Oxfam Cymru’s Dr Hade Turkmen outlines why a Wellbeing Economy should be the only option for the new Welsh Government and Senedd.
Cymru likes to think of itself as a nation that cares: about fairness, about future generations, and about the kind of country we want to be. Yet for too many people, that promise feels increasingly out of reach. Poverty is rising, public services are stretched to breaking point, and the climate emergency is already reshaping everyday life in our communities.
This disconnect between our values and our economic reality is not accidental. It is the result of an economic model that prioritises growth for its own sake rather than wellbeing, care, and long-term resilience. In early November, Oxfam Cymru launched A Vision for a Just Cymru. This was the result of years of collaboration with partners and communities to set out what Cymru needs from the next Welsh Government and Senedd. The paper presents thirty-four ambitious, but achievable, proposals across four interconnected pillars: Economic Justice, Social Justice, Climate Justice and Global Justice. Its core message is simple: Cymru can be a nation that cares for people and the planet while acting responsibly on the global stage.
This disconnect between our values and our economic reality is not accidental. It is the result of an economic model that prioritises growth for its own sake rather than wellbeing, care, and long-term resilience.
Oxfam Cymru’s vision is grounded in feminist, humanitarian, and decolonial principles. It is shaped by the lived experiences of people across Cymru and aligned with leading voices including the Future Generations Commissioner. Yet despite growing consensus, the idea of a Wellbeing Economy is still dismissed in some quarters as unrealistic or anti-growth.
What is truly unrealistic is the assumption that an economic model focused on growth for its own sake, regardless of who benefits or what is harmed, can address the deep challenges Cymru now faces. A system that sidelines inequality, care, and environmental limits is not sustainable. It entrenches injustice.
What a Wellbeing Economy really means
Cymru is at a crossroads. Inequality is widening, poverty is deepening, public services are under immense strain, and the climate emergency is accelerating. The current model is no longer delivering.
A Wellbeing Economy offers a smarter alternative, it places people and planet at the centre of economic decision-making, rather than treating wellbeing and environmental limits as afterthoughts. It is not anti-growth or anti-business. Instead, it asks a different question: what kind of growth improves lives, strengthens communities, and sustains the planet?
Rather than relying on GDP, a narrow measure that ignores unpaid care, inequality, and environmental damage, progress is assessed through a broader set of outcomes: good health, fairness, decent work, thriving communities, a stable climate, and a flourishing natural world.
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A Wellbeing Economy also recognises that sectors such as care, clean energy, affordable housing, nature restoration, skills and community enterprise generate lasting social and economic value. By contrast, other approaches often deliver little benefit to Welsh communities or actively cause harm.
Why Cymru needs this shift now
If any nation is ready to embrace a Wellbeing Economy, it is Cymru.
The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 positioned Cymru as a global pioneer, yet the gap between its ambition and everyday experience is growing. Almost one in four people, and one in three children, live in poverty. The cost-of-living crisis has become structural. Communities are repeatedly hit by flooding, pollution, food insecurity and fuel poverty. Essential public services including the NHS, childcare and social care are stretched to breaking point.
These challenges are not isolated. They are symptoms of an economic model built around short-term growth rather than long-term wellbeing, prevention, and investment in people and public services.
This is not “soft” but smart economics
Investing in social care, childcare and education delivers some of the highest economic returns of any public spending. It boosts employment, supports parents into work, reduces pressure on the NHS and social services, and helps prevent future inequality.
A Wellbeing Economy also recognises that sectors such as care, clean energy, affordable housing, nature restoration, skills and community enterprise generate lasting social and economic value.
Similarly, investing in a just transition to a green economy including decarbonisation, energy efficiency and nature protection, creates skilled jobs, lowers household bills, strengthens community resilience and improves public health and wellbeing.
This is not soft economics. It is a sound economic strategy.
What Cymru can do now
Cymru has the legislation, tools, and public appetite to lead, but political commitment is needed to turn aspiration into action. Together, IWA and Oxfam Cymru’s Wellbeing Economy Manifesto, Oxfam Cymru’s Green, Fair and Caring: A Feminist Roadmap for Cymru, and A Vision for a Just Cymru set out a practical path forward.
- Redefine success
Cymru must move beyond relying solely on GDP by adopting wellbeing indicators that reflect health, equality, environmental quality, and the value of both paid and unpaid care.
- Treat care as essential infrastructure
A thriving Welsh economy requires investing in care through fair wages, universal affordable childcare, strong support for unpaid carers, and a rights-based, publicly funded social care system.
- Grow a fair, community-led economy
Cymru should strengthen co-operatives, social enterprises, community energy and local food systems that reinvest wealth locally and build resilient communities.
- Deliver a just transition — not another unjust one
To avoid repeating the harms of past industrial transitions, Cymru must ensure communities shape change, invest in warm homes and green jobs, reduce inequality through climate action, and broaden the green economy to include essential low-carbon sectors such as care, health, and education.
- Embrace global responsibility
Cymru must ensure its procurement and investment do not contribute to deforestation, exploitation, or conflict and should continue its proud commitment to peace, justice, and international solidarity.
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A new direction is possible — and necessary
A Wellbeing Economy is not an abstract ideal. It is a practical, evidence-based roadmap for social security, cohesion, dignity, fairness, sustainability and opportunity across Wales.
A Wellbeing Economy is not about doing less — it is about doing what works. It means designing an economy fit for the future, where people and the planet can thrive together. If Cymru commits to this path, it can show the world what a small nation with big values can achieve.
The tools exist. The public support exists. The evidence is overwhelming.
What Cymru needs now is political courage.
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