***3.12***4.01***1.04region of residencenorth east1.001.001.001.00north west0.740.750.790.67*yorkshire & the humber0.790.881.020.59**east midlands0.670.610.740.68*west midlands0.931.010.790.77east of england0.730.770.690.54***london1.141.741.610.87south east0.610.720.550.72south west0.51 * 0.700.630.77wales0.870.921.290.67*scotland0.831.150.850.66*notes : significance levels : * < 0.05 ; * * < 0.01 ; * * * < 0.001 . 
 table 6.the relative odds of wellbeing ( multivariate model)unhappydissatisfiedunfulfilledanxious(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)sex / genderfemale1.001.001.001.00men1.051.301.63**0.82*ethnicitywhite1.001.001.001.00bme1.59 * 1.181.181.24age16241.001.001.001.0025441.182.13 * 1.291.1845541.132.37 * 1.071.0155640.771.110.641.0065740.560.980.500.7375 + 0.44 * 1.070.990.74healthvery good1.001.001.001.00good1.43 * 2.08***2.03**1.25**fair3.13***5.66***6.70***1.84***poor7.90***18.1***19.6***2.73***very poor10.3***53.8***29.8***3.28***disabilityno rated disability1.001.001.001.00reported disability1.070.951.101.18educationdegree1.001.001.001.00below degree1.65**1.151.621.21*no formal qualifications1.88**0.941.221.20labour force statusin employment1.001.001.001.00unemployed1.412.61***1.651.15economically inactive0.930.73**1.080.92socio - economic positionmanagerial / professional1.001.001.001.00intermediate0.801.220.740.82manual workers0.991.44 * 1.240.87income quintiletop1.001.001.001.00second0.831.290.980.83middle0.701.451.151.00fourth0.811.431.471.20bottom0.912.17 * 1.271.16household compositioncouple1.001.001.001.00single person1.77***2.79***2.64***0.97housing tenurehome owner1.001.001.001.00private rental1.49 * 1.061.251.03social housing1.041.171.320.80region of residencenorth east1.001.001.001.00north west0.710.700.810.73yorkshire & the humber0.660.941.150.64*east midlands0.590.740.780.70west midlands0.750.780.620.67east of england0.52 * 0.720.700.59*london0.761.802.130.77south east0.580.950.770.76south west0.43 * 0.930.710.86wales0.840.711.340.82scotland0.791.170.810.80notes : significance levels : * < 0.05 ; * * < 0.01 ; * * * < 0.001 . 
 table 7.the relative odds of wellbeing ( significant interactions in the main effects model)unhappydissatisfiedunfulfilledanxious(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)income*healthsecond quintile good healthmiddle quintile good health1.79*fourth quintile good healthbottom quintile good health1.52**second quintile fair health2.14**middle quintile fair health2.32*fourth quintile fair health2.27**4.00***4.81***2.24***bottom quintile fair health2.22**4.89***2.79 * 2.20***second quintile poor health2.24*middle quintile poor health18.40***3.31**1.89**fourth quintile poor health4.74***7.29***6.49***3.01***bottom quintile poor health4.50***14.54***10.78***2.25*second quintile very poor health7.50***14.26***7.56 * 5.60**middle quintile very poor health10.12***21.36***22.70***3.38**fourth quintile very poor health12.98***61.82***32.45***5.63*bottom quintile very poor health7.06**43.64***28.05***7.42*income*employmentsecond quintile unemployedthird quintile unemployedfourth quintile unemployed2.64 * 4.29**bottom quintile unemployed3.70***1.95*disability*healthdisability good health2.00*disability fair health2.12***2.96***3.09***1.88***disability poor health5.80***10.12***11.09***2.63***disability very poor health7.79***29.05***16.42***3.22**health*employmentunemployed good healthunemployed fair
healthunemployed poor health3.73***4.53***6.31***1.88**unemployed very poor health4.86***14.46***10.13***2.37*disability*household compositiondisability single person1.62**1.85***1.84**ethnicity*employmentwhite unemployment2.17*bme unemployment3.74 * 4.72*socio - economic position*healthintermediate good healthintermediate fair health2.32**2.47*intermediate poor health4.08***7.33***6.22***2.10*intermediate very poor health5.09***13.34***8.71***manual good healthmanual fair health2.27***3.48***3.01***1.47*manual poor health5.43***10.64***6.33***1.94**manual very poor health11.25***33.00***11.46***2.13**socio - economic position*educationintermediate below degreeintermediate no formal qualifications2.44***manual below degreemanual no formal qualifications1.46 * 1.59 * 1.76*household composition*tenuresingle person private rental2.52***2.18**2.48**single person social housing1.81**1.84**2.45***significance levels : * < 0.05 ; * * < 0.01 ; * * * < 0.001 . the relative odds of wellbeing ( bivariate model ) notes : significance levels : * < 0.05 ; * * < 0.01 ; * * * < 0.001 .
the relative odds of wellbeing ( multivariate model ) notes : significance levels : * < 0.05 ; * * < 0.01 ; * * * < 0.001 . the relative odds of wellbeing ( significant interactions in the main effects model ) significance levels : * < 0.05 ; * * < 0.01 ; * * * < 0.001 . in the statistical models , those who report being 
satisfied with life , not suffering with  anxiety or leading  worthwhile lives ( being the majority in each case ) form the base in each model .
anxious or leading an  unfulfilled life by the range of socio - demographic factors shown in table 4 .
, with the relative odds reflecting the odds of one particular category compared to the reference .
these odds ratios show the strength and the direction of the predictors  asterisks indicate the level of significance and the  base case is always 1.00 .
all study calculations are weighted ( see appendix ) to correct for non / differential response rates , in order to ensure study estimates relate to the national picture ( crockett , 2006 ) .
a first step in the analysis was to examine the survey data relating to swb in the british population .
overall , the survey results suggest that wellbeing in the national population is largely positive , not negative , and this is to be expected ( deaton , 2008 ) .
92.4 per cent  compared to just 7.6 per cent who are not . according to the survey
fulfilled.  anxiety is more prevalent however : over a third of people ( 37.4 per cent ) report feeling  anxious about life when surveyed , leaving 62.6 per with little or no such  anxiety.
( column ( i ) ) , we observe that age , ethnicity , health , education , household composition and housing tenure continue to have an impact on 
happiness in great britain , even after controlling for all other factors in the model , as does geographical region .
happiness are moderated by other socio - demographic characteristics in the model , notably by health status , according to the strong interactions with income ( observed in table 7 ) , and employment status to a lesser degree .
gender , social class and labour - force status do not appear to have much of an impact on  happiness after controlling for everything else ; neither does disability .
unhappiness in the bivariate model , but has an independent effect in the multivariate analysis . in table 5 , for instance , the odds of adults who report a disability being  unhappy are twice those of non - disabled adults . however , the effects of disability are significantly diluted or covered by the inclusion of other variables in the model ( suggesting evidence of multicollinearity here ) , particularly with the more global assessment of health status , itself a powerful predictor of swb across all four dimensions ( columns ( i)(iv ) ) .
happiness. other things being equal , the odds of people in very poor health being 
unhappy are ten times those of people in very good health ( column ( i ) ) ; the odds for those in poor health are eight times greater and three times greater for those who report their health is fair .
the findings for socio - economic status are more curious ; we find manual workers are significantly more likely to be 
unhappy without controls , whereas the  social class effects on  happiness are clearly moderated with the controls in place .
the results also show an age effect : people in the oldest age group ( seventy - five - plus ) are significantly more likely to be 
belonging to a black and minority ethnic ( bme ) group also significantly increases the relative odds of being
there are also important interactions between ethnicity and other variables in the multivariable model , which are discussed in the section on interactions below .
the relative odds of being  unhappy increase significantly with lower levels of educational achievement . for example , the relative odds of reporting  unhappiness for those with educational attainment below the level of university degree is two - thirds greater than those with a university degree . those with no formal qualifications display
unhappy are 50 per cent greater than those of a  home - owner ( which includes people buying their own home with a mortgage ) . furthermore , there appears to be regional variation in levels of 
happiest place to live , being consistent with other surveys of swb ( anand et al . , 2009 ) .
the region is unremarkable on traditional economic indicators however , for example , gdp or gva ( ons , 2011d ) , thus providing further caution against taking simple economic statistics as measures of social progress and wellbeing , as harvie et al .
( 2008 ) argue . on the  life satisfaction measure ( column ( ii ) ) of self - assessed wellbeing
manual workers and those at the bottom of the income distribution all report higher levels of 
dissatisfaction with their lives , for instance , are more than 40 per cent greater than representatives from the managerial and professional classes .
we also see in table 6 that the odds of respondents in the lowest income quintile reporting  dissatisfaction are more than twice those of respondents in the top income quintile .
life satisfaction. as expected , during the period of middle age ( twenty - five to fifty - four ) there is increased  dissatisfaction with life .
although this familiar u - shape to wellbeing across the life - course is not fully understood , clearly this is a time of struggle for most adults , as they start to build a family and buy a home ( blanchflower and oswald , 2008 ) .
other things being equal , the odds of single people living alone reporting to be 
dissatisfied are now three times greater than those of people living together as a couple .
ethnicity appears to be less decisive on this particular dimension of wellbeing , at least after controlling for all the other variables in the multivariate analysis .
people from bme backgrounds appear to experience the same or similar levels of  life satisfaction as the majority  white british population .
however , since we observe significant levels of  dissatisfaction in the bivariate analysis we may wish to question the adjustments in the multivariate model . at times
it may be problematic to give the appearance of having adjusted for , and thereby having 
removed , any socio - economic differences in the statistical model while much of it remains in real life ( karlsen et al . , 2012 ) .
dissatisfied with life in the bivariate analysis , and yet disability is no longer significant when all of the other variables are controlled for in the model .
again this suggests that it is the social barriers and some of the observed health effects that impinge upon those who report an impairment ( roulstone and prideaux , 2012 ) . in other words
, it is the circumstances of living with a disability that matter rather than simply the notion or label of  disability itself .
dissatisfied for a disabled person living alone are nearly twice those of a disabled person living in a couple ( table 7 ) .
the independent health effects observed are even more pronounced than those found on the measure of 
dissatisfaction amongst people who claim their health is very poor are now over fifty times greater than those of people who report that their health is very good ( table 6 ) . while the odds of  unhappiness for those in poor health are eighteen times greater and six times greater for those who claim only fair health .
happiness but not so for  life satisfaction. there was little or no meaningful variation according to educational attainment .
conversely , while labour market participation had little or no effect on  happiness , employment now seemingly alters perceptions of  life satisfaction. the odds of an unemployed person being 
dissatisfied with life are more than two - and - a - half times those of someone in work .
interestingly , someone who is  economically inactive , having retired from paid work or being a full - time student , is much more likely to be  satisfied with life .
unlike the findings relating to  happiness , we observe no meaningful difference in the global assessments of  life satisfaction by geographical region .
in other words ,  life satisfaction appears to be fairly evenly distributed across the regions of great britain .
although research has yet to identify the precise constituents that add meaning to our lives , and help make them worth living , we can , nonetheless , consider some of the relative socio - demographics associated with the life  fulfilled ( column ( iii ) ) . in many ways , the multivariate results for  worthwhile lives ( a measure of 
women , for instance , are significantly more likely to report a stronger sense of purpose and meaning to their lives than men .
this is interesting , not least because we found no significant difference by sex / gender on the  happiness and global  life satisfaction measures of swb .
unfulfilled lives amongst people who self - report very poor health , for example , are now thirty times greater than those in very good health ( table 6 ) .
while the odds for those living in poor health are now twenty times greater , and over six times greater for those who report their health is fair . with health status and all other variables controlled for in the model , there was no significant difference on this measure of swb between those who report a disability and those who do not .
again , this suggests that many of the issues and disadvantages experienced by people with a disability are located within the social and economic circumstances of everyday life ( roulstone and prideaux , 2012 ) .
living alone is consistently significant , as a person with a disability who lives alone displays nearly twice the odds of leading an  unfulfilled life compared with a disabled person who does not live alone ( table 7 ) ; as might be expected , good health is also highly significant .
worthwhile which are three times greater than those of single people living alone . housing tenure , however , was not a good predictor on this measure of swb .
age , ethnicity , education , income and social class appeared to play little or no significant role in shaping 
, geographical region currently plays no major role in shaping the extent to which people feel their lives are  fulfilled and  worthwhile. although women lead more meaningful lives , they also report significantly more general 
age and ethnicity are not especially important on this particular dimension of swb . in the multivariate analysis ,
people with bme backgrounds experience the same or similar levels of  stress as people in the  white british population .
there is the now familiar gradient with health status , but the observed differences here are not as pronounced as we found using the other measures of swb . for instance , the odds of people in poor health being 
this difference is highly significant , but the order of magnitude on the measures of  life satisfaction and  worthwhile life was far greater .
income , socio - economic position and labour force status do not appear to impact on  anxiety after controlling for other factors ; neither does disability .
the latter finding is very much in keeping with the other results for swb in table 6 .
income and disability were significant predictors of  anxiety in the bivariate analysis , but the effects of income and disability continue to be moderated by the other socio - demographic variables  including health status  in the multivariate model . again , we find strong interaction effects between income and self - rated health , along with disability and self - rated health ( table 7 ) .
the study findings also suggest that people living in yorkshire and in the east of england are significantly less  anxious when all other factors in the model are controlled for .
the results suggest that there is some correlation between some of the variables in the multivariate analysis .
the effects of disability , for example , are significantly diluted or covered by the inclusion of other variables in the multivariate model shown in table 6 , particularly the more global assessment of health status ; this is a powerful predictor of swb across all four dimensions ( columns ( i)(iv ) ) . in the interaction models ( table 7 ) , we observe strong interaction effects between states of health and disability , showing the impact of declining health on swb .
dissatisfied amongst adults with a disability who are in very poor health , for example , are now about thirty times those of a disabled adult in very good health .
the interaction effects between disability and health illustrate the importance of good health for positive wellbeing .
we also observe strong interaction effects between disability and household composition ( table 7 ) .
an adult with a disability living alone is significantly more likely to report low levels of swb compared to an adult with a disability living with another person as a couple . in table 7 , we find strong effects between income and self - rated health . as health declines , the odds of reporting low swb increase substantially regardless of income ; however , the effects are much more dramatic at the lower end of the income distribution ( from the lower middle - income quintile to the bottom quintile ) . in addition
, the evidence suggests that income makes more of a difference to general wellbeing during the earlier stages of adult life ( twenty - five to forty - four ) , and in middle age ( forty - five  to fifty - four ) on the  satisfaction measure of swb .
income appears to play a less significant role in shaping wellbeing in later life ( seventy - five - plus ) , particularly for the measures of  happiness and  stress free living .
younger adults living alone are more likely to report significantly low levels of swb compared to older adults living alone
. we also observe significant interactions between age and health as might be expected ; adults aged twenty - five to fifty - four in poor health ( including the very poor health category ) tend to be significantly more 
similarly , levels of  dissatisfaction and  unfulfillment also tail off with age . 

table 8.the relative odds of wellbeing ( significant interactions in the main effects model)unhappydissatisfiedunfulfilledanxious(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)age*health2544 good health2544 fair health3.23**6.30***2544 poor health18.69***4.78***39.55***6.15***2544 very poor health17.23 * 33.82***25.98***4554 good health4554 fair health2.39**4.27***4554 poor health5.88***23.32***22.22***4554 very poor health12.04 * 47.88***7.32*5564 good health5564 fair health2.74***2.43 * 3.52**5564 poor health10.66***4.27*5564 very poor health4.60 * 34.57***29.45***6.81 * 6574 good health6574 fair health5.37**6574 poor health4.21*6574 very poor health4.22***28.90**21.47**75 + good health75 + fair health3.65**75 + poor health3.05 * 8.37***4.16**75 + very poor health8.40**11.83 * 13.57***age*household composition2544 single person2.02***3.22***3.33***4554 single person4.04***2.77**5564 single person1.72 * 2.54***2.29*6574 single person75 + single person2.03*age*income2544 second quintile2544 middle quintile2.01*2544 fourth quintile1.49 * 2544 bottom quintile4.82***2.21*4554 second quintile4554 middle quintile0.69 * 4554 fourth quintile2.56*4554 bottom quintile2.68*5564 second quintile0.57
* 5564 middle quintile0.23*5564 fourth quintile5564 bottom quintile6574 second quintile6574 middle quintile6574 fourth quintile6574 bottom quintile75 + second quintile75 + middle quintile75 + fourth quintile0.31*0.56 * 75 + bottom quintilesignificance levels : * < 0.05 ; * * < 0.01 ; * * * < 0.001 . the relative odds of wellbeing ( significant interactions in the main effects model ) significance levels : * < 0.05 ; * * < 0.01 ; * * * < 0.001
. there are also important interactions between ethnicity and other variables in the multivariable model .
unhappy are nearly four times greater than those of the majority  white british population , and their odds of reporting 
unemployed adults reporting poor health have significantly lower levels of swb compared to adults with poor health who are in work .
employment does appear to confer some benefits on those who are able to work , even if their health is not good ( table 7 ) .
manual workers in poor health ( including the very poor health category ) are shown to have the lowest levels of wellbeing , alongside manual workers without any formal qualifications .
household composition also matters ; people living alone in rented accommodation or social housing face twice the odds of being  unhappy ,  dissatisfied and feeling 
it is now widely accepted that the measurement of swb is central to the development of social policy .
measures that capture personal experience , moods , psychological functioning and people 's cognitive assessments about how their life is going overall  when aggregated at the national population level  elucidate an important component of the wellbeing concept that can be applied to social policy ( graham , 2011 ) .
the emerging survey data on swb in the uk , however , is currently underdeveloped for social policy purposes . in this article , we have considered the application of the survey data for understanding the social determinants of swb , and here we reflect on how the new insights may be used to inform the development of social policy
. a number of findings are particularly striking , and deserve comment given the direction of current policy in the uk .
work is increasingly recognised as the best form of welfare in twenty - first century capitalist society ( dwp , 2010 ) , not only because work usually pays better than welfare , but because work helps to promote wellbeing , as we observe here : the odds of 
dissatisfaction amongst adults not in work are nearly three times greater than those in work , according to the survey data . to this end , the uk 's new  welfare - to - work policies , including the  work programme and the new means - tested benefit 
universal credit seek to ensure  welfare that works ; a life in work rather than a life on benefits ( welfare reform act , 2012 ) .
consequently , labour market conditionality now applies to most sections of the adult working age population and the principles at stake here appear to be attracting support amongst the british public ( park et al . , 2011 ) .
in many ways  and from the perspective of swb  the policy aim is laudable ; there are obvious benefits and gains if more out of work adults are able to find decent , meaningful jobs . however , there are growing concerns over the level of state regulation in the name of labour market
activation , including some of the present structural concerns over the lack of employment opportunities on offer , as well as the high cost of childcare faced by many working parents .
the limits of these policies are now being tested by some of the most vulnerable sections of british society , who maintain that their needs are not being respected under the new regulatory regime .
activation policy , claim that taking a paid job is not appropriate in their circumstances ( rafferty and wiggan , 2011 ) .
instead , they express a strong preference for caring for their own children themselves . likewise , the government policy to encourage and assist disabled people off benefits and in to paid work is surrounded with controversy for ignoring the needs of disabled people , and societal barriers to their full and equal labour market participation ( mccartney , 2012 ; patrick , 2012 ) . paid work will not be appropriate in every circumstance and not all adults will benefit from being 
satisfaction for disabled adults , in stark contrast with the findings for the general british population .
many older adults in retirement report relatively high levels of swb ; empirical research continues to show most lead socially active and productive lives .
the uk 's  active ageing strategy , therefore , needs to support local  big society initiatives , and thus extend beyond the rather narrow focus on employment opportunities ( deeming , 2009 ) .
whether increasing income raises the experience of wellbeing is a matter of major debate ( diener et al . , 2009b ) . in this study , we found little evidence to suggest that income makes an independent contribution to swb across our four dimensions .
however , we should recognise the need for more sophisticated modelling techniques that include both individual and societal factors to probe this complex relationship ( deeming and hayes , 2012 ) .
it is noticeable , and also worrying , that there has been a distinct shift in policy away from faith in income and material recourses to solve some of the complex and deep - rooted social problems we see in the uk ( e.g. , field , 2010 ) ; and while we wait for research to uncover more 
truths , we should not lose sight of the powerful effect that income and wealth has on important social outcomes ( hills et al .
fulfilled lives than men , a finding that is very much in tune with some of the emerging international evidence ( oecd , 2012 ) , it is also very apparent that women are more 
this is as a result of combining employment and family care , as lewis ( 2009 ) argues .
one - size - fits - all regulatory framework being imposed upon them by  welfare - to - work. ensuring that families , especially single parent families , are able to both support themselves and to care for their dependants without material disadvantage continues to be a major challenge for social policy in the uk .
the issues raised here are symptomatic of more general shifts in the balance of work and family life , with ever greater family diversity and changes in the labour market . ageing populations and changing family structures present new challenges .
policymakers have been slow to respond to the  new social risks of modern societies in the twenty - first century as taylor - gooby ( 2004 ) argues . generally speaking , living alone
is not good for wellbeing as the study findings and a growing body of research evidence indicate ( stack and eshleman , 1998 ) .
solo living often results in isolation from the privileges and obligations of cohabited ( including married ) life . the ties of cohabitation help to establish a basic sense of belonging and security ; swb is clearly affected where such ties are lacking .
perhaps a growing area of concern for the policy of wellbeing is the growing numbers who live alone in britain : a trend which shows little sign of abating ( chandler et al . , 2004 ) .
although the ageing population has contributed to this demographic , solo living is a growing trend across all age groups in the adult population . 
individualisation means people are inextricably linked to the institutions of the labour market and welfare state , while traditional forms of family and community life lose more and more of their meaning .
the new institutions and social structures increasingly regulate life , with demands and entitlements that are not wholly addressing the needs of individuals , and nor are they addressing the needs of family variety in the twenty - first century .
policymakers face pressing issues over intergenerational equity , as the study findings indicate wellbeing is not evenly distributed between the generations ( willetts , 2010 ) .
structural components of ethnic disadvantage persist , despite various employment initiatives and legislation ( virk , 2012 ) .
the results suggest that swb among unemployed people in bme groups are a particular concern .
the interplay of factors at stake here is likely to be complex as berthoud ( 2000 ) suggests , but will include known factors such as overt and  hidden discrimination , expectations , stereotypes , alienation , family and economic structures .
education helps to promote wellbeing , and is well - recognised as a cultivating force within society ( nussbaum , 1997 ) .
however , the recent reforms to higher education in england are , according to some critics such as barr ( 2012 ) , a retrograde step that is likely to undermine the quality of education and the goal of widening participation .
students from poorer backgrounds already experience a range of structural disadvantages in the higher - education system , relating to economic , social , and cultural capital ( lehmann , 2009 ) .
expensive loans are likely to further impede access and weaken participation , stifling the prospects of social mobility and increased wellbeing for young people from poorer working - class backgrounds .
we find that people living in poor health  which often means coping with a longstanding illness 
are amongst the most vulnerable members of british society , reporting the lowest levels of wellbeing .
there are clear links between age and health in the data as expected , but poor health also interacts with other forms of social and material circumstance , such as unemployment , low income , low  social class and self - rated disability ( clark and oswald , 1994 ) .
new strategies demand that individuals take greater responsibility for their own agency and  wellness. power and responsibility is being devolved to the local level ; 
wellness services in each locality are to be held accountable for the wellbeing of their local populations ( health and social care act , 2012 ) .
the danger of this fiercely consumerist and individualist self - directed approach to policy is the increasing fragmentation and marketisation of the social and human services ; particularly evident in the new public health paradigm ( bambra et al .
, 2011 ) , social care policy ( glendinning , 2012 ) and housing policy ( lund , 2011 ) .
better government regulation of the private rental sector is urgently required to promote health and wellbeing , although this is not a priority for the coalition government .
nearly 40 per cent of privately rented homes fail the government 's decent homes standard , and people in this sector express high levels of 
. moreover , many vulnerable families in britain are being funnelled into the bottom end of this market , resulting from the caps on housing benefit imposed by the new system of universal credit ( harding , 2011 ) .
the policy turn to individual consumerism and the market , with the desire to devolve responsibility from whitehall , and arguably shift blame , threatens the very foundations of human health and wellbeing in the uk at a time when the influence of the wider social context is being ignored .
there is an urgent need to emphasise the social , given the direction of current policy in britain .
research into wellbeing , both the subjective ( swb ) components and the substantive ( i.e. , holistically understood ) aspects of human flourishing belong to the core business of social policy ( dean , 2012 ) .
here we have focused on swb and the emerging mnw programme that offers much potential for the development of social policy , informed by the rigorous analysis of survey data within the social scientific tradition ( byrne , 2011 ) .
there are , of course , a number of cautions and limitations attached to the study findings .
correlations in this field should not be treated as evidence of one - way causation from factors to 
the cross - sectional survey data used here is limited when it comes to studying changes in swb over time and/or across the lifecourse .
longitudinal studies , cohorts or panel surveys are required for modelling and interpreting cross - temporal comparisons that shed light on whether the same population has become happier ( davies , 1994 ) .
researchers may wish to consider a radically different approach to the interpretation of this survey data using a set - theoretic method for example .
finally , and more conceptually , we are a long way off from a world in which emotional fulfilment replaces ideas about maximising economic growth , and although social policy is making progress , there would be grave dangers in any single - minded pursuit of this ( burchardt , 2006 ) .
the value of social policy is that it recognises the plurality of human ends and needs ( not just ideas relating to  happiness or swb ) , and as such it invokes our social values and principles for thinking about resources , material circumstances , and their distributions . in terms of future work
, there is a more general need to examine more closely the relationship between swb and mental health issues ( beaumont and thomas , 2012 ) .
further work should also consider disparities in swb within and between minority ethnic groups within society ( burton et al .
, 2010 ; platt , 2011 ) . finally , the four overall swb monitoring questions now included in ons social surveys are designed to collect different types of information from respondents about their own wellbeing ; ons argue that the four swb constructs and measures can and do stand alone , and while there is a literature to support this thinking , future work might also test some of these assumptions since these measures and constructs are now widely used internationally .
 the idea that the happiness and wellbeing of individuals should shape government policy has been around since the enlightenment ; today such thinking has growing practical policy relevance as governments around the world survey their populations in an effort to design social policies that promote wellbeing . in this article , we consider the social determinants of subjective wellbeing in the uk and draw lessons for social policy . 
 survey data are taken from the  measuring national wellbeing programme launched by the uk 's office for national statistics in 2010 . 
 for the empirical strategy , we develop bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models , as well as testing for interaction effects in the data . 
 the findings show that wellbeing is not evenly distributed within the uk . 
 socio - demographic characteristics such as age , gender , ethnicity , employment , household composition and tenure all matter , as does health status . 
 influencing population wellbeing is inherently complex , though , that said , there is a clear need to place greater emphasis on the social , given the direction of current policy . 
Introduction
Measuring subjective wellbeing and the policy process
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusions