Housing and health beat wealth for Scots’ main priorities in life

Research carried out by Oxfam Scotland has shown that domestic security tops the list, while wealth was much less important as long as there is enough to pay the bills.

The survey of nearly 3,000 Scots was carried out for the Oxfam Humankind Index for Scotland – a new measure of the country’s collective prosperity that the charity says will be more useful than economic benchmarks such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The survey showed that, after health and housing, the next priority for Scots was living in a clean, healthy neighbourhood where they can get outside and enjoy the benefits of outdoor living.

Satisfaction at work was ranked joint third in the list of priorities, alongside good relationships, while people ranked safety, green spaces and having secure and suitable work as fourth.

A bulging bank balance was ranked fifth, with the extent of local facilities and education opportunities sixth, along with community spirit and good transport. Good services and tolerance were ranked seventh.

Judith Richardson, head of Oxfam Scotland, said the survey reflected the charity’s belief that the way in which a country’s economy is analysed needed updating to take into account shifting attitudes.

“Scotland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but the majority of Scots don’t get a fair share,” she said.

“Measures like GDP are part of a failed economic model. They don’t look at people’s real priorities: things like the quality of their local environment or how good their relationships are with friends and family.

“Our research shows that most Scots aren’t interested in huge amounts of money – they just want enough to provide for their families and feel secure. Our economy shouldn’t just be about growth – it should be about meeting the needs of everyone in Scotland.”

The Fraser of Allander Institute economic think tank has been working with Oxfam Scotland on the index, which will be launched in Edinburgh on Tuesday. New statistics will be fed in as they emerge to provide a constant update on what Scots think is most important in life.

As part of the survey, Oxfam asked people not normally included in market research surveys – travelling to rural areas and disadvantaged communities, speaking to younger and older people, and holding meetings with faith groups.

Economist Jonathan Davies said Oxfam was right in wanting to redefine how national prosperity was measured.

“GDP is ultimately an economist’s definition of economic growth,” he said. “It equals consumer spending, business investment, government spending and exports. It doesn’t just have to be those four parameters, it can be whatever you want it to be, and I think that within that list you should be including levels of health and levels of unemployment.

“Oxfam are right: the very basic and very narrow, decades-old definition of GDP is passé. There are lots of other things we should be considering when we are looking at the overall health of our economy and society.”

However, Douglas Adams, economic adviser at Ernst & Young’s forecasting unit, the Scottish Item Club, said while he was not surprised the survey found that people craved what were relatively simple things, he believed economic growth and increased prosperity were still key.

“We are fixated on growth, but it gives us more chances in life and more opportunities,” he said.

“Growth gives us opportunities to get the things that we want, like better homes and better health services, so they are linked in that way.

“If we had better growth in the UK just now, there wouldn’t be the pressure there currently is on NHS budgets, and that links back to how people feel about their own and family security.”

Adams added that he was not persuaded by arguments that there was a need to re- engineer the economy. Instead, he said he believes society needs to learn from the mistakes made so it can run better.

“We’ve gone through, we’re going through, a financial crisis and these happen from time to time, but to say that we need a whole new model of how the economy works is probably wrong,” he said.