(Original text is from Life Beyond Growth)
http://lifebeyondgrowth.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/new-measure-of-prosperity-for-scotland-oxfam-humankind-index/

Oxfam, the UK's leading aid and development charity, has launched a new index for measuring quality of life and social justice in Scotland - the Oxfam Humankind Index (HMI). The index, developed by the Oxfam's Scotland Office, is largely based on information from public consultations and surveys with a particular focus on seldom heard groups such as African refugee women, young people living in poverty in rural areas or people with learning disabilities.

Oxfam worked in partnership with the New Economics Foundation, who processed the compiled information from the public consultations to produce a series of weighted priorities set for Scotland by the people of Scotland. The index consists of 18 measures in five domains (Social, Human, Nature & Environment, Financial, Physical Resources) ranging from good family relationships, having secure and satisfying work, a decent home, good local facilities and transport to access to green areas.

Judith Robertson, the head of Oxfam Scotland, said the index "goes beyond simplistic economic measures like GDP. It reminds us that the economy should serve its people, not the other way around."

The first assessment of Scotland's performance using HMI showed that the country's overall prosperity increased by 1.2% between 2007-08 and 2009-10, largely due to improvements in how people felt about their health and community spirit.

HMI is now being considered also by senior Oxfam executives for use across the UK and as part of the charity's work on sustainable living and on new measures of inequality, as well as by Oxfam offices overseas in "middle economy" countries such as Brazil. The charity is also encouraging local and national government to examine these results in order to plan and prioritize their future actions.