"The Equitable and Sustainable - Well-being Framework in Italy" report by OECD
10-05-2023
In 2017, Italy became the first country in the OECD to link well-being indicators to economic and budget programming in government.
The achievement was but one milestone in the country's development of its Equitable and Sustainable Well-being framework.
The Treasury Department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in conjunction with the National Institute of Statistics, has continued to develop the framework since then.
This Action Plan contributes to that development by proposing ways to progress the integration of equitable and sustainable well-being indicators into policy development and budgeting.
The Action Plan contributed to a consultation process with government ministries and stakeholders in 2022 by identifying a range of actions the government could consider in the near and medium term to achieve that integration outcome.
Italy has been at the forefront in the development of ESW indicators since the publication of the first ESW Report by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and the National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL) in 2013. In that report, 134 indicators across 12 dimensions of well-being were defined, providing the basis for the ESW framework in Italy.
The 12 dimensions are health, education, work and work-life balance, economic well-being, social relationships, politics and institutions, security, subjective well-being, landscape and cultural heritage, environment, research and innovation, quality of services.
The Equitable and Sustainable Well-being (ESW) framework and indicators were developed to inform the country's progress across the 12 dimensions, as priorities for policy in Italy.
Italy was the first country in the OECD to link well-being indicators to economic and budgetary programming.
Since its introduction into budgeting in 2017, the framework is recognised widely in the Government. The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) has dedicated resources to help bring about this outcome and the MEF is a key proponent in advancing the integration of ESW in policy development and budgeting across government.
This Action Plan proposes ways to progress the integration of ESW indicators into policy development and budgeting.
As part of its work, the OECD considered the incentive effects that would support such integration within the context of public sector accountability in Italy as well as the capacities that would be required.
As part of implementing the Action Plan, it may be necessary for the relevant parties to each of the proposed actions to consider the risks and barriers related to the implementation of the proposed actions.
The OECD's work identified the strengths of the ESW framework, which include high levels of engagement by stakeholders, broad-based support by the Parliament and international examples of relevant practices.