More Voters Demand Wellbeing Over Jobs From Government: Research

Politicians have been warned that the old “jobs and growth” battle cry isn’t enough to win voters, as new research shows a rising expectation for government decisions to prioritise citizen wellbeing. Four in five people now want leaders to focus on the population’s wellbeing, up from 70 percent in 2021, according to the Centre for Policy Development (CPD) survey. It comes with widespread concern that politics may be ineffective in addressing challenges such as the cost of living, storms, floods, or unaffordable housing due to rising rents and mortgages. CPD chief executive Andrew Hudson explained that wellbeing expanded beyond vague and hard-to-measure notions of “wellness” to include more affordable groceries, fair social services, and environmental preservation....