The New Zealand Treasury's approach to measuring wellbeing: Using the Living Standards Framework

CWiPP were delighted that Dr Tony Burton delivered a lecture during his visit from New Zealand. The lecture took place on the 2nd July 2019 and focused on the Living Standards Framework used to consider the impact of policy on wellbeing within New Zealand.

Dr Tony Burton- Deputy Chief Economic Advisor, New Zealand Treasury.

2nd July 2019

Photo of Tony Burton

About the lecture

The Living Standards Framework (LSF) has been developed by the New Zealand Treasury to consider the collective impact of policies on intergenerational wellbeing. This presentation will give an overview of the Treasury's approach to understanding and measuring living standards and how this relates to policy decisions and the challenges in implementing the new approach.

Dr Tony Burton is Deputy Chief Economic Advisor for the New Zealand Treasury and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Auckland University of Technology. Over 2017 and 2018 he lead the Treasury team that developed the Living Standards Framework that is the basis of the New Zealand Government’s Wellbeing Budget. He started as an academic economist specialising in game theory and experimental economics, gaining a PhD from the University of East Anglia in the UK. He worked for the UK Ministry of Health on the health labour market and in New Zealand on work incentives in the welfare system. He has worked for the New Zealand Treasury since 2007, primarily on using data and evidence to improve policy on poverty, the welfare system and social investment.

The slides from the lecture are available here.

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