PW1
Improved Life Satisfaction
Personal Wellbeing
Improved Life Satisfaction
Life satisfaction is outlined by the ONS as including feeling that one has purpose, that things in life are worthwhile, feelings of happiness, and levels of anxiety. Improving life satisfaction is a key goal for any intervention related to people. A measure of life satisfaction is considered the closest individual, overall proxy for “wellbeing”. Improvements to someone’s financial circumstances, level of social contact, mental health, and physical health could all change their overall individual assessment of their life satisfaction. However, asking about someone’s own assessment of their life satisfaction allows individuals to share their own perspectives on how they feel they are, and their perspective on their own quality of life. Rather than looking at things that could impact on their overall wellbeing asking about an individual’s life satisfaction directly can allow people the chance to share how they are doing from their own perspective.
Key Value
A monetised social value of £15,300
13000 is the monetised value of a 1 WELLBY change in well-being.
1 WELLBY is an increase in life satisfaction by 1 point on a scale of 0 to 10.
Where does this headline value come from?
Government policy (The Green Book) recommends that Life Satisfaction is expressed as £ monetised wellbeing, using the value of £13,000 for 1 WELLBY, over one year. There are two methods which have been used to calculate this, and this is the mid-point between the two values.
- Equivalent Income – deriving an estimated amount of income that would result in the same change in wellbeing (£16,000).
- QALY Willingness-to-pay (WTP) Value – deriving an estimate of the willingness to pay for a Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY) and converting this to a WELLBY. (£10,000).
Adjusted for inflation to 2023 prices is £15,258. Our approach to inflation adjustments is explained on our Methodology page HERE
An overall rounded value of £15,300.
Local Needs Analysis Data Source
Before using this MeasureUp value, we encourage you to assess the local need in relation to the activity or outcome.
Here is the most useful initial data source for assessing local need in relation to this value.
To assess local needs related to the value PW1 ‘Improved life satisfaction’, you can use the Life Satisfaction indicator provided by the Office for National Statistics – Local Statistics Explorer.
Life satisfaction – This indicator measures the overall satisfaction people feel about their life as a whole. It is available annually at the local authority, combined authority, region, and country levels. You can filter data by country, region, combined authority, or local authority, depending on the indicator.
This indicator helps gauge the general wellbeing of a population and can be used to guide policies and interventions that aim to improve quality of life and overall happiness in local communities.
If you’re just starting out, start with Bronze first. The result of a Bronze measurement is just an estimate, but requires the least effort; whereas Silver, Gold and Gold+ give more accurate results but require more effort.
Each level has an effort to accuracy indicator, choose the one that’s right for you.
Bronze
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Multiply the proportion of your participants you expect to report substantially improved life satisfaction by £15,300
Silver
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
Monetised social value: Consider realistically what shift you might see in life satisfaction. Therefore you can calculate an estimate of the overall shift, and apply the appropriate WELLBY values.
Gold
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At Gold level you are looking to build on your silver estimations by engaging with the person or people affected.
Gold+
Effort
Accuracy
Monetised value:
At the Gold+ level, you are building on your Gold value calculation by assessing the value against the counterfactual, or ‘what would have happened anyway’.
| Value Type: | Master Outcome |
What's this?
This is the type of value. Some values are outcomes, which means many different interventions might lead to them, others are specific interventions that have a set value. |
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| UN SDG Categories: |
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What's this?
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are global goals adopted in 2015 for all signed up nations to achieve for us to have a sustainable global future by 2030. There are 17 Goals that address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. The Goals are all interconnected, and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve them all by 2030. |
| 2020 Social Value Models: |
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What's this?
PPN 06/20 Taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts introduced the Central Government Social Value Model in 2020 which all Central Government contracting authorities must use in their in scope procurements. It consists of 5 themes, 8 policy outcomes, and 24 Model Award Criteria which outline key priority areas to achieve more social value. |
| 2025 Social Value Models: |
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What's this?
PPN 06/20 was superseded by PPN 002 Taking account of social value in the award of contracts, published in February 2025 in line with the Royal assent of the Procurement Act 2023. This PPN outlined the requirement to use the new 2025 Central Government Social Value Model. The Model applies to all Central Government procurements commencing on or after 1 October 2025 under the Procurement Act 2023. Out of scope procurements can choose to apply the model but are not required to do so. The updated model is structured around 5 government missions and 8 outcomes, with 17 Model Award Criteria, and a mandatory minimum 10% weighting of the total evaluation score assigned to social value. |
Evidence
MeasureUp empowers you to measure the impact you’re having numerically.
We recommend that numeric reports are backed up with stories and other types of evidence to help illustrate, in human terms, the impact that’s being made on individuals.
We recommend seeing consent from one or more participants in your intervention to collect and tell their stories. This should include a little background on the participant, a summing up of life before the intervention, the human impact of the intervention, and the longer-term (if known) impact on the person’s life outside of and after the intervention.
Providing photographs, audio recordings, video interviews or even artefacts from the intervention (for example, writing, paintings, music, etc, from creative interventions) can add more colour and convey the emotional impact of interventions more directly.
In some cases, it’s appropriate to anonymise or abbreviate the personal information of case study participants. No story should be published or shared without the recorded consent of the individual(s) it concerns. Individuals continue to own the rights to their stories, and if they request you stop sharing the story or making it available online, you should do so promptly and without the need for justification.
Feedback
Measure Up is an open, collaborative and transparent. If you have any suggestions or feedback on our pragmatic, recommended approach to measuring and valuing social value, including wellbeing, economic, and fiscal impact, and effects on our environment, please get in touch so we can share and discuss this at our next Advisory Group meeting.
More help
We want to empower anyone to perform and improve their impact measurement – without needing a degree in economics.
If you need any more help, or just someone to do the legwork for you we can help signpost you to software, training and consultancy to help you get to grips with the impact you’re having.
