Sez report

2.1.2.1. The accepted norm 
Standard political assumptions hold that economic growth, measured by GDP, will bring about 
commensurate increases in wellbeing. That, after all, is the promise that lies behind most modern 
advertising. Acquisition equals happiness. Yet, if this were true, people in the UK should be reporting 
sharp increases in their life satisfaction – given the rapid increases in income. The sobering reality is 
that British people have not reported a significant or sustained increase in their personal wellbeing for 
well over three decades.
Instead, there is convincing evidence that consumption growth is not delivering the wellbeing assumed 
by conventional economic theory. Indeed, it may actually be causing harms, particularly when the 
pursuit of material wealth takes away from the quality of personal relationships or a proper balance 
between work and life.
Although the average individual in Britain has never had so much disposable income, some 
commentators believe we are a country in a ‘social recession’. More than two million Britons are on 
antidepressants and a million regularly take Class A drugs. Binge drinking, violence, self-harm and 
vandalism have all reached record levels. Unicef research suggests that British children are the 
unhappiest in Europe, the most likely to feel lonely and the least likely to sit down for a family meal. 
Barely 40% of over-11s find their peers “kind and helpful” – the lowest score in the developed world. 

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The Samaritans report that five million people are “extremely stressed”, while the British Attitudes 
Survey shows time pressures encroaching ever more upon relationships with family and friends.
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2.1.2.2. The darker side of wealth 
In its typically sober way, the Economist Intelligence Unit has identified negative factors associated 
with modernisation which offset the benefits of increased monetary wealth. These include the 
“breakdown of traditional institutions” such as religion, family, and marriage and a “marked rise in 
various social pathologies”, namely crime, drug and alcohol addiction, as well as a “decline in political