Economic Growth

New Zealand will have a new 'well-being budget,' says Jacinda Ardern

Queenstown is seen on the shores of Lake Wakatipu New Zealand March 7, 2017.          REUTERS/Henning Gloystein - RC1B0F9621A0

A priceless view? Queenstown, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu Image: REUTERS/Henning Gloystein

Ceri Parker
Previously Commissioning Editor, Agenda, World Economic Forum
This article is part of: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

Jacinda Ardern has unveiled a new approach to running New Zealand’s finances.

"We need to address the societal well-being of our nation, not just the economic well-being,” she said during a Davos discussion on More than GDP.

This means that from 2019, her government will present a “well-being budget” to gauge the long-term impact of policy on the quality of people’s lives.

In practical terms, child poverty figures will be presented at every budget. The onus will be on ministers to show how spending proposals will benefit people, and work with other ministers across party lines to ensure they have a positive, long-term impact, Ardern explained.

“Our people are telling us that politics are not delivering and meeting their expectations. This is not woolly, it’s critical,” she said.

Loading...

Unprecedented wage stagnation is a major concern in OECD countries, hollowing out living standards for the majority of people and fuelling populism.

The world's youngest female head of government said that trade wars and Brexit were a proxy for the frustration people felt over a political and economic set-up that had left them behind.

Ardern said that politics needed to be more altruistic, and more long-term, to address the deep-rooted challenges we’re grappling with as the economy changes.

Have you read?

According to the New Zealand government website, the 2019 budget will use different measurements this year.

“The Wellbeing Budget will broaden the Budget's focus beyond economic and fiscal policy by using the Treasury's Living Standards Framework to inform the Government's investment priorities and funding decisions. The Government will measure and report against a broader set of indicators to show a more rounded measure of success, as a country and as a Government.”

The results will play out over decades - but Ardern argued for a shift beyond short-term cycles and for seeing politics through a lense of "kindness, empathy and well-being".

Loading...
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Economic Progress

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Economic Progress is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

How 'green education' could speed up the net-zero transition

Sonia Ben Jaafar

November 22, 2024

What is the gig economy and what's the deal for gig workers?

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum