Is Everybody Happy?

Last year's Foresight report on mental capital and wellbeing has prompted much debate on the emergence of wellbeing as a key aim of public policy. For adult learning, obliged for so many years to justify its existence in economic terms, this should be good news, but it will be hard to shift ministers away from a narrow notion of "skills". It is true that work makes (most) people happier and healthier, but only for the part of their lives when they are in work. When extending life expectancy is moving individuals to a world where most people spend a third of their adult lives in "retirement", what does "employability" do for their wellbeing? The author stresses that helping political masters escape from a narrow notion of "skills" will be on the agenda for some time to come.