Building a Foundation to Measure National Well-Being

Abstract

The Key National Indicators Act of 2008 was passed by the United States Congress with the intent of creating a system of citizen-based statistics, which would function as a tool for informing both policymakers and the American public on the current outlook of our nation with respect to the physical, financial, and social well-being of individuals. This act allocated $77.5 million over a 10-year period to establish a commission that would collect and analyze data. However, over the past decade, the commission has failed to produce tangible results in the form of standardized metrics. Our research intends to carry out the initial goal of the Key National Indicators Act by following the basic principles proposed within it. To do so, we have used the five pillars of the US Constitution (Justice, Tranquility, Defense, Welfare, and Liberty) as broad indicators of how to measure progress. Within each pillar, specific metrics such as Poverty Rate (Welfare) and Recidivism Rate (Justice) were deemed significant through survey results. Data were assembled for each metric and weighted according to survey findings. After normalizing the results, sub-scores were established for each pillar and combined into an overall wellness score, the Promise America Wellness Score (PAWS). An analysis was carried out for data acquired from 1995 up until 2016 in order to understand the growth and decline of the United States over time. To effectively visualize and report these findings, a final product was designed in the form of a website. Through this website, the metrics and trends are made visible and interpretable, and are more easily marketed as a potentially valuable source of data for decision-makers. The website also includes areas for future steps in which well-being in the US would be able to be compared to well-being in other countries.