PolicySandbox.ai

Modelled Wellbeing Index

The Modelled Wellbeing Index is a weighted composite of material and security indicators, not a measure of happiness. Its weights are a value judgement and are editable. Individual dimensions are more informative than the total.

Baseline index

59.2

The weighted sum of the nine dimensions below at their baseline levels. A scenario moves the dimensions; the index follows.

This is a transparent aggregation of material and security indicators. It is not a measure of happiness, it is not comparable across countries or time, and its weights are a value judgement rather than a finding — which is why they are exposed and editable in the workspace rather than hidden in the engine.

The nine dimensions

Each maps to a variable in the causal graph. Weights shown are the defaults.

Financial securityweight 20%

Freedom from financial pressure: debt servicing, housing costs, savings buffer and job risk.

Low
Baseline · driven by financialStress54

Disposable incomeweight 16%

Real household income after tax, transfers and prices — material living standards.

Low
Baseline · driven by realDisposableIncome62

Employment securityweight 14%

Confidence of keeping a job, and of finding another one if it goes.

Low
Baseline · driven by employmentSecurity66

Housing securityweight 13%

Confidence of staying in your home at a cost you can carry.

Low
Baseline · driven by housingSecurity58

Economic flexibilityweight 11%

Room to move: discretionary spending, savings capacity, and the ability to change job or home.

Low
Baseline · driven by economicFlexibility61

Health accessweight 10%

Being able to get care when you need it, at a cost you can meet.

Low
Baseline · driven by healthAccess62

Future confidenceweight 6%

Whether households expect their position to improve.

Low
Baseline · driven by futureConfidence55

Time and congestionweight 5%

Time lost to commuting and to queuing for services.

Low
Baseline · driven by infrastructurePressure50

Community stabilityweight 5%

Social cohesion and participation. The weakest input in the index — treat as directional only.

Experimental
Baseline · driven by socialCohesion60

Household Economic Flexibility

Deliberately not called 'freedom'. The metric measures material capacity — discretionary income, savings buffer, debt burden, housing security, employment mobility and the practical ability to relocate — and makes no claim about autonomy or opportunity in any broader sense.

Baseline score61
  • · Discretionary income after housing and essentials
  • · Savings capacity, in months of consumption
  • · Committed debt servicing as a share of income
  • · Housing security given tenure and cost burden
  • · Employment mobility, from vacancies and slack
  • · Ability to relocate, from rental vacancy

What this does not do

· It does not diagnose anything. The psychological indicators are population-level pressure proxies derived from socioeconomic relationships, and no clinical or mental-health interpretation is intended or supported.

· It does not measure health, relationships, purpose, safety or community beyond a crude proxy. Those matter more than anything here, and this model cannot see them.

· It does not settle a policy question. Two reasonable people can weight housing security against disposable income differently and both be right. Change the weights and see whether your conclusion survives.

· It is the least reliable output in this product. Every dimension carries LOW or EXPERIMENTAL confidence, and the individual dimensions are more informative than the total.