Wellbeing
Understanding the causes of wellbeing and how people's wellbeing affects their life. One key focus is on improving mental health.
CEP research on wellbeing began in 2003 when Richard Layard gave his public lectures on Happiness: Has social science a clue? His book Happiness then followed which explored the paradox that as societies get richer, they often do not become happier. His 2020 book Can We Be Happier sets out the evidence for why and how we can create a happier society.
Research from the programme has looked into what is important for wellbeing and the influence of wellbeing on working life, education and physical and mental health, by studying wellbeing over the course of people's lives. CEP wellbeing researchers regularly contribute to the World Happiness Reports and aim to make personal happiness and wellbeing a goal of public policy.
The research provided evidence of the overwhelming importance of good mental health to individuals and society. CEP's Mental Health Policy Group published two reports (see The Depression Report: A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders and How Mental Illness Loses out in the NHS), which helped bring about the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. In its first four years, more than 1 million people had used the new services and recovery rates were in excess of 45%.
Featured Work
Wellbeing Publications
Claudia Hupkau, Ingo Isphording, Stephen Machin and Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela
21 December 2020
Christian Krekel, Julia Rechlitz, Johannes Rode and Alexander Zerrahn
16 December 2020
Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt, Fabian Bald, Duncan Roth and Tobias Seidel
10 December 2020
Claudia Hupkau and Barbara Petrongolo
23 November 2020
Christian Krekel, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Daisy Fancourt and Richard Layard
2 November 2020
Andrew E. Clark, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Christian Krekel, Richard Layard and Gus O'Donnell
24 September 2020
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, John Helliwell, Richard Layard and Jeffrey D. Sachs
20 May 2020
Andrew Clark, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Daisy Fancourt, Nancy Hey, Christian Krekel, Richard Layard and Gus O'Donnell
24 April 2020
Paul Frijters, Christian Krekel and Aydogan Ulker
13 March 2020
Richard Layard and George Ward
2 March 2020
Richard Layard
23 January 2020
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Daisy Fancourt, Christian Krekel and Richard Layard
20 January 2020
Andrew E. Clark, Paul Frijters, Christian Krekel and Richard Layard
25 October 2019
Grace Lordan and Alistair McGuire
1 July 2019
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Christian Krekel and George Ward
1 July 2019
Marta Barazzetta, Andrew E. Clark and Conchita D'Ambrosio
29 April 2019
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Christian Krekel and George Ward
15 March 2019
Li Huang, Paul Frijters, Kim Dalziel and Philip Clarke
1 August 2018
Jörg Kalbfuß, Reto Odermatt and Alois Stutzer
2 May 2018
Sarah Flèche, Anthony Lepinteur and Nattavudh Powdthavee
1 May 2018
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and George Ward
1 November 2017
Andrew E. Clark, Sarah Flèche, Richard Layard, Nattavudh Powdthavee and George Ward
7 June 2017
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and George Ward
30 March 2017
Andrew Clark, Sarah Flèche, Richard Layard, Nattavudh Powdthavee and George Ward
1 March 2017
Sarah Flèche and Richard Layard
1 February 2017
Andrew E. Clark, Sarah Flčche, Richard Layard, Nattavudh Powdthavee and George Ward
27 January 2017
Paul Dolan, Georgios Kavetsos, Christian Krekel, Dimitris Mavridis, Robert Metcalfe, Claudia Senik, Stefan Szymanski and Nicolas R. Ziebarth
26 July 2016
Sarah Flèche and Richard Layard
22 February 2016
Richard Layard
28 September 2015
Sarah Flèche and Richard Layard
3 June 2015
Paul Dolan and Georgios Kavetsos
6 May 2015
Andrew E. Clark, Francesca Cornaglia, Richard Layard, Nattavudh Powdthavee and James Vernoit
1 November 2014
Bénédicte Apouey and Andrew E. Clark
5 July 2013
Alex Bryson and George MacKerron
27 June 2013
Warn N. Lekfuangfu, Nattavudh Powdthavee and Mark Wooden
10 May 2013
Paul Dolan and Grace Lordan
15 February 2013
Alex Bryson and George MacKerron
8 February 2013
Rachel Berner Shalem, Francesca Cornaglia and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
9 November 2012
Paul Dolan and Georgios Kavetsos
31 July 2012
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, John Helliwell, Richard Layard and Jeffrey D. Sachs
4 April 2012
Francesca Cornaglia, Elena Crivellaro and Sandra McNally
27 February 2012
Nicholas A. Christakis, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, James H. Fowler and Bruno S. Frey
24 February 2012
Francesca Cornaglia and Andrew Leigh
16 February 2012
Alex Bryson and Pekka Ilmakunnas
16 February 2012
Nicholas A. Christakis, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, James H. Fowler and Bruno S. Frey
1 January 2012
Alex Bryson, Petri Böckerman and Pekka Ilmakunnas
15 November 2011
Francesca Cornaglia and Andrew Leigh
April 2011
Paul Dolan, Richard Layard and Robert Metcalfe
March 2011
Erling Barth, Alex Bryson and Harald Dale-Olsen
October 2010
Rachel Smithies
September 2010
Guy Mayraz, Jürgen Schupp and Gert G. Wagner
July 2009
Richard Layard, Guy Mayraz and Stephen Nickell
March 2009
Steve Gibbons and Olmo Silva
January 2009
Richard Layard, Guy Mayraz and Stephen Nickell
1 August 2008
Arnaud Chevalier and L Feinstein
August 2006
Richard Layard & CEP Mental Health Policy Group
June 2006